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IBRAHIM KHIDER – Muslimgauze: Chasing The Shadow Of Bryn Jones – book + CD – 11769

This 208 page book is divided into three sections; biography, posthumous narrative, and discography analysis. The book is also included with the 10xLP box set of the same name, issued in a limited edition of 500 copies, and available

The biography of the late Bryn Jones is comprised of a quilt of narratives from friends, family, and collaborators. Letters, articles, and interviews provide further insight into Jones, who was otherwise reclusive and highly secretive. The book also delves into each Muslimgauze musical release and its attendant (text, album and track titles and dedications) sourced. To experience Muslimgauze music is to be educated on Western foreign policy, resource greed and push for regional domination behind much of the conflicts. If Colonialism is a disease, then within this disease is part of the cure.

Section two is a first-person narrative by the author who went to the UK to interview friends, family, and collaborators to see what happened. Years after Jones’ passing, Muslimgauze is as prolific as ever with posthumous yet-to-be released material still in the works as of this writing. This narrative is set on the backdrop of even more Muslim-world conflicts, once distant in the news during Jones life and now cause for concern all over the world as the struggles are brought to our doorsteps. Now more than ever, we must learn about the issues Jones railed against in his lifetime.

Section three attempts to grapple with the staggering catalog of Muslimgauze music and organize it in a comprehensive way. This section may be of special interest to those not completely familiar with the musical oeuvre.

EACH COPY OF THE BOOK INCLUDES A COPY OF A 15-Track COMPILATION CD “A PUTRID OASIS” 1987-2003 (in cooperation with Soleilmoon)

1. Gold Kalpakcilar Dome – Part 1/2 03:41
From “Alms For Iraq”. Recorded in 1995, released in 2003.
2. A Putrid Oasis 02:51
From “Galilee Stone”. Recorded in 1994, previously unreleased.
3. How Rustem, The Thief, Moves Through Fire 05:01
From “Sufiq”. Recorded in 1997, released in 2000.
4. Memsahib of Gub and Ghee 03:57
From “Fakir Sind”. Recorded in 1998, released in 1999.
5. Bilechik Mule 05:33
From “Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass”. Recorded in 1998, released in 1999.
6. Untitled 07:00
From “Re-mixs Vol 2”. Recorded and released in 1997.
7. Suttee 08:10
From “Farouk Enjineer”, recorded and released in 1997.
8. Jawani Zindabad 05:35
From “Vote Hezbollah”, recorded in 1992, released in 1993.
9. Sapere Aude 03:37
From “Abu Nidal”. Recording date unknown. Released in 1987.
10. Saladin Mercy 07:06
From “Gun Aramaic”. Recorded in 1994/1995, released in 1995.
11. Sulaymaniyah 04:12
From “Mazar-i-Sharif”. Recorded in 1997 and released in 1998.
12. Palestine Is Our Izlamic Land – Part 1 06:02
From “Arab Quarter”, Recorded in 1995/1996, and released in 1996.
13. Marseille – Part 2 03:06
From “Lahore & Marseille”. Recorded in 1997, released in 1998.
14. Sadaambush 02:02
From “Arabbox”. Recorded in 1993, released in 2003.
15. Zenana Of Ugly Thoughts 08:25
From “Fakir Sind”. Recorded in 1998, released in 1999.

MUSLIMGAUZE – Chasing The Shadow Of Bryn Jones – 10xLP box set + book + CD – 11770

Muslimgauze: Chasing the Shadow of Bryn Jones is an Anthology of his early musical output and a biography on the late Bryn Jones, a Manchester, England-based musician who produced nearly 200 albums (some were multi-disc sets) between 1982 to 1998 and passed away aged 38 in 1999. Though the majority of his catalog is instrumental, his music is considered controversial by some where some retailers who went so far as to ban selected catalog items. An anti-colonialist at heart, Jones dedicated most of his music to Muslim-world struggles during his lifetime such as Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, the Iran/Iraq war, and the Lebanon civil war, to name a few, with an emphasis on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Jones was pro-Palestinian, often evidenced on album and track titles as well as dedications. It was the albums dedicated to the struggles of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that resulted in the mentioned ban.

