HABIBIYYA, THE - If Man But Knew+

"(Habibiyya were a ) buncha british rockers from the end of the 60s (some were in Mighty Baby) ... seems like they flipped out on sufic islam + cut a beautiful slice of eastern-influenced dronefloat for Island recs right at the start of the 70s ... well, i picked up the rec for 25p in a charity shop many moons ago, and its a real head-turner, lost classic, but not so many seem to know about it ... ANYWAYS, im only posting this because ive just found out that one of the guys in the band has made it available again on swish-looking CDR . I reckon a lot of you out there would really go for this, if you enjoy NNCK, jewelled antler, sunburned hand, sun city girls, hell even vibracathedral. Someone shd give this one the full reissue treatment some day, but until then, its nice that you can get yr hands on it if you want." - Neil Campbell. "Habibiyyas sole album stands as one of the earliest and most beautiful pieces of world music ever recorded in Britain. The musicians involved (including three members of UK underground legends Mighty Baby) had been profoundly affected, both musically and spiritually, by visiting Morocco in 1971, and became adherents of the Sufi faith. Upon their return to London they made If Man But Knew, featuring exotic instruments such as koto, shakuhachi and mandola alongside guitar, organ and drums, conjuring a hypnotic, otherworldly ambience in the process." Picked these up a year or two ago but were listing them for the first time.. Very nice full color printed artwork and CDRs, all signed by Ian Whiteman. Includes 3 unreleased tracks from the original recording session. Highly recommended!