Browse by Artist: MUSLIMGAUZE

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Armsbazzar
Label:	ESSENCE MUSIC (BRAZIL)
Format:	CD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	ESS 011CD

"We are extremely thrilled and honored to announce our offering to the brilliant and extensive discography! Armsbazzar investigates both released and unreleased selected recordings from the intense period comprised between 1994 and 1997. Included are the out-of-print Hebron Massacre and Gulf Between Us singles, which feature two of the longest, most stunning and hypnotic Muslimgauze pieces ever -- plus two highly percussive tracks taken from the recording sessions of the mythic, yet still unreleased and unheard, Zamindar album. Presented in our custom 6-panel digisleeve packaging -- which also houses a 5-color poster -- adorned by the highly original and strong artwork from the fantastic Iranian visual artist Mohammad Fadaei. Mastered by Peter Andersson and limited to 999 hand-numbered copies. Unfortunately Bryn Jones, this eccentric music visionary and controversial figure who spent a lifetime moved by personal beliefs and relentless dedication to the Middle East issues, is no longer with us, but his unique and disturbing music is carved in stone and will always be in our hearts and minds."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Zul'm
Label:	EXTREME (AUSTRALIA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	XCD 012

1992 release. "Zul'm is an album of contrasts. It is evocative of a culture caught up in a web of local and global politics. The plight of the Palestinian people continues to inspire the music of Muslimgauze. The narrative appears as a slice of urbanity -- uptempo, carefree soundscapes of human activity interspersed with digitized spatial rhythms. The boundary between the East and West coalesces, melding and jutting into a changing whole. Zul'm sees a further step in the interaction of two very different nations, with guest musicians Said Nasser on Arabic percussion and voice and Zorawar Singh on Indian percussion and voice. Also appearing on the album is Mark Lawrence on keyboards. The title Zul'm is derived from the name of the Muslim prophet 'Zulkifl', meaning fate." Limited stock.

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Abu Nidal/Coup D'Etat
Label:	SOLEILMOON RECORDINGS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	SOL 002CD

"Originally released in 1986/1987 in England, these two albums have been out of print for years. Abu Nidal/Coup d'Etat is 72 minutes of rhythmic textures and hypnotic atmosphere, carrying the listener through the mountains and deserts of Islam, through shimmering heat waves and shifting sands. The intricate and mesmerizing textures created by Muslimgauze speak of cultures and peoples in conflict, of a time and place more imaginary than real."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass
Label:	SOLEILMOON RECORDINGS
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	SOL 073CD

1998 release. "Manchester, England's Muslimgauze has recorded a album of propulsive Middle Eastern grooves layered with Arabic radio samples and non-stop percussion loops. Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass sees Muslimgauze taking a turn away from his recent electronic distortion experiments into a smoother flowing rhythmic current. The harsh war field atmospheres of the past have been replaced by tricky beats and science fiction noisescapes. Imagine distilling the essence of the seething Gaza strip into a fizzing ambient/techno cocktail and you've got the latest Muslimgauze sound. In the increasingly predictable world of electronic music we're confident you'll never find anything remotely like Muslimgauze." Limited stock.

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Sufiq
Label:	SOLEILMOON RECORDINGS
Format:	CD
Price:	$7.00
Catalog #:	SOL 101CD

Repressed; original release 2000; 26 minute EP, with 9 shorter tracks. "Sufiq was recorded in November of 1997, just before the beginning of Bryn's last and most productive year." From Muze: "Presented in stark, white packaging, with Jones' hand-scrawled track listing adding an especially poignant note, Sufiq is an astonishing Muslimgauze opus and an ideal introduction for the uninitiated. Serpentine sax and meshes of urgent electronic and hand-drum rhythms immediately usher the listener into Jones' singular, sumptuous Saracen soundworld."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Veiled Sisters Remix
Label:	SOLEILMOON RECORDINGS
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	SOL 105CD

