30 Patterns
Here’s the video of a track which is actually called ” This One Is Just 30 Patterns But a Blue Rose Case Inside” that i made ages ago. The video is created by my friend Çınar Çulfaz for his final project of school. As you can tell from other posts as well, we don’t really do so much if the school don’t force us to do something. Blame the education system of Turkey!
Sensible Sucker - 30 Patters
Together is the new arrow (no pun)
Elections are over, no one is satisfied with the results which is a quite typical aftermath-reaction in Turkey. I won’t reach any outcome here, sorry, i have to articulate that I’m not the biggest fan of this system that never seems working properly. What i extremely hate is the chaotic arrangements of promotions they provide everywhere at least for 1 month before the elections. I really need someone to tell me that what kind of constitution let this things happen and how can they have those rights to rape a city’s life for weeks with the money coming from x-budget!?!. If someone chosen assign a rule against flag orgies and sonic disturbance in the streets (fat chance!), sure I’ll vote for him/her forever. All those hideous posters, flags and their friends are gone with the elections, Istanbul is still ugly, but less dirty.
I’m stuck with the recording sessions, endless compositions & arrangements and field recordings for a while, I’m huddling all the stuff together that i created for Sensible Sucker project since 2005. I’ll give more details when i come near the end of process.
Okay, it’s been pretty hectic when this occupation combined with school’s final project but I’m running off to States for a short time. I’ll, also, play there at a party in Brooklyn along with ex-Istanbul-er fellow Taylan and some other artists, you can check the details on flyer below.
I’ll play at Gizli Bahçe on 18 & 25th of April and share the stage with Dave Clark at Indigo on 24th of April when i come back to Istanbul. Hope to see you there!
I can’t find any headline
As I’m swamped in final projects that I have to finish for graduating from school, I’m pretty much interested to write for my blog again. So I’ll briefly inform you about the things that I was planning to mention when I goofed off all day before I was busy, also some new topics, as well.
Sublime Porte’s Havantepe released an ep called Winterschlaf as label’s third net release few months ago. Just like his previous works, this one delivers unique sounding deep and dubby dream-scapes in calmed techno territories. My favourite is Hybernate which is an ambient track driven by deep layered chords, also remixed by Dubatech in 4/4 beats. Both artists, also, participates on split 10″ that is released by Baum Records. Check “Baum Limited Picture Edition 002”, download “Winterschlaf” and visit Havantepe’s brand new official page.
Punkt Music which was one of the influential labels that led me into djing is defunct now. I found about the truth when I wondered and checked the label’s page to see if they had any new releases coming up. I’m not saddened in a way, actually. Well the reason is they kind of managed to create great catalogue without being trendy and cheesy. The range of style the label put was a bit wide but always in high-quality. I’m still playing their old records from time to time and I guess it’s time for revisiting again. I loved the text on label’s page now:
I found this great coloring comic on George Clinton’s page, there are 6 pages of funkadelic flash based comics that can be colored also printed!!!
This is the most creative thing I’ve ever seen on youtube. The music sucks a bit, but the idea (video/game) is absolute fantastic.
After I posted my first Sense Of Sensible mix, I came across (free) mixes fractured, transformed and restructured by Thavius Beck for celebrating Mush Records’ tenth year. You can get the link for download here.
Tonight, I’ll be playing some disco grooves at Gizli Bahçe and I’ll be spinning before Audiojack at Indigo tomorrow. Come down if you want to leave tedious and rainy Istanbul behind for some hours.
+ I’d like to share this page that I started to spend so much time in it again. It is called Audiotool and kind of flash based workstation which comprised of some emulation of old school tools such as TR-909, TR-808 and TB-303. Well, it is flash and controlling is a bit deficient sometimes but sounds almost as good as the plug-ins that does the same job and it’s definitely the best one I’ve ever tried on a web browser.
