Text 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: If you were judging Kieran Hebden's 11th Four Tet studio album merely on the way it's presented, you'd immediately think he'd spent the last two years immersed in early '90s ambient house albums. While it's unlikely he's done that, it's fair to say that New Energy does owe a debt to classic electronica sets from that period. For all the exotic instrumentation and subtle nods to post-dubstep "aquacrunk" experimentalism and chiming, head-in-the-clouds sunrise house, the album feels like a relic of a lost era. That's not meant as a criticism - New Energy is superb - but it is true that his choice of neo-classical strings, gentle new age melodies, sweeping synthesizer chords and disconnected vocal samples would not sound out of place on a Global Communication album.

Review: Four Tet is back with a new album of shimmering wonderment on his own Text label. As ever, it's the way that Kieran Hebden tugs at the heart strings so artfully that makes him so well-loved, and he's not holding back one iota as "Sixteen Oceans" opens up with the ineffably pretty "School". There's some advanced garage ruminations on "Baby", classic ambience on "Harpsichord", and so the eclectic and extremely soul-cleansing vibes continue across three sides of wax. In addition to this wonderful new album, Hebden has also held back the fourth side for a bunch of locked grooves so satisfying you could get lost in them all day.

Review: Keiran Hebden rarely does things by halves, though it's still surprising to find that Morning/Evening, his eighth full-length, consists of two contrasting 20-minute explorations, each inspired by a time of day. "Morning" is, as you may expect, warm, bright and evocative, with intoxicating Eastern vocals, dreamy chords and various bursts of melodious instrumentation riding a rolling, jazz-flecked, soft touch deep house groove. It is, of course, intensely beautiful. Hebden largely disposes of the beats entirely on "Evening", delivering 15 minutes of picturesque electronic melodies and sunset-friendly ambience, before introducing a jazz-flecked house rhythm for the final five minutes. It, too, is a thing of great beauty

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: Originally released digitally in 2013, Pink collated a series of 12" releases from Kieran Hebden issued over an 18 month period on his Text label. Hebden and record club and subscription service Vinyl Me, Please have teamed up to give Pink a double vinyl release for any Four Tet fans that weren't quick enough to nab those 12"s at the time. There is plenty of classic Four Tet to be had here too. "Jupiters" experiments with swung garage beats in an unmistakably UK Bass style, while "128 Harps" is a whipcrack MPC workout given his light melodic touch and "Peace On Earth" is a beatless 11 minutes of analogue kosmische. But it's the centrepiece of Hebden's Fabriclive mix, the brilliantly moody "Pyramid", and the loose limbed jazz-house of "Pinnacles" that really set this album apart from his other long-playing efforts, two examples of timeless dance music which demonstrate why after nearly 15 years in the game Hebden is only improving with age.

Review: In advance of his forthcoming album Beautiful Rewind, Four Tet drops this limited white label offering a hint of what's to come. "Kool FM" is the producer's ode to pirate radio, constructing a stripped back club track bolted together with junglist breakbeats, a hyperactive MC sample, a full-bodied bassline and copious in-built rewinds. On the flip, the "Bliss Mix" strips out the beats and bass for a eerily serene version leaving only wispy pads and spectral vocals. As always with these surprise Four Tet drops, supplies are limited...