Fridge | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Putney, London, UK |
| Genres | Post-rock |
| Years active | 1995–2001, 2007 |
| Labels | |
| Spinoffs | |
| Members |
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| Website | www |
Fridge was an English instrumentalpost-rock band formed in 1995 by school friendsKieran Hebden (guitar,samples),Adem Ilhan (bass) and Sam Jeffers (drums). Their rhythm heavy sound was influenced bykrautrock bands such asCan andNeu!, while critics[who?] view their early works as following similar paths as the contemporary post-rock groupsTortoise andDo Make Say Think. Over time Hebden's interest intechno anddrum and bass became predominant, supported by Jeffers' complex drum patterns.[1]
They released four critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful albums between 1995 and 2001, of which the last,Happiness, is generally seen as their high point. Their 2007 double albumThe Sun was released after a long period of inactivity, after Hebden had begun a solo career and Ilhan and Jeffers enrolled in college.[2][failed verification]
Fridge never officially split up, although their last live performance was in 2007.[citation needed] Hebden and Ilhan record asFour Tet andAdem respectively.
Hebden, Ilhan and Jeffers met in the mid-1990s atElliott School inPutney, southwest London, where they became friends with contemporaries William Bevan (Burial),Hot Chip andThe xx;[3] all of whom members of Fridge have worked with. Recalling the period,Joe Goddard of Hot Chip recalled that "there was a spirit: if you want to do something just go and fucking do it. You didn’t need permission."[4] Hebden remembers being allowed to "rehearse with my band at lunch and for hours after school without any interference. When I was at school, drum 'n' bass happened. Our teachers would let us set up big sound systems and have drum'n'bass parties during lunchtime breaks….we’d be in a drama room with machines and strobe lights for half an hour, dancing toDJ Zinc's "Super Sharp Shooter" or something blasting out at huge volume."[4]
Their sound progressed frompost-rock towards electronica over their career, although their music retained its focus on complex rhythms. Initially Hebden played guitar, Ilhan bass guitar, and Jeffers drums, but Hebden and Ilhan adopted a variety of other instruments. Of their early work, Hebden said that they were "trying to make music that didn't sound like anything else; all of us not quite skilled enough to translate the sound in our head onto cassette, but creatively filling the gaps, using them and making them integral."[1]
By 1999'sEph, thesampler was playing an increasingly important role in their music. According toPitchfork, it contains the "building blocks of their initial sample dabbling ... creeping stealthily in and out of songs such as 'Helicopter' and the thorny assault of distortion on 'Cassette'."[1] They occasionally backedBadly Drawn Boy as his live band around this time,[5] and in 2000 remixed his singleAnother Pearl. Their following album, 2001'sHappiness, was widely regarded by critics as their best to date. It was retrospectively described byAllMusic as "slightly more difficult [thanEph and containing] many excellent moments; 'Cut Up Piano and Xylophone' is a soft, gauzy piece reminiscent of '70s minimalism and 'Five Four Child Voice' a precocious time-signature jam."[6]
Their final albumThe Sun was released, after a six-year hiatus, to critical acclaim[by whom?] in June 2007.[2]
Although inactive since 2007, Fridge have never officially split up. In August 2007 they played their first gig after six years at Bardens Boudoir inDalston, London, followed by a performance that year at theField Day festival in East London'sVictoria Park. Hebden's solo career asFour Tet dates from the late 1990s, and he also releases music as "Kieran Hebden," "KH," and "00110100 01010100." Ilhan releases solo albums under the nameAdem.
The 21-track compilation albumEarly Output 1996–1998 was released in 2009.[1] In April 2023 their albumHappiness was re-released on vinyl for its 20th anniversary, having been "restored, reconstructed, and remastered" by Hebden.[7]