Muslimgauze: Search & Destroy

I put this on the Spotify thread but forgot to repost here:

Muslimgauze (minus the very early stuff and the limited editions, which is too bad cuz a lot of that is great)

30 tracks/4 hours - 1 track from every major album available. I put some of the posthumous releases in their proper place so it flows... the home studio madness kicks in at the Jaal Ab Dullah album.

http://open.spotify.com/user/sb0ut0n/playlist/5gm4mhkHE1DpPDjqomZdMj

― sleeve, Thursday, February 20, 2014 7:40 PM

this ones my favorite, off mullah said:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_QYjYxUrxXw

fave single mz track is probably "sadhu" from al-zulfiquar shaheed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK4D6ZXjjPU

Wow, "Mullah Said"... I was looking so long for something in the "Veiled Sisters" style and this really delivers.

"Sandtrafikar" also comes to mind w/r/t albums that have that vibe

"Mullah Said" is great, probably in my top ten

Bryn Jones is one of those artists I like to think about -- there's some nexus of agency + intention + result / effect that I sort of obsess over from time to time -- and I was wondering:

1) did anybody who haunts this thread get the "Chasing the Shadow of Bryn Jones" book?

2) what do we make of this to-me-worth-considering quote from Simon Crab, someone who knew him well -- or as well as people did know him -- from early on? for me, I enjoy listening to plenty of the records, but I think this knock on them is kinda otm -- there's an exoticism in declining to engage at the musical level beyond sampling, right? or not right? it's something I've often thought about, even while listening to & enjoying the music.

"How can I say it politely? There's nothing 'Arabic' about Muslimgauze's music apart from the fact that he nicked Arabic sounding samples. Arabic music is much, much more complex in harmonic and rhythmic structure. I think what I dislike about Muslimgauze is the loop-based sample formula. I find it lazy, boring and unimaginative – mood music. It sounds to me like a darker version of Enya. There is also a problem with cultural appropriation – nicking stuff to make your work sound cool or complex. I don't want to come across as totally negative. I think his work was at its best, interesting and challenging. Also, just because I’m personally not that impressed doesn't mean that it doesn't deserve a hearing – there is obviously something there whether I like it or not. In general I think he made far too many recordings; he should have slowed down. His work would have been much better if he'd done less and had edited it more critically."

1) I have *not* bought or read that book yet. And I need to correct that asap.

2) As a fellow aficionado, of several decades, I think I'd say that quote is, indeed, 'kinda otm'. He staunchly defended himself to criticism for having never been to the conflict-ridden lands he name checks and samples by saying that one cannot visit occupied territory, because it would legitimatize the occupation. I don't subscribe to this point of view, but I've heard and read enough of/about him to respect that he genuinely felt this way. Fair dues.

It becomes a bit murkier when cultural appropriation is concerned. I think he can be accused of doing this, but I don't think it was merely "to make your work sound cool or complex". Complex, perhaps, but 'cool': I don't think Muslimgauze was ever 'cool'. He certainly wasn't in it for the money or fame. I think he appropriated because he felt the deep desire to comment, with music, on what he perceived as criminal occupation, war crimes, oppression etc.

It got 15 y/o me to dive into Israel's occupation and oppression of Palestine and the Palestinians. Not singularly, I saw the news and read papers, and that told me about the 'news facts', but his music added a different - a 'human', for deep lack of a better word - dimension for me to understand the conflict. Is Muslimgauze guilty of cultural appropriation? Most definitely. On the other hand, to me and my friends young ears, it functioned as a portal, a gateway to music from a part of the world we had never heard before around us, in the West, and probably never would have. Tracing the sources of the samples, that's what it kicked off.

It's an interesting topic, for sure!

The last two sentences, regarding the sheer size of his output, are something of a different matter entirely I think. Yes, he put out too many records, but the upside is you can cherry-pick. There's more to choose from.

darker version of enya otm, that’s why it rules

I have the book/boxset, and yeah that's fair criticism especially since Crab goes out of his way to temper it - but it kinda misses the point that sometimes I DO want mood music in the background that doesn't change or challenge my attention. and the last two sentences there are totally otm, one of the biggest problems with approaching the discography is that there's just too much of it, and too much of it is retreads or remixes or recycled sounds.

I think it's telling that I have essentially only two standby releases that I fall back on for a fix, and one of them, Zul'm, was literally the first album I ever picked up from him.

what's the other one?

