Baba Zula

All across Istanbul’s skyline the air is filled with the echoes of muezzins from within their minarets, calling the faithful to prayer. In the streets, cafes ofter potent coffe and fruit teas, hookah joints are lined with local patrons puffing on tail pipes. In sprawling bazaars, ritual bargaining is performed for rugs, spices and jewellery. Yet despite the exotic exterior, Turkey’s capital is in reality the hub of the most secular of Muslim nations. The “muzezzins” are actually tape recordings. The cafes also offer Coke. Bazaars are filled with multilingual salesmen ready to bargain with tourists from anywhere in the world. Caliphs are more welcome in HipHop lore than in this native land. Want a taste of Turkish tobacco? Smoke Camel cigarettes.

As far as music is concerned, the city’s old7new world dichotomy is reflected in the Western-tinged “Beyoglu beat” (named after a district filled with musicians and clubs). But since most locals are indifferent to this music, what you’ll hear in restaurants is fasil (Turkish light classical music) played on oud (round bodied, short necked lute), saz (a barrel shaped lute with a long, thin neck and movable frets), darbukka ( hand drum) and ney (wooden flute) by small groups entertaining the tourists as they consume shish kebab and baklava. Far from being quiet dinner music, these combos whip themselves into a raucous frenzy, egged on by the diners.

It’s a familiar story; in the process of Westernisation, older regional musics have become homogenised into an ersatz “national” style. The Sufi ritual of the Whirling Dervishes, for instance, is now a once-a-month tourist show, repletewith religious poetry, chanting, dances and freeform improvisations (though not as fiery as Cecil Taylor, of course).

The influence of the West also leapt into the miz in the late 60s, the age of legendary “Anadolu rock” performers such as 3 Hürel, Kardaslar and Erkin Koray, Though still using many traditional instruments, these groups followed role models such as Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd Anadolu managed to thrive for a decade until it was wiped out in President/General Kenan Evren’s 1980 military coup, when numerous artists became victims of State intimidation.

Only in the last ten years has any genuinely creative new music reared its head again. Anadolu has remained a huge influence a number of present day groups cover songs from tahat time, followimg a similar “groove with a saz” pattern. What makes this music unique is that the artists grew up listening to (and working with) traditional local musicians, playing different time signatures with semi- and quartertones. Supposedly, even harmolodic basssist Jamaaladeen Tacuma had trouble keeping up with multi- instrumentalist Burhan Öçal on a recording date for the album Groove Alla Turca (Doublemoon 1999). As with other Arabic music, there are many more notes in Turkish scales – almost double the number that occur in Western scales. Also unique is the makam, a grouping of notes akin to Indian raga, which gives the music its orental sound. Like their Anadolu ancestors, the Beyoglu beat outfits still use mostly traditional instruments. The droning quality of the music derives as much from their own local predecessors as from The Velvet Underground.

Thanks to a recent release on Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace! Label, Zen are probably the most widely heard Beyoglu group outside Turkey. Led by Merih Öztaylan’s vocal babble and Murat Ertel’s amped saz, Zen’s music is a widly improvisational ride straight out of London’s UFO club at the height of the psychedelic 60’s, best heard on Tanbul (Kod Müzik 1998). Their strange musical brew is matched by their choice of unusual performance locations such as a local cistern, a mental hospital and the ancient walls of Rumeli, as well as once undertaking a 24 hour performance.

Baba Zula are equally popular, thanks to their soundtrack to Dervish Zaim’s first movie Tabutta Rövasata (1997) and several European tours. Their music is more song-structured, featuring expatriates like singer Brenna MacCrimmon and Saxist Ralph Carney and a bubbling undercurrent of percussion as heard on 1999’s 3 Oyundan 17 Müzik (Doublemoon). You’d almost think you were heraing fusil if it wasn’t for the drum machines, samplers and toys, overlaid with the sound of crying babies and orgasmic breathing.

Apart from punkish live sensations Rashit and Zen refugees/army recruits Nekropsi, the other great Beyoglu hopes are Replikas. This ethno-psych crew’s recent debut, Köledoyuran (Ada Müzik), shows off their love of everything from Goa Trance to Can to “zikir” ritual prayers/happenings. The pay-off has benn that they packed a local club for a recent release party and are actually played at some local shops, itself a coup to match General Evren’s.

