Muslimgauze
Bryn Jones was not a practicing Muslim and never traveled to the Middle East. His recordings as Muslimgauze, however, qualified him as one of the Western artists most explicitly slanted in favor of the Palestinian liberation movement. Jones could have been a potentially controversial figure if his releases were available in anything except extremely limited editions—usually less than one thousand copies of each title. Despite their lack of prominence, Jones’s blend of found-sound Middle Eastern and South Asian atmospheres with heavily phased drones and colliding rhythm programs were among the most startling and unique in the noise and electronica underground. The Muslimgauze project ended tragically in 1999 when Jones died suddenly of a rare blood disease.
Bryn Jones was not a practicing Muslim and never traveled to the Middle East. His recordings as Muslimgauze, however, qualified him as one of the Western artists most explicitly slanted in favor of the Palestinian liberation movement. Jones could have been a potentially controversial figure if his releases were available in anything except extremely limited editions—usually less than one thousand copies of each title. Despite their lack of prominence, Jones’s blend of found-sound Middle Eastern and South Asian atmospheres with heavily phased drones and colliding rhythm programs were among the most startling and unique in the noise and electronica underground. The Muslimgauze project ended tragically in 1999 when Jones died suddenly of a rare blood disease.
Islamic Songs
The sun always shines bright, very bright in the Middle East. Windows open up and we hear music. Not the music by Muslimgauze, but traditional music. We hear the Adhan, the call for prayer, the souk and people talking. Music comes from all directions -- rhythmic, mysterious, monotonous perhaps, but swirling like a dervish, round and round it goes. The music of Islam was such an inspiration for Bryn Jones (1961-1999), although perhaps "inspiration" probably doesn't justify the seemingly endless f…
Sadaam's Children
Long-time Muslimgauze fans with keen eyes and/or photographic memories may immediately notice something about the newly unearthed Sadaams Children album; with some slight orthographic differences, it just about shares a name with a short track from the classic Narcotic (Staalplaat, 1997; the similarity and the difference is pretty much expected from someone who both liked to reuse names and didn’t care for consistency in spelling as Bryn Jones did). While none of the four lengthy tracks found on…
Eleven Minarets
**300 copies** Previously released as part of Arab Quarter by Soleilmoon back in 1996, 11 Minarets, is a focused exploration on one theme which allowed Bryn Jones to push the boundaries of his music deep into new areas. As on his other albums released at around the same time, the volume is pushed to the limit. With this album, Muslimgauze continued to define his own genre, and without a doubt there simply were no imitators, wannabes or pretenders. The artwork for this album contains elements of …
Salaam Alekum, Bastard
**CD version, 300 copies** Issued on Ukraine-via-Berlin label Kvitnu, for whom the release has an extra political resonance - outlined below - Salaam Alekum, Bastard is a prime example of Bryn Jones aka Muslimgauze’s strongheld political worldview, near-wordlessly wrapped up in billowing nocturnal desert-scape pads and some of his most hypnotic, serpentine percussion. Check for intoxicating highlights in the swingeing syncopation of the title tune, the ravishing ambient dubbing of Hebron Massacr…
Return of Black September
The excellent Black September, a continuous, five-part, 68-minute epic, is as formidably competent as ever, although more for the brooding, surreal nature of its soundworld than for its grooves, which here sound almost subsidiary. The soul samples and restlessly evolving minor-chord kaleidoscopes that unfold throughout the work is prima facie evidence of a musician on a roll. Boldly named after one of the most notorious Palestinian terrorist organizations, the group which carried out the Israeli…
Lalique Gadaffi Handgrenade
**700 copies** Incredible late '90s dub-noise gear from Muslimgauze resurfaces along with previously unreleased, genius electro-dub goodies in the latest Staalplaat volley. Can a person ever have enough Muslimgauze records? The answer is a firm no, and Arab Jerusalem (1996), found on the A-side, is a sterling example of the Manchester-based outlier at his trippy, expressive best, swirling samples of Arabic voices in a thick mist of dubwise FX with sloshing tabla and drones that seem to fade in a…
Babylon Is Iraq
**500 numbered copies. sold out at source** Unsurprisingly for a creator as prolific as Muslimgauze's Bryn Jones was, when he was asked for a contribution for any sort of group project, he would tend to provide more options than necessary. In the case of longtime label Staalplaat's 1996 compilation Sonderangebot, where Jones would find himself in the company of everyone from Charlemagne Palestine to Reptilicus, the selected track was the characteristically head-spinning Kaliskinazure, nine minut…
Azzazin
Azzazin is a double standout Muslimgauze album, first LP originally issued in 1996, as a CD (Muslimgauze Subscription 003); the second disc originally as a 10" of remixes (Muslimgauze Subscription 007). This 2LP adds two unreleased tracks. Tightly focused on a singular palette of monotone drones and swarming electronic buzzes, which arguably sound like a parallel to early Editions Mego. They're probably the most minimalist Muslimgauze tracks you've heard, and even still he manages to express a f…
Ingaza
