new: Jon Hassell

The Fourth World
If you're looking for music to accompany you on a late night train ride through a desolate rain soaked city then search no further. Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street, the latest from pioneer ambient trumpet and electronic soundcscapist Jon Hassell (who turned 72! yesterday), is a gift that keeps on giving. The album is drenched in Hassell's signature "fourth world" sound which Hassell describes as "a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques." Hassell, who in the past has collaborated with Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel and Martin Scorsese, has been pushing the limits of ambient jazz for decades.

Last Night the Moon... succeeds in that even when Hassell seems to be steering off the road into the horizon, subtle themes and melodies are constantly clawing for our attention. Influenced strongly by Eastern culture as well as the later work of Miles Davis, Last Night the Moon... should really be experienced as a whole album when you have no particular place to go, or at least no desire to get their quickly.

Jon Hassell - Time and Place [from 2009's Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Cothes in the Street]