Muslimgauze "Iranian Female Olympic Table Tennis Theme" Staalplat MUSLIMLIM 016 1999 (33:18)
Iranian Female Olympic Table Tennis Team Theme (33:18)
Muslimgauze is Bryn Jones
Overall impression: music - good, packaging - excellent. Yes, another cd from Muslimgauze. I think this is the 6th new release I've picked up so far this year, but this one is rather unique. "Iranian.." is a single 33+ minute track cd (limited to 500 copies) that comes "packaged" on a tennis table paddle. One side of the paddle has the normal black rubber grip plus a black foam button holder for the cd. The other side has a handscreened image of three woman in head to toe white robes with a city scene as background, the cd title and artist name. Really a very striking piece of work. Is it going to fit into your cd storage system? No, probably not ... but who cares? This is a piece of art worthy of permanent display, like the majority of the Muslimgauze covers/inserts. As for the music it is essentially one repetitious ambient drone: a continuos hum layered with shimmering pulses, electrical buzzes and cracklings, a meandering and somewhat random melody, very minimal percussive tappings and the occasional surges of a bass tone. It's soothing, but changes little throughout the duration of the cd. This is a bit of an atypical, electro-ambient beat-less departure for Muslimgauze ... good stuff but I won't be spinning it as often as other recent releases (see also "Mullah Said", "Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass"). "Iranian.." is a bit price-y, it's more for the rabid collector than the casual fan. The care and effort that Staalplat and Soleilmoon continue to afford new Muslimgauze releases even after Bryn Jones' death this past January is impressive. And, there's many more to come ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Soleilmoon Recordings.