Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
Compilation Benessere, Vol. 1 [Import]
Born to Be Wild-Hits & More [Import]
Amazon.com
The term "Fourth World" has often been used to describe various ethno-electronic compositions. Joining trumpeter Jon Hassell in different combinations on Possible Musics are coproducer and synthesist Brian Eno and percussionists Nana Vasconcelos and Ayibe Dieng, among others. Hassell has found a unique way to summon a lush, otherworldly sound from his trumpet, applying the Indian vocal techniques he learned from Pandit Pran Nath to the way he plays his instrument. On Possible Musics, he mixes his ethereal brass sounds with hand percussion, bass, analog synths, Eno's trademark studio treatments, and the occasional looped trumpet or keyboard riff. The hypnotic fusion of Indian and African aesthetics creates a dreamy brand of otherworldly world music that, despite the electronic influences swirling around it, maintains a strongly organic feel. This classic recording predated all of the ethnoambient music that proliferated throughout the last decade, but unlike many of those efforts, it still retains a strong sense of identity. --Bryan Reesman