Habibiyya, The – “If Man But Knew” – [Island Records]

surferrosa   1/17/2012   12-inch, A Library

The Habibiyya are a group of Brits, three of which were formerly members of Might Baby. Apparently, these guys took a trip to Morocco and had a mystic, spiritual epiphany. Inspired, they returned to London, converted to the Muslim Sufi faith, and produced this record in 1972. The music here is meditative, it ebbs and flows with a free, droney, hippy-jam sort of vibe. There is also a beautiful variety of different instruments here (koto piece is lovely), check them out on the back. -Surfer Rosa