(P.S. Zul'm is top ten for me, and I've heard over 80 of them for better or worse)

The fact that the music isn't "edited more critically" is what makes it endearing. The fact that some of it sounds straight up recycled and retreaded keeps it interesting, imo. The seemingly tossed off and haphazard quality of the construction feels raw and vibrant.. you can dip in at any point and get a feel for the music. It feels like an ongoing piece, nothing finalized or complete. The music has a vibrance or liveliness that's lacking in refined statements or albums (products) ... it's just raw, doesn't feel overly labored over

what's the other one?

Drugsherpa

Lots of OTM points. Nothing wrong with mood music. Dark Enya sounds like a goth fantasy but a lot of M'gauze seems just kinda lazy. Hypnotic and moody doesnt necessarily mean basic and repetitive. The quantity of the stuff and the hit-or-miss nature of it makes it hard to dig out the good stuff. Especially since he tried out some very distinct sounds over the years. My favorite - one where he achieves that dark and evocative moodiness - is Veiled Sisters. I haven't heard another record of his that sounded like that.

I got the book. I was also interviewed for it too as I knew Bryn a little and alongside a friend put on his only Scottish performance.

I agree with most of the points above, though "Dark Enya" is too convenient a jibe that doesn't really hold water imo.

There is far too much Muslimgauze muisc and he desperately needed editing but what joys lurk in the depths. There are vast swathes of his music that do not appropriate anyone's culture and untold new ideas, textures and rhythms that I am still digesting. 20 years after his death there is a lot of his music that could come out tomorrrow and if it was credited to some hip new gunslinger everyone would believe it had just been recorded. The rawnwess and vibrancy mentioned above, often with great beauty too, is endlessly endearing to my ears. I will die long before I have absorbed it all or tired of it.

Considering how completely, singlemindedly obsessed by one single culture Bryn Jones was for decades and how relentlessly he fought for his cause (whatever the merits), I think it's bordering on facetious to toss it off as some lazy/disrespectful cultural appropriation like you know, dressing up in Lederhosen for Oktoberfest.

trying to find a specific album of this dude's on spotify can prove to be rather frustrating.

and to add on to that: the sheer volume of his music on there is (not surprisingly) huge and, if i'm understanding correctly, it's not even all of it. . .!?

yes, but a lot of the posthumous stuff is essentially remixes of existing material that was released in some other form prior. It's also almost entirely from the last 5 years of his life, after the Extreme label stuff so maybe starting in '93-'94? Before that there doesn't seem to be as much in terms of leftover material.

see upthread for a link to a "best of" Spotify playlist I attempted to compile

thank you.

i tried opening your mix but it opens in the spotify web player, which i'm not too keen on anymore. and i'm too spotify ignorant to know how to navigate to it in the app. little help anyone?

pasting the link to the playlist into the search box for the non-web player should work

brilliant. cheers!

very rough history:

1981-82 EG Oblique Graph years, early early proto-MG
dinky synth & rhythm box experimentation

1983-89 self-released mostly, either self-produced or later with John Dolf at The Mosque iirc
god I love this era, some of my fave LPS like Blinded Horses and Flajelata, very unique and arresting for such a minimal palette. all collected on the Vinyl On Demand label's 11LP boxset 'Chasing The Shadow Of Bryn Jones".

1990-94 "the Extreme years" with releases on that label as well as stalwarts Soleilmoon and Staalplaat
lush, widescape production mostly courtesy of Dolf.

1995-98 transitional period, start of the "limited" subscriber series, move towards home studio recordings but punctuated with increasingly experimental releases

1998-2000 exclusively home studio now, sound starts to go all over the map

2001-now posthumous era, diminishing returns that can basically be gauged by how long it's been. the earlier stuff is much better IMO.

posthumous 1st decade S/D:

Search:
Box Of Silk And Dogs (so good)
Sarin Israel Nes Ziona
Hummus
Iranian Inflight Magazine
(Muslimlim 028)
Azad
Fakir Sind
Baghdad
Your Mines In Kabul
Kashmiri Queens

Meh:
Hand Of Fatima
Alms For Iraq
Dome Of The Rock
Speaker Of Turkish
Wish Of the Flayed
Jah-Mearab
Dar Es Salaam
Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass
Jebel Tariq

Destroy:
Eye For An Eye
Arabbox
"Untitled" on Klanggallerie
Veiled Sisters Remix (why)
Red Madrassa (especially boring)

2009 was where I checked out, plz lmk if I missed anything

He wasn't recording at home. He worked almost every day in the studio with John Delf right up until he died. Also he only started working with Delf in 93. Lastly, a lot of the posthumous releases are previously unheard recordings. When he died Staalplaat still had a vast amount of material waiting to see the light of day.

really?!?! I coulda sworn I had that detail right from the book, moving to all-home-studio in '98?

