Rounds is the third album by Four Tet

Four Tet

Kieran Hebden is a post-rock and electronic musician. Hebden first came to prominence as a member of the band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist under the moniker of Four Tet....

. It was released on 5 May 2003 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

; the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 release came the next day.

Two singles were released from the album ("She Moves She" and "As Serious as Your Life"), as well as one EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, My Angel Rocks Back and Forth

My Angel Rocks Back and Forth (EP)

My Angel Rocks Back and Forth is a Four Tet EP released on 3 May 2004 on 12" and CD. The title track was originally part of Four Tet's previous album, Rounds...

. The latter features remixes of the title track by Isambard Khroustaliov and electronica duo Icarus

Icarus (band)

Icarus are a band from London, England, who specialise in a kind of electronic drum and bass with elements of experimental jazz and rich instrumentation. Formed in 1993 by Ollie Bown and Sam Britton, the band's music has been described by Kieran Hebden as "really beautiful and also quite kind of...

, two new Four Tet tracks, and a DVD of all of Four Tet's music videos for Pause

Pause (album)

-External links:* from the Domino Records website...

and Rounds.

A promotional

Promotional recording

A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...

 version of the album was issued in March 2003. The only track different from the version on the final release is "Unspoken", which originally featured an alternate piano melody sampled

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 from the Tori Amos

Tori Amos

Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...

 song "Winter

Winter (Tori Amos song)

"Winter" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the fourth single from her debut studio album Little Earthquakes. It was released on March 9, 1992 by EastWest Records in the UK and Atlantic Records on November 24 in North America.-Background:The song also...

". Because Amos' record company

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 refused to clear the sample, a new melody was improvised for the official release of Rounds.

Reception

As of April 2008, Rounds is Four Tet's highest-reviewed release on Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

, where it is ranked #4 on the list of best albums of 2003.

Online music magazine

Online magazine

An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...

 Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 placed Rounds at number 123 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.

Track listing

1. "Hands" – 5:40
2. "She Moves She" – 4:38
3. "First Thing" – 1:12
4. "My Angel Rocks Back and Forth
   My Angel Rocks Back and Forth (EP)
   My Angel Rocks Back and Forth is a Four Tet EP released on 3 May 2004 on 12" and CD. The title track was originally part of Four Tet's previous album, Rounds...
   
   " – 5:06
5. "Spirit Fingers" – 3:21
6. "Unspoken" – 9:29
7. "Chia" – 0:31
8. "As Serious as Your Life" – 4:36
9. "And They All Look Broken Hearted" – 5:06
10. "Slow Jam" – 5:16

External links

• Rounds release page from the Domino Records website