Everything Ecstatic

Amazon.com
Between the work of his pioneering band Fridge and the early Four Tet albums, Kieran Hebden did more than help invent "folktronica"; like all artists worth their salt he pushed the boundaries of the form before they were even drawn. Ecstatic is a fiercely rhythmic rollercoaster ride. The opening track, "A Joy," is a bass-heavy number that updates "No More Mosquitoes" from 2001's Pause. The staggered, double drum kit sound on the deliriously woozy, aptly titled "Smile Around the Face," is what the Boredoms might sound like in collaboration with Fraggle Rock . That sounds ridiculous but it's true. Elsewhere, chimes, gongs, bells and whistles enliven this poppy, woozy electronic record. You might even call the whole thing mystical, especially when lost inside the eight minute "Sleep, Eat Food, Have Visions." -–Mike McGonigal

Product Description
On his fourth proper LP, KIERAN HEBDEN returns with his most musically challenging record to date, a drum-heavy explosion of boombasticism, marches, breakdowns, and space. Placing abstract into a container of beautronica, this is an album of hope, experimentation, & reach.

Everything Ecstatic,Four Tet,Domino,Experimental Techno,Indie Electronic,Pop,Post-Rock/Experimental,Rock,Rock/Pop

Everything Ecstatic

Average customer rating:

I liked/appreciated it, but it's in a way different place
Funky, loose, and fun.
If I could give a 4.5
Blew me away.
Win some. Lose some.

Everything Ecstatic
Four Tet
Manufacturer: Domino
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0009ESSGK
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Tracks:

A Joy
Smile Around the Face
Fuji Check
Sun Drums and Soil
Clouding
And Then Patterns
High Fives
Turtle Turtle Up
Sleep, Eat Food, Have Visions
You Were There With Me

Amazon.com

Between the work of his pioneering band Fridge and the early Four Tet albums, Kieran Hebden did more than help invent "folktronica"; like all artists worth their salt he pushed the boundaries of the form before they were even drawn. Ecstatic is a fiercely rhythmic rollercoaster ride. The opening track, "A Joy," is a bass-heavy number that updates "No More Mosquitoes" from 2001's Pause. The staggered, double drum kit sound on the deliriously woozy, aptly titled "Smile Around the Face," is what the Boredoms might sound like in collaboration with Fraggle Rock . That sounds ridiculous but it's true. Elsewhere, chimes, gongs, bells and whistles enliven this poppy, woozy electronic record. You might even call the whole thing mystical, especially when lost inside the eight minute "Sleep, Eat Food, Have Visions." --Mike McGonigal

Album Description

On his fourth proper LP, KIERAN HEBDEN returns with his most musically challenging record to date, a drum-heavy explosion of boombasticism, marches, breakdowns, and space. Placing abstract into a container of beautronica, this is an album of hope, experimentation, & reach.

Customer Reviews:

I liked/appreciated it, but it's in a way different place .......2007-01-10

I don't like to compare this to "rounds" or "pause" necessarily, but seeing as how this is in the same body of work, I'm kind of obliged. The previous albums had their abstractions and concepts but Everything Ecstatic takes that to an extreme. This album is obviously Kieran Hebdan coming into his Steve-Reid Exchange Sessions musical persona. There is alot less acoustic instrumentation and folk texture and more electric chaos. The record still sounds like four tet made it, but it almost sounds like the magazine articles pushed the "folktronica" tag so much that Hebdan abandoned it, and i don't blame him. It took me awhile as a Four Tet fan before i committed to buying this album, but when i did i still enjoyed it and gave it alot of time. I might go as far as to say I enjoy this more than "Pause", but the two records feel so vastly different that I couldn't justify doing so. Everything Ecstatic wins my praise, but it didn't make me fall in love with the Four Tet style like "Rounds" did.

Funky, loose, and fun........2006-11-06

That's what I would describe Four Tet's Everything Esctatic. It sounds like it was a blast to make. Kieran Hebden is the man behind Four Tet, and his IDM/funkish songs sound really joyous. Take the first track "A Joy," a song with a lot of out-of-time effects running through a skippy beat and pulsating bass. What really makes the track though is the constant beat underlying it. Smile Around The Face is another joyous upbeat song, with some chipmunk soul singers and powerful drumming.

Other tunes are more experimental, such as the jazzy "Sun Drums and Soil," the dark and moody "And Then Patterns", and the quiet minamalism of "You Were There With Me." There is a constant flow to the album, and the feel is like being surrounded by life.

On the whole, this is album that just makes you feel good. You can groove to it, play it in the background while doing other things, or play it at a party. It's quite a good enviroment to be in.

If I could give a 4.5.......2006-05-13

Beautiful album. 3rd best, but that doesn't mean its not amazing.

