Muslimgauze — Blue Mosque
I’m a huge fan of trance music. But not that elevator-esque put-you-to-sleep stuff. I like trance music with an emphasis on beats. Preferably a dark rhythm that borders that yields an edgy bit of relaxation.
Over ten years ago, I picked up Muslimgauze’s Blue Mosque album. Just had a listen again.
Wow. Now that is some intense trance. Seriously heavy rhythm loops with a decidedly middle eastern structure. Awesome bass drone layered on top. Though it begs to be played loud, it is hard to do so simply because the rhythm is so driving and intense that it is pretty much guaranteed to nail the resonant frequency of something in the room.
Muslimgauze is the stage name for one Bryn Jones. Unfortunately, Bryn died of a mysterious fungal infection in 1999. He was incredibly prolific across his career, releasing nearly 100 albums or EPs under the Muslimgauze name. While all similar in nature, it isn’t all as rhythmic (or, in my opinion, as good) as Blue Mosque.
As far as I can tell, Muslimgauze is mostly out of print. The iTunes Store has a decent selection of stuff, though no Blue Mosque. I might have to explore a number of other albums to see if I can find other examples in the Blue Mosque vein of heavy drums
Bryn had some rather strongly held political beliefs. He was a vocal supporter of both Hamas and the PLO. Now, oddly, Bryn was neither a practicing muslim nor did he ever visit the Middle East. He just really liked the music and let middle eastern rhythms and sounds permeate most of his work.
March 11th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I’m a big trance/progressive fan, too. If you haven’t already, check out http://www.mixes.dj for sets of every DJ you’ve heard of, and a lot you haven’t. I’m grabbing Markus Schulz sets from them right now.
Man, that sounded like a paid advertisement. . .
March 11th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
emusic.com has a pretty deep collection of his stuff, but also no Blue Mosque
(I was hoping to buy it and take a listen!)
March 28th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
“Muslimgauze.” Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long, long time.
I didn’t realize the guy died. Nor did I realize it was just one guy, for that matter. I picked up “Citadel” back in 1993 or so, and while I liked it, I never really checked out the other stuff. I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:23 am
Muslimgauze…. trance? I’m not sure I can see how Muslimgauze ever made anything like trance music. It’s Industrial, Tribal and sometimes Ambient but never ever trance…
February 5th, 2009 at 7:43 am
I will most definately be checking that album out. Sounds like some really inspirational stuff that would be great include in my DJ sets if i can get it to fit.
Has anyone managed to find a copy at all yet?
May 27th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Absolutely great album but I can’t find it anywwhere now I lost my copy… I’ve heard that droney bass used in some of the live DJ sets we put on – works great live. I really should work harder to get hold of it again. Thanks for the reminder!