Ilyas Ahmed "Between Two Skies/Towards the Night" 2CD $20

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
4. Shumsun

Praise for Ilyas Ahmed's previous works:

"Then comes Ilyas Ahmed, and man, am I in love with his music. It's mostly solo voice and guitar—mellow picked builds, chanting and breathy sighs—but then the big, stately harmonium drones come on. Tracks stretch past the 30-minute mark. Psychedelia is given time to branch out, vein off in different directions, and get in deep with the tranced-out raga vibe. I have three Ilyas CDs, and I want more. I'm going to get more." ­- Portland Mercury

"Ahmed makes the sort of hypnotizing liquid folk music that sketches interconnecting lines between the listener and a world of "things." It's an improvised body of formless vocal drifts and breezes, picked guitar wanderings, harmonium drones and subtle percussion. It carries the sense of traditional folk music—diffused into atmospheric waves of old Americana and veiled tragedy." - Willamette Week