Saafi Brothers — Mystic Cigarettes. A brief history of an ambient album with a Goan touch

In the mid-90s, Gabriel Le Mar came back home to Frankfurt after an inspiring Indian trip. In the Indian state of Goa, Goan trance was gaining momentum at that time—multi-layered arpeggios, acid sequences and an unchanging bass became key features of the genre. Le Mar had been observing the development of the genre since the late 80s. He found a club in Germany, teamed up with several musician friends, and the four of them created evenings where at a huge table they weaved together dub, ambient and Goan trance.

Their performances were heard by Rolf Ellmer, the man who, as part of the duos Jam & Spoon and Dance 2 Trance, released the first German trance records Stella and We came in peace. He persuaded Le Mar to record an album that would include stuff from the quartet’s evenings together. The record was quickly picked up by one of the key Goan labels; and what these mysterious cigarettes are isn’t so difficult to guess :-)