Just like last time, the title of Four Tet's album says everything. The last one, Rounds, realized the "Row-row-row-your-boat"-style round using electronics, creating bar room singalongs using beats and spells. This one is even more overtly happy; its title is Everything Ecstatic. Whereas most artists - and specifically electronic artists - would use such inspiration to move towards sunny and sappy pop music, Hebden does everything but. Its nonlinear, filling your ear with invigorating, refreshing, and dirty sounds not trite melody.
The album opens with the transcendent "Joy," using a buzzing engine-like bass sound and step-show style beats. Its sound it so unique and full of vigor, it pries open your ears and rushes into your brain. When I first heard this song, I couldn't get enough of it. Repeat, repeat, repeat...
Also a pure joy is "Sun Drums and Soil" which fuses African beats, jazz, and electronica into a beautiful, soothing drift on a river. As the song builds on the repetition of its fast-paced keyboard progression, two simple sounds are powerfully mixed - a singular "da" from a female vocalist and a singular blurt from a saxophone. As the two samples call and response between each other, a furious drums of death builds from underneath, creating a crazy mayhem of sound until the sax finally is let loose from its cage, blaring a euphoric melody to the heavens.
One of Hebden great strengths - and something he's shown both in Fridge and Four Tet - is the ability to mix different instruments in unusual ways, like those great female "da"s and sax in "Sun Drums and Soil." Another great example from this album is "High Fives" which brings out the vibes, but mixes them with raygun pulses that sound a lot like turntable scratching. Often times, though, the elements are so affected, straining the source into weird tweets and twirls, that they're hard to place. "Smile Around the Face," for example, is built around this great, dreamy melody from some sort of mechanized, industrial whistling.
Everything Ecstatic is completely essential. While Rounds surprised me how good it was, nothing could prepare me for how good this one is. One of the best electronic albums of the past decade; in my mind, it's like the counterpoint to DJ Shadow's Endtroducing. Similar great beats, similar dense construction, but the bright, heavenly Luke to Shadow's dark, shadowy Vader.
