Four Tet
Paws EP
(Domino Records)
Arriving a couple months after the release of the similarly-named Pause, Paws is a four-track remix EP that drops another tasty 21 minutes of music for those who can't get enough of Four Tet. With 4 completely new tracks (albeit remixes of tracks that appeared on the full-length), everything has enough of a distinct flavor to make the release stand well on its own.
Things start out with "Glue Of The Other World," which is obviously a take on "Glue Of The World," but instead takes things in a completely new direction. The spindley, almost harp-like guitar samples still weave throughout the track, but after a short, crackling intro, the track gets slamming with a stutter-stepping beat that pumps the track up beyond any level that it was at before, sounding similar to the thumping remixes on Manitoba's Give'R EP (which begs the question as to which came first, although both also draw comparisons to the even earlier "Kinoshita" by Fridge and Hebden). At any rate, the release then takes quite a quick change with the quiet mix of "Hilarious Movie of the 90's" by Konshik. Adding soft vocals and some new percussion, the track is turned into a little pop number that actually works quite well.
Speaking of Manitoba, Dan Snaith also adds a remix of "Hilarious Movie of the 90's." He chops up the short vocal sample of the original and adds some skittering rhythms, keeping the same pastoral feel of things without keeping it too close to the original. The only mix that doesn't add a whole lot of character to the original track is the Boom Bip reworking of "No More Mosquitoes," in which basically an extra layer of tripped-out reverb is layered over the original track. No better or worse, just sort of similar.
In the end, the EP is probably a little more for the person who has already been introduced to Four Tet through Pause than for someone looking for a place to start with the group. Although it provides a good variety of sounds, only one of the tracks is technically a Four Tet original (the remixes do manage to stay the course pretty well, though). If you want to be on the safe side and get everything in one shot, there's even a limited-edition release that contains both the full-length and this companion EP. At any rate, good stuff, as expected.
Rating: 7.5
