Muslimgauze was the main musical project of Bryn Jones (June 17 1961 - January 14 1999), a British ethnic-experimental musician who was influenced by the history of the Muslim world, often with an emphasis on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He was exceptionally prolific in his work, creating nearly 2000 original compositions on over 90 releases (and still counting). The name Muslimgauze is a play on the word muslin (a type of medical wrapping). He first started in 1982 as 'E.g Oblique Graph' on Kinematograph, his own imprint, and the independent co-op label 'Recloose Organisation'. Though constantly recording, he released his earliest albums just once per year (this was due to an extreme scarcity in his financial resources at the time). Eventually he made inroads with emerging labels Staalplaat, Soleilmoon, and Extreme Records. He signed to Extreme first in 1991, which helped fund professional studio time and gained him access to improved distribution. Jones soon became frustrated with Extreme's slow release schedule, and in 1993 also signed with Soleilmoon and Staalplaat (who were more than willing to take on his ever increasing output). Jones additionally worked with nearly any small label that approached him. A major drawback to this was gratuitous editing by the labelheads, and excuses for late or missing royalties. This lack of monetary compensation was a source of ongoing stress throughout his career. On 30th December 1998, Jones was rushed to hospital in Manchester with a rare fungal infection in his bloodstream, for which he had to be heavily sedated. His body eventually shut down, and he died on 14th January 1999. Since his death at the age of 37, his music under Muslimgauze has continued to be released. He often inundated labels and collaborators with music, and consequently they had to be selective of what was eventually put out. Many labels, still including Soleilmoon and Staalplaat, continue to publish unreleased albums as well as his demos, reworked tracks, and abandoned full-length tapes. Jones' posthumous discography is known for including many studio variations of nearly all his music.
Muslimgauze's music is often difficult to describe due to sheer volume, content diversity, and often unique singular stylings. However, it is possible to describe common features of his music as he tended to use many of the same strategies, modified from album to album, to give each release a distinct feel or concept. The music is often heavily electronic and strongly rhythmic, tempos vary from very fast to very slow (if not outright ambient) making frequent use of gradually changing structures or melodic motifs. Two overviews of his discography described his style as 'ambience that is not so far removed from the likes of Godflesh or Scorn' and 'blended atmosphere and vocal samples almost turn his work into a soundtrack for a nonexistent film'.
"I would never go to an occupied land, others shouldn't. Zionists living off Arab land and
water is not a tourist attraction. To have been in a place is not important. So you can't be
against apartheid unless you have been in South Africa? You cannot be against the Serbs
killing Muslims in Bosnia unless you have been there? I think not."
--Bryn Jones
