by: Zero Sharp
"Rounds" marks Kieran Hebden's third solo release under the name Four Tet. Somewhere between free jazz, glitch electronica, hip-hop, and loop-based music sits this album in all of its slow-growing, lush, organic sounding glory. The whole album has a rather somber feel to it, although pieces of playfulness shine through from time to time. Most of the samples are common: piano, chimes, harp, harpsicord, and gituar. However, Four Tet uses them masterfully standing a little behind his percussion, which seems to be the focus of the album. The first single from the album, "She moves she" is nice and funky in comparison to the rest of the album. "Hands" is a good way to start the album, and it sets the quietish tone (with a little bit of glitch) well."My angel rocks back and forth" rides floating piano twinkles over an partially faultering iron lung to glorious results. "Spirit Fingers" is Nobukazu Takemuraish idm/glitch goodness. "Unspoken", the peak of the album balances a simple piano riff (Is it just me or does this sound like it was ripped from a Tori Amos song?) over a hip-hop beat. I would highly recommend this album to, well, anyone really, and if you've liked his earlier stuff, you'll like this. If you've never heard him before, this is an excellent place to start.
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