Blew me away........2006-03-18

I have been a big fan of Fourtet ever since I first heard "No More Mosquitos". All of his music was refreshingly creative and easy on the ears. He's demonstrated a keen ability to soften the normally harsher sound of IDM style beats time and time again. You still get a lot of that with "Everything Ecstatic"... real drum kits, guitar riffs and hand claps sampled and chopped, the same organic windchimes and buzzing insects. Luckily, Kieran has expanded his arsenal of sounds to include more traditional techno kits that he uses in some rather non-traditional ways. As another reviewer mentioned, he uses a lot more 303 and 909 patterns. These machines sound so cliched these days, but not here. Kieran breaths new life into them, making 303 patterns sound just as organic and natural as those buzzing mosquito wings. On other tracks he maintains some minimal techno flat beats worthy of Detroits dirtiest tech dancehalls.

This album is fantastic, plain and simple. I am glad to see Fourtet is evolving with the times rather than trying to maintain the status-quo that he helped create.

Win some. Lose some........2006-02-03

You win some and you lose some. This purchase was a definite loss. What a dissapointment.

Average customer rating:

Four Tet: Everything Ecstatic DVD/Part 2 (Domino)
giant pandas, four-eyed hipsters, seizure-inducing sequences...

Everything Ecstatic Part II
Four Tet
Manufacturer: Domino
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Electronic Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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ASIN: B000DZV8M6
Release Date: 2006-01-24

Tracks:

Joy [DVD]
Smile Around the Face [DVD]
Fuji Check [DVD]
Sun Drums and Soil [DVD]
Clouding [DVD]
High Fives [DVD]
Turtle Turtle Up [DVD]
Sleep, Eat Food, Have Visions [DVD]
You Were There with Me [DVD]
And Then Patterns [DVD]

Tracks:

Turtle Turtle Up [Extended Version]
Sun Drums and Soil, Pt. 2
Watching Wavelength
This Is Six Minutes
Ending

Album Description

Take the mesmerizing aural experience of Four Tet's acclaimed "Everything Ecstatic" and couple it with ten new film shorts commissioned specifically for the ten musical pieces and you get this synapse-fusing new DVD release. Bonus disc includes 35 minutes of brand new music, and some radical rethinks of material from "Everything Ecstatic", which together represent a current snapshot of Kieran's ever-changing musical thinking.

Customer Reviews:

Four Tet: Everything Ecstatic DVD/Part 2 (Domino).......2006-02-07

Well, isn't this intriguing? Four Tet had all of his videos directed for Everything Ecstatic. Now, the album simply was good enough because you can put your own imagination to it. Kieran Hebden frees his mind, and the rest followed with everything. Now, the great thing about these videos is that most of them stick to the theme: ecstatic, happiness. But some of the people won't see anything but arty or cheesy or arty and cheesy. That may not be what Four Tet is aiming for and with his videos, he doesn't care. BUt in my view that is just what it turns out to be.

Now I hope you don't mind if I take the Amazon approach and rate the videos in line. Here goes nothing:

1. A Joy: The simple joys of watching colors bounce around and sprint all over the screen. What joy. 2/5

2. Smile Around The Face: The man has gone through some srazy crap in his day and doesn't have much to smile about until the end. To some it may be quite predictable, but the video feels much like a lesson than anything regular. This was also one of the videos they showed you on the Domino Records website. 4/5

3. Fuji Check: Just take a picture of a tour. Once more proving that Fuji Check isn't much of a song that sprouts imagination. 2.5/5

4. Sun, Drums, and Soil: The song is an absolute frenzy, but the video seems quite pointless. All there are is things happening and not much left to expect. But what we may get through this is just the beauty of things, which saves the video from seeming quite amateur. 3/5

5. Clouding: The beauty of finger stroking the paint and lights shining through. It's good. But doesn't quite mimic the beauty of the resonating sounds in the piece. 3/5

6. High Fives: Rain falling on your head, leaving you to picture a whole new world. Eh. It's nice and just my style, but nothing really groundbreaking. And it sounded like they paid a lot of money on this one. 3/5

7. Turtle Turtle Up: Ah the simple joys of...watching a pig get cut up in a butcher shop? Wait a minute! Th-that's not right! I thought the theme was ecstatic. This feels like using the theme as a form of sarcasm. 2.75/5

8. Sleep, Eat Food, Have Visions: I know this already reminds you of Queens of the Stone Age "No One Knows". The revenge of very different species of life. Getting your head cut off for eating a lollipop with the said animals imprint. Kind of makes you wonder and keep those eyes on the television to get it. 3.5/5

9. You Were There With Me: Well, at least they stuck with the theme of the album, Not many will keep full focus on the theme as much as people blowing kisses as Kieran's girlfriend. But nonetheless, it keeps with the theme and makes use the sound of heavenly chimes. 4.5/5

10. And Then Patterns: What? They could find a single person to direct a video for "And Then Patterns"? And this song had some potential. Eh. Well, someone or something has to play footnote, I guess. 2/5

Well, I guess I have said enough about the videos besides the fact that as good as they try to be, most of them don't quite mimic the beauty of the songs by itself. In fact "You Were There with Me" sounds quite good with the "Clouding" video.

