Türkiye - Istanbul Part I

 

We arrive in the largest city in Turkey, in fact the largest city in Europe, Istanbul.  It's a bustling melting pot between east and west straddling the Bosporus Straight, which separates Europe from Asia.  Whilst not being the capital of Turkey, it is the economic and cultural powerhouse of the country and home to 19% of the population, so we'll be spending a bit longer here.  

Let's arrive early in the morning before it gets too busy and not too hot and ease ourselves into the city with something calming and meditative and maybe not so typical.  Duduk player Canberk Ulaş was born in Istanbul, but now resides in Sweden.  He plays and teaches the Armenian duduk, a double reed woodwind instrument.  He draws on Armenian and Anatolian influences with a modern electronic twists and looping. The results are a kind of reflective meditation.  He  has just released his new album Echoes of Becoming and this is a tune from it called Greetings to Istanbul, accompanied on piano: 

After breakfast we'll maybe wander down Independence Avenue (İstiklal Caddesi) in the Beyoğlu district and catch a few buskers plying their trade, like these guys here:

They are international ethno-folk ensemble Light in Babylon.  They formed in 2010, when Israeli/Iranian singer Michal Elia Kamal and French guitarist Julien Demarque bumped into each other and went in search for a santur player (A type of hammered dulcimer), whom they found in Istanbul in the form of Metehan Çiftçi.  Initially the 3 had difficulty communicating as they didn't speak each others languages, but musically they hit it off.  So, inspired by the Biblical story of the Tower of Babylon they came up with their name.  Initially they just hit the Istanbul busking scene, but they have since added a couple more members to the band, recorded some albums and tour internationally.  Here is a song from their 2022 album On Our Way called Sal Sal:

Psych folk band Baba Zula got together in 1996, and with some personnel changes, are still going strong.  They combine traditional Turkish sounds around the saz (a bouzouki-like string instrument) with electronic overdubs and reggae-like rhythms.  Here's a particularly psychedelic number called Transendance from their 2019 album Derin Derin: 

Singer Gaye Si Akyol was born in Istanbul in 1985.  She has had some considerable international success with her version of Turkish psychedelia and Anatolian rock, winning the Best Artist award in Songlines Magazine in 2019.  Like others in the genre, she combines guitar, bass and drums with traditional Turkish instruments such as oud, electro baglama and cümbüş.  She also champions various political causes, such as LGBTQ+ rights, performing in flamboyant outfits, and she is also an accomplished painter.  Here's a stripped down version of a song called Vurgunum Ama Acelesi Yok (I'm keen, but there's no rush) from her 2022 album Anadolu Ejderi:

Lalalar are a three-man psych-rock band from Istanbul, who are relatively new on the scene, with a sound, according to their own words, like a dumpster dive of spaghetti-western psychedelics, Anatolian funk, sampling and hazy electronics. Their songs are real dancefloor fillers.  Here is a song called Göt from their 2023 album  En Kötü Iyi Olur:

Tolga Boyuk is the creative force behind electro acoustic trio Islandman, based in Istanbul  They blend Anatolian rock with electronica, Afrobeat sounds and shamanic rhythms to produce music for the dance floor.  Here's the opening track to their 2020 album Kaybola called Dimitro:

I think that should do for this post, more music from Istanbul next time.  In the meantime, as usual, you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline Map