Muslimgauze music can be considered a sonic treatise on Muslim-world conflicts in the form of exotic soundscape narratives, driving musical protest and rhythmic assertion. As a side effect of being prolific, Jones worked in a variety of styles and successfully melded traditional ethnic music of places he championed with Western urban stylings such as techno, breakbeat, and dub. Some credit him as being the ‘Godfather of Dubstep’, the current musical rage. Perhaps Jones’ musical brilliance shone brightest as an audio editor who deftly juxtaposed unlikely sounds in ways that now cannot be envisioned otherwise. Others simply consider his music ‘not of this world’ and ‘not of this time’.

THIS INCREDIBLY DELUXE LIMITED EDITION OF 500 BOX SET CONTAINS:

10 LP BOOKLIKE-FOLDER SET (DESIGNED BY SANDRO SCHLEIER OF ITAE EXCLUSIVE DESIGN LAB) COVERING ALL MUSLIMGAUZE RECORDINGS RANGING FROM 1983-1988 (FOR MEMBERS WITH ADDITIONAL BONUS 10″)
+
PLUS 15-TRACK-CD-COMPILATION COMPILED BY CHARLES POWNE OF SOLEILMOON (RELEASED IN COOPERATION WITH SOLEILMOON)
+
LARGE A1-SIZED POSTER DESIGNED BY SAMUEL AKA MO
+
208 PAGE A4-SIZED BOOK ABOUT THE LIFE OF BRYN JONES. WRITTEN BY IBRAHIM KHIDER AND DESIGNED BY ERIC KESSEL / SIMON CRAB
(BOOK WITH CD CAN ALSO BE OBTAINED SEPARATELY IN A LIMITED 400 EDITION)
+
EXTRA SPECIAL OUTER HOLDER TO HOUSE BOOK/CD AND 10 LP FOLDER

THE CONCEPT AND PRODUCT IDEA OF THIS BOX SET IS A COLLABORATION WORK BETWEEN PRODUCTION GENIUS/MASTERMIND YUEN KIM WAH OF ULTRAMAIL PROD (HK) AND FRANK MAIER OF VOD-RECORDS (GER)
(PREVIOUS RELEASE CONCEPTS LEAD TO RELEASES BY CLOCK DVA, NURSE WITH WOUND, CURRENT 93, AND JOHN BENDER TO NAME A FEW)

THE 10 VINYL LPS ARE REMASTERED BY ANDERS PETERSON OF GHOSTSOUNDSLABEL, PRESSED ON 180 GRAM VINYL AT PALLAS GERMANY,
CUT WITH DIRECT METAL MASTERING AT PAULER ACOUSTICS
AND CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING AUDIO:

LP1 Opaque (Tape) 1983 Product Kinematopgraph
A1 Milena Jesenska 5:41
A2 Cyst 4:20
A3 Anatomy 5:07
A4 Enfilade 4:54
A5 Afrikaner 1:08
BONUS
A6 Afrikaner 6:12 (from Various – Integration ‎ (Cass, Comp, C90) ICR, 1983)
B1 Taoist 18:55
BONUS
B2 Melena Jesenska 4:42 (from Various – The Elephant Table Album, X Tract, 1983)

LP2 Kabul (Lp) 1983 Product Kinematopgraph
A1 Kaaba 2:04
A2 Icon Screen 4:56
A3 Muslin Gauze Muslim Prayer 6:14
A4 Turkish-Koln 5:29
A5 Melee 3:13
BONUS
A6 Dissidents 4:01 (from Various – Life At The Top, ‎ Third Mind Records, Abstract Magazine, 1984)
B1 Kabul 13:40
B2 Ex 6:59
BONUS
B3 Metropolis 2:14 (from Various – The Last Supper,‎ Adventures In Reality, 1984)
B4 Trans/Time 3:27 (from Various – The Last Supper, ‎ Adventures In Reality, 1984)

