Thursday 22 May 2008

HALF MOON (medioriental musick)

BENNETT JUSTIN
THE MOSQUES OF TANGER

Original Issue: 1997 Staalplaat (STmCD 009)

Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

A CD-Single, released on Staalplaat, it contains a single recording of the mosques of Tanger at sunrise. Recorded high up on a rooftop, the calls from the many different mosques mix and resonate as they cross the city.

BELIEVE ME!
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THIS SHINY JEWEL!

1 The Mosques Of Tanger (20:36)

from The Wire:

Record of the month, no question.

Released on miniature 3" CD - after the 12" single my favourite format - this is 20 minutes of North African muezzins calling the faithful to prayer through their lo-fi mosque-top PA systems.

It begins and ends with Mediterranean dawn ambience, cicadas and cockerels. We hear the first call, maybe a mile away; gradually other calls are layer in, but the best moments are to do with the eerie beauty of sound heard at a great distance.

Presumably the recordist, Justin Bennett, has discreetly stitched the whole thing together from several recordings. The ear can roam freely though the soundscape rather like exploring a city on foot, enjoying aural accidents.

Clive Bell

14 comments:

Margot F. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dorker Vibes said...

Sounds sublime Margot, thanks!

Margot F. said...

SUBLIME is the right word! I bought this in 1997 and was so impressed by it!

Let me know your impressions after you've listened to this gem.

Kisses

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Margot!
I will definitely give this a listen.
Is this the same Justin Bennett as Skinny Puppy's (relatively) new drumming member? (Also member of band Bahntier, I believe)

Margot F. said...

Probably not...anyway this is his website http://www.bmbcon.demon.nl/justin/

Anonymous said...

Very nice record.Thanks.
It seems that Core is still available on Mutant Sounds :

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2007/07/core-chants-of-race-emptiness-lp-1988.html

Jeloca.

Margot F. said...

THANK YOU Jeloca!
Dunno how, but I missed it :-)

giu said...

as usual another super gift...
thanks

Anonymous said...

Nice piece of music - thank you Margot!

Anonymous said...

Quite the surprise! Many thanks to you, Margot!

Saverino

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this great disc. I love to put it on early in the morning when I'm eating my Grape Nuts and pretending I'm far, far away...

Anonymous said...

awesome, ambient in more than one sense..

quique said...

margot, please, repost this cd!!!
hello from spain

quique said...

yes, it's magnific...what marvelous sound the chant of muezins
thanks, margot