This must be the URL:http://www.furious.com/perfect/hassell.html
― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 16:59 (three years ago) link
Come to think of it, I hear Bennie Maupin's The Jewel in the Lotus as a precursor of 4WM
why tho? aside from "excursion" it's a fairly generic (and imo somewhat overrated) jazz fusion record
― the late great, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 19:36 (three years ago) link
I've always found it to be more impressionistic and meditative than your average early/mid-70s fusion record, and 'Ensenada' in particular, with its proto-ambient harmonic wash over a percussive stutter step, puts me in mind of the vibes discussed itt (sans the electronics, of course). Maybe it's just me? Anyway, I kind of want The Jewel in the Lotus to be 'fairly generic' and 'somewhat overrated' as you say, because it would imply there are countless LPs in the genre that top it, but I just can't think of that many.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 19:54 (three years ago) link
yeah I love it, a great album
I also got fourth world as one of my top genres on the Spotify thing. I expect Oregon is what they're referring to as I listen to a lot of them
― Politically homely (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 19:59 (three years ago) link
what’s the relationship between this stuff, spiritual hat jazz, and high prog/fusion? it seems at least adjacent in spirit and sound
orientalism in classical music is another important influence/precursor/parallel e.g. messiaen, debussy, cage. a lot of newer “classical” music e.g. jonathan harvey seems to be coming from a vaguely similar place
― Left, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 20:01 (three years ago) link
Good topic for a PhD thesis in musicology.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 20:57 (three years ago) link
Coincidentally I've just been listening to Jon Hassell for the past hour.
― ILXceptionalism (Tom D.), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 21:11 (three years ago) link
from upthread, i think this is generally otm
At its best, fourth-world music does feel like a more honest attempt to process the influence of non-Western musical ideas in a way that (as far as possible) respectfully takes into account their original context, vs overdubbing some funky African drums because it sounds exotic.
But dear god, the language used to describe this is a minefield. Hassell's music is wonderful, but when he starts describing it ("coffee-coloured") I want to slam the laptop lid down. (And he's not moved it on - went to a talk in London by him last year where his big new theory is how the north and south of the equator maps to the north and south of the body - up north it's all brain and intellect, down south it's all sex. Er, right.)
The idea makes sense when listening to JH's music, he just really shouldn't talk about it. Basically the music is far less problematic than his descriptors.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 21:18 (three years ago) link
mind/body stuff is oof. shut up and play your trumpet
I like a lot of this music but feel a bit weird about it. I can live with that
― Left, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 21:29 (three years ago) link
This is indeed excellent. If I'd seen it being filed under 'tribal ambient' I probably would've avoided it lol, so cheers Pom.
― A Scampo Darkly (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 3 December 2020 08:48 (three years ago) link
The top "tribal ambient" picks on RYM for 2020 are all worth checking out:
https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/2020/g:exact,tribal-ambient/
Stupid genre name, agreed, but the categorization is fairly consistent. My recommended titles are the aforementioned Koyil, Karuna Trio, Contours, MinaeMinae, XYR, Molero, and the Alternate African Reality comp. Tag it as Fourth World or Balearic if it makes it more palatable.
― doug watson, Thursday, 3 December 2020 18:13 (three years ago) link
According to Spotify, Fourth World is one of my top genres. I have no idea what it is and have never in my life used it as a descriptor for what I like or seen it as a genre section in a record store. So is it ambient?
― brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, December 2, 2020 10:38 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
Funny, yesterday evening my wife said this exact post out loud to me about her Spotify results nearly word for word.
― Evan, Thursday, 3 December 2020 18:19 (three years ago) link
I listened to a bunch of Japanese ambient too which I think is now Fourth World according to the machines at Spotify.
― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 3 December 2020 18:29 (three years ago) link
The Contours album ‘Balafon Sketches’ is great
― Tim F, Thursday, 3 December 2020 18:54 (three years ago) link
Also yes the Koyil album is lovely, though it reminds me more of U. F. Orb than Jon Hassell.
― Tim F, Thursday, 3 December 2020 22:49 (three years ago) link
xp
yep Balafon Sketches is some very nice ear candy, not seen many reviews and I think the only person I've seen repping for it was Ted Gioia.
― calzino, Thursday, 10 December 2020 10:27 (three years ago) link