Since even the local media support for this music is pathetic, this is probably all news to you. Other than the corrupt, unimaginative labels of old – who regulary boot - Wire Magazine

From the opening track-if you can call it that- Baba Zula mean business. It's one lone qhiplash of percussion and guitar lasting all of about two seconds: the aural equivalent of a singer-finger salute. There's a strange dynamic to the album. So many of the tracks sound like and hoe live jams that could sprawl on for hours yet they are studio creations that are almost absurdly concise. Everything's very raw and low tech: the uninstrusive dub processing often sounds like their guitarist in fact fighting to tune a wayward instrument he was just conned into buying from the bazaar rather than any attempt to sound and of the moment.
Levent Akman, Murat Ertel, Cosar Kamçi have been honinhg their self styled "oriental dub" for over decade. Playing saz, (turkish stringed instrument), strings, darbuka,toys, bird-calls and anything else they can get their hands on, they create stark, intuitiveplaces that exploit the potency of thwacked objects and mesmeric guitar lines. The only false notes are struck in the last brace of tunes. "Alexender" in contrast to the sketch-like nature of the rest of the album, outstays its welcome by a good five minutes, albeit while sounding like a Turkish LCD Soundsystem. Indeed, "Roots" is unusual in that, while unmistakebly Turkish, its so often conjures up the door and abrasive sounds of the UL post punk scene. "Blind Lemon Man" the album's first song proper, is a surly skank with a loe Strummer sneer, while there's something of the Pil to the cantankerousness of "Turkish Haiku".


Matthew Milton - Songlines

Signe sur le label discographique turc Doublemoon , qui incarne le son moderne d'Istanbul, ce groupe est l'un dess fers de lance de la nouvelle scene stanbouliote, presentee dans le talentueux film de Fatih Akin, Crossing the Bridge (2005). Baba Zula joue le trait d'union entre la musique traditionnelle de Turquie et l'electro. Ce parti pris s'exprime au travers d'une fusion shaleureuse, sensuelle, suprenante, voire drole parfois. Un hennissement de cheval incruste comme leitmotiv. - Le Monde

Formation stambouliote, Baba Zula chatouille depuis une dizalne d'annees les traditions musicales turques. Pour ce nouvel opus, tout simplement intitule Roots, le trio de base s'est retouve a minima pour se concentrer sur le son et affirmer ses intentions. C' est alnsi qu'une moitie de la trentaine de plages n'affic he pas plus de deus minutes au comteur. A quoqi bon delayer . Our les 3 ,BZ, l'important est de sinsxrire aujourd'hui dans une historie qu!iis connaissent sur le bout des doigts. entre musiques trad et rock d'avant les boltes a rhythmes. Doublemoon roots! Ces musiciens qui affectionnent le grain du son d'hier et la leberte des prods d'aujourd'hui sont si attaches a la tradition qu'lis savent la faire evouleer. Juste delicieus. / Sq - Mondomix / n27 Mars/Avril

In his recent documentary film Crossing the Bridge, The Music of Istanbul, German-Turkish director Fatih Akin used the band Baba Zula as a narrative thread for his exploration of the remarkably diverse music being made in city today. Baba Zula performed on the deck of a ship as it moved slowly through the Bosphorus against a backdrop of mosques and waterside villas and the modern skylines their guitars, traditional and Western percussion, electronics, saz and clarinet, augmented by the bass playing of the film's presenter, Alexander Hacke ( from the cult band Einsturzende Neubauten) matched the city's historical eclecticism. Baba Zula are veteran musical adventurers who plend traditional with electric and Turkish rhythms with rock and reggae. Their controversially explicit lyrics featuring sensitive themes from daily life with titles such as "Father in Hospital" and "I think I'm pregnant" ( a conversation between a young man and woman set agains a slow solo saz melody and piercing birdsong) Of these 21 songs mixed by London' s legendary dub producer the Mad Professor, four were remixed by Jameica's legendary producers, Sly and Robbie."Children of Istanbul" sees the original's taut saz melodies and pulsing frame drum submerged in layers of echoing choruses, while others exploit the tension between reggae's ryhthm guitar style and the saz. This seductive soundtrack to Istanbul' s effectively migles tiny musical snapshots with long vocal explorations of themes.

Sue Steward - Songlines / March/April 2006