London’s Kieren Hebden, AKA FOUR TET, was the next act on Day 2 of HOSTESS CLUB WEEKENDER, playing his signature electro mixes to an adoring audience, many of whom were undoubtedly attending the fest primarily to witness his performance.
He opened with the rather delicate Ba Teaches Yoga before flowing into Jupiters, which starts out equally as euphoric before building up three minutes into a frenetic groovefest. It can be remarkably difficult for electronic music producers to put on an engaging live performance, a lone figure twiddling some dials and pushing buttons not exactly an exciting image, let alone in a huge venue like Yebisu Garden Hall. Four Tet’s performance on Sunday was no exception; for whatever reason, Hebden didn’t use visualisations in any form, relying only on the music to pump up the crowd. Luckily for him, the volume seemed to be maxed out for his set, the deep baselines positively rattling the very foundations of the building, proving to be enough to get the audience moving to his brilliant mixes.
After producing his first solo release in 1997, a single called Double Density, Hebden began using the name Four Tet in 1998, under which he released Thirtysixtwentyfive, a single with a running time of 36 minutes and 25 seconds. He then released his first full-length album in 1999, Dialogue, on Output Records. Since that time he’s released a total of six albums, the most recent of which being Beautiful Rewind released last year.
The number of renowned artists for which Four Tet has created remixes and collaborations is incredibly impressive, including the likes of Battles, The xx, Radiohead, Explosions in the Sky, Bonobo, as well as Hostess Club Weekender co-performers Omar Souleyman and Juana Molina. He’s showing no signs of stopping either, constantly playing live shows, the next of which is St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Brisbane, Australia on January 31st.