Ilyas Ahmed
Between Two Skies/ Towards The Night

5
...according to our Brett on 27 January 2011.

I picked this one up 'cos the cracking sleeve's been jumping out at me on the pre-order pages ever since it was listed up there. I guess I was expecting it to be on a Grails or Muslimgauze type of tip but it's made a complete fool of me because it isn't. Instead it's got more of a guitar-based psychedelic folk thing going that reminds me of some Six Organs stuff in terms of sound but of Grouper more than anyone else in terms of how it's all put together since it's got that weird slightly ambient sort of feel to it despite the fact that there's always some sort of melody present. Anyhoo this is lovingly packaged combination of two previous, highly limited and now apparently pretty tricky to obtain, CDr releases. It's quite hypnotic, massively heady and really very, very nice. I just wish it wasn't making me want to go and find an opium den to drift away from the world in, Noodles-style, 'cos there's still a few hours of work to go..

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What their label says...

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Ilyas Ahmed is incredible. Born in Pakistan and raised in New Jersey, he now plies his trade in Portland, Oregon. "Between Two Skies" and "Towards the Night" is where it all began. Released in criminally limited editions of 50 copies each, both albums are now fully remastered by Pete Swanson and repackaged in beautiful gatefold jackets from Stumptown Printers. Also included are extended liner notes from David Keenan. I think he sums up both these albums best:

"Call it abandon, a facility for letting go, for moving on; either way Ahmed's music is *gone*. And all we have are the recordings, scattered notes to prove that he once existed and felt it all as deeply and miraculously as any of us. And right now, from wher eI'm calling from, I wouldn't ask for anything more."

Ahmed's original voice is a welcome addition to an oversaturated aural world. He has gone on to put out numerous self-released CDRs as well as a new CD/LP on Time-Lag. But in the beginning there were these. What "Between Two Skies" and "Towards the Night" make crystal clear is that his vision and his voice were there from the very beginning.

tracklist:
Between Two Skies
1. Black Midas
2. As Those Above
3. Night Song
4. To You Soon
5. Silence the High
6. Amajan
7. Samanjhna

Towards the Night
1. Circular Sky
2. Satanta's Hand
3. Golden Eyes