Hannibal
1990
City: Works of Fiction
About This Album
Several tracks on Jon Hassell's City: Works of Fiction feature dense electronic textures that are more fragmentary and aggressive than his prior work. However, the many polyrhythmic grooves on City are clearly reminiscent of Power Spot and point to the upcoming hip-hop of Dressing for Pleasure. Throughout City, Hassell's unique brand of exoticism prevails as he weaves his processed raga trumpet amidst a dazzling array of digital samples and electronic percussion, electric bass and guitar, and Masai voices from Kenya.

"Voiceprint" is densely packed with fragments of electronic percussion and samples; a popping bass searches for grooves that suddenly coalesce and then quickly disintegrate. Several fragmentary trumpet themes drift past while manipulated voices punctuate the kaleidoscopic textures. As with "In the City of Red Dust" and "Warriors," disorientation prevails over Hassell's usual languid cool. Hassell's echo-laden and harmonized trumpet themes lead "Pagan," which also features groove-oriented bass and percussion while disembodied samples chatter in the background. In particular, these tracks reflect Hassell's increasing interest in sampling technology as heard in Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" and Hank Shocklee's productions with Public Enemy.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5 and 6)

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