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maqam

For some electronic sounds like you've never heard before, check out the new Minz track 'Maqam', from his 'Back to Móstoles' EP.

An epic nine minute piece, it slowly builds on a sparse, driving beat into a dark and thundering journey that conjures up images of forbidding desert landscapes where the wind rages and tiny humans feel the vastness of the sky come crashing down on them. To use a fancy term, the music seems to become an evocation of mysterium tremendum - the terrible, overwhelming aspect of the numinous.

As Minz explains on his blog, the track (which was called 'Persian Miniatures' in an earlier version) is built around the principles of an Arabic maqam, a melodic system very different from Western music. But even without understanding its conceptual intricacies, its impact, akin to drum 'n bass classic 'Shadow Boxing' but much more elaborate, is raw and immediate.

Listen to 'Maqam' on Soundcloud, or better, buy it from Beatport.

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