I stand corrected abt Dolf's involvement in the 80's stuff and obviously I defer to yr direct knowledge here but I am really surprised that there are post-1998 Mosque recordings.

would also love any pointers to post-2009 stuff that falls into the "previously unheard" category

also, Delf, gah, that's what I get for not checking my book before posting

i am almost certain he didn't have a home studio but it could be that my memory is failing me here.

i'll have to have a look at what came out post-2009 in more detail tomorrow. i have mainly picked up the vinyl releases in that time. several of those are first time appearances on vinyl of later period staalplaat releases often featuring bonus material / versions.

Veiled Sisters and that overall dreamier sound is my favorite.

Just heard Veiled Sisters for the first time. Wow! Unlike a lot of the other Muslimgauze stuff I've heard, which admittedly isn't a ton, though I've always been a passive fan. This is beautiful, though (which is a word I wouldn't typically apply to this project).

yeah that's a personal favorite as well

Zul'm and Sandtrafikar and maybe Narcotic kind of have that vibe a little bit, maybe also the 2 volumes of Gun Aramaic

some really beautiful moments in a lot of the earlier 80's work as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUkCZ3B8z-M

that sounds really great

Listened to a bunch of the early material (1983-1994), had some thoughts.

Extremely good thoughts. These days I've come back around where I really only value two releases in particular: Zul'm, which essentially is meditative travelogue, and Drugsherpa, originally a 3" CD and thus a concentrated twenty minutes of experience. It's been enough.

I think Jones' single-mindedness is part of the appeal. I mean, however you feel about the guy's music, he was one of a kind, and gave birth to a sound that is immediately identifiable, which distinguishes him from many of his contemporaries imo. You are definitely correct however about getting the general idea of what a given piece will do within the first minute, but I view that as a feature, not a bug

Yeah, as I said in the piece, I like the music. I could put it on in headphones and get tons of work done. But the sounds and the visuals (and the titles) don't match up in my mind, and it makes the whole exercise somewhat off-putting. At times it reminds me of this Spinal Tap scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7vk5keNbRc

i hadn't read that piece that accuses him of anti-semitism. i have a vast amount of his music and would destroy it all in a second if i thought that was true.

i had several telephone calls with him in his last few years of his life and got to spend a day with him when i co-promoted him playing live one time. he was extremely difficult to engage in conversation and some of the phone calls where fairly tortuous but he did open up a lot more in person and while he was fairly vague about a lot of things he was clear he was not anti-semitic and i believed him.

anyway, i love almost all eras of his music (Zul'm is also a mega fave of mine) but as i have mentioned previously what he really, really needed was a good editor. there is just too much and thus too much that is not essential.

I've been listening to a lot of that older stuff lately as well. If there are any "politics" here they are like a distant refraction of reality, so many of the track titles are more about everyday life in the wider Islamic world, history, geography, etc. Flajelata and Blinded Horses are my fave early ones, and yeah Zul'M is great, also see Zuriff Moussa and Sandtrafikar for the later era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuNOQu7pgow

what is that? sounds like a mix of classic era stuff

seconded. i was expecting it to be somehow combined with Jack The Tab but it seems not to be.

He wasn't recording at home. He worked almost every day in the studio with John Delf right up until he died.

not trying to be contrary but how could this be true? studio time is expensive, in the UK super expensive afaik. even if you have a pal who believes in your vision and owns a studio, a day of studio time is rent money, real money. the only people who can afford to be in a studio every day are people who own studios or people with immense amounts of studio budget

Cheap studios were in abundance back then and i believe the Abraham Moss Centre was very cheap. Keep in mind that Bryn lived with his parents and apart from buying his small amount of equipment had just about zero outgoings, so all his money was pretty much spent on studio time. it's definitely one of the reasons he was so prolific as the more he released the more income there was to spend on studio time.

thanks for this -- that's really fascinating, and almost unique in music, as far as I know, this sort of combination of factors.

He was putting out about 10 albums a year on labels like Staalplaat and Soleilmoon and Extreme, who probably sold enough to trigger some level of royalty payments. So yes it seems to have been a cottage industry for the guy, at least on a modest level.

See also: Merzbow.

I wish I could remember my (possibly incorrect) source for the circa-1998 home studio move story, it's been (yikes) 35 years since I was on some MG-associated message board that is long lost within the internet, I feel like I heard it there.