As far as the songs go, the last thing you really want happening in a part 2 of an album is an overextended version of a piece that is growing on you. But Four Tet has over extended "Turtle Turtle Up" only to give to you a more appropriate beginning. And the saddest thing is that by extending it for 16 MINUTES! He quite mimicked Black Dice in turning something beautiful into a full blown movie in your mind. What has become of the music is just removing the clutter to release a videogame-like groove that keeps you ecstatic indeed and makes Beck want to ring his neck because he didn't think of it first. However, in 11:30, it sounds as if Four Tet really just ran out of ideas and just improvised for the rest. Most of you would wish that he had kept it less than 3 minutes, as beautiful of a condensed version that came out to be on the real album. (Do you know how embarassing it is to find all you have been listening to all this time is an interstitial?)

Next comes the sound of lasers and Hip-Hop drums on Part 2 of "Sun, Drums and Soil" and you can say the energy isn't really as low as it seems. The music has the keyboard riff at a different tempo completely, upping the ecstasy and acceptance for remixes. "Watching Wavelength" is a clear B-Side to "Clouding" on the first album. The jazzy and headbopping standout of the album, "This Is Six Minutes" does more than state the obvious, but it sounds like more of a B-Side to Rounds than Everything Ecstatic. As for the ending, it seems out of place, and feels more like a Fuji Checkmate.

So, the best I can say about you is that the music is not really bad, it is just a little short. But the DVD for Everything Ecstatic is mostly for the fans. All of those who want to get to know Four Tet may want to brush up on his other work, buy Everything Ecstatic Part 1, or buy a Fridge album. But leave this on the shelf for now

Rating: CD: 7.5/10, DVD: ** 1/2 of *****

giant pandas, four-eyed hipsters, seizure-inducing sequences..........2006-01-27

Four Tet (a.k.a. Kieran Hebden) released his first DVD a couple years ago. It was a "bonus disc" of four videos included with a CD single of remixes... one video was hilarious, one was a bore, and two were hauntingly nightmarish and disturbing. Now, the tables have been turned: The DVD is the main attraction here, while the CD is a lowly "bonus disc." A sign of the times, it seems...

This DVD seems to promise "films" of the entire Everything Ecstatic album. The tracks are in the same order as on the CD of the same name with the exception of moving "and then patterns" to the end... Why the change? Because "and then patterns" is playing during the DVD end credits sequence... I'm sorry, Kieran -- that doesn't count as a "film." I mean really...

Otherwise, the actual "films"/videos/whatever are a very mixed bag... the first one, "a joy," is not -- lots of jittery patterns, shapes, and colors in rapid-fire sequences that bring to mind those Japanese cartoons that supposedly induce seizures. "smile around the face" starts to grow on you as you follow a constant head-shot of the protagonist walking through the city, having a rough ride on the bus, and then playing with cute kids (earning bonus points with me for putting a smiley face sticker on the guy's forehead) ...but just when you think you've arrived at a happy ending of sorts, it's ruined by (what I'm assuming is) a watery suicide scene tacked on for no apparent reason... bah.

Elsewhere, you'll encounter artsy camera shots strung together seemingly at random, some rather cool animated sloppy calligraphy, a drop of CGI water taking a Matrix-style journey, creepy drugged out young hipsters who each somehow end up with an extra pair of eyes, and an incredibly strange and grotesque sequence involving a guy in a panda suit, a head on a pole, and people in insect costumes. It's a big relief when "you were there with me" finally arrives at the end -- a refreshingly human and oddly touching atmospheric video love letter... (at least I think that's what it is...?)

Speaking of love, it's awfully sweet of Four Tet to throw in the Part 2 CD since you've basically bought the same Everything Ecstatic album twice here (just to get these marginal videos -- there's not even a fancy 5.1 Dobly Surround audio mix on the DVD or anything...) These tracks are obviously leftovers, afterthoughts, and throwaways... essentially about 35 minutes of filler from the Everything Ecstatic sessions (or do electronic musicians actually have "sessions?") There's something called "this is six minutes" that is in fact exactly six minutes long, and then there's "ending" which is indeed at the end of the CD. Most of this stuff is of the rather abrasive I.D.M./glitch/electro-noise-collage variety, with lots of vintage video arcade sound effects, fuzzy static, and chaotic digital grime cluttering up the mix. Every so often a backbeat will kick in or a lovely loop will emerge, but it's all eventually engulfed in the sonic stew again with no hope of escape. Bottom line: you won't listen to this CD more than one or two times.

If you're a completist fan of Four Tet's often fascinating and brilliant "organic electronica" (like I am) you'll want this DVD/CD set no matter what I or anyone else says about it... it will sit idly on the shelf most of the time, but you'll still be glad it exists (just like that remix CD-single/DVD mentioned earlier...) . If you're curious about Four Tet and wondering where to start, take my advice and just listen to Pause and Rounds and the plain old CD version of Everything Ecstatic-- the music itself will evoke imagery in your mind far more interesting and creative than anything you'll see on this DVD. Then, after you've also become a completist fan (don't forget the Late Night Tales compilation), go ahead and check out the giant panda video and so forth.