Muslimgauze

[Zeno Marx]

I had a dream about listening to Zul'm.  Now listening to Azzazin for the first time.  What are the more percussive albums?  Is there such a thing as a percussive-dense Muslimgauze album that stays clear of dub?  Not so much staying away from digital, because I like how Zul'm sounds.  Dancy is even fine if it is closer to traditional rhythms and not so much something you would imagine being in a club (not interested in the glitchy, either).  I almost want a Zakir Hussain album filtered through Muslimgauze.  As I think I said earlier in the thread, I really like the Extreme releases, but would hope to find something even more traditional in vibe.  Any ideas?

*Zul'm is a an all digital recorded album (DDD).  Are there any others like this pre-2000?

[spiritassembly]

I had a dream about listening to Zul'm.  Now listening to Azzazin for the first time.  What are the more percussive albums?  Is there such a thing as a percussive-dense Muslimgauze album that stays clear of dub?  Not so much staying away from digital, because I like how Zul'm sounds.  Dancy is even fine if it is closer to traditional rhythms and not so much something you would imagine being in a club (not interested in the glitchy, either).  I almost want a Zakir Hussain album filtered through Muslimgauze.  As I think I said earlier in the thread, I really like the Extreme releases, but would hope to find something even more traditional in vibe.  Any ideas?

Some recommendations:

Narcotic (1997) - one of the most fully fleshed-out records he produced during his lifetime, tangentially related to 'Gulf Between Us', 'Drugsherpa', etc but more emphasis on straight-up Arab rhythms and textures.

Al-Zulfiquar Shaheed (1994) - generally long, pieces, flowing percussion + field recordings, sort of a precursor to a sound that would become more fleshed out circa 'Arab Quarter', 'Narcotic', 'Sandtrafikar', etc.

and the following three are based on really heavy Bedouin-style polyrhythmic hand-drumming (the dub references are still there in the form of very deep sub-basslines, but no reggae references a la Syrinjia or Baghdad if that's what you're trying to avoid) with very minimal traditional instruments and voices, no jarring cut-ups or obvious electronic beats most of the time though everything is still pushed into the red quite often:

Observe With Sadiq Bey (1999)
Hand of Fatima (1999)
Jebel Tariq (2000)

Someone really needs to do some sort of Muslimgauze flowchart that maps out the development of the individual, and at times very separate, stylistic threads of his music. As it is, reviews and writings about Muslimgauze are almost always misleading on some level, at least when it comes to straightforward descriptions of the music.

[Zeno Marx]

Thank you.  very helpful.  I found a track off Narcotic, "Effendi", and I didn't care for the effects.  I then found  3/4 tracks from Al-Zulfiquar Shaheed, and I liked those.  They felt like tangential material to United States of Islam.  I'm looking forward to the other three you noted.

[eyestrain]

Hand Of Fatima m-i-g-h-t be my favorite work by Jones. It might occasionally rely on dub-style bass a bit more than you'd like Zeno, but coming from someone who doesn't care for reggae-anything, I'd say this is forgivable if only for the fact that the album flawlessly creates a scene. You can sense the footsteps all around, the smell of food, overbearing talk, the racket of state television and radio. Death's gaze hidden behind more than one window.

The packaging doesn't really mesh with my experience of the album, but perhaps you'd be more assuaged by the gruesome portrayal of infant death and old age. Not in a glorifying way at all; very human still.

On a different note, I think Wish Of The Flayed gets the most repeats. Never figured out why...just a lot of addictive, blown-out tracks, I guess.

[Zeno Marx]

-Hand of Fatima (1999) - "Youseff My Medina" has that stutter that he overuses and really turns me off - "Hand of Fatima" is a good track and close to what I'm hoping to find - "Mint Tea with Gadaffi" has good tabla work, but I didn't like the bass line - I couldn't find the other tracks to preview.

-Observe With Sadiq Bey (1999) - found maybe 1/3 of the tracks - eh; too much of that stutter repetition and some unappealing bass lines.

A set of flow charts would be amazing.  Break them down into effects, field recordings/sampling, percussion, style, habit/tendency.