LP3) Hunting Out With An Aerial Eye ‎(12″) LIMITED 1 / Hammer and Sickle 7″) 1983 / 84
A1 Under The Hand Of Jaruzelski 6:10
A2 Ensan Entehari 5:25
A3 Empty Quarter (Pt I) 10:19
BONUS
A4 Dissidents In Exile (as Muslingauze) 3:51 (from Various – Trucchi Senza Volto ‎ (Cass, Comp, C40), Megamagomusic, 1984)
B1 Hammer & Sickle 7:06
B2 Fear Of Gadaffi 3:47
B3 Nettle Cloth 1:49
B4 Baize Tents 2:51
BONUS
B5 The Asphalt Jungle 2:35 (from Various – Film Noir – American Style ‎ (2xCass, Comp, Ltd), Ding Dong Records And Tapes, 1984)
B6 Execute The Monkey 7:28 (from Various – Not By Chance ‎ (Cass, Comp, Ltd) Frux, 1984)

LP4) Buddhist on Fire (Lp), Recloose, loose 08 1984
A1 Soviet Occupied Territories 5:38
A2 Turkish Falaka 8:20
A3 Priest 6:54
B1 Reuters 6:34
B2 Dissidents In Exile 13:29
BONUS
B3 Under The Hand Of Jaruzelski 6:03 (from Various – Beyond Step One ‎ (Cass, Comp, C60),Sound Of Pig, 1984)

LP5.) Blinded Horses ‎(LP, Album) 1985 LIMITED 2
A1 Byzantine Crucifixion 6:21
A2 Zebra Slaughter 4:57
A3 Palestine 8:38
B1 Death Of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale 8:48
B2 Political Asylum 9:12
Bonus
B3 Sudanese Amputate The Hands Of Thieves 4:19 (from Various – Terra Incognita I ‎ (LP, Comp), Auxilio De Cientos, 1985)
B4 Sakharov 4:27 (from Various – Born Out Of Dreams ‎ (LP, Comp, Ltd), Frux, 1985)

LP6.) Flajelata ‎(LP, Album) 1986 LIMITED 3
A1 Sjamboks 5:29
A2 Mujahideen 5:41
A3 Hezbollah 4:27
A4 Flajelata 5:21
B1 Homily To Popieluszko 2:06
B2 Cahcot 6:18
B3 Samizdat 6:15
B4 Émigré 1:48
BONUS
B5 Iranian Martyrs 6:56 (from Various – Nemesis 1 ‎ (Cass, Comp, C60) Nemesis, 1986)

LP7.) Hajj ‎(LP, Album) 1986 LIMITED 4
A1 Charnel 6:02
A2 Under Black Light 6:38
A3 Somnambulists 5:02
BONUS
A4 New Delhi Flogging 6:29 (from Various – Songs from the New International, Reclooose Organisation, Loose 012, 1986)
B1 X Ajza Of Martyrdome 19:25
BONUS
B2 Unwelcome Visitors (as Muslim Gauze) 4:56 (from Various – Hits $ Corruption / Skin $ Bone, 1986)

LP8.) Jazirat-Ul-Arab ‎(LP, Album) 1987 LIMITED 5
A1 Arms Of The Koran 6:16
A2 The Divine Cause 5:28
A3 Sabra 5:03
B1 Bourj-El-Barajneh 8:19
B2 Mäiaź 6:07
B3 Chatila 3:02
BONUS
B4 Green Is The Colour Of The Prophet 5:03 (from Various – Nightlands, Final Image, 1987)

LP9.) Abu Nidal ‎(LP, Album) 1987 LIMITED 6
A1 Gulfwar (Part One) 3:56
A2 Gulfwar (Part Two) 8:39
A3 Gulfwar (Part Three) 6:35
B1 Abu Nidal 7:25
B2 Green Is The Colour Of The Prophet 8:22
B3 Fatwa (Religious Decree Giving Recourse To Terrorism) 6:11
BONUS
B4 Gulf-War (Remix) 3:49 (from Various – Provoke N° 3 ‎ (Cass, Comp, Ltd), Provoke, 1988)

LP10.) The Rape Of Palestine ‎(LP, Album) 1988 LIMITED 7
A1 Shadow Of The West 8:19
A2 The Muslim City 5:45
A3 A Nation 3:51
B1 Ways Of Faith Part 1 5:11
B2 Ways Of Faith Part 2 5:01
B3 The Power Of The Word Part 1 5:23
B4 The Power Of The Word Part 2 4:24

