Intuition Vinyl & CDs

Review: The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Dead Things by the Power of Sound, to give its full title, is one of the less talked-about Jon Hassell albums, but it's just as worthy of celebration. The Fourth World pioneer and raga trumpeter had established his fundamental sound by the late 80s, and this album works so brilliantly as a demonstration of that sound in action. Hassell's distinctive treated trumpet remains the central focus, while undulating rhythms and atmospheres unfurl around it as we're quickly buffeted away to strange and distant places. The mood Hassell captured on his finest works is a rare and unique thing - intense and subtle, ominous and calming, mysterious and yet so immediately appealing.