ANDREW MOORE catches Kieran Hebden in action at Sonar 2011…
September 19 sees the release of number 59 in the FabricLive mix series, with the ever-excellent Four Tet behind the decks. To get you in the mood, here’s the man himself in action at this year’s Sonar. And here’s what Fabric have to say about the new album…
Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden) adds something special to the FabricLive series, with this the 59th compilation. The mix has a distinct narrative to it and unearths music that hasn’t previously had a great deal of exposure. This project for Kieran has become more than just the mix itself – it’s been an adventure into the past as he sought out not only classics, but searched for rarer tracks he may have missed at the time when he was immersed in the original 90s 2 step garage scene.
In the mix, forgotten gems reside next to current tracks that are dear to him and a number of Kieran’s own tracks made specially for the CD – something he’s been doing for his DJ sets for many years. He’s also explored the idea of the club itself, sending his audio engineer friend Sasha Lewis to make field recordings from Fabric, which feature as a highlight and pause, breaking the mix into different parts – as if you’re moving within the clubs space to hear different DJs. In fact, the mix is somewhat topsy turvey, starting out fast and then slowing down.
The music ranges from experimental electronics, like Michel Redolfi’s Immersion Partielle that Kieran feels “isn’t the type of techno you get on a mix CD”, to the wonderfully titled Crazy Bald Heads’ First Born, a great lost twostep/garage record. “It still sounds so fresh that if it came out next week everyone would flip out,” says Kieran.
Tracks like Persian’s Feel the Vibe are preciously rare, a brilliant track that only came out on white label. “I don’t have a copy of this record and can’t find one anywhere. Persian wasn’t even able to sort me out with a vinyl rip or Wav of the track! In the end I found a guy on discogs called DaWreck who has a copy and he very generously ripped the vinyl for me so it could be used on the comp.”
Classic grime came with its own set of problems, with Kieran buying up every copy he could find of Music Mob’s Pulse X to find one clean enough to use for the compilation.
Favourite producers of the moment like Floating Points, Burial and Ricardo Villalobos sit next to UK funky classics like Apple’s Mr Bean, bought from a record dealer called Julien who specialises in UK garage, grime, funky, jungle… “He got me a nice mint copy of this. Apple then turned out to be really difficult to find to clear the track. We had loads of DJs and producers trying to find me contact details, the 4th email address finally worked, so thanks to Brackles and Funk Butcher for sorting it.” Making space between the music is Four Tet Fabric, “a collage of field recordings of sounds from in and around the club”.
Interestingly, the entire mix is constructed on computer, more in the way you would create a film score than a DJ mix. Yet every track is vinyl, with Kieran cutting acetates of all his own music for the mix, to ensure that the sound quality and vibe is consistent. It’s then mastered with no cleaning or levelling, to retain the hiss, pop and crackle of the wax. It’s these slightly obsessive details that highlight why we have this Four Tet mix. For Kieran, to do anything in these days of overload – especially of DJ mixes, there must be a purpose, something unique to offer, and it’s these details that are so crucial to him. We hope that you delve deep into the music and take as much pleasure from this trip as we do.
“This mix is not about my DJing. It’s about London and Fabric and nights out and my take on all that. The memories and the influences. I used old and new music, I used recordings of Fabric, and I made new tracks of my own for it. I hope people play it fucking loud and lose their minds in it and remember or imagine what it’s all about.”
FabricLive 59 is out on September 19. Visit www.fourtet.net and www.fabriclondon.com
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