Staalplaat presents a double LP reissue of Muslimgauze's Ingaza, originally released in 1999 (the year of his death) as part of the Box Of Silk And Dogs set. Those not familiar with Bryn Jones's style will listen slack-jawed at the sheer anticipatory nature of his sound collages. He was a cult artist, politically motivated for the Arab-Palestinian cause and a seminal experimenter with ethnic samples' and minimal and electronic rhythms. The atmospheres retain their original charm, full and gloomy…
Maroon
**Edition of 500 numbered copies. Housed in hand-printed, laser-cut and sewed 1mm thick cardboard covers. All produced and assembled by hand in a pure DIY spirit.Shipping this week** Separated from both its reputation and its sleeve art, the music of Muslimgauze explores the relationship of visual sensations -- space, color, depth, illusion -- to the listening experience. The music on Maroon is dub-like inspired techno music, laidback with voices appearing randomly in the mix. The thick drums an…
Mullah Said
Edition of 500. First vinyl edition; originally released on CD in 1998. Those not familiar with Bryn Jones's style will listen slack-jawed at the shear anticipatory nature of his sound collage. The six lengthy tracks on Mullah Said are based on hypnotic and somewhat menacing grooves: a repetitive dub bass beat, waves of Middle Eastern strings and voices, layers of building hand percussion. Each track is a respective, but the washes of sound/percussion come and go often creating a sense of mot…
Chasing the Shadow of Bryn Jones 1983-88 (10 LP box) ltd 99
Limited friends edition of 99 numbered copies. This edition includes the bonus 10“ of Coup D'etat (LP, Album), 1987 for VOD-Members/Subscribers. Price include worldwide delivery - pre-orders, already few remaining at the label: of all the incredible releases compiled by Vinyl On Demand in the last few years, this one is by some distance their biggest coup. This epic 10 LP box set compiles the earliest material from Bryn Jones aka Muslimgauze dating back to 1983 and upto 1988. It includes a whole…
Ali Zarin
With the massive amount of material Bryn Jones had left in the vaults when he passed away in 1999, it's hard to truly assess his progression, stylistic or otherwise, over the years. And his reasons for choosing to release one tape's worth of material over another's were sometimes as mysterious as anything else about his work as Muslimgauze. But upon stumbling onto the material found on the undated tape known as Ali Zarin, it's hard not to wonder how it would have been received if it had bee…
Muslimgauze LP in bundle
Limited Edition Pressings of ten separate Muslimgauze Albums circa 1983-1988 now available as standalone, separate releases for the first time. Beautiful remastered editions, 200 copies only! That hugely elaborate, hugely expensive Muslimgauze Box Set from a couple of years ago has long sold out - but Vinyl on Demand have thankfully made a very limited run (200 copies only) of each of its 10 incredible albums available to buy as standalone releases for the first time. The 10 albums cover…
Libya Tour Guide
Limited edition of 500. Originally issued as the third LP in the limited-edition Tandoori Dog box set (1998), Libya Tour Guide is reissued here as a standalone CD following corresponding editions of the box's first two discs, Jaagheed Zarb (2008) and Tandoor Dog (ARCHIVE 013CD, 2013), and again the increased space of the CD medium has allowed for the inclusion of previously unreleased material from the original tape. Although a version of "Rebiana sand sea" originally surfaced on the 1998 Mel…
Abyssinia Selasie
Limited edition of 500. Although Bryn Jones's work as Muslimgauze certainly counts dub among its influences, rarely is that influence treated as directly or centrally as it is on many of the tracks found on Abyssinia Selasie. A rarity among the material Jones left behind after his death in 1999, this release features previously unreleased material that Jones had titled, unlike many of the tapes he had submitted but hadn't gotten around to preparing for release. The opening title-track alon…
Izlamaphobia
Edition of 500. Izlamaphobia starts with an aggressive blast, "Hudood ordinance." With a rhythm track consisting of extremely tweaked and processed electronic beats and bleeps and only the gentlest of Arabic string instruments deep in the mix to relate things to a more familiar Muslimgauze sound, the song sets the general mood for the rest of Izlamaphobia. This said, Bryn Jones's specific talent was such that even without that, this would still sound like him, his trademark care and obses…
Uzbekistani Bizzare and Souk
Sonically, Bryn Jones's work as Muslimgauze often pulled in two directions at the same time. The one, towards what fans of Can might call an "ethnographic" kind of practice, especially with his use of vocal samples and percussion instruments from the Middle East and other regions of the world Jones was so interested in (obsessed by?). The other is toward, for lack of more polite phrasing, harshly fucked-up digital noise and beats. Many interesting Muslimgauze releases tend more toward that …
Drugsherpa
The provenance of bonus tracks can often be tangential or suspicious; in this case, it's more like a homecoming. WhenBryn Jones turned in the master for what would become 1994's Drugsherpa mini-CD, Staalplaat selected the 20-minute title-track, truly one of Muslimgauze's most distinct and awe-inspiring tracks, to fill the release. The sinuous, doom-haunted "Drugsherpa" still sounds fresh today, but in 1994 it was so far ahead of its time, that the rest of us wouldn't catch up until a decade or m…
Turkish Berlina
Some might say that the continued stream of releases fromBryn Jones aka Muslimgauze is beginning to beggar belief. But Jones was always prolific, creating not just song after song but variant version after version of his existing work. And so Muslimgauze continues to reach out from the last century into this one. Although an intensely dedicated and creative producer and composer, Jones could be a little cryptic when it came to keeping his massive body of work organized. The recently unearthed Tu…