Four Tet - Rounds (2003)

1. Hands
2. She Moves She
3. First Thing
4. My Angel Rocks Back and Forth
5. Spirit Fingers
6. Unspoken
7. Chia
8. As Serious as Your Life
9. And They All Look Broken Hearted
10. Slow Jam

I started to think of this record when I first heard Emancipator's classic. It kind of brought me back to this. This album is probably one of the greatest instrumental albums of all time. This is a staple in the genre, and gets copied CONSTANTLY. If you listen to this record for the first time and feel like it sounds familiar, that's because it probably does. The album's style and sound have been reproduced and bitten by thousands of producers. "Rounds" is probably in my top ten instrumental albums, along with "Petestrumentals" and "Endtroducing..." Even more reaffirming is the fact that this album has been acknowledged by the masters, with remixes from DJ Premier and Jay Dee for As Serious as Your Life. This certainly is an interesting album, and shows the breadth of Four Tet. It's hard enough to abandon the music that you're best at and try something new, but it's even harder to do the latter, AND MAKE A FUCKING CLASSIC. Four Tet was quoted as saying that he wanted to cut away from the folk instrumental genre THAT HE CREATED, and try a more DJ Shadow-influenced release. What you get, is the amazing "Rounds". Check this out, and Emancipator if you haven't. Or just listen to it again.

Enjoy It. Comment.