"Veiled Sisters was first released by Soleilmoon as a double CD in 1993 (SOL 20 CD). It was received with great acclaim at the time, and is still enjoying steady sales nearly ten years later. Bryn Jones, AKA Muslimgauze, recorded a follow-up in 1996, in which he reworked and recycled the materials into another album. It was delivered to Soleilmoon more as an afterthought than something he intended us to issue. Veiled Sisters Remix, as the piece was called, was held back from release at Bryn's request, with the reason being given generally that he wanted us to release something else that was 'newer and better', in his words. Now more than three years after his death, and with the continued consent of his family, we are pleased to finally be able to issue this forgotten gem of music. It's typical of its period, a time in which his work was reaching a creative zenith, but it stands out for it's unusual use of a single album as its source. In the time between the original Veiled Sisters and the Remix Bryn acquired and mastered the use of nearly all of the professional studio equipment that was so important to his later works. With this version he felt that he'd finally achieved the true vision of the album that he'd set out to record three years previously. Veiled Sisters Remix was designed by Alexander Baumgardt, the noted German designer who designed Hummus. Both CDs have a similar appearance at first glance, but they are in fact two distinctly different albums."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Re-Mixs Volume 1 + 2
Label:	SOLEILMOON RECORDINGS
Format:	2CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	SOL 131CD

"Seven years ago, way back in 1996, we released Re-mixs (SOL 37 CD), the first album in which Muslimgauze remixed his own music. Ever the perfectionist, he didn't trust anyone else with the job (and for the rest of his short life never expressed any enthusiasm for anyone else's treatments of his work). Two years later he surprised us with a follow-up album, Remixs Vol 2 (SOL 78 CD). Both releases were limited editions, and have been out of print for years. On each CD Bryn Jones (Muslimgauze), reworked his own material to the point where it became nearly unrecognizable, resulting in entirely new works. Many people consider the Remixs CDs to be among his best albums, and we're pleased to bring them back into print, packaged together for the first time, and offered at a friendly price."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Syrinjia
Label:	SOLEILMOON RECORDINGS
Format:	2CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	SOL 132CD

Regular non-limited jewel box edition. "Although Muslimgauze was never known for making particularly dance-oriented music, Syrinjia was a rare exception to the start-stop noisy feedback-driven assault that defined his style. This change in direction, more a detour, really, was the result of a simple request put to him to make an album that DJs could play for people who might not normally appreciate what he was doing. Rather than look at the request as a demand to compromise or sell out to commercial requirements, Bryn took it as an opportunity to explore a completely different foundation from which to work. While it could be said that the majority of his songs find their inspiration in Arabic or Islamic traditions, Syrinjia breaks the mold by looking west towards Jamaica and its vital reggae scene. The beats are rock steady and a sinuous bass line bubbles underneath at a rolling boil, and it's standing room only once again on Air Palestine flight 132 to Kingston. This regular edition is presented in a standard jewelbox and comes with a friendly price."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Speaker of Turkish
Label:	SOLEILMOON RECORDINGS
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	SOL 138CD

Regular digipak edition. "Speaker of Turkish is the first completely new Muslimgauze album to be released in more than two years. It's one of several albums recorded by Bryn Jones in a final year-long burst of creativity that peaked in the spring of 1998, shortly before his sudden and unexpected death on January 14, 1999. It consists of six long tracks. The first edition of Speaker of Turkish was released in January, in a limited edition hand-made papier-m�ch� case, with a double-sided windowsticker and a hand-numbered 2006 mini-calendar card included inside. This second edition is packaged in a digipak, with new artwork throughout: Colorful Islamic burial banners on the outside, and a mountain of sticky dates...eaten after the daily fast during Ramadan...on the inside. The music is exactly the same on both editions."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Arabbox
Label:	SOLEILMOON RECORDINGS
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	SOL 144CD

