Muslimgauze: Fakir Sind Muslimgauze: Fakir Sind (Soleilmoon - 1999) Another post-mortem release which continues the pounding desert saga of Bryn Jones remains consistent with his "usual" output, with a notable exception. If Muslimgauze's 100 recordings are too numerous and similar to individually denote... ("Which one?" "Oh, you know... sounds kinda Middle Eastern... it's got a lot of drumming in it."), at least Fakir Sind will forever stand out on one account... It's "the one with all the peacocks". The piercing squall of a peacock is the first thing you hear upon entering the Mumbai Vibe Garden, where a deep bass current strums beneath the pattering beats and an ethnic wail loops again and again. Reedy blares top the steady drum-pummeling of Zenana of Ugly Thoughts (8:29) while bass waves underscore the proceedings which a receive further peacock embellishment, then a series of digital breakdowns. A thin, looped chant is sliced, diced and spit out in slivers with more bird cries as the drums of Memsahib of Gup and Ghee beat on. With a low, lolling bass, elastically jangling strings, and a ceramic rhythm section so quiet you can hear the crickets chirp, Fakir of Gwalior dwells in a humidly languid atmosphere. Chittering (non-peacock) birds, distorted vocalizing and speedy beat cycles are enough to make you say, Let's Have Some More Dagga, Begum. A duo of human voices are preternaturally elongated into a series of drones in The Shikari Who Wore No Dhoti; the vocals receive smatterings of fragmented drumbeats. Must've been a good year for the Hindu Kush Opium Crop; the bamboo is frantically beaten amidst spoken samples and dubby bass wanderings, all of which receive electronic alterations, finally warbling away into oblivion. Accompanied by the mosquito-buzz of a droning flute, the Left Skin of Jaalghazi ripples as muscular rhythms flex underneath, sometimes echoing in a disjointed counterpoint. A snakily twisting human wail is looped into a sinuous pattern and stirred further by mid-tempo beats in Why No Dogs in Nizamabad. More prominent bass meets with oddly musical rhythmic effects with Pink Seerband, which is wrapped around more moaning-swami-style incantations and distant cock cries. Slightly more than 45 minutes of Middle Eastern style drumming, dub bass, ethnic vocals, electronic distortions (and peacock cries) make for another unmistakably Muslimgauze production. Limited to 1000 copies, Fakir Sind, to me, is just more to love so, admittedly the enthusiast, I'm dropping a 8.7 for the always transportive rhythms. Available from Soleilmoon, as are many of Jones' recordings. For the most complete information, visit the Muslimgauze site (by Terry Allen Bennett). This review posted August 28, 1999 AmbiEntrance © 1999-97 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).