Product reviewsFour Tet - Rounds (2003)

Genius at Work

‘Rounds’ is certainly not an album for hardcore musos only, but neither does it give up its treasures immediately.

On the first couple if listens it sounds like a bit of mess. You hear a collage of skittering, cut-up beats, electronic effects and samples of ‘real’ instruments and other found sounds all thrown together with seemingly no overall design.

Listen on and persevere, though, and the picture changes. Threads of melody and structure appear on each and every track and the album turns into a multi-layered treasure trove of sound. ‘She Moves She’ features a frisky beat, gently plucked strings and a chiming percussion melody. ‘My Angel Rocks Back and Forth’ is anchored by a heartbreakingly gorgeous harp string motif, so simple in its execution but so effective.

The quality does not drop throughout. ‘As Serious As Your Life’ has plucked guitars and clapping frisky beats whilst the superb closing track, ‘Slow Jam’ has an aching melody and the best use of a squeaky toy I have ever heard in popular music.

The music is so rich and dense that you genuinely do hear something new on every listed. I suppose ‘Rounds’ fits squarely into the Folktronica genre and this style of music will obviously not be to everyone’s taste (it would be a dull world if we all liked the same thing), but it is a shame that those reviewers who have been so negative about this CD cannot at least recognise the extraordinarily fecund creative process on display here.

I have loved music for about 18 years and this is one of my favourite CDs of all time. An absolute beauty if you give it a chance.Read full review...