Four Tet
"I think if you are producing music it is a good thing to do, just to
keep reminding you of the effect music can have. Hearing it loud and
seeing people react to it in a very instant physical way, is another side of music other than just listening to it at home."
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| Four Tet playing live. Photo (CC-BY-ND) Jonathan Fisher. |
Four Tet or Kieran Hebden was born
1978 in Putney London. As an artist he is one of the most influential acts to
hit the music scene. He has worked with
numerous artists including Aphex Twin,
Anti-Pop Consortium, Bonobo, Beth Orton,
Born
Ruffians, Explosions in the Sky, Super Furry Animals, Radiohead, Manic Street Preachers, Matthew
Dear, Sia,
Nathan
Fake, Bloc
Party, Andrew Bird, Kings of Convenience, Battles,
Juana
Molina, Madvillain,
The xx, just
to name a few.
Born to a South
African-born Indian mother and a sociology lecturer father. Kieran first started
playing music very young in what you would call a standard rock and roll band.
After some time he became board with the standard sound of the genre and began
to play around with the sounds of the new and emerging electronic scene of the 90’s. After some
experimentation he decided to make the jump to the next step. While attending
the Elliot school in Putney he and a friend began the band Fridge which
released their first album in 1997 when he was only 15 years of age. The next
year he began releasing under the name Four Tet. He released the 36 minuet 25
second single named accordingly “Thirtysixtwentyfive” which made quiet an
impression. After some time performing and producing music for various
commercials he hit it big when he began opening for Radiohead in 2003.
Four Tet’s sound is
one that blurs the line between genres. Using various Eastern, Middle Eastern,
and jazz samples he is able to create soundscapes and textures that have set
the bar very high for people following. The loop oriented tracks carry a
meditative feel to them and are able to bring the listener to a sort of trance
state. Everything he seems to touch turns to gold and as one of my personal
favorite artists this young man has much more to offer to the ever-growing
minimal electronic scene.
For anything Four Tet check this site
out. From his performance schedule to any of his most recent activities this web page
carries it all. It is one of the sites
that I check daily since Kieran is always putting out new sounds or
artwork. Any of his old albums can be
found here as well as his all new releases.
If you haven’t been to the soundcloud
site yet your missing out. This site is relatively new just braking 1 million
users but is one I visit at least once a day. From new unheard artists making tracks in
their mom and dad’s basement to the heavy hitters this site gives you
everything you need. I recommend spending some time exploring these pages. Oh
yay, and it carries everything you need to get a great first taste of the Four
Tet experience.
Also one of the sites
I visit on a daily bases, discogs carries every piece of music put out by
almost any artist you could think of and Four Tet is no exception. Discogs acts
as a marketplace for vinyl and cd sales between fellow listeners. If you’re in
to spinning records or just love the warmth of the vinyl sound like I do, I
would definitely recommend checking this site out.