Misplaced Pages

Listening to Pictures

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
2018 studio album by Jon Hassell
Listening to Pictures
Studio album by Jon Hassell
ReleasedJune 8, 2018 (2018-06-08)
StudioStudio Venice, California
GenreAvant-garde
Length38:41
LabelNdeya
ProducerJon Hassell
Jon Hassell chronology
Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street
(2009) 		Listening to Pictures
(2018) 		Seeing Through Sound
(2020)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz
Exclaim!8/10
The Guardian
The Independent
Pitchfork7.3/10
Resident Advisor4.0/5
Vice (Expert Witness)A−

Listening to Pictures is a studio album by Jon Hassell. It was released on his own record label, Ndeya, on June 8, 2018. It peaked at number 34 on the UK Dance Albums Chart, as well as number 34 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84% based on 10 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

John Lewis of The Guardian gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "Hassell's electronic soundscapes recall the work of Oneohtrix Point Never, Boards of Canada or Aphex Twin." He added, "Hassell is into exploring the multiple layers that exist in his sound, what he calls 'vertical listening' – and this is certainly dense, endlessly mutating music that rewards multiple listenings." Dave Beech of The Independent gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "it's not an album that strives for immediacy, but is best soaked in over multiple listens." Robert Ham of Pitchfork gave the album a 7.3 out of 10, saying: "Its eight tracks are teeming with strands of melody and unbound rhythms that have been meticulously constructed into groaning towers of sound."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jon Hassell

No.TitleLength
1."Dreaming"6:08
2."Picnic"5:58
3."Slipstream"2:54
4."Al Kongo Udu"5:12
5."Pastorale Vassant"3:59
6."Manga Scene"5:44
7."Her First Rain"1:38
8."Ndeya"7:06

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Musicians

  • Jon Hassell – trumpet, keyboards, orchestration
  • Rick Cox – guitar, synthesizer, electronics
  • John von Seggern – bass guitar, drums, electronics
  • Hugh Marsh – electric violin, electronics
  • Peter Freeman – bass guitar, electronics (2, 3, 7)
  • Ralph Cumbers – drum programming (2)
  • Christoph Harbonnier – bass guitar (3)
  • Christian Jacob – bass guitar (3)
  • Michel Redolfi – electronics (3)
  • Eivind Aarset – electric guitar, sampler (8)
  • Kheir-Eddine M'Kachiche – violin, sampler (8)

Technical personnel

  • Jon Hassell – production
  • Rick Cox – co-production
  • Matthew Jones – executive production
  • Britton Powell – coordination
  • Al Carlson – mastering
  • Arnaud Mercier – additional mastering
  • Valgeir Sigurðsson – additional mastering
  • Dan Kuehn – art direction
  • Arien Valizadeh – art direction
  • Taska Cleveland – art direction
  • Mati Klarwein – album art sources, inspiration
  • Petra Gehrmann – publishing

Charts

Chart Peak
position
UK Dance Albums (OCC) 34
UK Independent Albums (OCC) 34

References

  1. ^ "Listening to Pictures (Pentimento Volume I) by Jon Hassell". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  2. May, Chris (April 23, 2018). "Jon Hassell: Listening To Pictures (Pentimento Volume One)". All About Jazz. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  3. Sylvester, Daniel (June 5, 2018). "Jon Hassell: Listening to Pictures (Pentimento Volume One)". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  4. ^ Lewis, John (May 25, 2018). "Contemporary album of the month – Jon Hassell: Listening to Pictures (Pentimento Volume I)". The Guardian. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  5. ^ Kaplan, Ilana; Beech, Dave (June 6, 2018). "Album reviews: Lykke Li's 'so sad, so sexy', Gruff Rhys's 'Babelsberg' and more". The Independent. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  6. ^ Ham, Robert (June 8, 2018). "Jon Hassell: Listening to Pictures (Pentimento Volume One)". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  7. Coultate, Aaron (June 12, 2018). "Jon Hassell - Listening To Pictures (Pentimento Volume One)". Resident Advisor. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  8. Christgau, Robert (June 15, 2018). "Robert Christgau on Jon Hassell's "Anxiety-Easing, Life-Enhancing" New LP". Noisey. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  9. Coultate, Aaron (April 5, 2018). "Jon Hassell returns with Listening To Pictures, his first album in nine years". Resident Advisor. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  10. ^ "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40: 15 June 2018 - 21 June 2018". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  11. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50: 15 June 2018 - 21 June 2018". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 16, 2018.

External links

Jon Hassell
Studio albums
with Brian Eno
with Peter Freeman
with Farafina
Soundtracks
Categories: