Four Tet

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Four Tet
Kieran Hebden performs at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio
Kieran Hebden performs at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio
Background information
Origin Britain
Genre(s) Electronic
Folktronica
Techno
Jazz
Instrument(s) Acoustic guitars
Horns
Piano
Harpsichords
Years active 1998 - present
Label(s) Output Recordings
Domino Records (1993)
Associated
acts		 Fridge
Website www.fourtet.net
Members
Kieran Hebden

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.

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[citation needed]. 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[citation needed].

Contents

[edit] History

Kieran Hebden began releasing material as Four Tet in 1998 with the 36 minute and 25 second single Thirtysixtwentyfive 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[citation needed].

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 and press[citation needed] 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.

Rounds was released in May 2003. It was Hebden's most ambitious album to date[citation needed], 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 electronica duo Icarus and Isambard Khroustaliov 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. In addition, the closing track "Slow Jam" was featured in a U.S. Nike commercial in 2001 and 2002; Hebden edited the track on the back of the bus with his laptop while on a tour with Fridge[citation needed].

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 (2plus2isfive).

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. This collaboration was extended into a series of international tours, and the release of two albums, The Exchange Session Vol. 1 and The Exchange Session Vol. 2 over the course of 2005 and 2006.

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[citation needed]. 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.

On 25 September 2006, Domino Records released a two-disc compilation of Four Tet remixes, titled Remixes. The first disc contains twelve Four Tet remixes selected by Hebden, while the second disc will comprise every official remix to date (both by Hebden himself and by other artists) of Four Tet tracks. Many of the tracks to be included in this compilation have previously been available on vinyl only.[1]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Albums (as Kieran Hebden)

[edit] EPs

[edit] Singles

[edit] Other

[edit] Remixes

[edit] Productions

[edit] External links

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