Four Tet All Nighter – Brixton Academy, London

It’s not unknown for festivals to sell out at a rate of hundreds per second, much to the frustration of the bloodshot-eyed punter feverishly hunched over a glowing screen desperately hoping their IP address blesses them with entry. A club night though? That’s got to raise more eyebrows. Take into consideration a few more factors though. If you’re an artist that’s released seven full length albums devoid of set genres, countless collaborations and hundreds of remixes? Reached a status where your online uploads are more hotly anticipated than the promise of a bacon sandwich in the morning? Have a record collection that spans decades and genres, and as such is revered by punters and artists alike? Yes, if you’re Four Tet, then selling out a venue like Brixton Academy in ten minutes isn’t so much of a mouth-dropper.

Last year’s Beautiful Rewind release evidently hopped genres with its transition from melodic electronica in There Is Love in You days and the more bass-ready breakbeats of 2012’s Pink, finally to a record that is an amalgamation of garage, staccato percussion and MC samples with definitely not just a jungle revivalist focus, as he stressed earlier this year in one of his few interviews. Having spent the majority of his time producing Beautiful Rewind in an isolated cabin in Woodstock, we can see where the intense concentration of various genres is squeezed into. His outward choices can be owed to his indifference to making records for monetary benefit, giving his curated night more unbreakable credibility.

This is the second time in two years Kieran Hebden has curated an all-nighter bill at Brixton Academy, and it all boils down to one night where Hebden attended a Fugazi (a post-hardcore band that has since been on indefinite hiatus) show in the 90’s. Simply put, “£5 ticket, no light show, no bullshit”.  It was to be a night all about the music.

The line-up spanned as many genres as Hebden’s own records and didn’t stray too far away from the debut all-nighter’s line-up in 2012, with Joy Orbison serving as the appetiser with Daphni to follow soon after, both handed unnaturally early set times.

Eglo Records co-founder Floating Points takes to the stage as the venue reaches optimum levels. Renowned for spinning obscure Gilles Peterson-esque electronica from every corner of the world, tonight Sam Shephard is here to brandish shimmering disco tracks from an eclectic collection only the most avid collector could hope to own. Where his stage predecessors provided sounds from the darker side of the spectrum, Shephard throws out feel good soul in the form of Bileo’s You Can Win that so perfectly represents his style. It causes palms to involuntarily face the stage and sway up and down; legs performing a shimmy some may find disconcerting in daylight. Appearances from Bugz in the Attic’s remix of Róisín Murphy’s Sow Into You and Taxie’s Rock Don’t Stop (not least an edit by legendary funk and soul crate digger Kon) provide a sharp uplift in spirits, serving as an apt warm up for tonight’s main event. Tonight is sold out but still suitable for claustrophobics; quite rare in club-night terms.

Hebden opens up with the dub classic Skeng from The Bug and the expansive space immediately adopts the electricity knowing of a headliner. The crowd readily drop their knees to this commotion with arm swings likened to gorillas. Giving a nod to previous stage guest Daphni, Yes I Know’s wonky bass resembles a heart-rate monitor as it bounces back and forth and soon gives way to disco-influenced brass riffs; an electronica-disco track taking after Hebden’s experimental nature.  Proving his ability to skip between generations he seeps in Ellie Goulding’s Burn with a breakbeat reminiscent of Pink’s 128 Harps, seamlessly transitioning into T2’s Heartbroken along the journey. The punters obviously have a particular affinity to this as they hurl their cheers in the direction of the darkened stage, lit only by modest desk lamps.

The baton is then passed to Hessle Audio representatives Ben UFO, Pearson Sound and Pangaea to perform a supreme back to back set. Throwing rapid melodic beats at the crowd, the trio take no time in getting the audience well versed with Hessle Audio’s signature explosive energy. Taking up the 3-6am slot that is usually reserved for the night crawlers, their set receive a more sparse reception (though unjustified). Unfazed, the trio rotate in delivering dark and broody techno that aptly fits with the minimal lighting we’re immersed in (shadows of Tessela’s Hackey Parrot could be heard). It might be the departure of collective body heat or the untouchable selection of relentless breakbeats that’s giving us goosebumps, but coupled with the venue’s generous air conditioning, the punters grow weary before long. This is a criticism only of circumstance, but the trio’s passion during their set finds them unreceptive to this as they continue with the same fervour.   

But those are words of a spoilt brat and there’s no hiding the undeniable truth that Hebden’s passion for bringing business back to basics have set a bar no one has even come close to matching.