The Suns of Arqa Mixes

by Stewart Mason Recorded sometime in the mid-'90s but not released until two years after the death of Bryn Jones (Muslimgauze), The Suns of Arqa Mixes was a one-off collaboration between Jones and Suns of Arqa's Michael Wadada, an elder statesman of the global techno scene, with Jones adding new tracks to and remixing some unfinished tapes by Wadada (who in the album's liner notes takes care to distance himself from the pro-Palestinian political agenda that was part of Muslimgauze's aesthetic). The resulting album is curiously fragmented, with almost all of the tracks around the three- to four-minute range or less as opposed to the lengthy drones that are Suns of Arqa's usual stock-in-trade. The drones are still there, but Jones' familiar use of found sounds and heavily treated tape-loop rhythms, as well as his trademark Middle Eastern influences, mean this is more his show than Wadada's, although fans of either producer will find the blend intriguing.