Turkish Rock

[Perry]

Here's a band I discovered in the last couple months or so:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J5-57lRxAM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaT6HKrbKcs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc0dR6FUl0Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmFoJoYbRFw

That has opened up a world to me. Now I've been obsessively listening to Turkish rock. Apparently this was a thing back in the 70's:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLjG4c0N7Yo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVAO00zjCrw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvNKuJFoP0E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7waxboiZceI

It appears to have influenced an Australian band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U72rbtrufws

[Perry]

I don't know if anybody cares about this obscure thread in an obscure section of an obscure web site, but I found some more gems on YouTube.

These are easy on western ears and probably could have been hits in the U.S. if it weren't for the language difference and use of a few non-western instruments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKByUwKMK6o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r9fJEku8bs

A song about hiking through life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l61Cplav24w

Political songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubalo5U02ig (Turkish tuning)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nonCuddOac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J44-yxobWg

A relatively well-known classic of Turkish rock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0gjwpMb-k8

A sad dark metal song with cryptic lyrics that even the Turkish don't understand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEt23sGatxA

A raw and real video of traditional music with very little editing or production:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIMKJ43TFLs

[drndr]

Like those clips. Especially the old man playing by himself. There's so much good and interesting music out in the world that most will never get a chance to hear. We're beaten over the head with the same ol' crap. I dont even like the music anymore that I listened to in my formative years. I am lucky enough to have a pretty good college radio station near me that years ago woke me up to the great sounds that come from other parts of the world.

[Perry]

That makes at least 2 of us on here that like this music. I actually first heard Altin Gün on KCRW, a public radio station here in Southern California. And I also don't listen to the music that I used to listen to in my teens and early twenties.

Found some other good ones. I've had to listen to a lot of songs that I've been less thrilled about to find these ones that I think are really good.

Modern electronic music that sampled a song from the 70's:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4xDOb6DAFY

I like the original song better. There's more going on with the saz. The end before it fades out is really nice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe_dZlRV818

A lot of electric saz/bağlama with fuzz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rVQWc7GAig
The timbre is a little too buzzy in a few moments I think but still amazing overall.

Electronic rework of same song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6QCheQU2NY
It's hard not to laugh while listening to that.

Wah effect:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPHJYarhWQ8

Psychedelic rock with strings and brass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4N9rDSxE9o

A little too pop-ish for me, but still a fun song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYwJnpRCpRU

A beautiful folk song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aoRw_h_8es

[zippetydude]

Perry, thanks for the wonderful links. Dan, I totally agree with you. I would love to be camped next to the old guy and spend the day with him. For what it's worth, here's a link to a street performer recorded by a guy (Marten) who traveled around Europe recording the best people he found performing on the street:

https://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=9bP ... C_Helsinki)_Original

I'm trying to learn the song, so that's a "Listen on Repeat" link. If you look on you tube for "sounds like van spirit" you can find other wonderful songs. A couple of my favorites, Yellow Moon and Wings to Fly...but Marten has good taste, they are all high quality. LMK what you think, and post any other musical links you like so I can find new artists! What a cool thread!

z

[Perry]

Should we let this thread drift into the more general topic of world music?

Here's a band from Mali and Algeria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vACZA9dGvV4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1YIgwPsX5Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzlxctJ7-Ng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRqiqHZhKOM

Not a huge departure from Turkish rock, I know. I was trying to find Afro-pop that I liked because I remembered hearing some good stuff on KCRW in the past few years, but the search results were way too fake, so I typed in "African rock" and found this. The band has quite a history and is now facing racism and threats in their upcoming U.S. tour.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinariwen
https://www.npr.org/2019/07/23/74451869 ... f-u-s-tour

[drndr]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcPv2LZGvuU

Cheb I Sabbah is what turned me on to World Music and some of the north african beats and blues that come out of there. Probably listening to local college radio in the 90's because you certainly wouldn't hear this anywhere else. At least not where I was hanging out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7My5IpEzVM

I'll have to look through some old cd's and find the turkish musician i was listening to occasionally. I remember the cover had some Whirling Dervish theme on it. I feel like a mix of electronic and traditional

[zippetydude]

Hi Perry. Wow, that was way more bluesy than I had expected. I especially liked the first and last track. I did not anticipate him cutting in with that riff as the lead, which made it all the better. Interesting that the bass and lead guitar players were both left handed...that's gotta be unusual. Cool sound. Even without understanding the language they're worth including in a playlist. Fourth track was almost as good.

Hi Dan. That's a Dire Straits sort of sound! If he cuts the track time down to 3:59 or less and puts in vocals he'll be top 40. If he sticks with it like it is but puts in cool vocals he can follow a Pink Floyd sort of path. Either way, as they say...Well Played!

Here's a curious thought that could be construed as a form of plagiarism if it were not implemented correctly. I have often wondered why songs that are very popular in one culture don't deliberately replicate themselves internationally. Or, on the dishonest side, why someone has not taken songs that are really outstanding from say, Botswana or Eswatini or some other country that has little cultural contact with the US (thus minimizing the chance of being sued) and turn the tune into a hit here and make a bazillion dollars. The honest version seems like it would be a natural way to optimize a product, the second way seems like a clever if dishonest means to become a rock star. All you would have to do is find each culture's version of Stairway to Heaven and you would be heralded as a musical genius (until you were found out!). Despacito would be a good example of honest optimizing - it has over 4.6 BILLION plays just on Spotify and You tube.

I wonder why this isn't done more...

z

[drndr]

I was thinking what's Despacito?

Looked it up, That song has been redone by everyone. I think wiki said it finally knocked off Macarena in the U.S. for best song in Spanish

[Perry]

In case there wasn't enough Turkish music on this thread, here's a few more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VX8QPziehY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXu6_x61xFc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLtPCSoV-4

And here's a documentary about a man who makes the Iranian setar instrument. He is very passionate about his work and tells powerful stories from his life. The video also shows the process of building a setar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO96huKxrkk