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Four Tet  

Four Tet is the moniker of Kieran Hebden a post-rock and electronic musician

Four Tet is the moniker of Kieran Hebden (born 1978, London, England) a post-rock and electronic musician. Hebden first came to prominence as a member of the band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist under the name Four Tet. Hebden's music typically eschews the traditional pop song format in favor of a more abstract approach, as his sound and melodies incorporate elements of hip hop, electronica, techno, jazz, and folk music with live instrumentation.

He attended Elliott School in London, where he formed the band Fridge with classmates Adem Ilhan and Sam Jeffers. The band signed a recording contract when Hebden was 15, and released their first album in March 1997.

Hebden began releasing material as Four Tet in 1998 with the 36 minute, 25 second single “Thirtysixtwentyfive” on Trevor Jackson's Output Recordings label. Later that year, he released a second single, the jazz-influenced “Misnomer.” 1999's “Dialogue,” again on Output, was Four Tet's first full-length album release and fused hip hop drum lines with dissonant jazz samples. This was followed by the double A-side single “Glasshead”/”Calamine,” which was Four Tet's last release on Output.

In late 1999, Warp Records released “Warp 10 + 3: Remixes,” a tenth-anniversary compilation of remixes of Warp tracks. Hebden contributed a remix of the opening track of Aphex Twin's “Selected Ambient Works Volume II.” This relatively high-profile exposure attracted new interest in Four Tet from fans of electronica and intelligent dance music, genres in which the Warp label is well-known.

In 2001, Four Tet's second album “Pause” was released on Domino Records and found Hebden using more folk and electronic samples. His next album, “Rounds,” was released in May 2003. Three singles were released from the album, “She Moves She,” “As Serious as Your Life” and “My Angel Rocks Back and Forth.”

A live album, “Live in Copenhagen 30th March 2004,” was released in April 2004 as a limited edition. In March and April 2005, Four Tet performed two shows of improvisational music, in collaboration with jazz drummer Steve Reid, in Paris and London. He also appeared on the Steve Reid Ensemble 2005 album “Spirit Walk.” This collaboration was extended into a series of international tours, and the release of two albums, “The Exchange Session Vol. 1” and “The Exchange Session Vol. 2” over the course of 2005 and 2006.

His fourth studio album “Everything Ecstatic” was released on Domino in May 2005. In November 2005, Domino released a DVD version of “Everything Ecstatic” featuring video clips for each track of the album plus an album with new material, titled “Everything Ecstatic Part 2,” which was later made available as an individual EP.

In September 2006, Domino Records released “Remixes,” a two-disc compilation of Four Tet remixes. The first disc contained twelve Four Tet remixes selected by Hebden, with the second disc comprising every official remix to date (both by Hebden himself and by other artists) of Four Tet tracks, many of which had previously been available on vinyl only.

A new EP, “Ringer,” was released in April 2008. In 2008, Hebden collaborated with composer David Arnold to write “Crawl, End Crawl,” the song used for the end credits of the 2008 James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace.”

The fifth full-length Four Tet album, “There Is Love in You,” was released in January 2010. The album was preceded by a limited edition release of the 12" single “Love Cry.”

In 2011, Hebden released a split 12" with Burial and Thom Yorke, entitled “Ego”/“Mirror.” Hebden has also remixed, under the Four Tet name, tracks by a wide range of artists including Tegan And Sara, Madvillain, Andrew Bird, Bloc Party, Super Furry Animals, Beth Orton, Badly Drawn Boy, CYNE, The Notwist, Boom Bip, Battles, Kings of Convenience, Lars Horntveth, Bonobo, Rothko, The xx, Thom Yorke and Radiohead.

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