MUSLIMGAUZE レコード& CD

Review: A serious showcase for Muslimgauze's mastery of hypnotic, Eastern-inspired soundscapes. Clocking in at over 75 minutes, the five tracks delve into a world of intricate rhythms, droning keyboards, and ethereal atmospheres. 'Sadhu' sets the tone with its hypnotic percussion and swirling melodies, while 'Shaheed' and 'Mosaic Palestine' build upon this foundation, their extended lengths allowing for deep immersion and sonic exploration. 'Ayodhya Skin & Stone', the album's centerpiece, is a sprawling epic that seamlessly blends traditional instrumentation with electronic textures, creating a mesmerizing tapestry of sound. 'Iraqi Opal' provides a contemplative conclusion, its delicate melodies and atmospheric textures leaving a lingering sense of wonder. A testament to Bryn Jones' ability to create immersive and transportive sonic experiences.

Review: The late great Muslimgauze was always way ahead of the curve with the music he made. Whenever you think you have a handle on it you will discover another mind-bending work. Al-Zulfiquar Shaheed is a 75-minute testament to that from 1994 that is a journey into hypnotic, Eastern-inspired soundscapes. Comprising five extended compositions, it showcases Bryn Jones' unparalleled ability to weave intricate textures of Arabic percussion, droning keyboards and evocative vocal samples. The album is both rhythmic and melodic and brilliantly immersive while being steeped in ethereal tones and cultural depth. Its detailed, flowing arrangements highlight Jones' genius for crafting mesmerising, long-form works that resonate deeply all these years on.

Review: Even by the standards of the late, great Bryn Jones AKA Muslimgauze - an artist whose enormous catalogue has only grown since his death in 1999 - Rhiza Coil of Resin is something of an obscurity - a set previously only available as part of a rare box set. It was reportedly recorded at some point following the release of Narcotic (1997) and explores many of the same sonic themes. Here available as a standalone CD for the first time, the five tracks variously touch on lo-fi, delay-laden drum & bass ('Deceive For Yourself'), redlined bass and mangled breakbeats (both takes on the suitably heavy 'Arab Quarter'), experimental electronic noise meets ambient acid ('Why Iraq') and deep, dubbed-out trip-hop ('Effendi') - all peppered with his usual Arabic spoken word samples, field recordings and found sounds.

Review: Any album by Muslimgauze should be approached with a combination of trepidation and excitement. We don't know where the sounds will take us prior to hitting play, and along the sonic odyssey there's every chance we'll be challenged and hit hard with some heavyweight moments of "what was" or "what is that?" Nevertheless, the late-IDM and underground, experimental electronic icon never ceases to amaze and delight in equal measure. Attempting to dissect or analyse the Manchester (well, Salford)-born producer's work is always challenging, especially given the vast context. A back catalogue which at times almost feels infinite, trying to identify specific traits and touchstones is difficult, if not impossible. Each collection of tracks should be treated individually, then, and in the case of Rhiza you're talking about skeletal percussive drum & bass and jungle, heavily influenced by the Middle Eastern and North African dance music styles.

Review: Early on in Muslimgauze's (Bryn Jones') career, the musician released two ultra-mysterious releases on the equally mysterious label Hessian, which some speculate might've been comprised entirely of Jones himself. Hammer & Sickle was one of these two early LPs from the faux Arabic auteur, and was notable for its distinct lack of any back cover artwork (who needs a visual stimulus when you've got such great music on board?). Though still indicative of Jones' work as Muslimgauze, superfans will note that this release sounds a little more formative than some of his later releases, owing to its lessened use of Middle Eastern instrumentation and sparser production in general. B-sider 'Fear Of Gadaffi' is the most intermittent in this regard, revelling more than anything in the simple effect of spring delay on sampled, freeform perc hits.

Review: Eleven miasmic, brooding tape meditations from the legendary Bryn Jones, reissued and packaged by Ukrainian label I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free. Recorded in the immediate wake of the Oslo I accords, the album both bares Jones' stance on the peace pact and eerily predicts its aftermath, with humming, resonant drones, tinny vocal fragments and reversed percussion colliding in aural analogues of political tension, distrust and cyclicality. Overall it is an equally meditative and ominous listen, peppered with many of the hallmarks of mid-nineties Muzlimgauze productions, from swung, steppy, proto-DMZ ride cymbals, to plucked FM synth MIDI earworms, to his ever-present swathes of darkly churning string drones. Essential!

Review: Muslimgauze's Intifaxa has previously only been released on CD and is one of a series of four double albums on the cult Australian label Extreme Music. It's another sublime example of the late experimental artist's ability to blend electronic beats and Middle Eastern influences into a unique fusion of sound that is part underground house and part psychedelic trance music. Released posthumously, the album transports listeners into a world of hypnotic rhythms, intricate percussion, and haunting melodies. The tracks are awash with modulated field recordings and tribal grooves that make for a transcendental and immersive listen all while showcasing Muslimgauze's vision and innovative approach to production.

Review: Bryn Jones was the man behind the always hugely experimental Muslimgauze project. The late Mancunian has a catalogue of music that is complex and dense, especially for newcomers but the ongoing reissues of it will help people get stuck in and explore. Lo Fi India Abuse has been remastered for the occasion and comes on vinyl, picture disc as here, or CD. It is a mix of brilliant, brutal and beguiling sound collages that ride ramshackle rhythms and chew up and spit out biased bass, rusty metal, middle eastern melody, psyched-out dub funk and plenty of hard-to-define sounds in between.

Review: The eternally mystical Muslimgauze was as experimental as they come. They turned out a wealth of now cult albums that still sound like very little else out there'd there has been a rather extensive reissue project in the world over the last few years. The next of their albums to get put put in remastered form across various formats is Khan Younis from back in 1993. All fused into the competing tracks that make it up are sounds from the worlds of experimental, ambient, acid house and dub to make for a truly unique listen.

Review: It's nice to get a new edition of Muslimgauze's 'Emia Bakia', a long out-of-print and hard to find album from 1994, because the album remains one of the most unique in the late, great producer's vast catalogue. The set's uniqueness lies in the surprising shape and focus of the rhythms that Muslimgauze utilised on the album; while as percussion-rich as ever, and often cloaked in his usual dark ambient sounds, dub-influenced basslines and Eastern exoticism, the beats are regularly far more dancefloor-focused than you'd expect. This isn't otherworldly ambient dub, but rather some mind-altering mutation of psychedelic house music that still sounds like nothing else around.