"Arabbox was recorded in 1993 following the first Gulf War. 10 years later, following the second Gulf War, Soleilmoon is pleased to finally release this important Muslimgauze album. It's commonly known that Bryn Jones, the late musician behind Muslimgauze, was driven by the passion of the Palestinian people's fight for an independent homeland. What is less well understood is how he found inspiration in other parts of the Muslim world, including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. India, with its dominant Hindu culture, might seem like an odd place to include in the list, until you remember that more than one hundred million Muslims live there. In fact Jones, who loved language and wordplay (consider the name 'Muslimgauze', for example), frequently plundered the south Asian subcontinent throughout his long musical career for song titles and album names, coming up with gems like 'Old Bombay Vinyl Junkie' and 'Tandoori Dog'. So it's not surprising that two song titles on Arabbox can be traced to India. 'Ganges Swimmer', heard in another form on the Staalplaat CD Izlamaphobia, and 'Firozsha Baag', the fictitious Bombay (now Mumbai) setting for a collection of interconnected stories by Indo-Canadian author Rohington Mistry. Thus it is appropriate that the images and packaging of this release are derived from India. But Iraq is very much in the news again, and that country is not neglected here. Track names like 'Kurdish Red', 'Sadaambush', and 'Basra' all come directly from that region. Incredibly, it seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. Stylistically, the songs of Arabbox follow other works recorded by Muslimgauze in the early 1990's. Fans familiar with the Soleilmoon double CD Veiled Sisters will recognize the flowing, humanistic sounds, natural sounding percussion, and gently shimmering keyboards that sent the reviewers running to their dictionaries to search for new words to describe what they were hearing. Now that Bryn is gone we're left to listen to his work and interpret his genius on our own."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Mullah Said
Label:	STAALPLAAT (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	MUSLIM 018CD

"Much like earlier entrants in the subscription series Sandtrafikar, Mullah concentrates on the softer yet still ominous side of Muslimgauze, coming across as meditative, late-night music which still has an understated edge to it all. The title track sets its mood well, with a synth/string arrangement similar to the dominant one from Veiled Sisters, but darker and more subdued, set against a very low-key drum machine beat and gentle interjections of wind instruments and random vocal bits. The first 'Every Grain of Palestinian Sand' ups the tempos slightly, adding more drones and percussion, including a great acoustic performance about halfway in, along with an attractive central string melody. From there the album continues in the same general vein, adding tweaks and changes as it goes. Both versions of 'Muslims Die India' are a bit more active, while still maintaining the same generally dreamy and drifting feeling (the second concentrates a bit more on percussion interplay throughout its quarter-hour length); and the second 'Every Grain' sneaks in more echo and samples of machines into its quiet though intense groove. 'An End' concludes things on an unexpected note, with a female vocalist singing over a combination of bird sounds and percussion breaks -- an attractive way to end a fine record. Mullah Said displays two aspects of the work of Muslimgauze. Firstly, musically, it is in the delightful drifting ambient vein. The percussion is mainly acoustic hand drums -- providing a rhythm of aural features -- the trademark shimmering string sound heard on a number of releases is much in evidence, rhythms are generally slower, there are lots of samples of people speaking in conversation, markets wherever. 'Mullah Said' opens the disc with the lovely mix of these sounds. 'Every Grain of Palestine Sand' continues the mood, with a slightly faster tempo, and more emphasis on the beat. But it soon locks into a mesmeric lassitude as various effects echo or smear the sounds, drums come in for short moments, different string sounds enjoin the play. 'Muslims Die India' follows the mood though the voices seem darker, sadder, and then comes 'Every Grain of Palestinian Sand' followed by 'Muslims Die India.' Yes, not a typo, these tracks are repeated. This is the second Muslimgauze trend -- to remix himself. On a number of releases there are tracks with the same title, sometimes called part 1 and 2, and usually they are about the same length and listening indicates they are versions of the same song. With the two here, the samples occur at about the same time, the instrumentation is similar, and what we get is subtle variations -- different effects, placement of instruments in the mix etc. This leaves us with a 50 minute suite of prime Muslimgauze middle eastern ambience -- if you like that side you will love this album. The final track is short and different, a crackling ground over which a singer chants a song interrupted by machine-gun percussive bursts -- 'An end.'"

