Muslimgauze

MUSLIMGAUZE has created their own musical mix of Western and Eastern cultures. Influenced by the Middle East, where music, culture and politics are inseperable, their releases are interesting musically as well as thought provoking politically. From 1982 to 1999 Bryn Jones spent every day recording, editing, and mixing songs, in all he has about 122 albums with more unreleased. Usually Bryn would only let the record companies make 1000 copies or less of an album worldwide. Bryn jones, a musical genius, rest in peace.

Muslimgauze is simply amazing. It is both simple and complex at once. The songs do not have lyrics, yet have so much to say. I was lucky to be introduced to Muslimgauze when I worked at KBVR, and rediscovered them again over the last year or so. Of the multitudes of work out there, below are the CD’s which I own. They link to their track lists and a brief review.

• Arab Quarter (2 CD)
• Azad
• Citadel
• Fakir Sind
• Gun Aramaic
• Gun Aramaic part two
• Hand of Fatima
• Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass
• Jaal Ab Dullah
• United States of Islam

Muslimgauze is the brainchild of Bryn Jones, a prolific London composer who worked mainly with Indian and Middle Eastern tape loops and hand instruments to make a music that is simulatenously innovative and listenable. He is often compared to the experimental composers Coil, Merzbow, Autechre, Einstürzende Neubauten, Noisex and Negativland. Rather than rely heavily on the Sturm und Drang of traditional experimental music, Jones' prolific career yielded a number of danceable tracks, which utilized traditional dub-style production and live musicians. Muslimgauze live usually consisted of Bryn Jones playing traditional Arab hand instruments over tape loops.

Bryn Jones is also known for his highly politicized view about US and UK involvement in Israel's subjugation of the nation of Palestine. Similarly, a number of recordings exist in which Jones decries the state of global policy towards the Arab world.