It's been 10 years since Domino released Rounds by Four Tet. To commemorate the occasion, the label is reissuing the influential 2003 album, along with a live set recorded the following year in Copenhagen. It was Rounds that made Four Tet's name, and it still stands up as amongst his best work, alongside its predecessor Pause and 2010's There Is Love in You, but for Hebden, "it's always got to change."
Listening to Rounds 10 years on, one can hear how the Four Tet sound has changed, from the more organic-sounding downtempo headphone experience to his more techno and house-inspired later work. "One of my personal rules is that there's no need to repeat myself," says Hebden in an interview with Exclaim! "When I put out a record I'm not trying to improve on the last one, I'm not working towards a perfect record. It's more a document of my musical interests and my musical journey in my own life."
At the time, a lot was made of the organic, folky tonescapes that set Rounds apart from, say, the jazz-sampling and hip-hop beats of a lot of Ninja Tune output, giving rise to the now laughable 'folktronica' genre tag. But Hebden insists that hip-hop was his major influence.
"Rounds has got a very strong hip-hop aesthetic to it. It's definitely in debt to '90s hip-hop producers like Pete Rock, DJ Premier and all those digging-in-the-crates guys. All that stuff was a really big deal for me. The music I've been making these days doesn't really have that at the forefront as much as my music used to."
Despite his musical evolution, Hebden explains that his music today is still made in more or less the same way as it was 10 years ago. "The general techniques I use are pretty much the same. I still buy loads and loads of records and still work a lot in that way."
In recent years, Four Tet's name has become known as much for remixes as for his own material, but he says he's taking a break from remixes to focus on his own music.
"I think I've got about 90 released remixes. I quite enjoy doing it because you work on something quite quickly, and it's a way of collaborating with somebody without having to get together in the studio, but some years I look back and I did 12 remixes, and if I hadn't done that, I could have made an album!"
And as to when that new Four Tet album might come out, Hebden is non-committal. "I don't know at the moment," he says. "I've been making music, and maybe it'll turn into an album or maybe I'll put some singles out. I'm always making music, and when I've got something ready, I'll put it out."
The reissue of Rounds arrives today (May 13) via Domino. Read more of Exclaim!'s Four Tet interview here.
Listening to Rounds 10 years on, one can hear how the Four Tet sound has changed, from the more organic-sounding downtempo headphone experience to his more techno and house-inspired later work. "One of my personal rules is that there's no need to repeat myself," says Hebden in an interview with Exclaim! "When I put out a record I'm not trying to improve on the last one, I'm not working towards a perfect record. It's more a document of my musical interests and my musical journey in my own life."
At the time, a lot was made of the organic, folky tonescapes that set Rounds apart from, say, the jazz-sampling and hip-hop beats of a lot of Ninja Tune output, giving rise to the now laughable 'folktronica' genre tag. But Hebden insists that hip-hop was his major influence.
"Rounds has got a very strong hip-hop aesthetic to it. It's definitely in debt to '90s hip-hop producers like Pete Rock, DJ Premier and all those digging-in-the-crates guys. All that stuff was a really big deal for me. The music I've been making these days doesn't really have that at the forefront as much as my music used to."
Despite his musical evolution, Hebden explains that his music today is still made in more or less the same way as it was 10 years ago. "The general techniques I use are pretty much the same. I still buy loads and loads of records and still work a lot in that way."
In recent years, Four Tet's name has become known as much for remixes as for his own material, but he says he's taking a break from remixes to focus on his own music.
"I think I've got about 90 released remixes. I quite enjoy doing it because you work on something quite quickly, and it's a way of collaborating with somebody without having to get together in the studio, but some years I look back and I did 12 remixes, and if I hadn't done that, I could have made an album!"
And as to when that new Four Tet album might come out, Hebden is non-committal. "I don't know at the moment," he says. "I've been making music, and maybe it'll turn into an album or maybe I'll put some singles out. I'm always making music, and when I've got something ready, I'll put it out."
The reissue of Rounds arrives today (May 13) via Domino. Read more of Exclaim!'s Four Tet interview here.