Jon Hassell
Jon Hassel - Further Fictions (CD) (Ndeya)
Format: 2 x CD
Cat No: NDEYA10CD
New archival release from Ndeya that showcases Jon Hassell and group in the
late 1980s exploring a radical tangent on his Fourth World sensibility.
During this period Hassell was inspired by the increasingly innovative production
techniques being used in hip-hop, in particular the hyper-collaged sampledelic
barrage of the Bomb Squad’s work with Public Enemy, hearing it as a kind of
extension of the tape splicing that Teo Macero brought to his work with Miles Davis.
He began to incorporate more of this aesthetic into his own music, playing over loops
of his own performances and riffing on angular juxtapositions of noise, rhythm and
melody.
The resulting sonic stew is a kind of futuristic sci-fi funk with an appropriately melted
production aesthetic - instruments and samples jumping to the forefront then
disappearing in the manner of the best dub records.
‘Further Fictions’ is a double CD anthology of the music on the vinyl editions, with a
disc devoted to each album in hardbound book style spot gloss packaging, and an
extensive booklet containing sleeve notes and archival images.
‘The Living City’ captures the Jon Hassell Group in September 1989, performing as
part of an audio-visual installation inside the World Financial Center Winter Garden in
New York City, with Brian Eno mixing the band live.
‘Psychogeography’ is a situationist re-thinking of the 1990 ‘City: Works Of Fiction’ album, a carefully edited sequence of alternate takes, demos and studio jams put together by Jon Hassell in 2014 using Debordian philosophy as his guide.
TRACKLISTING:
CD 1 (The Living City):
1. Ituri
2. Alchemistry
3. Adedara Rising
4. Mashujaa
5. Paradise Now
6. Nightsky
CD 2 (Psychogeography):
1. Aerial View
2. Neon Night (Rain)
3. Cityism Superdub
4. Harambe
5. Freeway
6. Cuba Libre
7. Midnight
8. Waterfront District
9. Favela
10. Emerald City
11. Cloud-Shaped Time
