8. Jon Hassell
I think Jon Hassell is the most under-rated cultural figure of the twentieth century. He’s fascinating. There aren’t many composers who make album after album of spectacular and genuinely unique music. It must have sounded utterly beguiling when it was first released. It’s like going on a magic carpet ride. There should have been a South Bank Show dedicated to this man’s work, but what can one expect of major broadcasters when they devote considerably more time to the meaningless spectacle of men kicking a ball across a field than to the arts as a whole?
There is a common misapprehension that melancholy music has more depth than positive, life-affirming music, perhaps because of the basic fact that we’re all going to die. Anyway, Jon Hassell is the best bit of evidence I have as yet found that uplifting music can be just as formidable and overwhelming as art which looks out on our bizarre circumstances on this spinning globe through a more negative lens.
One piece on this astounding album sounds like a herd of cattle munching rhythmically in unison. A true artistic pinnacle of achievement.