Why Hip Hop Sucks In ‘96
I couldn’t come upon with any better headline than “Why Hip Hop Sucks In ‘96″, ironically, the title (which is a nifty interlude from Dj Shadow’s 1996-album “Endtroducing…”) defines something which is completely insignificant if we compare today’s hip hop music with the 90’s good old records. To be honest, I was a big fan of rap and other forms of hip hop music back in 90’s: from old school to softened Mtv hits, there was always good spirit on the tracks. (Well, let’s say most of the time) I’m no hip hop expert for sure, but as far as I can see hip hop -as one of today’s biggest selling genres- has lost its charming presence on the mainstream level.
I guess I’ve stopped listening to popular hip hop music around the time when Jennifer Lopez started to collaborate with well known rappers at the beginning of the century, however, there is a fact that today’s situation is no healthier than that, actually it’s much worse. I can’t even stand hearing any of those musics when I encounter them on TV or radio by mistake. It’s obvious that patrons of the music business don’t want rappers to express difficulties of today’s world since majority of listeners won’t be willing to buy it. Rather, they’d like to hear how many bitches they screwed and watch how many expensive cars they show on the videos. Beside the lyrics, I don’t find most of the beats interesting, either. Maybe they sound fatter on car stereos but lost the funkiness in a way.
While mainstream hip hop remains as a pretty awful genre, there is a lot of creativity takes place on the underground. So many different styles of hip hop have emerged in the last decade and there are still many rappers representing the spirit of the times when hip hop was developed by the aim of giving messages. … Alright, I wasn’t planning to complain about mainstream or analyze the genre; as a matter of fact, the very reason I wanted to give some thoughts about hip hop was to build an introduction to a hip hop mix I made few years ago. But since the topic has come to this point, I’d like to recommend some underground hip hop albums that were released in the last few years, too.
Black Milk - Popular Demand [Fat Beats, 2007]
Cyne - Starship Utopia [Project Mooncircle, 2008]
Dabrye - Two/Three [Ghostly International, 2006]
Guilty Simpson - Ode To The Ghetto [Stones Throw, 2008]
Headset - Spacesettings [~scape, 2004]
MF Doom - MM..Food [Rhymesayers Entertainment, 2004]
Prince Po - The Slickness [Lex Records, 2004]
Quasimoto - The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas [Stones Throw, 2005]
Thavius Beck - Thru [Mush, 2006]
Wildchild - Jack Of All Trades [Fat Beats, 2007]
Tufan Demir - Sense Of Sensible Mix 01
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About the mix;
I decided to put some mixes that show different influences on the project Sensible Sucker, before I’ve launched this page, but typically I forgot to accomplish it. Anyway, I compiled this mix which consists of beats, breaks and hip hop in 2007 and it was broadcasted on my friend Kez YM’s Chill Size Radio around that time. You can also download it if you don’t like to listen to it from the application above.
Stars Of The Lid
Since i’ve started to open “2008″ case, i should put everything that I’d meant to write down last year but never got around to. An article about Marvel’s X-Factor will be up in next weeks, i just wanted to wait until the last adventure ends. But now, i am sharing a video which is said to be a teaser of Stars of the Lid feature film. To be honest, i can’t really figure what really is that movie, however, it looks pretty cool and thrilling.
I’ve also found a NYC subway ad campaign which features the band’s “A Meaningful Moment Through A Meaning(less)” from their beautiful album “And Their Refinement Of The Decline“, can be seen below;
Train Wreck Mix - Volume 3
Alright, before a new one of this series comes up, i should probably give this link for the last one i recorded on november. I, also, took a part on Red Bull Music Academy’s page in the news section last december; click Bosporus Boogie to read it.
