Here we go, one of the most anticipated electronica releases of the past year from veteran knob tweaker and mood sculptor Four Tet. With various stints like releasing a techno record, touring with Steve Reid, and a few months sabbatical spent DJing in London, we had no real idea where he would land next. Turns out our best indicator was the kinetic Moth/Wolf Cub split with former schoolmate Burial. The new full-length There Is Love In You, returns to the glory of that twitchy dub jam, but with all of the perennial elements of Hebdan’s work from 1999’s Dialogue to present. The pulse beat of a heart, a motif of his since early albums, is recreated by the hum of organic sounds carefully cut and expanded, orbiting around an invisible core like a mobile of samples. Voices curl and multiply, even the most obviously synthesized sounds are kneaded into an uncannily human vibe that only Four Tet can diffuse from the circuitboard. Tracks like “Circling” blend warm, blinking arpeggios into a late-night cocktail that could have sat happily next to Squarepusher’s ambient cuts used on the Lost in Translation soundtrack.

Indeed, nostalgia runs all throughout the album, for both his own body of work and in general. Love’s finale “She Just Likes to Fight”, with it’s contemplative guitar riff and toy percussion recalls the closing number “Slow Jam” off of his magnum opus Rounds. But even more than being an articulate reflection of past work, this new album has proven to be a clever predictor of what the scene would sound like upon it’s completion. With the emergence of new-school dub steppers like Joy Orbison stealing the spotlight with their organic, staccato spin on a flat-lined genre, Four Tet re-emerges with a complete vision that anticipates this trend, and expands on it in ways only a seasoned producer could. The results are lucid, immersive, and unless Boards of Canada emerge from the fog, will undoubtedly remain the crowning achievement of popular electronica this year. I’ll eat those words if necessary, but I doubt it.

There Is Love In You is available this Monday through Domino Records and comes highly recommended.

MP3 :::
Four Tet – Plastic People
Four Tet – She Just Likes to Fight

It’s been two years since Four Tet’s last full-length Ringer, where he made a stylistic hard-left into techno territory. Having spent his time since pursing seemingly polar ventures; touring with famed jazz drummer Steve Reid and a residency as a DJ at London’s Plastic People club, his new album There is Love in You seems to be a reconciliation of the two. The foundation is rooted in a pulse beat, with lots of warm hazy synths, but they are balanced by a sample palette reminiscent of his earlier work of sequenced and chopped harp, bells, and jazzy percussive overdubs. The new album comes out January 25th on Domino, but you can stream a promo mix of the whole album on Soundcloud up until then.

It would take a pretty awesome album cover to get its own post. And the album cover for the forthcoming Animal Collective album Merriweather Post Pavilion gets that honor.

The Magic Eye company spent years releasing optical illusion picture books that didn’t fuckin’ work! And it only took AC one try to get the wavy surrealism tip right. Man, this rules. I can’t stop staring at it. I’m trying to get my reviews of Religious Knives and Hush Arbors written today, but all I can do is stare at this thing. You guys enjoying this? I’m enjoying this.

Man… that’s kwaa-zeee! I wonder if it glows under blacklight as well?

Drops 1.20.09 courtesy of Domino. Traxxxx:

1. In the Flowers
2. My Girls
3. Also Frightened
4. Summertime Clothes
5. Daily Routine
6. Bluish
7. Guys Eyes
8. Taste
9. Lion in a Coma
10. No More Runnin
11. Brother Sport

In other news completely unrelated to Animal Collective, my Yelp review for one of my favorite local eateries is the Review of the Day today at Yelp Chicago. Bloggins power!

MP3 :::
Animal Collective – Daily Routine (Live at Pitchfork)