Listening to Pictures

Last updated
Listening to Pictures
ListeningToPictures.jpg
Studio album by
Jon Hassell
ReleasedJune 8, 2018 (2018-06-08)
StudioStudio Venice, California
Genre Avant-garde
Length38:41
Label Ndeya
Producer Jon 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
Metacritic 84/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
Exclaim! 8/10 [3]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The Independent Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Pitchfork 7.3/10 [6]
Resident Advisor 4.0/5 [7]
Vice (Expert Witness)A− [8]

Listening to Pictures is a studio album by Jon Hassell. It was released on his own record label, Ndeya, on June 8, 2018. [9] It peaked at number 34 on the UK Dance Albums Chart, [10] as well as number 34 on the UK Independent Albums Chart. [11]

Contents

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". [1]

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." [4] 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." [4] 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." [5] 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." [6]

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.

Charts

ChartPeak
position
UK Dance Albums (OCC) [10] 34
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [11] 34

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References

  1. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40: 15 June 2018 - 21 June 2018". Official Charts Company . Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50: 15 June 2018 - 21 June 2018". Official Charts Company . Retrieved July 16, 2018.
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