Four Tet - New Energy
Far from the madding crowds of bedroom-based hot-desking synth-wielding hipsters, Kieran Hebden has remained 'cool' for the best part of two decades by continually evolving into a reliable source of electronic ear-candy.
Hebden's New Energy draws on the fringes of jazz and future beats that Bonobo, Portico and Hidden Orchestra have been creating of late, adding his own atmospherics and offering a somewhat more rhythmic take on the genre without over-complicating things.
Two Thousand and Seventeen seems to be poignant, a reflective take on what is fast transporting us into an age of mediocrity and war with a melancholic harp refrain and funereal beats, while the feet are catered for by the lustral SW9 9SL (Brixton's O2 Academy, doncha know) and lavicious Lush.
There are no bangers on here designed to encourage hands to the lasers but closer Planet is as infectious as it is likeable. And impressive at that.
8/10
Hebden's New Energy draws on the fringes of jazz and future beats that Bonobo, Portico and Hidden Orchestra have been creating of late, adding his own atmospherics and offering a somewhat more rhythmic take on the genre without over-complicating things.
Two Thousand and Seventeen seems to be poignant, a reflective take on what is fast transporting us into an age of mediocrity and war with a melancholic harp refrain and funereal beats, while the feet are catered for by the lustral SW9 9SL (Brixton's O2 Academy, doncha know) and lavicious Lush.
There are no bangers on here designed to encourage hands to the lasers but closer Planet is as infectious as it is likeable. And impressive at that.
8/10