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	No Human Rights For Arabs Vol. 2
Label:	STAALPLAAT (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	MUSLIM 034

Unreleased and extended remix of the original and already sold out of the first volume. Parts originally released as the No Human Rights For Arabs In Israel (EP) (Staalplaat, 1995) & tracks 2-5, 7 & 12 as No Human Rights For Arabs In Israel (EP) (on the Polish label Vivo, 2004). "From the moment I glanced at the horrific cover art of a small Arab child ravaged, bleeding and bandaged I knew this prolific orator of the proletariat is firmly planting his message into the consciousness of the mostly converted. Though, the contents are a mix of atmospheric electronics, somewhat techno, and repetitive, the real message is patented in his direct passion to embed his political passions in a thread of frenetic rhythm, tones and beats. Composed of six tracks, this Psychic TV'esque m�lange of chunky beats and synth-sensation recalls early 80s lower east side day-glo attitudes pigmented with pop-art hooks. This has the feel of a Bootsy Collins or other like Funkadelic spin-off record, not quite 'the same' but experimenting with foundations of something that was once quite miraculous." -- T.J. Norris/Igloo.

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Maroon
Label:	STAALPLAAT (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	STCD 084CD

"In 1995, Staalplaat released Maroon by Muslimgauze and we announced there would be three different editions. A deluxe digipack with an original stamp by the Palestinian Authority (500 copies), a deluxe digipack without the stamp (500 copies) and an unlimited digipack with a new design. The third edition was never released, due to the high output of Muslimgauze at that time -- it was shortly after the release of Maroon that we started our limited edition subscription series. Over the years we believed to have lost the films and artwork for the third edition, another problem in producing it. Recently the films showed up (albeit in a not too best state) and we decided to produce the original third, unlimited edition of Maroon. It is now available. Maroon was the first Muslimgauze of 1995 and brought back the sound of confrontation. Musically Maroon continues Salaam Alekum Bastard (which was a break with the Blue Mosque and Zealot releases) and is dub inspired techno, laid back sounds with taped radio voices from the middle east that appear apparently random in the mix."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Beyond the Blue Mosque
Label:	STAALPLAAT (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	STCD 116CD

Repressed. "Since late 1995 Staalplaat has issued limited edition releases by Muslimgauze. Until now 9 of those releases were available, and they are all sold out. To explain once more: the limited editions are for die-hard fans, giving the possibility to collect a lot of Mr. Muslimgauze's music (and imagine: there is still much you didn't hear). Beyond The Blue Mosque is the first in a series of those compilations. Compiled by Berrie Kamer (VPRO's Mort Aux Vaches man) with the best tracks taken from Izlamaphobia, Azzazin, Return Of Black September, Deceiver and the Zealot 10". The music shifts back and forth between aggressive up tempo pieces (from Izlamaphobia and Deceiver) and the dark, moody brooding atmospheres (from Azzazin)."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Observe With Sadiq Bey
Label:	STAALPLAAT (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	STCD 131CD

Repressed. "Dedicated to the Naqba, the catastrophe of 50 years ago. This release is not part of the limited edition series. This time an unlimited one. Music-wise more up tempo, distorted beat material, with dashes of trip hop like beats. Muslimgauze find their way round in current dance music trends, but he's not willing to settle down, give in or sell out. Many assorted vocal snippets, from anguished exclamations to persuasive Middle Eastern politispeak, are expertly woven into the straightforwardly ethnic rhythms of State of Palestine. Darker, and infused with various whispers."

Artist:	MUSLIMGAUZE
Title:	Speaking With Hamas
Label:	STAALPLAAT (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	STCD 140CD

"This is the third in our bi-annual series of 'best of Muslimgauze limited edition'. These CD's are intended for those who think that Muslimgauze was an over productive unit, but think that they should still keep up with some of what Muslimgauze was doing. So after a couple of limited editions only, Staalplaat releases a best of. Speaking With Hamas was compiled by Bryn Jones himself early 1997 and he thought it would be nice to include a new, previously unreleased track. In his words: 'It's for people who don't deserve it'."

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