Kieran Hebden a.k.a. Four TetSupplied
When Kieran Hebden, a.k.a. Four Tet, performs in Montreal this week at the MUTEK festival of electronic music, before he dives into a set of his own material, he will do something he has done very well for more than a decade: play with others.
Compared with the performers he will jam with in Montreal, Brit duo Rocketnumbernine, Hebden is better known. His solo albums have inspired a cult following and endless critical acclaim; but as a collaborator - whether remixing artists from Aphex Twin to Vampire Weekend, or performing on any number of instruments and devices - his record is unbeatable.
The key to his success is knowing how to respect and build on what others do, while keeping something of himself in the mix. Of his many joint ventures, the most recognizable is Crawl, End Crawl, conceived with soundtrack composer David Arnold and heard over the closing credits of the most recent James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.
However, it may yet be supplanted by his latest release, which brings together Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Burial, the Mercury Prize-winning producer, for Ego/Mirror, a vinyl-only single that sold out both its pressings within minutes. Collectors would have snatched it up anyway, but observers heaped praise on it nonetheless: The beat's viscous consistency and clattering rhythms, along with Yorke's typically gnomic pronouncements ("What once was separate can be joined again"), were widely judged as compulsively replayable as the catchiest club hit.
Not that it wasn't supposed to be one. "I don't know what it was intended for, actually," Hebden says, chuckling, as he juggles both the phone and a baby; he, his wife and child have just relocated from London to New York. "I think we were trying to mix together all the things we were interested in at the time. On the one hand, maybe it is like a club record, but on the other, it bears no resemblance to most club music."
That statement describes both the single and Hebden's music as a whole, especially his releases after 2008. What separates his output pre-2008 and post (last year's There Is Love in You album was more streamlined than his early work, but no less celebrated, earning Pitchfork's coveted "Best New Music" designation) is his stint touring and recording with the late Steve Reid, who played drums for James Brown and Marvin Gaye but who was best known as a jazz musician.
Playing with Reid "changed everything," Hebden says. Even though Reid himself had a reputation as an avant-gardist, their music together was frequently beat-driven, though it stretched the definition of the term. The pair not only played in seated theatres, but also at rock festivals and in dance clubs, to Reid's apparent delight. It was his time with Reid, Hebden explains, that prompted him to turn to the dance floor. "Funnily enough, playing with Steve made me really interested in rhythm."
Hebden comes across as a slightly shy person whose passion for the medium overwhelms his natural reserve. Asked why his recent music shares dance's relentless pulse but leans toward moody samples rather than bruising synthesizers, he answers assertively: "I'm still influenced quite a lot by hip hop and that whole way of messing with samples. That's the backbone of the way I work. For me, it's fun to make this kind of music but use a completely different set of sounds from everybody else."
When we speak, he's working on a mix for London superclub Fabric's venerated monthly CD series, and he isn't relying on his magic touch to make his entry stand out. "Definitely, the pressure's on for that," he says. "I'm trying to make sure I get something decent together. I'm working hard at it."
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Every year, MUTEK attracts global electronic stars, but this year's Canadian contingent is world-class:
Jacques Greene June 2 at Métropolis
With releases on U.K. labels LuckyMe and Night Slugs, the daring Montrealer has already joined the house-music elite.
Plastikman June 3 at Métropolis
Windsor, Ont.'s Richie Hawtin has revived his rave-era alter ego for a techno spectacle.
Four Tet June 4 at Métropolis
Danuel Tate June 5 at the Society for Arts and Technology
One third of techno dream team Cobblestone Jazz, Victoria's Tate will perform from his propulsive 2010 solo album, Mexican Hotbox.
Special to The Globe and Mail