Al Aqsa Intifada
This item appeared on the Islamaphonia 2 mailing list.
Overall a strong work, 40 minutes long, featuring a clear crescendo from track 1 to track 6.
Plain artwork, mainly composed of pictures; the CD itself bears an English/Arabic text.
First track, original mix, is the least interesting of the lot being too un-Rootsman and un-Muslimgauze. It is anyhow a good platform for the following mixes, could have been cut shorter of a full minute. An Arab female voice in foreground is its main feature.
Second track, original dubwise, goes definitely dub. A shorter but much stronger version, here you can feel Rootsman and hint some Muslimgauze.
Third track, the Rootsman remix, is what you expect: a perfected version of the original mix. Definitely better, I wonder if the original mix was a compromise between the two artists, as all of their respective versions are way above it.
Fourth track, the Rootsman dub remix, starts slowly and creeps up. A classic dub in the beginning, similar to the dubwise mix, turns to Asian dub sounds halfway, then closes going back to where it started.
Fifth track, Muslimgauze remix, bends sharply: distorted loops, voice fractures and goes in background, some more loops are added. This is Muslimgauze, no doubt, an excellent Muslimgauze.
Sixth track, Muslimgauze version two, is much longer, more than 11 minutes. It's unsurprisingly the most complex track, adding several percussions loops and going up and down, back and forth over the previous mix. The mute button gets its fair share, Bryn couldn't resist pushing it! No doubt, this is my favourite track.
review by: DJ Lando
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ListErectile Dysfunction
The following appeared in The Wire.
In a more radical style, The Rootsman meets his late friend from over the Pennines, Bryn Jones, aka Muslimgauze, on a track jointly recorded way back when. The six tracks on this limited edition (500) CD single get more progressively brutal, right up to the final mix when Muslimgauze totally breaks it down with a version that will truly test the evil of compression wherever it may be found.
review by: Steve Barker
This text originally appeared in The
Wire magazine (issue # 223).
Reproduced by permission.
The Wire on-line index.
This item appeared on the Islamaphonia 2 mailing list.
Six tracks all of the same title, just different remixes. There are two Muslimgauze mixes at the end of the CD. This is some up beat drum and bass sounding Muslimgauze sampled material. It remains in the same Muslimgauze theme, but musically sequenced with added funky bass lines.
The second track again, similar to the first, resides in a drum and bass field. This has some interesting psychedelic sounding qualities. A good stereo system would do this track nicely. It is a little more dubby than the first, and with added echo effects.
Tracks three and four are the furthest away from the Muslimgauze sound. They all have elements of dub, but more in the techno domain. This is purely tribal techno. Each track becomes a little more experimental.
Track five and six are clearly Muslimgauze sounds. Still remaining upbeat and in series with the other remixes/mixes. The last two tracks present a nice contrast from Bryn Jones' ambient works and his drum and bass counterparts. Track six presents another dance oriented remix from Bryn Jones. The beat swirls from foreground to background.
The art work is very thought provoking. I am sure Bryn Jones would have liked it.
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