Hamas Arc
In the Middle East things are rapidly changing during the few last weeks, Muslimgauze gave his reaction to the recently signed peace treaty between the PLO and Israel: "To be negative is easy, a positive thought is helpful, but until Jerusalem is capital of a total Palestinian State and all Zionist settlers are off the Palestinian map, any peace plan will fail. Yasser Arafat is working to improve his peoples lives, as are Hamas. Yasser Arafat can talk, while Hamas undertake direct action to take back from Zionists Palestinian land. America's role in supporting the vile regime of Israel will never be forgotten." (Muslimgauze, September 1993) Staalplaat now releases a CD EP (total length: 39 minutes), called 'Hamas Arc'. In a few weeks a totally new work will be released, recorded only recently, called 'Betrayal'. This replaces the announced release of 'Shekel Of Israeli Occupation'. This makes Hamas Arc a very special CD EP, as it contains remixed material from 'Shekel Of Israeli Occupation', which will never appear. Also on 'Hamas Arc' there are two remixes from tracks on 'Vote Hezbollah' (CD by Soleilmoon)
To speak of Muslimgauze is to evoke the musical spirit of Islam. For over ten years this solitary voice from Manchester has created a unique sound drawn from a melange of Arabic and European instrumental music. From the very beginning the music has been based on drums and other percussion instruments. Recent advances have been attained through greater creative use of multi-track studios, but the core sound remains unchanged.
Hamas Arc marks the unique relationship between Staalplaat, Muslimgauze and Soleilmoon, the CD EP contains material from "Vote Hezbollah" and from the new full length CD to be released later this year. Staalplaat and Soleilmoon will take turns in releasing new Muslimgauze material.
For many years Muslimgauze has made music with political comments on the situation in the Middle East. His first CD (Iran) was influenced by the political facts of Palestine, Afghanistan and Iran. More recently his work is dedicated to extreme organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas.
Press release from Staalplaat.
The following appeared in Vivisect.
Muslimgauze is just one person, but he creates a wide ambience of sounds which are both hypnotic and memorable. As with most Muslimgauze, there are many middle-Eastern-sounding percussion instruments, though don't ask me to try to name them! Complementing these are additional samples and effects. In the end, everything contributes to the beat. I guess there is plenty of music around with a middle-Eastern flavour, but Muslimgauze have broadened their audience (or perhaps restricted it) to include listeners who enjoy complex, mesmerizing rhythms, but who don't feel constrained to listen to "normal"; instruments only.
Hamas Arc contains remixed material from Shekel Of Israeli Occupation (which was never released) and two tracks from Vote Hezbollah. While this is certainly not the most recent Muslimgauze release, it would be a reasonable one to start off on. United States of Islam has the reputation for being Muslimgauze's best release.
review by: Sean Davidson
Vivisect magazine
PO Box 13047
Law Courts PO
Melbourne 3000
Victoria, Australia
The following appears at Amazon.com.
To say the least this album is very interesting, some songs extremely relaxing, others disturbing, in a Hakim Bey-ish kind of sense. Nice use of samples blend with sporadic beats and absence of melodies.
A music fan from Baltimore, MD (1998)
Amazon.com
The following appears in All Music Guide.
A slightly odd release even for Muslimgauze, Hamas Arc consists of two tracks from the then just-released Vote Hezbollah album and five from the otherwise unreleased Shekel of Israeli Occupation. To top it all off, purchase of Arc provided a coupon to send in, along with a DAT, to get a copy of yet another release, Satyajit Eye. All this said, the album itself is a not-bad pricis of Muslimgauze in 1993; "Farsi" and "Zindabad" from Hezbollah are just as fine here as they were on the original, while the five new tracks include some definite winners. The first "Jerusalem Knife" starts quietly until building into a rush of acoustic Arabic percussion, which is slightly added to over the course of the track and softly tweaked with echoes at points. Add expected elements like bell chimes and the buried sound of flutes and other instruments, and the result is a blast. "Khan Younis" floats in on a semi-dub beat, taking a softer approach but one that is nonetheless very involving, with subliminal keyboards and what even sounds like hints of electric guitar wafting through the tune. The first "Yasser Arafat's Radio" takes a blasted, empty approach, with nothing but sudden electronic bloops and bleeps stabbing through an echo-laden loop of ambience that is not so far removed from the likes of Godflesh or Scorn; the second song is a briefer piece reliant on a distorted vocal wail and dry, hollow percussion combined with shrieking sounds that rise and fall in the mix.
Review by: Ned Raggett
All Music Guide
see also Hamas & Satyajit Eye Erectile Dysfunction
.gif){kind=small}