Four Tet

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Image:Four Tet in Cleveland, OH Grog Shop.jpg Four Tet is the name used by Kieran Hebden for his electronic music-oriented solo efforts to differentiate from his work with post-rock band Fridge.

Four Tet is highly respected in many parts of Europe (most notably in Hebden's native Britain) as an original and talented experimental electronic artist, but remains relatively unknown in the United States. Hebden's solo work typically incorporates samples lifted from various sources including hip-hop, electronica, techno, jazz, and folk mixed with his own guitar playing. Four Tet shares some stylistic similarities with other musicians, such as Prefuse 73, who use computer editing techniques that give the music a staccato, cut-up feel. Hebden's music is notable for its rich, organic sounds and harmonious melodies as well as for eschewing the traditional pop-song format in favor of a more abstract approach.

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History

Kieran Hebden began releasing material as Four Tet in 1998 with the 30+ minute single Thirtysixtwentyfive (the title is a reference to the length of the piece, 36 minutes and 25 seconds) on Trevor Jackson's Output Recordings label. Later that year, he released a second single, the jazz-influenced "Misnomer". 1999's Dialogue, again on Output, was Four Tet's first full-length album release and fused hip-hop drum lines with dissonant jazz samples. This was followed by the double a-side single "Glasshead"/"Calamine", which was to be Four Tet's last release on Output.

In late 1999, Warp Records released a tenth-anniversary compilation of remixes of Warp tracks; Hebden contributed a remix of "Cliffs", the opening track of Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II. This relatively high profile exposure attracted a lot of new interest in Four Tet from fans of electronica and IDM, genres in which the Warp brand had a preeminent status.

In 2001, Four Tet's second album Pause was released on Domino and found Hebden using more folk and electronic samples, which was quickly dubbed "folktronica" by the media & press in an attempt to label the style (often also applied to artists such as Isan and Gravenhurst). The acoustic guitar track "Everything is Alright" is the theme music for the National Public Radio talk show On Point, produced at WBUR in Boston, Massachusetts; it was also featured in a US Nike commercial in 2001-2002.

Rounds was released in May 2003. It was Hebden's most ambitious album to date, incorporating diverse samples such as the mandolin on "Spirit Fingers", and even a rubber duck on the closing track "Slow Jam". Three singles were released from the album: "She Moves She", "As Serious as Your Life", and "My Angel Rocks Back and Forth". This last single was released as an EP featuring remixes by Icarus and Isambard Khroustalov along with additional Four Tet tracks "I've Got Viking in Me" and "All the Chimes". An accompanying DVD featured all of Four Tet's videos to date.

At the beginning of 2003, Four Tet opened for Radiohead on their European tour. A remix of the song Scatterbrain from Radiohead's latest album Hail To The Thief was included on their 2004 EP Com Lag.

A live album named Live in Copenhagen 30th March 2004 was released in April 2004 as a limited edition, available only through the Domino Records website.

In March and April of 2005, Four Tet performed two shows of improvisational music, in collaboration with jazz drummer Steve Reid, in Paris and London. He also appears on Steve Reid Ensemble 2005 album Spirit Walk.

His fourth studio album Everything Ecstatic was released on Domino on 23 May 2005. The video for the lead single, "Smile Around The Face", features actor Mark Heap. The album brought with it another shift in style, leaving behind the breezy "folktronica" of Pause and Rounds for a darker, more complex sound. On 7 November 2005, Domino has released a DVD version of Everything Ecstatic featuring video clips for each track of the album plus a CD with new material.

Hebden has also remixed, under the Four Tet name, tracks by a wide range of artists including Madvillain, Bloc Party, Super Furry Animals, Beth Orton, Badly Drawn Boy, The Notwist, Boom Bip, Kings of Convenience and Radiohead.