EACH COPY OF THE BOOK INCLUDES A COPY OF A 15-Track COMPILATION CD “A PUTRID OASIS” 1987-2003 (in cooperation with Soleilmoon):

208 PAGE BOOK BY IBRAHIM KHIDER (ALSO AVAILABLE SEPARATELY IN LIMITED EDITION OF 400 COPIES)

The book is divided into three sections; biography, posthumous narrative, and discography analysis.
The biography of the late Bryn Jones is comprised of a quilt of narratives from friends, family, and collaborators. Letters, articles, and interviews provide further insight into Jones, who was otherwise reclusive and highly secretive. The book also delves into each Muslimgauze musical release and its attendant (text, album and track titles and dedications) sourced. To experience Muslimgauze music is to be educated on Western foreign policy, resource greed and push for regional domination behind much of the conflicts. If Colonialism is a disease, then within this disease is part of the cure.

MUSLIMGAUZE – Martyr Shrapnel – CD – 11615

The Muslimgauze Preservation Society presents Martyr Shrapnel, a personalized limited CD release of 250 hand-numbered copies of rare and previously unreleased Muslimgauze tracks. Material will mainly consist of Fathom bonus 3

MUSLIMGAUZE – Satyajit Eye – LP – 11575

The Muslimgauze Preservation Society proudly offer a proper issue of the cinematic Satyajit Eye on 180 gram audiophile vinyl packaged in previously unrevealed sleeve art by Bryn Jones. Each release will also have a fold open insert of a Jones graphic, like ones included with Limited Editions releases (his own label during the 1980s) as well as liner notes on the recording of this significant work in the Muslimgauze canon. Satyajit Eye is in fact a companion release to Vote Hezbollah, the first time John Delf and Bryn Jones worked together in the Cutting Rooms studios back in 1993. At the time, Delf was freshly trained to engineer conventional rock bands when in walked Jones with his instruments and DATs, asking,

MUSLIMGAUZE / THE ROOTSMAN – Fuck Israel – CD – 11499

The Muslimgauze Preservation Society are pleased to announce another incendiary Muslimgauze remix, Fuck Israel. The source material is the International Language of Dub (Third Eye, 1995) which is a remix album of The Rootsman tracks, hence a remix of a remix, or ‘Gauzified as it were. When Jones first met The Rootsman in 1996, several Rootsman albums were passed along by way of musical introduction. Jones promptly responded with several remixes on DAT, his way of saying “hello”, the posthumously titled Fuck Israel being among them. Chronologically, International Language of Dub is the second Rootsman album and is part two of the multi-part The Rootsman/Muslimgauze series on TMPS. Fuck Israel is a cry of anger against the illegal occupation of Palestine and the ongoing economic, political, and social subjugation of Palestinians by the Israelis. Each track is dedicated to an Israeli authority figure directly responsible for the oppression and/or death of Palestinians. Musically the tempo and textures of Fuck Israel varies from song to song. “Fuck Ariel Sharon pt 1”, “Fuck Benjamin Netanyahu pt 1”, “Fuck Benjamin Netanyahu pt 2” are comprised of upbeat, vigorous breaks with a distinct ‘grime’ feel. “Fuck Yitzhak Rabin” is a breaks track that cascades along a river of bass and then plummets into a chasm of drones. Conversely, “Fuck Ehud Olmert” is a beatless psychedelic vocal loop while “Fuck Benjamin Ben-Eliezer” is a digression into more abstract textures. By “Fuck Shimon Peres”, organ melodies and Rasta vocals place Muslimgauze in distinct dub reggae territory. “Fuck Ehud Barak pt 1” and “Fuck Ehud Barak pt 2” are among the stand-out tracks with their echo-soaked steady horse-trot tempo while electronic ricochet’s shimmer and pulse throughout. Crowning track, “Fuck Avignor Lieberman” could pass for a downtempo rhythm-with-flute track if it was not for the over-muscular bass lines that shake the speakers like a tectonic shift. On Fuck Israel, Muslimgauze muscles through a dubstep club, knocking-over hipster trendies in the process. The CD will be packaged with papyrus covers, hand printed in Egypt, with a 9 panel fold-open poster, CD set in a super jewel case and bonus sticker. It is the poster part we would like to draw special attention as the equally incendiary political cartoonist, Dwayne Booth aka Mr. Fish agreed to provide art work. Mr. Fish contributes to reputable and prestigious magazines, journals and newspapers. In addition to Harper’s Magazine and Truthdig.com, his work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times,The Village Voice, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones Magazine, the Advocate, Z Magazine, the Utne Reader, Slate.com, MSNBC.com and others. This is a very special underground release as shops and supposed long-time fans turn away in fear of this album while distributors get nervous. Indeed, the album title could not be printed on the Egyptian papyrus covers as the print source feared a government crackdown and persecution. Though Egypt is liberated from a long-time tyrant, freedom of speech has yet to be exercised. We urge you to order the CD as soon as possible lest it be banned in the free world as criticism of Israel grows increasingly illegal, or the Mossad finally silences the TMPS once and for all. In that case, you would miss a chance at getting a real collector’s item. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES ONLY.

