Four Tet – Ringer EP (Domino, 2008)
(This originally appeared in Skyscraper)
For the entirety of his career Frank Zappa sought the distinction and reverie afforded to classical composers. Even if his works were not thought of in the same light as his hero, Varèse, Zappa relished his inclusion into that cultural space. And while none of this has any direct relevance to Four Tet, over his recording career, his offerings can in fact be examined through the lens of composition. As electronic music, or any genre for that matter, can more and more easily be contorted, the creation process increasingly appears to encompass compositional elements – if not of the classical ilk, then surely the avant-garde. Ringer is in stark contrast to his recent works with Steve Reid as well as Fridge. Perhaps regarding the use of organic instrumentation as only a brief period in his output, Four Tet returns to strictly electronically propelled music. Again, contrasting his other electronically oriented work, Ringer doesn’t openly embrace the Kraut affinities of sections found on Pause or other earlier efforts. Repetitive elements are indispensible, but included here in a strictly computerized mechanism, they seem less compelling than elsewhere in the Four Tet cannon. As a basic split in his listener-ship, there are those enmeshed with these computerized endeavors and there are those that seek only the simplistic robotic, faux-organic instrumentation that won’t be found here. For clubbers only.
“Hands” from Rounds (2003)
