Taking a break from recent collaborations with jazz drummer Steve Reid, Kieran Hebden delivers his first new Four Tet material since '05's "Everything Ecstatic." This four song EP finds Hebden completely shedding the overused folktronica tag and delving into minimal, Kraut-influenced electronic music, blending hypnotizing Gottsching/Cluster-like ambience over a restrained techno pulse with occasional bursts of live drumming. Recommended!

Taking a break from recent collaborations with jazz drummer Steve Reid, Kieran Hebden delivers his first new Four Tet material since '05's Everything Ecstatic. Having carved out his own niche in electronica through his use of organic sounds and crisp percussive breaks, this four song EP definitely marks a change of direction for Hebden. It's immediately apparent in the opening cut, a sprawling 10-plus-minute track that completely eschews any sign of folk-tronica, "Ringer" instead gliding across the subtle 4/4 pulse of a kick drum with looping synth arppegiations that are one part "E2-E4" and one part Blade Runner. It's not until about eight minutes in that a drum kit appears from nowhere only to be swallowed back into the black hole of the kosmische sounds a few moments later. The first minute or two of "Ribbons" wouldn't sound out of place on a Kompakt Total disc, Hebden experimenting with minimal techno, only his version is much warmer than what one normally associates with the genre, with rippling synths providing the foundation for layers of staccato counter-melodies. "Swimmer" follows a similar though much more spacious and droney tact, while closing track "Wing Body Wing" finds Hebden integrating elements of his work with Reid, layering jazzy poly-rhythms atop the bubbling electronics and dance beats. No telling yet whether this EP is the sign of things to come or merely a chance for the producer/musician to spread his wings a little before his next proper Four Tet release; either way, it's an exciting and highly listenable detour for Hebden. [GH] (March 28, 2008)