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Rating: To understand what Jon Hassell truly meant by the term 'fourth world', there is no better way than to listen to this great work, co-written with that other genius known as Brian Eno, in 1980, which was the most inspired period of the latter (and that says a lot considering the formidable series of masterpieces produced between '77 and '85). It's certainly easy to read in any biography of the American trumpeter how by 'fourth world' he refers to the perfect fusion of ancient traditions and modern technologies; incorporating elements from both to create an abstract hybrid, in no way connected to any of them or the various cultural traditions from which Hassell 'draws'. The term he coined "primal future” probably explains this better than a thousand biographies, but it's slightly more challenging to grasp the concept on a listening level, given the vast amount of productions, collaborations, and above all, appearances involving this artist (from Talking Heads to David Sylvian, passing through Techno Animal, Terry Riley, and the Italian Alice).
The music of "Fourth World" more simply, and without delving into socio-philosophical paths, seems to come from another world, a world that is definitely not Earth, a world where all traditions, all eras, developments, lands, and historical contexts that have written its history orbit around another path, drawn by Hassell's trumpet, an orbit that is a world unto itself: THE fourth world, to be precise.
I believe anyone who has approached, even sporadically - and I am among them - the art of Hassell, also knows how important two encounters in his life have been: the one with Pandit Pran Nath (a master of Hindustani singing) and the one with Karlheinz Stockhausen (with whom he studied, and from whom he was inevitably - but he certainly wasn't the first or last, just think of Can - influenced, willingly or unwillingly), inevitably being struck by the avant-garde learned on the field. Despite learning this, it still remains impossible to understand how these two significant personalities influenced Hassell. "Fourth World" explains it once again, and better than a thousand words or a thousand notes from the entire discography, incidentally not always at these levels, with that trumpet, so mystical and visionary, which seems to want to sing, hypnotic and with that solemn aura, just like only Indian sacred music can. Jon applies the techniques of Pran Nath's vocal ragas to his mouth, as if singing, and this is easily detectable in any solo, but it's also to a sitar that we can liken what we hear, additionally filling, thanks to Eno's input, the sound of the trumpet with effects and technologies that give it an increasingly personal and experimental timbre; the sum of these factors ensures it - identifiable in itself - can be recognized among a thousand.
And then there's the percussion: primitive tribalisms (for instance, the legendary ghatam) [an instrument of Carnatic music that contrasts with Hindustani music, confirming what was mentioned initially] that provide profane and unsettling tones to the lands Hassell builds; the congas (ever so distant from Indian culture and obviously more serene and less sacred) or even ghatan and congas played together, as happens on "Charm", promptly looped by Eno, creating something more 'modern', (the loop technique) but that is at the same time 'traditional' (the aesthetic of repetition aimed at trance, a cornerstone of raga culture), or of minimalist avant-gardes (Riley, LaMonte Young..),
Jon's trumpet is used on "Chemistry" now as if it were one of those organic carpets that made his colleague great, now with hallucinated solfeggi that emulate the human voice; spectacular the contribution on bass by Percy Jones - another artist with a very personal sound - who creates round and pulsating lines perfect for resting the deformed body molded by the trumpet, which on the martial "Griot" even sounds like a horse (!) possessed; also interesting are the hand claps used as real percussion (and they sound incredibly so) in a fascinating contrast between human element / artificial object. On "Delta Rain Dream", the guitars and synthetic accents that Eno weaves behind the scenes are the most peaceful encounter in this fourth world, where for a moment the ghost of his 'discreet music' seems to return, only to be disturbed by the anxiety of the ancestral tam tam in the background; with "Ba-benzélé", Middle Eastern tones mix with congas and bass (forming an almost disco-funk carpet), while "Rising Thermal 14° 16' N; 32° 28 E" shows an Eno more static and deep than ever on the synths, while meanwhile, Hassell makes his trumpet sound like the wind.
These are just some aspects of the 'fourth world', where everything intertwines, everything is incorporated and used to create a new world, to build from scratch the foundations where there are no lands or cultures.
A visit, perhaps?
Tracklist
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