SOME ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION, “WHAT ARE SOME OF THE POSSIBLE MUSICS ON THIS PLANET AT THIS TIME?”
from essay introducing Fourth World to the press in 1980
John Hassell Interview with Jason Gross - Perfect Sound Forever zine, via Internet Archive
Let’s Talk: Jon Hassell (R.I.P.), fourth world music, and the threshold of cultural appropriation - Reddit discussion
Brian Eno & Jon Hassell - Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics - YouTube
Brian Eno & Jon Hassell - Fourth World Vol. 2: Dream Theory in Malaya - YouTube
In Focus: Jon Hassell - NTS Radio
Miracle Steps (Music From The Fourth World 1983 - 2017) - Bandcamp
“What we have attempted to gather across this compilation is a body of work which we feel directly resonates with both the literal definition of ‘Fourth World’ music and indeed our own interpretation of this unique sonic vision; from the work of the late Jorge Reyes, a Mexican musician who combined pre-hispanic instruments with synthesisers and digital sampling, through to the work of organic ambient ensemble O Yuki Conjugate. There are tracks which utilise custom, home-made instruments and there are tracks built from scratch using the latest in digital technology, but the undercurrent tying each piece together is this deeply personal feeling of intrigue and mysterious elation. Strange and unparalleled, this feeling manages to eschew geographic borders and rigid genre movements in favour of something which manages to evoke an inner sanctum, a musical private place for both reflection and assessment. This is music grounded in nor the past nor the present, music which manages to sound futuristic yet remarkably nostalgic.”
Fifth World show - NTS Radio
A riff on Jon Hassell’s Fourth World series. Where Hassell focused on creating ritual music of potential societies that didn’t exist; Ian Kim Judd seeks to evoke the notion of potential utopian societies that could exist. In these times of global instability and uncertainty, Fifth World seeks to posit an alternative, with scenes from an optimistic future.
John Hassell and Farafina - Flash of the Spirit - YouTube
Jon Hassell (and Rick Cox): Fourth World Improvisation - Nakedly Examine Music podcast, Episode 133
Halim El-Dabh - Crossing Into The Electric Magnetic
Mimoun Marhaba · Maalem Mahmoud Guinia · Floating Points - Marhaba - YouTube
Mamman Sani Abdoulaye - Unreleased Tapes 1981-1984 - Bandcamp
Fourth World in the 21st Century - Resident Advisor
A Travelogue of Jon Hassell’s ‘Fourth World’ Journey Into the Mystical - PopMatters
Unlimited Americana:A Conversation with Halim El-Dabh - Music & Literature
“Lesser well-known is that the term Fourth World Music likely derived from long-standing Native American mythologies referencing multiple worlds existing within, alongside, or before our own. We know the Navajo consider the present world as the Fifth World, the Fourth having just preceded this one. Rather than a heavenly afterward, the Fourth World is more of a former life. Like the origin of the term Fourth World Music, there’s not a great deal of historical information readily available about where the concept originated and how it is used in Native American culture. The practice of refusal in providing information to outsiders is intended as among Native Americans as a cultural safeguard. America knows very well what seamless cultural appropriation looks like, yet examples of cultural representation that are born from within a fully integrated American cultural experience, but that do not seek to fully integrate their cultural representation, are far rarer.”
Kink Gong / Ti Shanding - Myth 神话 > “Kink Gong recomposed the original recordings by Shi Tanding during her stays in Tibet between 2013 and 2019. The compositions on Side A are based on the performances of various Mahayana Buddhist ceremonies and prayers of the Tibetans, while Side B is the adaptation of some non-religious Tibetan folk songs and epic stories. Both sides of this vinyl contain electronic treatments for the original recordings and are mixed to create a new way of listening to traditional Tibetan music and Buddhist rituals, with all respect for the music and cultures we both love.”
Sounds of the Zomia, Sounds of Resistance: An Interview with Kink Gong
Musical World-Building: Albums Set in Lands of the Artists’ Own Creation - Bandcamp
How Sun Ra Taught Us to Believe in the Impossible
Lara Sarkassian and 8ULENTINA - HOT CUE performance and installation - Cloaca Projects
KMRU - Pitchfork