Text 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: One of two Text drops from Kieran Hebden this week sees the Four Tet producer brush up again with Hyperdub-alum Champion. Fans of the prolific Four Tet will no doubt recall Champion's stellar rework of "Kool FM" back in 2013 and will probably be excited to see how the pair fare when working directly together. Hopefully this 12" is the first of several from Four Tet and Champion as there is some proper dynamite housed within the grooves of these two tracks. Up top "Flip Side" sees the classic vocal from De' Lacy's "Hideaway" spliced over a viciously warped bassline, broken percussion and pitch-bent synths - classic London style of production this! "Disparate" brings back vivid memories of UK Funky at its best, and features some naggingly familiar female vocals.

Review: Not content with those pair of bubbling cuts produced with UK man Champion, Four Tet rolls out another must have Text 12" that features collaborations with the long dormant Designer alias of Melbourne-based Chicagoan Casey Rice. The pair's work together first surfaced in the shape of "Dark", an abstract, skeletal beat track Four Tet included on his Essential mix with Jimmy Jamie xx last year. It now features here on the B-side, preceded by the more life affirming bliss of "Mothers". Here Rice and Hebden craft a skittering rhythm track blessed with colour and some truly hypnotic manipulated and delay effects. Just wait for that killer kick drum and bass line to join the fun at the 3 min 40 mark.

Review: Here it is in all its 10 minute glory; since teased at the start of the summer as a four minute track, "Two Thousand And Seventeen" now unfolds into a much bigger, classic Four Tet picture. Its driving groove now extended and explored, it's another breath-taking narrative. "Track 1" continues the spell-binding-yet-heavy drive with humanised rhythmic elements and an infectious string-plucked hook that grabs you by surprise from the side like so many Four Tet tunes do. Grab it while you can.

Review: It's been a hell of a long time since Kieran Hebden released a full-length album; Sixteen Oceans and Parallel both came out in 2020 and made for twin final inculcations of his twinkly, stellar dance sound. Three, by contrast, comes a full four years later and promises a return to a relaxed space for the artist, recalling the woodside studio space that facilitated his inauguration as a meme. Not quite abandoning the EDM bent, 'Daydream Repeat' recalls those earlier projects, but the likes of 'Three Drums' and 'Loved' are by contrast much more measured, soft-breaksy constructions in sound, recalling a more radical return to hip-hop than house.