Aka/Darbari/Java: Magic Realism

Aka/Darbari/Java: Magic Realism is a 1983 album by American trumpet player and composer Jon Hassell, released on the label Editions EG. It was co-produced by Daniel Lanois and features Abdou M'Boup on drums.[1]

Aka/Darbari/Java: Magic Realism
Studio album by
Released1983
Recorded1982
StudioGrant Avenue Studios, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
GenreWorld, ambient
Length44:10
LabelEditions EG EGED 31
ProducerJon Hassell, Daniel Lanois
Jon Hassell chronology
Dream Theory in Malaya
(1981)
Aka/Darbari/Java: Magic Realism
(1983)
Power Spot
(1986)

Background

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The album features Hassell manipulating and looping fragments of sampled sound.[2] In the liner notes, Hassell describes the album as "a proposal for a 'coffee-colored' classical music of the future."[3]

The cover painting is by Mati Klarwein.[1]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [1]
The Village VoiceA−[3]

AllMusic's Brian Olewnick described the album as "an insinuating blend of early-'80s high tech with ancient Southeast Asia," calling it "an early high-water mark at the juncture between world and ambient musics."[1] For The Village Voice, Robert Christgau called it "dandy background music--more fluid and organic than Dream Theory in Malaya if also more amorphous than his first Eno collaboration."[3]

In his 1995 book Ocean of Sound, David Toop writes that on Aka/Darbari/Java "the perfume of ethnopoetics was supplemented by parallels with literature and the advanced technology of hyperreality."[2]

Tracklist

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All tracks composed by Jon Hassell unless otherwise noted.

  1. "Empire I" - 2:00
  2. "Empire II" (Hassell, Daniel Lanois) - 4:53
  3. "Empire III" - 7:09
  4. "Empire IV" - 5:13
  5. "Empire V" - 3:40
  6. "Darbari Extension I" - 13:52
  7. "Darbari Extension II" - 7:23

Personnel

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  • Jon Hassell - trumpet, keyed voices and instruments, treatments, producer
  • Daniel Lanois - recording engineer, mixing and treatments, co-producer
  • Abdou M'Boup - drums
  • Bob Lanois, Michael Brook, John Forbes - assistance (Toronto)
  • Bruno Planet - drum recording engineer (Paris)
  • Greg Calbi - mastering
  • Jean-Michel Reusser - project coordinator
  • Mati Klarwein - artwork
  • Paula Greif - design
  • Wynn Dan - design assistant

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Olewnick, Brian. "Review: Aka/Darbari/Java - Jon Hassell". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b Toop, David (2018). Oceans of Sound: Ambient sound and radical listening in the age of communication. Serpent's Tail. ISBN 9781788161046. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Christgau, Robert. "Christgau's Consumer Guide: Aug. 30, 1983". The Village Voice. Retrieved 30 December 2019.