William S. Burroughs once wrote that Arabic music seemed to work on what he called "hashish time," evolving without discerable beginnings and weaving and drifting endlessly through the air. With releases numbering over 100 and counting, the politically-themed and rhythmically-driven message of Muslimgauze continues to thrive with no end in sight, despite the sudden death of its driving force, Bryn Jones (1961-1999).

The Manchester native began recording in 1983, citing the previous year's invasion of Lebanon by Israeli forces as his inspiration. Despite his pro-Palestinian focus, Jones was not an Arab, nor was he a Muslim. But his anger at the pro-Israel bias of Western media outlets spawned the artwork and slogans which surrounded his incredibly large musical output with controversy. Titles like 'Fatah Guerrilla', 'Hebron Massacre', 'The Rape of Palestine' and 'Vote Hezbollah' viscerally cemented the Muslimgauze aesthetic.

While obviously not the first or last musician to use taboo as a springboard into inspiration, Jones' particular choice of motif was and is sometimes viewed - like many anti-Israel sentiments - as automatically and unequivocally anti-Semetic. While there is obviously a tremendous amount of difference between these two attitudes, they have been virtually joined together for the last 50 years. Though Muslimgauze artwork and liner notes have sometimes vigorously displayed support for the Arab struggles in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Chechnya, among others, there are no signs of any actual religious bigotry to be found.

In small amount of interviews he gave, anger and bitterness - covering everything from politics to album sales - comes through most harshly, along with a seemingly simplistic view of Middle Eastern politics. This small amount of public persona we have seen contrasts very sharply with the portrait painted by those who knew him.

The man behind the music, according to those who worked with Jones, was surprisingly soft-spoken and polite, considering the misconceptions his artwork and titles led many people to form. Jones' music was as unpopular with the general public as his message and motiff. His output stretches across many genres and techniques; the one central Muslimgauze focus is rhythm. from the pulsings of slower, the desert ambience of the early albums to the extended percussion sessions and harsh gyrations of beats and bass which emerged from later Muslimgauze output.