[Zeno Marx]

Anyone care to comment on Box of Silk and Dogs?  Favorite disc?  Which to avoid?  Avoid the whole thing?  General overview of style(s)?  I don't see anyone talking about it or recommending it, but maybe that is because it was too much to ever absorb; or more like a novelty collectible than something people buy and actually play.

[Zeno Marx]

Had he lived long enough to see 09-11 and then into the present, I'm almost afraid to imagine where he'd be politically.  On no-fly lists.  Probably kicking out material at a clip that would make Soleilmoon spin.  And would Soleilmoon have stuck with him if he'd become even more radical, more confrontational, and better known?  It's difficult for me to believe they would have.  He could have been a really difficult presence to handle in terms of marketing, publicity, and all the things that could have sucked all his associates into a cauldron.  Has anyone written about this?  Or discussions on a yahoo group or dedicated forum somewhere?

Listened to Salaam Alekum, Bastard (1995) today.  A couple things:  1)  a strange opening to this album.  I thought he was quickly headed towards some awful techno structures, but he stuck with that rhythm in a way that pulls it out of the techno style and into a quasi-meditative, smartly repetitive lulling vibe.  It surprised me that by going nowhere, he went somewhere interesting.*  It's not a great track, but it is a good idea, which was sort of his MO and biggest problem (for me) as he left the early 90s sounds and styles; decent ideas and bad execution, and fewer good ideas and worsening execution moving forward.  2)  I'm sure he used Indian source material more than I realize and recognize, but it really stands out on one of the early tracks, particularly apparent in the vocalizations.  It's when the vocals almost mimic the tabla.

edit*  not that this is anything new in art of any sort, but it isn't something that he does well or often.  Muslimgauze is rather busy music.  He definitely has his moments of repetition, but I don't remember many of them occurring just as he's building momentum or coming out of the gate.

[l.b.]

Had he lived long enough to see 09-11 and then into the present, I'm almost afraid to imagine where he'd be politically.  On no-fly lists.  Probably kicking out material at a clip that would make Soleilmoon spin.  And would Soleilmoon have stuck with him if he'd become even more radical, more confrontational, and better known?  It's difficult for me to believe they would have.  He could have been a really difficult presence to handle in terms of marketing, publicity, and all the things that could have sucked all his associates into a cauldron.  Has anyone written about this?  Or discussions on a yahoo group or dedicated forum somewhere?

i thought about this a lot. in a way, i'm thankful he wasn't around for the post-9/11 bloom of awareness in 'the west' about arab cultures and islam. always appreciated him letting the music speak, as so often people passionate about politics get wordy and long-winded.

been also seeking out the funkiest 'gauze albums. while i appreciate the 'noise'-oriented efforts like 'Azzazzin' i think i prefer his style with heavy beats and bumpin basslines like 'Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass.'

[Zeno Marx]

the list finalized.

1st tier:
Abu Nidal LP 1987
Coup d'Etat LP 1987
Coup d'Etat/Abu Nidal CD 1992 (incomplete reissue)
Bhutto CD-single 1991
United States of Islam CD 1991
Zul'm CD 1992

2nd tier:
Iran CD 1988
Intifaxa CD 1990
Satyajit Eye DAT 1993
Hamas Arc CD 1993
Drugsherpa 3"CD 1994
Drugsherpa reissue (Archive series; with the other tracks on the master submitted at that time)
Hebron Massacre CDEP 1994
Al-Zulfiquar Shaheed CD 1994
Nadir of Purdah CD 1994-1995
Minaret Speaker CD 2015 (Archive series; 2 tracks originally released on the Minaret Speaker 7" in 1996; *one of the bigger surprises from this organization process)
"Hand of Fatima" track 1999
The Unfinished Mosque 12" side A only 2000 (Archive series; from Drugsherpa 1994 master)

3rd tier:
Jazirat-Ul-Arab LP 1987
The Rape Of Palestine LP 1988
Betrayal CD 1993
Vote Hezbollah CD 1993
Veiled Sisters 2CD 1993
Citadel CD 1994
Blue Mosque 2CD 1994
Zealot 2CD 1994
Sycophant of Purdah 1994 (Archive series; ONLY "For Muntaz" because the Gary Numan-esque synths)
Silknoose CD 1995
Un-used Remix's 1994-1995 (Archive series; unfinished and untitled material)

[Steve]

I still prefer his early recordings put out by Recloose : "Buddhist On Fire" and the 12" "Hunting Out With An Aerial Eye". Didn't really give my ear to the "Eastern" influenced stuff ... Vinyl On Demand recently re-issued a nice double LP of E.g. Oblique Graph.

