Dream Theory in Malaya: Fourth World Volume Two
Jon Hassell
1981
Another story began forty years later when ambient music pioneer Brian Eno started transitioning his compositions from rock to minimalism and ambient music. In 1975, his album introduced the concept of "Another Green World."
At that time, his closest collaborator, composer Jon Hassell, first imagined and constructed the sounds of indigenous peoples inhabiting this planet. This compositional philosophy later became known as Fourth World Music. Even today, we are still trying to capture and explore its endless possibilities.
In the 1930s, Kilton Stewart, an anthropologist with a background as a Mormon missionary, accidentally encountered an indigenous tribe in the central mountains of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia. After spending time with the Senoi people, Stewart believed that the Senoi tribe was closely connected to the world of dreams (visions). The Senoi believed that anyone, with the assistance of a partner, could face, control, and use all the entities and forces present in the dream universe without fear. In Stewart's 1954 book "Pygmies and Dream Giants," he wrote, "The interpretation of these types of dreams (visions) slowly moved to the West, and groups exploring this theme are rapidly increasing today."
In 1981, Jon Hassell perhaps named his fourth album "Dream Theory in Malaya" after Stewart's thesis. The album embodies minimalist composition, ambient music, and exotic styles. Ancient ethnic music and glitch electronics vie for space in this land. The sound of Hassell's trumpet experienced transformative processing—distortion, stretching, cutting, and digital delay—making it difficult to recognise its original form, transforming it into a complete product. However, it wasn't just Eno who contributed to "Dream Theory in Malaya." Contributions also came from land artist Walter De Maria, the croaks of frogs, strange birds, the sounds of primitive Malay children, and flowing water, all of which supported the melody and rhythm within the environment. Every element transformed "Dream Theory in Malaya."
I particularly like the description of "Dream Theory in Malaya" as an auditory hallucination. This aligns well with the first impression it intends to create. It can be sacred or quiet, guiding the heartbeat. Hassell's constantly changing trumpet continuously reminds us that we are not in the familiar natural world, where the familiar becomes unfamiliar, turning it into a mysterious entity. The theory of this dream gradually becomes complete through the intertwining of each element.
03 May 2021