Dream Theory in Malaya

Jon Hassell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Editions Eg Records
• ASIN: B000003S2I
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,244 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #18 in Music > Dance & DJ > Techno > Minimal Techno

Track Listings

1. Chor Moire

2. Courage

3. Dream Theory

4. Datu Bintung at Jelong

5. Malay

6. These Times...

7. Gift of Fire

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: HASSELL,JON
Title: DREAM THEORY IN MALAYA
Street Release Date: 10/03/1990
Domestic
Genre: NEW AGE

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond music, December 4, 2002

By 

Ulf Axmacher (Missing Finger, VT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dream Theory in Malaya (Audio CD)

John Hassel's music cannot be described in ordinary terms, so I'm left only with earnest hand-waving. This "music" has the power to transport body and soul from the comfort of your own sofa. Jon's entire opus is extraordinary, but this CD really has some kinda magic.

Strangely, I most often put this CD on when I'm not feeling well. Its healing powers always helps me get through a fever. It's like a 40 minute session with my own private shaman.

This is music best heard in a reclining position with the lights down low. Enjoy.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prepare To Be Lifted, February 26, 2001

By 

"figtreejohn" (Costa Mesa, Ca.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dream Theory in Malaya (Audio CD)

Not knowing anything about him or his style of trumpet performance i nevertheless thought the coverintruiging enough to purchase it on vinyl (19 years ago...augh!) With the massive headphones i had in my possession at he time i quietly tripped on the exotic phrasings and organic otherworldly landscapes he paintslike some milleniums-old shaman of the horn. I cannot stress the importance of this album to the way i approach listening to and composing music. It remains (with his Eno collaborations) the finest example of ambient/World music before New Age diluted it's soul. Hassell has since picked up on more urban sounds & gone in a more modern direction. I'll take these ancestral musings over the Cut&Paste anytime. Another excellent offering from this period is "Power Spot", while "Flash Of The Spirit" has it's moments. "Dream Theory In Malaya" is the quintessential Jon Hassell to me...

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hassell's High Point: Rhythmic Variety, September 30, 2005

By 

Richard B. Hines "Rick Hines" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dream Theory in Malaya (Audio CD)

If you are looking for a good introduction to the incredibly original work of Jon Hassell, this is a great place to start. For the uninitiated, Hassell is a trumpet player who uses the instrument more as a sound-generating device than in the usual sense of playing trumpet. He uses a lot of vocal techniques when he plays, then further runs his sound through a barrage of processors to get very un-trumpet-like sounds. A truly unique musician and composer.

Just before recording this LP, Hassell had been working with Brian Eno and Talking Heads, and he absorbed their ability to craft strong world-rhythms. This gave his meandering compositions a grounding and propulsion they heretofore lacked. Eno and company's influence can be heard in the slight-of-hand backing tracks here, where the percussion and bass play shifting melodies that constantly intermingle like cards being shuffled.

What makes this stand out from his other work, however, is the way each song's rhythm creates a unique sound world for that particular song. Some of his other work tends to have a sameness of sound over the entire project (with each project sounding different from the others). Here, each track shifts into its own thing, and each song takes you on a sonic voyage and leaves a unique melodic imprint on your brain. Yes, there is a sort of overall feel, a psychedelic swirling of processed trumpet sounds set against rhythms at once earthy and primitive, yet urban and experimental. Yet you can feel each track stretching in a different direction, giving the album a variety that results in an easy-to-digest listening experience.

Still under the influence of Eno's production, Hassell also shows us his ability to create using post-production and sound-shaping techniques. I dare anyone to find me something that sounds like "Chor Moire!" The texture of the music here reminds me of the best of Eno's ambient work, but with more of a rhythmic thrust and organic feel to it. Yet the studio manipulations never take away the warmth of what is essentially a live-in-studio, greatly improvised jazz recording.

I recommend this highly for anyone who likes music that is subtle, innovative and beyond category. If only Miles Davis had been listening to Jon Hassell instead of Michael Jackson before he died, he might have kept his position at the forefront of progressive trumpet music.