MUSLIMGAUZE Vinyl & CDs

Review: "Plug in your headphones, drown out the world, and set out on a mystic voyage of Earth through the lens of Kybele," reads the blurb for this unarguably cinematic electronic album. It's not hard to understand where the producer is coming from with that description - with so many soundscapes happening on this record it's hard to know where to begin. What's more important, though, is the authenticity that each style is treated with. The space-age sci-fi ambience of 'Phones' doesn't feel like the stereotypical tacked-on interlude which has plagued lazy dance records for aeons. The pseudo-80s synth grooves of 'Phase Lines' are no cheap pastiche efforts. Throw in some warm, rave-informed downtempo ('Yahuda') and low slung percussive chug ('Culto') and you start to understand our point.

Review: One of the finest single albums in the vast catalogue of the late, great Muslimgauze, "Salaam Alekum, Bastard" first appeared in stores in 1995 and was dedicated to "the invisible hands of revenge". Musically, it's typical of the prolific artist's material during the period, delivering a string of intoxicating, otherworldly soundscapes crafted from Arabic percussion, ambient dub rhythms, Middle Eastern instrumentation, spaced-out electronics, snippets of radio and television broadcasts, and overheard conversations in a myriad of languages. Mixed together to form a constantly changing sound soup that somehow manages to be creepy, paranoid and picturesque, the album remains a stunning piece of work.