Filter
Four Tet
Browse the latest digital releases by Four Tet
Played by: Juno Recommends Experimental
Review: British electronic musician Kieren Hebden aka Four Tet's latest offering "Three Drums" is a captivating track that showcases his versatility and creativity as an electronic musician. The song starts with a gentle synth melody that gradually builds up to a crescendo of drums and bass. The drums are layered and complex, creating a rhythmic and hypnotic effect, with an overall pastoral and epic feel, as if it was inspired by nature and adventure. While the song is a contrast to Hebden's recent collaborations with Skrillex and Fred Again, it still proves that he can master any style.
Review: Acclaimed British producer Kieran Hebden returns under the Four Tet alias with two new tracks on his Text imprint. The result is "Mango Feedback", a hypnotising house journey presented in his idiosyncratic style where a sublime sitar melody plays centre stage, underpinned by an infectious UK garage rhythm. For something a bit more different, the second offering "Watersynth" is an exploration in downbeat ambient sounds that will have you in a state of blissful freefall.
Various
The John Betsch Society - "Earth Blossom" (feat Build An Ark - Loving Heart Collage by Carlos Nino - remix) - (4:05) 95 BPM
Played by: Paper Recordings
Played by: Juno Recommends Experimental
Review: Enigmatic supergroup Burial, Four Tet and Thom Yorke reunite with a new age splice of their sound first heard in the Ego / Mirror collaboration of 2011. Revealed as a limited 300 copy vinyl release only available from a set of record store clerks somewhere in Soho, London, Her Revolution/His Rope (as if right on time) dramatises the modern day gender role in bringing 2020 and its forlorn soundtrack to an end. Yorke's voice wavers in the distance as ever while crumpled noise floors of Burial seemingly give cushion to the soft percussion and shimmering melody lines of a Four Tet's making. Capture the moment.
Played by: Juno Recommends Broken Beat Nu Jazz
Review: Twenty years later and we're given another fresh reminder as to why Four Tet is still the guy. Released back in 99, Glasshead, in its original 11-minute form (with bizzarro breaks), sees Kieren Hebden pay tribute to some of his treasured inspirations in the jazz saxophonies of Robin Kenyatta, neu elektronik deutsche musik of Amon Duul and the early mainstream electronica of experimental pioneers Perrey and Kingsley. A future funk classic of freeform fusion, big beat jazz and electronica gone wild, get lost in the ragtime future beats of a legendary artist's formative years.
Played by: Juno Recommends Broken Beat Nu Jazz
Review: Get to really know the Four Tet you know now with this Misnomer EP, originally released back in '99. Dating back to a time when Four Tet was more of a side project for Hebden than his prevailing alias - thanks to Trevor Jackson's Output label - these four tracks are thrown back into the spotlight and may come as a shock to some in the way they dive deep into noise music and experimental sound sourcing. Most overtly heard in the wild jazz of "Fume", there's something easier to handle in the title-track. With eastern themed motifs gracing "Charm" and "Aying" too - allow yourself to revel in the early days of Four Tet, when trip hop, big beat and post rock was a thing.
Played by: Juno Recommends Broken Beat Nu Jazz
Review: Before Domino, Late Night Tales and Skrillex back-to-back sets there was the original Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet. Back some 20 years ago the storied producer was associated with an electro-acoustic style of freeform jazz, broken beats, ambient and electronica that was given full and early support from Trevor Jackson's Output label. Dialogue presents Four Tet's first official studio album (released in 1999) conjuring up a montage of guitars, horns, big beat drums and other instrumentals alongside humming rhodes, electrified bass, and deeper, old school classics like "The Butterfly Effect". Enjoy this on the back of Four Tet's newest album, Sixteen Oceans (2020
Played by: Dj Steef, Flash Atkins, Juno Recommends Experimental, Juno Recommends UK Garage, Kenneth Bager // Musicfordreams
Review: On his first new album in three years, Kieron Hebden aka Four Tet proves why he is such a rare talent. Tracks like "School" and "Baby" see him merge ambient and electro-acoustic sounds together with vocal samples and tight dance floor rhythms, while on "Love Birds" he delivers tight drums and melancholic keys. What makes this so impressive is the fact that the dividing line between the organic and the electronic is imperceptible. Of course there is an accessible side to Hebden's style - the effortless warbles of "Teenage Birdsong" and the evocative "Harpsichord" being the stand out tracks - but in the same way that he blends the organic with the synthetic, Four Tet never lets this album dip into rampant commercialism.
Played by: Juno Recommends Downtempo
Review: If you were judging Kieran Hebden's 11th Four Tet studio album merely on the way it's presented, you'd immediately think he'd spent the last two years immersed in early '90s ambient house albums. While it's unlikely he's done that, it's fair to say that New Energy does owe a debt to classic electronica sets from that period. For all the exotic instrumentation and subtle nods to post-dubstep "aquacrunk" experimentalism and chiming, head-in-the-clouds sunrise house, the album feels like a relic of a lost era. That's not meant as a criticism - New Energy is superb - but it is true that his choice of neo-classical strings, gentle new age melodies, sweeping synthesizer chords and disconnected vocal samples would not sound out of place on a Global Communication album.