MUSLIMGAUZE / VARIOUS ARTISTS – From The Edge – 2XCD – 11524

The Muslimgauze Preservation Society are proud to offer you a fragment of previously unreleased musical history, vintage Muslimgauze from 1990. It was around this time when a young John Goff wrote a fan letter to Bryn Jones, along with his wishes to release a Muslimgauze track. Jones promptly responded with a cassette master of not only a track, but a whole album. At the time, Muslimgauze was signed to Extreme who were wary of fans who wanted to release music by their marquee artist. On the other hand, Jones was stymied by Extreme’s one-release-a-year schedule, but that did not stop him from making more music. At Jones urging, however, Extreme relented and Goff released the exquisitely hand carved single track 7-inch “Red Crescent Part 3” (The Way Out, 1993), but the rest of the tape remained unreleased. Not long after Jones’ passing on January, 1999, Goff organized a tribute remix album based on fragments from the masters. Many responded, more than the album could accommodate. The results were From the Edge (Chlorophyll, 2003 on vinyl and Azra, 2004 on CD). The unreleased remixes joined the unreleased masters in the vaults, until now in a wonderful two disc set! Disc one has two tracks at 20 minutes each. Track one is “Muslimgauze live at the Manchunian Turkish Baths”and track two is “Muslimgauze Unreleased Tracks”. The music was composed not long after Uzi (Parade Amoureuse, 1989) and is a cousin to Intifaxa (Extreme, 1990), only livelier. Tracks are comprised entirely of percussive textures; from machine, to acoustic, and ethno-drums along with cymbals, bells, high-hats, chimes, and gongs among others. The sole treatments are reverb, delay, and echo. Despite the narrow palette, this is still a lush and full recording, rhythms energetic and deeply kinetic. Not quite industrial, not quite IDM, From the Edge straddles the nether-regions between genres; classic Muslimgauze. The cassette master was brought to John Delf for post production and restoration. Together, Delf and TMPS made an aesthetic decision, to focus on the music and not remove the tape hiss for fear of compromising the sound. Hence, there are source limitations, but we feel the beauty of the music more than makes up for this. Cassette culture was a fact of the 80’s and we urge fans to approach this recording the way one would a recording of an old blues 78 from the 30’s, a psych-rock 45 from the 60’s, or an Industrial tape from the 80’s. As for the remix disc, some songs will be familiar to those who have earlier editions of From the Edge, but others will be new, including a few from a band Jones loved called Faust. As always, the discs will be packaged in a super-jewel case, with papyrus covers hand printed in Egypt, a fold-open poster with liner notes, and a bonus sticker. This is lovingly restored piece of history and a missing link in the musical development of Muslimgauze. Limited edition of 500.

MUSLIMGAUZE – In Search of the Abraham Mosque – CD – 11482

“Listening to Bryn playing was very strange. Hearing him breathing in between the beats and putting his headphones down at the end and getting up and walking out of the room, that was eerie. But again, it was nice at the same time.”

