10 iconic Four Tet moments

Having sparked us into a state of levitation with his new track 'Two Thousand And Seventeen', we thought it was about time Four Tet entered our Iconic Moments series.

In a career spanning two decades, Kieran Hebden's given us majestic experimentalism exploring jazz, ambient, folk, house and techno. He's capable of excelling in all of those, delivering records such as 'Dialogue', 'Pause', 'Rounds', 'There Is Love In You' and 'Beautiful Rewind'. A listen through his back catalogue is no chore, that's for sure, especially with tracks like 'As Serious As Your Life', 'Love Cry' and 'Parralel Jalebi' among it.

Then there's the collaborations with artists like Burial, Omar Souleyman and Thom Yorke, and hook-ups with the likes of Floating Points and Caribou. He's been around the block, but the thought of a new album from the London producer still fills us with joy.

From his debut release to unexpected back-to-backs, the below moments give you the best of Four Tet, a UK pioneer and one genius of a musician.

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Not sure what to call your first solo release? Just name it after how long it is. Yep, Four Tet's first solo material really is 36 minutes and 25 seconds long. Released in '98 on Trevor Jackson's Output, it's split into two parts - 'Part One (Eighteenfortythree)' and 'Part Two (Seventeenfortytwo)'. Each side is a slice of joyous, jazzy goodness and paved the way for many more Four Tet wonders. And a few more number-related tracks including 'Twenty Three' and the recent 'Two Thousand And Seventeen'.

This is a tag Four Tet's not keen on, but being responsible for kickstarting a genre (sort of) is iconic, right? On 2001's 'Pause', his sampling use of acoustic guitars ('Everything Is Alright), among other folk instruments, and warped, grainy electronics ('No More Mosquitoes') inspired the music press coining a new term for a delicate sound smothered in sun kisses. It didn't take long for him to get sick of it, though. In an interview with PitchforkPitchfork, he said: "Once the 'folktronica' tag was applied, it was a disaster for me. Looking back now, I’m even more annoyed by it. Ultimately, it had an effect on the music I made afterward. It was like a direct rebellion against 'folktronica'. I had to move away from it." This is the last time we mention it, we promise.

Before he revealed his identity, there was a time when nobody knew who Burial was. The rumour mill even went as far as speculating Burial was an alias of Four Tet. Something Hebden absolutely hated, according to this interview with Groove. Alas, Four Tet wasn't the man behind gems such as 'Burial' and 'Untrue', it just happened they both went to Elliott School in South London. If OFSTED marked schools on their talent of music, that one would be sitting way up high in the education leagues. Each producer's a genius on their own and the coming together of their two minds is equally exceptional. Released in 2009 on Four Tet's Text Records, 'Moth' is a blissful, dubbed out house voyage in cruise control. "The only flaw to this song is it's too short," one YouTube commenter wrote. They're not wrong.

He's got plenty of chat on Twitter, but try and hook an interview up with Hebden and you'll likely fail. He did speak to the Guardian in 2015 and have a chat Gilles Peterson last year, but apart from that, he's not had much to do with press since 2010. As expressed to the Guardian, he decided attempts to reach out to "casual" fans were "inefficient" so made the choice to go it alone. "I decided no more record label, no more press people. I started abandoning things and feeling very zen about it," he said. To be fair, he's released enough classic tracks and album masterpieces for people to know who he is. We rate the independence, but give Mixmag an interview soon yeah, Kieran?

We all know going out every weekend isn't exactly cheap. Especially when you're looking at a major venue with a number of high-profile DJs on the bill. Not if Four Tet's got anything to do with it, though. In 2015, Hebden hosted an all-night party at Brixton Academy, booking Ben UFO, Daphni, Pearson Sound, Floating Points, and only charging a fiver. He did two consecutive nights last year, too, and was joined by Joy Orbison, Jamie xx, Ben UFO, Josey Rebelle and Pangaea. Not bad for fivers in, is it?

London club Plastic People was a special place for Four Tet. So much so he even named a tune after it on 2009 album 'There Is Love In You'. He, as well as Floating Points, held residencies there and, as Floating Points wrote on SoundCloud, Four Tet's 'Pinnacles' was made to be played at the Shoreditch club. Their tight-knit affiliation with PP meant they were asked to play the final set at The Last Dance, going back-to-back for six hours and playing tunes such as Four Tet's 'Love Cry', Floating Points' 'Vacuum Boogie', Larry Heard's 'Missing You' and Souls Of Mischief's '93 'Til Infinity'. For those that weren't there, the two recorded it from beginning to end and you can listen to it above.

Nobody saw this one coming at all. The two producers hadn't even met until the night of the party, announced a week before, at Camden's grotty Underworld venue. Did that matter, though? No chance. Those who were there on Easter Sunday 2015 witnessed something special as they played one track each, flitting between Jack Ü's 'Take Ü There' and Double 99's 'RIP Groove'. Skrillex even mixed in an edit of 'Circle Of Life' from Disney classic The Lion King, according to RA's review. Say what you like about Skrillex, but you know he's got the real stuff when he can go toe-to-toe with someone like Four Tet.

Ibiza, October 2015. It's 11am and the sun is pouring through the roof of Amnesia with Maceo Plex behind the decks to finish the season. Only he's not rounding things off as many would expect him to. Just months before, Eric Prydz had released 'Opus' and with that came a 10-minute Four Tet remix. One that would become the talking point of Amnesia's closing party thanks to a video that went viral. In it, Maceo plays the remix in full, letting the wriggly synths build continuously and leaving those on the dancefloor with no idea of how to react. Some continue to dance, some lower themselves down ready to pop back up once the beats kick in. Yet it takes over three-and-a-half minutes 'til it reaches climax, so those sitting on the floor are back on their feet realising they've been duped. As soon as those drums kick in, though, applause roars through the venue as Ibiza's finest finally get the moment they've been waiting for. Put your hands together for Four Tet, the man responsible for the track that completely bewildered everyone in Amnesia that morning.

It's all well and good London having a Night Tube at the weekends, but the UK capital will never be a true 24-hour city until it has club venues that stay open all weekend long. You just have to look at Berlin to see how to do it properly. Ravers from across the world flock to the German capital to spend hours and hours on the Berghain dancefloor, sweating out to relentless techno or witnessing the daylight magic of Panorambar. The closure of East London nightspot Dance Tunnel sparked the business wires of Four Tet last year, tweeting that he wanted to buy closed LDN entertainment complex Trocadero and "turn it into the London equivalent of Berghain". With it being located in central London, we doubt it being a techno club would be too viable. He was also invited to City Hall by London Mayor Sadiq Khan last September, so big love to him for defending the capital's nightlife.

When United States President Donald Trump outrageously said he would be banning immigration of Muslim-majority countries, Four Tet spun the negativity into a playlist of positivity. Hebden had collaborated with Syrian musician Omar Souleyman on 'Bahdeni Nami' in the past, but pointed out that it wouldn't be able to happen again if Trump's order was successfully passed. With that in mind, he decided to go on a hunt of music from countries including Syria, Yemen and Iran and share them via a playlist. He said on Twitter Folkways Recordings was a main location for his search and you can check out his finds here. BTW, the playlist has now been updated with a bunch of other tracks including his new one 'Two Thousand And Seventeen'. Bonus.