Day 164: Four Tet – Rounds
I’m a bit tired today. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to listen to something that might perk me up a little bit or something that’ll suit my very slow mood, so I thought I’d pick something that’s pretty much straight down the middle. Four Tet’s mellow IDM seemed like it might be just what I need: not fully something that’ll turn my brain off but also not something I have to think too much about, not too perky but not so relaxing I’ll sleep.
Album cover courtesy of Domino Recording Company
Four Tet is an English electronic music artist whose government name is Kieran Hebden, but he’s also known as ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ) and 00110100 01010100, which is binary for 4T. He was originally in an experimental post-rock band called Fridge with his school friends, but he went solo and started making electronic music, releasing his debut album in 1999.
Rounds is Four Tet’s third studio album that was released in 2003. He composed it mainly at home in his North London apartment on his desktop computer when he was in his early 20s, and says that for him, listening to it is like reading an old journal:
I just remember the time — living in a little apartment and the people that I was hanging out with — really vividly. A couple of relationships started and ended during that record. In the middle of making it I toured opening for Radiohead in Spain and Portugal and it made me re-think live electronic music when I hadn’t thought about it much. So when I hear Rounds, it’s like looking at an old diary.
Maybe this is me being a hater, but I’ve always seen Four Tet as being Man Music, for Men. In my mind, it’s never women who recommend you listen to Four Tet, it’s always your ex-boyfriend or some guy who you meet at a pub. I’m afraid I’ll listen to a few Guy At the Pub albums and it’ll be a slippery slope to watching Kurosawa films and reading Infinite Jest… except obviously that would never happen, I would never read something that long. Or I would if it was good. Maybe.
It’s hard to pin down the sound of Rounds. You can hear the jazz-influences and it sounds almost trip hoppy at times, but mainly it sounds to me like electronic music for the more sophisticated indie head. I can see this as something I’d like to put on if I need something to help me focus that won’t take up too much attention. I liked most of the start of the album, but to me, the second half after “Unspoken” really picks up. I love “As Serious As Your Life,” and “Slow Jam”, both are simple and clean slower songs that are extremely soothing, they tickle some part of my brain.
Rounds had done nothing to dissipate my initial thought that Four Tet does pub guy recommendation music, but if I didn’t enjoy the occasional pub guy recommendation, I probably wouldn’t have spent most of my early 20s in a pub. I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but I might whack it on when I need something mellow to write to sometime in the future. It’s a solid 8.5/10.