Usually the only person to remix Madlib records is Madlib. But following the success of MF DOOM & Madlib's album Madvillainy in 2004, their partners in Europe proposed having producers not normally associated with MF or Madlib to remix some of the tracks for Europe-only vinyl releases, and thus the Four Tet Remixes were born. 

Both Doom and Madlib wanted to tweak a couple of the remixes and-- thanks to their famously-hectic schedules-- the wait inevitably snowballed. After a botched test pressing, the songs finally broke free recently, albeit only on iTunes (due to contractual fine-print, these mixes will only get a physical release in Europe on wax). Still, the downtime has its benefits: With more distance between the originals and the new mixes, it's easier to consider these tracks on their own, and they'll inevitably have you going back to the source with a refreshed, slightly skewed perspective.

Four Tet mastermind Kieran Hebden may not be the most obvious choice to take on such classic material but, based on his six-song collection, he's an inspired pick. Although psych-scratching Stone Thrower Koushik would seem like a more suitable candidate on paper, it's Hebden's far-reaching reimaginings ("remix" doesn't quite do these painstaking tracks justice) that truly impress. Employing his trademark free-jazz-inspired, electro-acoustic patterns, the laptop guru amasses small armies of saxophone squawks and looping synths all marching to some of the hardest drums he's ever programmed. Ever the sonic neat-freak, Hebden somehow tames his cacophonies and makes everything bump like a batch of Interstellar Coltrane-approved boom-bap. — (via Bandcamp)