But things are changing and, to an extent, have been changing for years. This comes as no surprise since the scene originated from the transformation of design and style of past generations. But what is surprising is that the popularity of dance music is fading as the party is quickly receding back underground. Sure, you still see your heavy-hitting DJs from Paul Oakenfold to The Chemical Brothers giving it their all, but even these artists are experiencing a shift in sound. We listen to Radio One on the BBC and hear Pete Tong introduce his Essential Mix or Dave Pearce's Dance Anthems, but scan through the playlists and events and you find a global environment of artists originating anywhere from Ibiza to the States. Is this the end of British dance music as we know it?

For Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet), it's not - it's a transformation. With his latest release Everything Ecstatic (Domino), this is just the beginning of a new day for dance enthusiasts. Hebden may not be here to save the current state of dance music, but he's sure going to put a dent into the genre's future.

"With [Everything Ecstatic], I wasn't trying to make a record that was dance music, but I did want to make a record that was influenced by dance music," he says. "There are all kinds of musical elements involved with this record. When I went to make this album, I looked at many styles and thought about the music I was influenced by throughout my life."

And what would Hebden's influences be? To answer that question, we'll have to go back to his childhood and the persistent invasion of his father's expansive record collection, which was filled with a broad spectrum of classic soul, blues, and jazz. Artists like Hendrix led him to learn the guitar, and Miles Davis helped him to see between the lines. Hebden later became heavily influenced by old-school hip-hop and classic electronic dance music.

"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing now if I wasn't brought up the way I was and with the music that I got to experience. These influences are present in all of my albums," Hebden declares.

Just listen to the tracks of Everything Ecstatic and you'll discover a mass range of influences from jazz to folk to acid house to hip-hop, and so on. The influence-bending does not just produce track-by-track results, but also spans a great distance within each song. Call it a higher form of self-expression, but he considers what he does to be an "immaculate sense of control."

The only thing that seems under control is the time restraints inherent with making an album. With opening track "A Joy," Hebden jazzes us with a bombardment of layered beats that quickly become impossible to follow. Throw in washing machine rhythms and uncoordinated knob-twiddling trickery, and you've got some idea of how he brews up his songs. Even the mellow DJ Shadow-like tune "And Then Patterns" gets the Four Tet treatment with hip-hop beats enriched by sparkling clinks and clangs with equally difficult sound constructions.

"I really like the juxtaposition where the wild side seems more wild and the mellow seems more mellow," Hebden says. "When I record, it's a celebration of music and how the idea of music shows how magical and powerful it can be. I get a sense of euphoria. Like with religious music and gospel music, for instance. The music is so important to [the musicians] because they are singing to God. It's a form of enlightenment in the same way that Sun Ra or Lee Perry makes music. There is a sense of reaching out to something beyond our senses. That's how I want people to see my music."

Hebden draws on that spiritual enlightenment with his minimalist composition "Clouding." It may only be less than two minutes in length, but his use of bells, chimes, and flutes gives this song a divine feel before driving on into another dimension of sound.

Music is not the only influence on his diary of samples. When you put on a Four Tet album, you get a glimpse into the world Hebden is experiencing, and his music has allowed him to become the world traveler. In the two years since Rounds hit the stores like an atom bomb, Hebden has been feverishly playing live gigs; producing albums for Beth Orton, Adem and James Yorkston; and remixing songs for Pedro, the Notwist and Madvillain, amongst a laundry list of other off-projects - all to keep him fresh and in the moment.

For example, take the track "Turtle Turtle Up," a song named after a game of thumb wrestling he was taught in Taiwan. The song is homage to his travels in the Orient. Draped over a blanket of progressive and jazz-like drumming is a meditative sense of structure with samples captured from the streets of Hong Kong. "Sleep, Eat Food, Have Visions" goes further into this trance-like state, blending the traditional with post-modernism with bell-like bleeps fading into a mass orgy of drums, much like the growing feeling of a Boredoms or Neu! song. "I am a bit more aware of the world I live in as these travels have been a big impact in my life and my sound," he says.

For the past two years, Hebden has been in a constant whirlwind of touring and DJing. But it's only been lately that his live gigs have really gained prestige. Hebden hooked up with jazz drummer Steve Reid and played two shows with him, one in London and the other in Paris. This was Hebden's first collaboration since his previous work as a guitarist for the band Fridge. According to Hebden, the outcome was phenomenal.

"I was talking to a friend of mine and expressed to him that I was really interested in playing with a jazz drummer. He ended up hooking me up with Steve, and instantly, it was a natural pairing."

Reid, one of the first jazz musicians to receive a grant through the National Endowment for the Arts, has one impressive history. At age 17, Reid recorded with Martha and the Vandellas. He spent three years in Africa perfecting the native rhythms only to return to a hectic schedule, playing with everyone from James Brown and Miles Davis to Sun Ra and T-Bone Walker, among others.

These shows were based solely on improv work. There were no rehearsals prior to the performances; the musicians merely fed off of each other's creativity.

"I really like taking the techniques of the Four Tet stuff and putting it into a live concept," Hebden says. "I have loads of sounds loaded up. I couldn't work with loops as [Reid] is a drummer and has to keep time. I followed his rhythms instead of following mine. Steve actually had been listening to my records consistently, so he was really familiar with my work. He seems to understand it immaculately. It was really an exciting experience."

It was so exciting that the two went into the studio to record some songs together. Although a full U.S. tour and fall UK tour - not to mention festivals booked throughout Europe, the United States, and Canada - will halt this collaborative project, Hebden is looking forward to working with Reid, as well as with other musicians, in the future.

"I like to think that I am always changing. I like to progress and develop as a musician. I like that I can go away and anything can happen. I try to keep things relatively open."

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