Muslimgauze
Sulaymaniyah
Repress! 'Sulaymaniyah' is part of Staalplaat's ongoing Muslimgauze archive series, masters originally submitted in 1997, then "replaced" by what became 'Vampire Of Tehran' released early in 1998. It was not uncommon for the prolific Bryn Jones to replace masters with what he believed to be a more fit release. Short of two tracks, 'Fez Tishan' and 'Hamas Pulse Of Revenge', this is 'Vampire Of Tehran' with nine additional, unreleased tracks. Because 'Sulaymaniyah' was "replaced", it was stored in Staalplaat's vault's until a decade after Jones' passing and it will take several more years before they have completely caught up with additional "replaced" and unreleased masters. 'Sulaymaniyah' is stylistically varied and has ethno-electro, ethno-breakbeat along with several dub cuts. Ethno-electro/breaks are analogous to urban dance/hip hop with catchy, distortion ridden breaks and heavily edited ethnic music, cut-up and reassembled into Frankenstein hybrids-sometimes further complicated with dub elements. Wanton mixtures of styles are one of many defining qualities of Muslimgauze music. Like "replaced" masters, versions of tracks such as 'Arabs Improved Zpain' and 'Arabs Return Zpain' demonstrate Jones' near obsessive search for the right sound. For those who appreciate the latter, rhythmic ethno-breaks and dub phase of Muslimgauze circa 'Tandoori Dog', or completists, 'Sulaymaniyah' is a "must have".