''The Hour of Two Lights'' is a one-off collaborative album between British solo-artist Terry Hall, formerly of the

2 Tone Two-tone, two tone, or 2 tone, etc., may refer to: Audio and sound * Two-tone analysis, in nonlinear system measurement * Two-tone attention signal * Two-tone chime, such as the "ding dong" sound of a doorbell * Two-tone sequential paging, sel ...

and

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

revival band

the Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English Two-tone (music genre), 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall (singer), Terr ...

, and

Mushtaq Mushthak () may refer to: Given name * Mushtaq Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer * Mushtaq Ali, Indian cricketer * Mushtaq Gazdar, Pakistani cinematographer * Mushtaq Kak, Indian actor * Mushtaq Leghari, Pakistani air marshal * Mushtaq Minhas, Pakistani ...

, a member of British-based multi-ethnic hip-hop– ethno-techno– world fusion music group

Fun-Da-Mental Fun-Da-Mental is a British-based multi-ethnic hip-hop– ethno-techno– world fusion music group formed in 1991. The group is notable for its energetic fusion of Eastern and Western musical forms, for its outspoken political stance, and for i ...

Composition and release

The album was written and produced by the duo, with the exception of "Ten Eleven" which was written with Oujdi and Hall's regular collaborator and label-boss of

Honest Jon's Honest Jon's is a British independent record shop based on Portobello Road in Ladbroke Grove, London, operating since 1974. The shop is owned and run by Mark Ainley and Alan Scholefield, who took over from one of the original proprietors, "Hone ...

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

. Receiving good reviews, the album was released on CD and double-LP by Albarn's

label in Europe (distributed by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

) and the US (distributed by

Astralwerks Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...

) in August 2003. It was Hall's last release of new material, after which he rejoined

as a regular member for live performances, until the release of the Specials' album ''

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pres ...

'' in 2019.

Critical response

Robin Denselow Robin Denselow is a British writer, journalist, and broadcaster. Education Denselow was educated at Leighton Park School, a boys' Quaker boarding independent school (now co-educational) in Reading, Berkshire, followed by New College, Oxford, wher ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' rated it 4/5 and said of ''The Hour of Two Lights'', "Two of the pioneers of multicultural British pop are back with a daring, thoughtful set..." Ollie Davies of ''

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

'' said, "It's a political and musical recording of racial minorities and cultures by two of today's pioneers of modern popular music." Sean Westergaard of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

rated ''One and One Is One'' 3/5 and thought "Terry Hall took quite a chance on this one, doing something unlike anything in his catalog and pulling it off without a hitch. Well done." Jeff Brown of ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'' called it "...a fantastic mélange of East and West, traditional and modernmusic." ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' rated it 4/5 and called it "...a fantastic record of banging global grooves..." ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' of Will Harris thought "''The Hour of Two Lights'' can expand one's musical horizons considerably."

Track listing

Personnel

* Terry Hall – vocals, banjo, jaw-harp *

– darabuka, drums, keyboards, percussion ;Additional musicians *

– voice, melodica * Louai Alhenawi – ney * Abdul Latif Assaly – voice * Nathalie Barghach – voice * Sammy Bishai – violin * Calum Cook – cello * James Dring – recorder * A.K.Durvesh – shehnai * Numan Elyer – percussion * Eva Katzler – voice * Matthew Kent – scratch deejaying * Hajaj Kenway – percussion * Eddie Mordue – clarinet * Oujdi – rap * Herinderpal Panesar – dhol * Romany Rad – accordion, bass, guitar, voice * Zoe Rahman – piano * Mazin Abu Sayf – oud, accordion ;Technical * Terry Hall – producer, mixing * Mushtaq – producer, mixing * Tom Girling – engineer, mixing * James Dring – assistant engineer * Will Bankhead – photography, design * John Ainley – drawing * Elizabeth Cook – drawing * Len Wheeler – drawing

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hour of Two Lights 2003 albums Terry Hall (singer) albums Mushtaq Omar Uddin albums Honest Jon's Records albums