[Goat93]

Had he lived long enough to see 09-11 and then into the present, I'm almost afraid to imagine where he'd be politically.  On no-fly lists.  Probably kicking out material at a clip that would make Soleilmoon spin.  And would Soleilmoon have stuck with him if he'd become even more radical, more confrontational, and better known?  It's difficult for me to believe they would have.

Actualy, as i heard, he never was a Fanatic or really deep into politics and Religion, so i twould say, he wouldn't change too much about it. And Soleilmoon took Death in June into their Rooster after the Publicity, so see no Reason to drop Muslimgauze in any way.



My Favorites:

UZI
Coup d Etat
Vampire of Tehran
Hebron Massacre

[collapsedhole]

i don't like the hip-hop stuff, nor the dub, nor overly distorted. nor do i need album after album of the same... so here's a list of my top favorite muslimgauze....

1987 - coup d'etat/abu nidal
1992 - bhutto
1993 - satyajit eye
1994 - al-zulfiquar shaheed
1994 - citadel
1994 - drugsherpa
1994 - hebron massacre
1995 - nadir of purdah
1996 - arab quarter
1996 - return of black september
1997 - sandtrafikar
1998 - lahore & marseille
1998 - mazr-i-sharif
1999 - hand of fatima
1999 - observe with sadiq bey
2000 - ayatollah dollar
2000 - baghdad
2000 - jabel tariq
2008 - wish of the flayed

[Tommy Carlsson]

From the Eskhatos interview, where he also goes on about how there will always be "legitmate targets" (i.e. Israeli citizens I guess)...

Do you have complete animosity toward the state of Israel and its people or would you exempt certain Israelis that you might consider good people?

No, I wouldn't. No, I wouldn't talk to any of them, the whole people are disgusting so no, I wouldn't. Just look at the record of what they've done, it's incredible. So I would not tolerate anything to do with Israel. I mean, it's my opinion, a Manchester musician's point of view. I know other people will probably say I'm wrong and they won't support me but it's just what influences my music.

What a fucking tool.

[Zeno Marx]

Racism and nationalism are two very different animals.  Racism is tolerated in the USA, as well as encouraged and sanctioned in certain regions.  Xenophobia is widespread, and I would go as far as to label it an American value.  Considering a national identity, and then with the additive of terrorism + national threat + cultural threat, you have the makings of something far more sensitive and pervasive than racism.  This is obviously all speculation, but comparing a group like Death in June with something of the makeup of Muslimgauze is like comparing a couple of scout ants to a giant termite mound.  A small percentage of the population will take real issue with the likes of DiJ, whereas nearly every single US citizen could find a reason to take offense with the likes of Muslimgauze.  24/7 news cycles love potential shitstorms like Jones.  I think it is reasonable to assume he would have gained spotlight at some point, so he would have the recognition necessary to be a far bigger beast than DiJ.

[NO PART OF IT]

Every time I see this name I think "Is there an actual Eastern person making music like this?"

I came upon Muslimgauze after wading through a fair amount of poorly made anglo-quasi-electro/ethnic bongo music; surely some of it was made with the intention to ride this man's coattails.   don't have much of a threshold for it.  I do have a resounding respect for Muslimgauze despite being mostly nonplussed by it so far, because I know there's that one great album out there that I can't find. 

If anyone wants to recommend exceptional ambient work by this artist, I'll try to check it out. 

I've listened to Baghdad and Drugsherpa today.  I like the latter more, but it leaves something to be desired.