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I have been listening to Four Tet for a while now and lately he seemed, well, stuck in a rut. 2005's Everything Ecstatic was an okay record, i guess. The songs came across much better live, but after a few spins that album went on the shelf. A few years later, however, he was back with Ringer, which seemed a lot jazzier and more interesting. Then last year he collaborated with Burial on that excellent 12". So, now, we have a new record. And how is it?
Fan-freaking-tastic.
This is a stunner of a record. Four Tet has taken what he learned about dubstep from Burial and integrated it into his jazzy electro to make something that is very refreshing.
The LP starts off with Angel Falls, a tense drum beat keeping time with a vocal sample harshly cut and pasted in that dubstep style, the voice seeming to stutter because the sounds are cropped so tightly. A nice keyboard melody joins in, and the song progresses nicely for four minutes. It fades out with a flurry of strange electro noises, which morph into a low drone over a beat made of sampled static. This is Love Cry, the first single from the album. The drone proceeds for a minute, until it is joined by a jazzy drum riff. This riff is straight up Four Tet, and listening to it one is reminded that he was the drummer in Fridge. A great, rolling beat proceeds to drive the song along for three more minutes, the drone growing and becoming more layered. Then, suddenly, a deep bass note chimes in and a looped female voice joins the song. This is nine minutes of head-bopping fun. A really great tune.
After Love Cry fades out, Four Tet brings in an acoustic guitar picking away at a flurry of notes in Circling. A steady thumping drumbeat is deep in the background, and over this he plays a happy keyboard part. This is a good song that could easily have fit on any of the previous Four Tet records.
Sing is next, and it brings back the harsh cut and paste of dubstep, here applied to a keyboard melody. Four Tet adds in some clattering percussion, and a frenetic jazzy drum riff. Another good tune that really gets your head nodding.
He mixes it up for This Unfolds, using a sample of a tuba (or some deep horn sound) to make out a faint melody, over which a light guitar plays. A nice, mellow tune. Reversing is a short (for this record) three minute interlude of droning keys and shaky egg rhythm. Plastic People continues the droning keyboard theme, here paired with a staccato piano riff and some clattering percussion. The keyboard melody here is lovely.
Finally, the record wraps up with She Just Likes To Fight. This is a very Fridge-like tune, with a steady drumbeat, some clanging percussion, and a few layers of chiming guitar. It brings the record to a relaxing finish.
This is some great listening, and might just be Four Tet’s best record to date. Well, maybe. This is at least on par with his stunning Domino Records debut, Pause. At the very least, it shows that he still has some great ideas, and continues to make interesting electronica. I urge you to check this out.
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