Secret Chiefs 3

The members of Secret Chiefs 3 may not actually be part of some obscure, underground Muslim music scene, but they sure sound like they are, with their appropriation of Arabic and Persian musical styles, if not necessarily instrumentation. Mr. Bungle alumnus Trey Spruance is the main architect of this band's...

By Tom Murphy

July 31, 2008

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The members of Secret Chiefs 3 may not actually be part of some obscure, underground Muslim music scene, but they sure sound like they are, with their appropriation of Arabic and Persian musical styles, if not necessarily instrumentation. Mr. Bungle alumnus Trey Spruance is the main architect of this band's sound, and his keen understanding of how to push rock instruments beyond their normal bounds has kept the music consistently interesting. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan may have been the most famous figure to have mixed Sufi devotional music with rock, but Spruance has made that fusion prominent in the avant-garde. If Alejandro Jodorowsky ever decides to film a biography of Helena Blavatsky (the mystic behind the moniker), Secret Chiefs 3 should be on the short list to score the soundtrack.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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