Matthew Herbert is ready to unveil his eagerly awaited One Pig: an album made from recordings taken during the birth, life, butchery and consumption of a single pig, reared for meat at a farm in England.

Some three years in the making, it’s the final part in the artist’s One trilogy, which began with unadorned singer/songwriter album One One, and continued with One Club, which was composed entirely from field recordings made at the Robert-Johnson techno club in Frankfurt.

The album “aims to listen in on a single farm animal’s life in the context of an otherwise-anonymous food chain.” Despite his good intentions, PETA last year accused Herbert of trying to make entertainment out of animal cruelty, and there is currently a Facebook campaign attempting to prevent One Pig‘s release.

Assuming it’s not met with any more serious obstruction, One Pig will be issued  through Herbert’s own Accidental Records on October 10. A live version will be premiered in September at the Royal Opera House, as part of Mike Figgis’s Just Tell The Truth festival, and there will be a “full album launch” in early October as well.

You can see how the project has developed over time on Herbert’s dedicated blog.

Tracklist:
1. August 2009
2. September
3. October
4. November
5. December
6. January
7. February
8. August 2010
9. May 2011