Muharram 1392 - 2011 - Muharram 1392

Muharram 1392

2011

Muharram 1392

01. Untitled

02. Untitled

Hartmut Geerken, Hubertus von Puttkamer, Michael Ranta, Omar el Hakim, Salah Ragab

Recorded February 17, 1972 in Heliopolis, Egypt.

Muharram 1392 is not a real band name. Muharram 1392 is the Islamic date that corresponds to February 1972. It refers to a one time concert held by Hartmut Geerken, Hubertus Von Puttkamer, Michael Ranta, Omar El Hakim, and Salah Ragab in Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt on the 17th of February 1972. This was a one off meeting and the group name Muharram 1392 was only applied after this music was retrieved from the archives of Hartmut Geerken and published on vinyl 40 years later.

"Almost sold out in pre-sale, act fast! As this album is a treasure, a minblowing reissue (dated 1972) of an intense, spontaneous droney improvisation and the complex Michael Ranta's chiming rhythms interlaced with trance-alike collective passages. It’s a monster! ""...tomorrow i will send you the CD of a very strange anarcho spontaneously improvised sound tableau. it is one of the very first musical projects with Ranta, when we met in Egypt in 1972. i didn't listen to this stuff since it was recorded & i was surprised myself ! nearly 40 years after ! the title is the first Muslim month of the year & the number behind is the Muslim year of the recording, that was February 17, 1972, which was the first day of the Muslim year. salam 

The A-side: piano, upright bass (briefly), guitar (very, very briefly near the beginning, and barely noticeable), violent percussion/banging-on-anything-nearby, violent proper drums (briefly), reeds, more piano, a cheesy sounding organ (briefly), spoken word (briefly), and more violent percussion. Sixteen and a half minutes.

The B-side: 50% more of the same, 50% *much* dronier, with more noticeable guitar this time around even if it's still way in the background and a static drone on reeds going through most of the second half. Eighteen and a half minutes.

This album is a treasure, a minblowing reissue (dated 1972) of an intense, spontaneous droney improvisation and the complex Michael Ranta's chiming rhythms interlaced with trance-alike collective passages. It’s a monster! ""...tomorrow i will send you the CD of a very strange anarcho spontaneously improvised sound tableau. it is one of the very first musical projects with Ranta, when we met in Egypt in 1972. i didn't listen to this stuff since it was recorded & i was surprised myself ! nearly 40 years after ! the title is the first Muslim month of the year & the number behind is the Muslim year of the recording, that was February 17, 1972, which was the first day of the Muslim year.