UK producer Four Tet is kicking off a brief run of U.S. dates later this month. Nathan Fake opens.

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Kieran Hebden returns to his Four Tet alias in January with There Is Love In You. Set for release via Domino Records on January 26, 2010, it follows his 2005 album Everything Ecstatic. The lead single, “Love Cry,” is already available as a limited-edition 12-inch; a version featuring remixes from Joy Orbison and Roska drops later this month. Judging from the sound of “Love Cry,” There Is Love In You continues the dance-oriented direction of Four Tet’s last release, 2008’s Ringer EP.

In related news, Hebden recently completed work on Sunburned Hand of the Man’s A. Tentatively scheduled for a fall release, it has been pushed back to 2010.

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After a series of improvisational jam sessions with experimental jazz drummer Steve Reich, Kieran “Four Tet” Hebden has returned with his first solo collection of original music since 2005’s Everything Ecstatic.

Set for release on longtime home Domino Records, Ringer will surprise fans who only know Four Tet for his pastoral hip-hop beats and collaborations with J-Dilla. Ostensibly a techno album, the four-track EP seamlessly moves from light fusion Afrobeats to deep and mystical grooves. It continues Four Tet’s revision of his former identity as a Boards of Canada-influenced producer without sacrificing the restless imagination of his earlier material.

Smartly, Four Tet isn’t waiting for Ringer to leak onto the Internet like a deflated balloon. You can purchase a DRM-free digital copy now at the website for New York indie store Other Music, but you’ll have to wait until May 6 to purchase a physical copy. The Ringer track listing is below.

• 1. “Ringer”
• 2. “Ribbons”
• 3. “Swimmer”
• 4. “Wing Body Wing”

Plug One review: Four Tet, Remixes

www.fourtet.net
www.myspace.com/fourtetkierenhebden

Four Tet
Remixes
Domino

It is hard to put into words that which escapes them. Beauty is one word, and genius is another for the music of Kieran Hebden, otherwise known as the one man sound machine behind the Four Tet moniker. On a two-disc remix project aptly titled Remixes, Hebden is like a puppeteer with his fingers holding one end of the strings, directly striking his listener to the core, and your emotions dangling at the other.

The imagery one often associates with electronic music is often cold, mechanic and inhuman. But producers like Hebden are evolving the process, and the emotions he punches through beat machines are increasingly gaining impact. Feelings, and Hebden’s ability to express them, are a strong underlying theme throughout Remixes. He’s able to give his music a highly interpersonal feel, even with using free jazz-style drums, electronic glitches, and stop-go chopped loops.

Many of the songs, like his remix of Aphex Twin’s “Untitled,” pull your mind in opposite directions by employing soothing samples along with oddly syncopated drum patterns. The result is an equilibrated peace. On “A Joy” featuring Percee P, Hebden’s offbeat yet so on beat programming supports the legendary lethal lyricist’s vocals. Other highlights include a reworking of Madvillain’s “Money Folder,” where Hebden matches a 80s video game sample that sounds like it came straight out of NES’ Excitebike. The sound works perfectly with MF Doom’s cartoon persona.

The second disc features other artists remixing Hebden’s original tracks. On his remix of Hebden’s “My Angle Rocks Back and Forth,” Icarus consistently loops a piano riff throughout the track. It is not annoying as one might expect but, rather, is like that of a drum circle inducing a trance-like state.

Throughout Remixes, however, each song is clearly stamped with Hebden’s style and influence, even when he works via the music of others. The title of producer falls short of Four Tet’s work. Rather, Hebden is a composer in the true sense of the word.

– James O’Connor