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Discography

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Albums

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EPs

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Singles

  • "Misnomer" (21 December 1998, Output)
  • "Glasshead" / "Calamine" (double a-side) (July 1999, Output)
  • "No More Mosquitoes" (2 July 2001, Domino)
  • "I'm On Fire" (1 May 2002, Domino)
  • "She Moves She" (31 March 2003, Domino)
  • "As Serious As Your Life" (20 October 2003, Domino)
  • "My Angel Rocks Back and Forth" (3 May 2004, Domino)
  • "Castles Made Of Sand" (4 October 2004, Azuli) (b/w "Don'ts" by David Shrigley)
  • "Smile Around The Face" (11 April 2005, Domino)
  • "Sun Drums and Soil" (11 July 2005, Domino)
  • "A Joy" (17 October 2005, Domino) 12" and 7" versions available with remixes from Percee P, Battles and Four Tet himself.
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Other

  • Rivers Become Oceans (May 1999, Lo Recordings) (split with Rothko)
  • Four Tet v Pole EP (aka Pole v Four Tet EP) (26 June 2000, The Leaf Label) (split with Pole)
  • Hella / Four Tet (30 March 2004, Ache) (Canada) (split 7" with Hella)
  • Live in Copenhagen 30th March 2004 (10 April 2004, Domino) (live recording)
  • Late Night Tales: Four Tet (4 October 2004, Azuli) (mix album compiled by Hebden)
  • Madvillain Remixes
  • Everything Ecstatic DVD (7 November 2005, Domino) (DVD featuring video clip for each tracks of the album plus Everything Ecstatic Part 2 CD)
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Remixes

  • His Name is Alive - One Year (1999)
  • Urban Species - Blanket (1 April 1999, Talkin' Loud)
  • Rothko - Rivers become oceans (1999)
  • Aphex Twin - Untitled (12 October 1999, Warp)
  • Pole - Heim 12 (26 June 2000, Leaf)
  • The Cinematic Orchestra - Ode to the big sea (1 August 1999, Ninja Tune)
  • David Holmes - 69 Police (7 August 2000, Go!Beat)
  • Regular Fries - Brainticket (1 November 2000, Scientific)
  • Slag Boom Van Loom - Sutedja (29 May 2001, Planet Mu)
  • His Name is Alive - One year (9 July 2001, 4AD)
  • Two Banks Of Four - Street Lullaby (6 August 2001, Sirkus)
  • The Dining Rooms - Cosi Ti Amo (27 September 2001, Edizioni Ishtar)
  • Kings of Convenience - Weight of my words (30 October 2001, Source Records)
  • James Yorkston - The lang toun (25 March 2002, Domino)
  • The Notwist - This room (April 2002, City Slang) in collaboration with Manitoba
  • Badly Drawn Boy - Something to talk about (10 June 2002, XL Records)
  • Doves - M62 song (15 July 2002, Heavenly)
  • Blue States - Metro Sound (1 August 2002, XL Records)
  • Bussetti - Softly (July 2003, Realise Records)
  • Super Furry Animals - The piccolo snare (21 July 2003, Placid Casual)
  • Beth Orton - Daybreaker & Carmella (September 2003, Heavenly)
  • Bonobo - Pick Up (20 October 2003, Ninja Tune)
  • Radiohead - Skttrbrain (17 November 2003, Parlophone)
  • Sia - Breathe me (February 2004, Go!Beat)
  • A tribute to Jef Gilson - Fable of Gutemberg (April 2004, Isma'a)
  • Boom Bip - Third stream (31 May 2004, Lex)
  • Lars Horntveth - Tics (14 June 2004, Smalltown Supersound)
  • Hot Chip - The Ass Attack (4 October 2004, Moshi Moshi)
  • Pedro - Fear & Resilience (18 October 2004, Melodisc)
  • Black Sabbath - Iron Man (from the album "Everything Comes & Goes" 11 April 2005, Temporary Residence)
  • Madvillain - Four Tet Remixes (Meat Grinder, Accordion, Money Folder, Great Day, Rhinestone Cowboy) (May 2005, Stones Throw)
  • Galactic Soul - Cosmic Soul Street Classics (2 May 2005, BBE)
  • Bloc Party - So Here We Are (3 May 2005, V2 Japan) Bonus track from the Japanese version of the Silent Alarm album
  • Juana Molina - Salvese Quien Gueda (16 May 2005, Domino)
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External links

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