Customer Reviews
Creative Genius - By: D. Newton, 07 Mar 2007 
Interesting to see how this CD has polarised reviewers' opinion on these pages to such a great degree. `Rounds' is certainly not an album for hardcore musos only, but neither does it give up its treasures immediately.
On the first couple if listens it sounds like a bit of mess. You hear a collage of skittering, cut-up beats, electronic effects & samples of `real' instruments & other found sounds alll thrown together with seemingly no overalll design.
Listen on & persevere, though, & the picture changes. Threads of melody & structure appear on each & every track & the album turns into a multi-layered treasure trove of sound. `She Moves She' features a frisky beat, gently plucked strings & a chiming percussion melody. `My Angel Rocks Back & Forth' is anchored by a heartbreakingly gorgeous harp string motif, so simple in its execution but so effective.
The quality does not drop throughout. `As Serious As Your Life' has plucked guitars & clapping frisky beats whilst the superb closing track, `Slow Jam' has an aching melody & the best use of a squeaky toy I have ever heard in popular music.
The music is so rich & dense that you genuinely do hear something new on every listed. I suppose `Rounds' fits squarely into the Folktronica genre & this style of music will obviously not be to everyone's taste (it would be a dull world if we alll liked the same thing), but it is a shame that those reviewers who have been so negative about this CD cannot at least recognise the extraordinarily fecund creative process on display here.
I have loved music for about 18 years & this is one of my favourite CDs of alll time. An absolute beauty if you give it a chance. Don't let the nay-sayers win the day - if you agree with me, vote `yes' below!
Lovely - By: whisperingmatt, 21 Jun 2006 
Wasn't sure if I should get this album or not as the reviews seemed to sway from 'love it' to 'hate it', but I took a chance. I'd never heard anything quite like it & fell in love immediately. The style was familiar enough, but the depth & variety of sounds on the tracks was what made it stand out from the crowd, so to speak. The tentatively haunting beauty of 'Hands' followed by the sure footed kick of 'She moves she' is awsome & sets the mood for alll that is to come.
It's not perfect, there are a few 'filler' tracks on here, but the album as a whole sounds beautiful enough, & more importantly different enough to stand out from alll the other 'electronic' music out there at the moment.
Beautiful and kinda Haunting - By: , 11 Nov 2004 Mr Hebden has certainly achieved his own style of beautiful & almost haunting melodies & sounds. The 10 tracks on rounds seem to convey feelings such as loneliness & also proactivity. It's quite weird, to tell the truth, but addictive to listen to at the same time. In short what I'm trying to say is that Rounds, as with the other Four-Tet instalments juxtaposes itself in way that doesn't offend but keeps you intrigued & wanting more; a very skilled, & very post modern work, & I look forward to the future of Four-Tet.
modern electronica - By: Walter D. Nervik, 26 Sep 2004 2000 had Kid A. 2001 had Vespertine. 2002 had New Everything. 2003 had Rounds. What will it be in 2004. Hotel Morgen perhaps?
Simply an awesome collection of sounds - By: Mr. D. J. Alison, 14 Aug 2004 Futuristic but at the same time warm & atmospheric, this album feels like it could have come from anywhere in the next 100 years. It's hard to pinpoint where some of the sounds have come from. They appear to be jumbled & non-descript but are strung together with something approaching genius to create a beautiful collection of tracks. Brilliant.