Though it was December in the Manchester recording studio and the room properly heated, nevertheless a shiver went down John Delf’s spine when the first tentative taps scurried across the surface of the hand drum, followed by a melodic drizzle of rhythms that flowed from the studio monitors. The source was analog reels of his recording sessions with Bryn Jones from 1993 to 1998. Not commonly known (and elaborated in detail in the forthcoming book, Muslimgauze: Chasing the Shadow of Bryn Jones) is that more than an audio engineer, Delf in a sense could be considered a part of Muslimgauze and that some musical stylings can be attributed to his involvement. When Jones hired Delf at the Cutting Rooms Studio in the Abraham Moss Centre in Manchester (credited as the Abraham Mosque on Muslimgauze releases), he was educated on how to use the recording studio as an instrument. They took turns at the mixing desk and produced such pristine recordings as Vote Hezbollah, Hamas Arc, and Veiled Sisters. Sessions were booked once a month, and lasted between four to eight hours each time wherein numerous versions of each song was composed. Jones distilled tracks from these sessions onto masters to submit to labels. Unused portions remained and Jones later revisited these bits to release later or rework. Late in 1998 Jones stopped booking the studio and it was not until mid-1999 that someone finally took the time to explain to Delf why. Delf kept the reels in storage for well over a decade until he was approached by The Muslimgauze Preservation Society in late 2010. Since Jones’ passing, Delf further honed his audio engineering craft to greater, refined levels as he worked for marquee bands while building a studio to rival the Cutting Rooms. Says Delf, “The reels were always something that I was looking forward to having a go at (once more). It was quite exciting to see whether the tapes would actually work or not usable at all. When I put the first tape on it was ‘oh no, it is a complete disaster. Not working! What are we going to do?’ But when we put the second tape on we thought, ‘oh wow! It’s all there!’ The sonic quality was still there and it was still really bright and full. It instantly returned me to the sessions that we did. Hearing the beats, then the excitement returned. Once I got the reels going, then I realized, ‘hang on, there’s more here.’ It was an eerie and joyful experience. We (Bryn and myself) worked together for a very long time and it went on for 6 years, once a month for a few hours and so it was a long-term relationship. It was nice to go back and hear it again and to know that there are still people, years after he is gone, interested and still want to hear it.”In Search of the Abraham Mosque has a two-fold meaning; one is a search for the studio where legendary Muslimgauze albums were recorded. The second is a reference to the Abraham Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, the tomb of the patriarchs where prophet Abraham is believed to be buried. On this disc, a musical narrative of this journey unfurls over 67 minutes starting at the fringes of Egypt amidst hip hop rhythms, then wanders off into the desert towards the famed Abraham Mosque. Bryn Jones’ hand drumming is intimately showcased while cinematic atmospherics and cinematic ambience compliment his organic rhythms. Melodies, both subtle and overt, float in and out of the narrative much like the myriad of voices that converse and shout in Arabic dialects alongside urban and nature sounds, not unlike a radio play. Some moments are serene, whereas others wander through a dense sandstorm goaded by powerful waves of sub bass that instill a growing sense of fervency in the search. Material here will be familiar to Muslimgauze aficionados, but alternate versions and brought in a new light with surpassing audio quality. The narratives continues to wander through dusty Arab villages and refugee camps, the Islamic call to prayer discernible, implying the Abraham Mosque at last found and hints a second part of the narrative, Return to the Abraham Mosque.

Listeners are encouraged to play this disc in a setting with minimal distractions to fully appreciate the artistry and technological craft that went into this release. Packaged with papyrus covers hand printed in liberated Egypt, with fold-open full-color insert, glossy sticker and color-surface CD. Turn out the lights, turn on your stereo or headphones, and prepare a visit from the restless spirit of Muslimgauze. This is TMPS 05, part one of a multi-part series. LIMITED EDITION OF 500.

MUSLIMGAUZE – Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass (Red cover) – LP – 10851

180 gram vinyl version of Soleilmoon CD of the same name, but without the two bonus tracks. Handmade fold-out cover, individually hand numbered covers. There are 171 copies total, of which 144 have red covers. The covers are very delicate, so the records will be shipped out of the covers, and everyhing will be double-boxed and shipped separately for maximum protection.

MUSLIMGAUZE – Uzi Mahmood – 2xCD – 10821

Bryn Jones died January 14, 1999. The man best known as Muslimgauze was 37 years old, and at the peak of his career. During his short life he recorded an astonishing number of albums, some 200 at last count, a great many of them in years immediately preceding his death. Indeed, his output was so great that his labels couldn’t keep up with the virtual flood of music he produced. It’s no wonder new material continues to surface so long after his passing.

