The Hypnotic Dreamscapes of Jon Hassell

Jon Hassell was never interested in fitting into categories. A student of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Indian raga master Pandit Pran Nath, a collaborator with Talking Heads, Brian Eno, and La Monte Young, Hassell invented something he called Fourth World music — “a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques.”

The idea was simple but revolutionary: take the pulse of ancient traditions and merge it with modern studio wizardry, creating music that feels both timeless and futuristic, familiar and alien. Fourth World is not “world music” in the Putumayo sense, nor ambient in the background sense. It’s a place where ritual meets reverb, where a trumpet can sound like breath, wind, or memory, and where the boundaries between performance and post-production dissolve.

Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street is one of Hassell’s most stunning examples. Inspired by a Rumi poem, it unfolds like a dream, glowing drones, dub-inflected bass, slippery trumpet lines refracted through harmonizers, and textures that feel less like notes and more like environments. Listening to it is like stepping into a lucid dreamscape: immersive, hypnotic, and quietly radical.

Hassell’s vision has influenced generations of musicians, from electronic producers to avant-jazz explorers. But more than influence, this album offers an invitation: to listen beyond categories, to enter the Fourth World: a place where the past and future melt into one living sound.

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At WNDRFL, we curate music to inspire, connect, and spark discovery.

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For us, it’s simple: better sound, fairer pay, deeper connection.