James Lavelle/Various
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - "AKA... What A Life! (UNKLE Rework)" (UNKLE rework) - (8:23) 119 BPM
Lana Del Rey - "Ride (James Lavelle Remix - Lyla's Surprise)" (James Lavelle remix - Lyla's Surprise) - (8:13) 122 BPM
UNKLE - "The Answer (feat. Big In Japan) [Baltimore] [TrentemAlller Remix]" (feat Big In Japan - TrentemAlller remix) - (5:50) 116 BPM
UNKLE - "Money And Run (feat. Nick Cave) [16 Bit Lolitas Remix]" (feat Nick Cave - 16 Bit Lolitas remix) - (9:18) 64 BPM
UNKLE - "With You In My Head (feat. Liela Moss) [UNKLE/Redux Reconstruction]" (feat Liela Moss - UNKLE/Redux Reconstruction) - (6:55) 62 BPM
Jagwar Ma - "Come Save Me (The Pachanga Boys' Jagwar Pawar Version)" (The Pachanga Boys' Jagwar Pawar version) - (12:32) 62 BPM
UNKLE - "In A State (feat. Liela Moss) [UNKLE/Redux Reconstruction]" (feat Liela Moss - UNKLE/Redux Reconstruction) - (7:07) 133 BPM
Various Artists - "GU41 James Lavelle Presents UNKLE Sounds: Naples (Continuous Mix 1)" (continuous mix 1) - (1:17:38) 100 BPM
Nils Frahm/Various
Carl Oesterhelt & Johannes Enders - "Divertimento Fur Tenorsaxophon Und Kleines Ensemble Part 4" - (4:40) 109 BPM
Review: Apart from Ministry Of Sound and Fabric, the Late Night Tales crew is perhaps the best and most respected compilation series these days. Moreover, these guys have invited some of the biggest names in the game over the last fifteen years, a highly impressive catalogue which includes the likes of Fatboy Slim, Jamiroquai, AIR, Arctic Monkeys, Sly & Robbie, and many more of the same calibre. This September is Germany's Nils Frahm who takes care of the selection, and the DJ/producer serves up a gorgeously vast selection of sounds from around the globe and from all corners of time. Inside, you get shreds of house and techno from Four Tet and Nils Frahm himself, among others, but the mix explores much wider terrains; Miles Davis makes an appearance with the masterful "Concerto De Aranjuez", electronic dub maestros Rhythm & Sound join the party the timeless "Mango Drive", and even Nina Simone's "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" gets selected. It's as excellent and compelling as you would expect from this sublime mix series. A class act.
Various
Jon Hopkins/Various
Played by: Juno Recommends Downtempo
Review: The Late Night Tales mix series - going strong since way back in 2003 - never ceases to both amaze and please our eardrums when they're in need of a sonic massage. With legendary artists such as Fatboy Slim, Jamiroquai, Groove Armada, MGMT and many others on their roster, you just know it's going to be quality throughout. This time it's up to Domino man Jon Hopkins to give us an outlook onto his own tastes and musical influences. The selection is vast and varied, with everyone from Four Tet to Darkstar and even Peter Broderick featuring within. An incandescent blend of sci-fi electronica, tropical bass nuggets and lighter shades of drone-fuelled house. Quality.
Various
Various
Review: 18 years ago, Hospital Records launched with a deep and jazzy D&B 12" from the Peter Nice Trio, whose members included London Elektricity founders Chris Goss and Tony Colman. Nearly two decades on, Hospital is one of the biggest brands in electronic music, having cornered the market in funky, soulful, accessible, party-hearty "festival D&B". To celebrate their achievements, they've put together an impressively expansive compilation. There are new and previously unreleased tracks from the label's growing roster of artists - think Nu:Tone, High Contrast, Camo & Crooked, Netsky and Logistics - plus a thrill-a-minute bonus mix from Tomahawk. Covering most of the junglist spectrum whilst remaining unflinchingly melodic, it's a fitting celebration.
Various
Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from both the Balance series and Danny Howells, namely slick, atmospheric, spine-tingling electronic music of both an uptempo and downbeat bent. This bumper digital version of his latest double CD mix features some exceptionally good tracks, from the exotic, psychedelic techno of Will Saul and October's rework of Michael Mayer's "Mantasy" and the evocative Balearic deep house of Joakim's "Another Light", to the dreamy fluidity of Matthias Voigt's remix of Ian Pooley's "I Got You", and the crystalline electronics and wide-eyed beauty of Maricopa's ambient delight "Neon Shoals". It is, then, a sizzling hot collection of evocative electronic music for dancers and dreamers. Don't sleep.
Review: Released back in August, "Kool FM" was Four Tet's ode to pirate radio and laid down a suitable primer for what to expect from his LP Beautiful Rewind. After the single comes the remix! If you've taken a walk through the content farm, listened to the Hessle Rinse show or seen a Four Tet DJ set in recent months you should be more than familiar with both remixes here. The first remix from Butterz lad Champion is an exercise in simple dancefloor mathematics, implementing the kind of deranged bass line that destroys crowds and demands rewinds. A recent interview with Container revealed the U.S. noise/techno experimentalist to be a big fan of Frak and you can certainly hear their influence on his accompanying remix of "Kool FM" which retains mere remnants of Hebden's original - the distortion from the 2:30 mark onwards is particularly edifying.
Played by: Chris Coco, Juno Recommends Experimental, Chris Coco, Orthy, Top Billin Soundsystem, The Zars, Riton, Egokind
Review: Given that Four Tet's recent 0181 LP was comprised of material from Kieran Hebden's archives, and last year's Pink was largely compiled of tracks from the previous 18 months of 12" releases, it seems fair to say that Beautiful Rewind is his first proper album since 2010's There Is Love In You, and as such, it arrives with some degree of expectation. The past few years have seen the producer engage increasingly with the dancefloor, and these rhythms are most definitely present across the LP, particularly in the jungle breaks of "Kool FM", pirate radio-influenced techno of "Buchla" and hesitant dubstep style rhythms of "Parallel Jalebi". For the most part however Beautiful Rewind is as varied as the likes of Rounds and There Is Love In You, with the minimalist kosmische of "Ba Teaches Yoga", analogue gurgles of "Crush" and dawn chorus sounds of closer "Your Body Feels" all as beautiful as his most enduring tracks.