“Uzi Mahmood” was recorded to satisfy a specific request. Soleilmoon wanted a 12 inch single that DJs could play in nightclubs. The idea was to introduce Muslimgauze to a potentially enormous new audience. The request was made in the autumn of 1999, in a phone call lasting less than five minutes; Bryn was never one for small talk. He was all business, and he could record a complete album in three or four days, sometimes faster. Two weeks after agreeing to record a disco album for Soleilmoon, “Uzi Mahmood” was delivered to the label. But instead of the agreed on two or three tracks, he sent an eleven song compact disc, followed a week later by a 90 minute digital audio tape containing the entire CD plus two more pieces. Four songs were eventually selected for the experiment, and in the spring of 1998 a dirty-and-dubby 12″ EP was released. Two more songs were later used to replace a pair of corrupted tracks on the master tape for “Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass”, released on CD in 1999. The music was well received by fans, but the hoped-for dance floor revolution never happened, and the little record with the unconventional beats went out of print a few years later.

Fast forward to the present: The year is 2010 and the four song EP has been out of print for more than five years, seven more songs lie waiting in the vault, still unreleased, and the two tracks tacked onto “”Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass”” are the only ones in wide circulation. Which is why Soleilmoon is so very pleased to finally be releasing all thirteen songs together on one record. “Uzi Mahmood” is 90 minutes of the sexiest, most booty-shakin’ Muslimgauze music ever heard. We released a limited edition gatefold triple LP in November. Now it’s available as a two CD set. Disc one has the eleven tracks from the original master, disc two has the two extra songs that came on the DAT. The cover art is by plazm design (plazm.com).

SUNS OF ARQA – Suns of Arqa Re-Mixs Muslimgauze – CD – 09091

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some of the material on this CD was previously released with different mixes on on the SPV Poland CD “Muslim Gauze the Suns of Arqa Mixes” (Arka CD 22120). This new Soleilmoon release has six previously unreleased songs. If anyone owning a copy of our new CD is unhappy with their purchase they can send it to us with a note and we’ll issue a $16.99 credit or refund (check to US residents, paypal payment to foreign customers), your choice, and no hassles. This offer is good through March 30, 2008, and is open to all, regardless of where you bought the CD.

When Satoshi Morita introduced Muslimgauze to Suns of Arqa he had a good hunch the two musicians would form a connection. Bryn Jones (Muslimgauze) and Michael Wadada (Suns of Arqa) were already deeply immersed in the kinds of rhythmic music made far from England’s rainy shores. Jones’ fascination with the cause of Palestine found an outlet through his prolific musical output, and Wadada’s interest in Jamaican reggae and Eastern mysticism was likewise reflected in his own recordings. But they moved in different circles and had never crossed paths, despite living relatively close to one another. Bryn Jones in particular was well known for his reclusiveness and lack of curiosity about other music (and musicians), so it’s no surprise that it took a Japanese label owner to bring them together. Morita knew both men individually, liked their music enough to release it on his label Gift, and intuitively saw the potential in a collaboration between the two. He arranged an introduction in 1996, and like a spark landing on dry tinder, a musical firestorm blew up that summer. Several collaborations-by-mail were produced in the two-and-a-half years preceding Jones’ sudden and unexpected death in January 1999 from a fungal infection of the blood. The final sessions are presented today on this CD.

“Suns of Arqa Re-Mixs Muslimgauze” tips the scales at nearly 74 minutes , with 21 songs forming an unmistakable hybrid of the two bands’ styles. Wadada’s Carribean beats pulse and flow alongside Jones’ staccacto gunshot rhythms in a true blending of the two artists’ music. While it’s true that Bryn Jones is gone, we take comfort knowing that Muslimgauze lives on in the creative expression of the multitude of musicians who’s lives he touched. For Wadada, this album will stand as a lasting tribute to a friend and creative collaborator. At Soleilmoon, packaging and presentation are never overlooked. This CD is presented in a square black folder made of sugar cane fibers, and the whole thing is covered with a translucent vellum over-wrap. Only 500 copies of this handsome CD have been made.