Bleep

Staalplaat delivers an absolutely flooring blow with Ali Zarin, a never before heard album from Muslimgauze that features the freestyling forty minute title track spread across both sides of a whole 12" and reveals a side to this most alluring of producers that lands in the space between Jamal Moss, Russell Haswell and the Night Slugs crew.

Having continuously worked hard to unearth and deliver in fully mastered commercial form the vast archive of out of print and previously unreleased work of Mancunian experimentalist Bryn Jones, they have unearthed an entire LP's worth of work that sheds light on Jones's singular spin on jungle, acid, noise, dub and techno, whilst also sounding incredibly contemporary and in many cases pre-dating by decades the work of many producers to which most people would draw parallels with. It is on records like Ali Zarin that we really start to get a glimpse into the truly out there material he was producing night after night in his North Manchester abode.

Based around the forty-three-minute title track, the vibe carved out is a caustic window viewpoint into the raw, edgy noise saturated techno (but we imagine he wouldn't have called it that), and according to those who knew him, he no real interest or influence from what other 4 x 4 bedroom producers were producing at the same time. Built up with a glacial bassline, in the right DJ's hands this will bury any contemporary post-club records in the dirt. It's one of the most arresting Muslimgauze tracks we have come across. Coming backed with four untitled demos that were also on the original cassette, the other recordings act as sketches of wildly different soundscapes that again, don't sound like much else we have heard from Jones before. These live sounding recordings fold in selections of halftime drum & bass and hip-hop tempo rhythms, but with bold studio techniques and tricks they toast an otherworldly feel, quickstepping any sampled cut and paste action with ease.

Ali Zarin is a fascinating document and a must check for anyone with even a passing interest in his music, as well as being one of the very best entries in the Muslimgauze discography. And honestly, we don't say that lightly.