50 BEST RECORDS OF 2010 - PART 1
FOUR TET THERE IS LOVE IN YOU Electronica
Kieran Hebden. The name has become synonyms with electronica as a genre. Just as how Blur makes you think indie rock and Q-Tip makes you think hip-hop. For a good decade or so, Kieran, under his Four Tet moniker, has been consistently releasing some of the most experimental melodic brand of complexly layered Electronica, one that doesn’t shy from creating melodies from even the most peculiar of instrument (a typewriter comes to mind, form the song “Harmony One” off his record Pause). And for all the great successes (i.e. every single album), There Is Love in You in comes out clearly as his finest effort to date. And this is not merely due to the fascinating depth of all his constructs, the way they manage to ring within you in a dramatic personal level, or the slightly avant grade tendencies in his compositions, but because it combines all that, while making it so dance driven and accessible. Don’t let those elitist snobs put you off, accessible is a good thing, when done right. Really good. Good for you, good for me, good for music. How can one complain about a good musician, making a good album, that’s being liked by everyone? Just
134
because it’s accessible doesn’t mean it’s not exhilarating. Seriously people… But I digress. For the most part, I dislike listening to electronica through anything aside from my headphones. It tends to be a sit down experience, one that goes well with a good book and nice warm mug of tea. But what Four Tet has managed here is to blend his intimate foreign sound with club culture (which Kevin said he was moved by during his month long residency at Plastik People club). Despite the tendency of linking dance tracks with mindless music, just a background tune serving as nothing but a layer of noise, Four Tet crafts some of the most sonically engaging songs in his entire career, both affectionately fragmented yet, oddly enough, so whole. Just take “Sing” for example. In a perfect world, not dropping this track in a dance floor full to the brim of heaving sweat-laden clubbers would be punishable by law. Obscure time signatures, Tablas, cut-n-paste synth that, as calculated as it may sound, is balanced with a simple female hum that manages to string your body in an evocative lust driven dance.
There Is Love In You, thought released so early on in the year, continues to garner more adoration from me with every repeat listen, uncovering more shades and melodies in it’s designs. As the cover implies, this is multi layer perforation, visually engaging and richly texture. The differences in change are minimal, however subtly works, and in this case, it works magnificently.