here’s the playlist;
Linkwood - Fate - Firecracker
Andres - El Ritmo De Mi Gente! - Mahogani Music
Trusme - Drilling - Fat City
Black Jazz Consortium - Look To The Future - Soul People
KB Project - Feel It - Elevate
Jagged - Hello Kool Nice - Quintessentials
Motor City Drum Ensemble - Raw Cut 2 - MCDE
Myungho Choi - Lovin’ You Today - A Touch Of Class
Osborne - Ruling (Original Mix) - NRK
Consequential Theorists - What Do You Want - Plastic City
H.O.S.H - Under A Fig Tree - Diynamic
Sublime Porte - Charles Quint - Thirtyonetwenty
Then the morning claws
You can’t really expect a steady climate when you live in a city like Istanbul. You don’t rely on the season standards, so you never shelve your summer clothes to back of your wardrobe. It can sound pretty hideous for the people who affectionately have an obsession for cold monstrous snot dripping dark winter but I LOVE it. I really don’t give a darn if it doesn’t get cold here like some people do. In fact, I don’t think the feeling of waking up on the snowy pale winter morning can replace the pleasure of encountering the sun while you look blankly around in your warm room when you get off bed in the morning.
The sun I’m talking about the one we have these days in Istanbul, not the loathsome satanic one that comes out in August. So the new year has brung some great weather here, the number of days are not more than ten or eleven it’d been cold. I have no idea if it has anything to do with global warming, Cern or whatsoever; the thing troubling me is the time. Don’t you think that the earth is going round faster and faster every year or is it just a typical stage you start to realize when you draw close to age of 30? C’mon, it’s been only few days since the new year started, and we are already passed the first week of February? So, I’m right, the universe is moving faster, at least for the last decade.
(Note: This part was written almost 1 month ago, and it’s colder now)
This year, I just decided to not go back and rewind the year and put some better or best stuff to the lists, yet I’d like to thank you for some readers and friends who wanted me to make so. I just don’t have fun with that game any longer, and the worst thing is I don’t enjoy reading any reviews about music, movies and books anymore. I was thinking about any likely reason……and……..and…… it’s hard to say, not only the reason that I never thought that I should ever say it but, yeah, alright: I just started to hate internet. Not the internet itself, but the people who screwed every single page with their unsightly hateful, inattentive and disrespectful comments & reviews about anything they are allowed to write. It’s the same spirit which led me to decide not writing about the last year’s best records. Because almost every record which was released last year is there, placed on some list. So there is no need for me to repeat how great the Mogwai’s album was. (I know most of you hated it, though) Therefore, I’ve decided to write about the records (/ep’s) that I discovered in 2008, instead of the ones were released during last year.
Before dropping names to that list, I still want to draw some notes about 2008; contrary to some senseless top music critics, I liked lots of music in last year; either on records or on myspace. There are still lots of different music and inspiring artists out there and it’s quite easy to discover them (alright, I don’t hate internet that much) Needless to say that, dubstep was the most exciting musical movement for me last year; it just grows and splits into different directions with every release, I really enjoy it’s sub-style where chord based techno meets dubstep’s rhythmic formula. I think, the more it moves away from typical drum n bass form, it gets more interesting. There are some artists like 2562, Martyn, Benga, TRG or T++ produced amazing ep’s that already pushed dubstep’s boundaries in a short time after the genre was emerged.
It wasn’t a big surprise that house music hunted down the club scene after reaching its popularity again since people lost their interest in dreaded minimal tunes. I’m quite happy with this situation actually, but there is a fact that a lot of dull and soulless house music is around now. It, also, astonishes me how fast some club crowds change their taste in according with the trends. I know some clubs where you couldn’t play “slow” house tracks to lose crowd’s attention before (not the clubs in Turkey, you can never play slow house here, unless you wanna hear “hey dj, can you play something hard and heavy) however they like it now. Some of them have even put their minimal scarves out. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with minimal, in fact I play lots of minimal house…, well anyway, house (or some call it as modern-house?!?) is getting played in techno clubs now, that’s totally ermmsome!
OKAY, it’s time for some list.
Steel An’ Skin
Reggae Is Here Once Again [Em Records, 2008]
I’ve never been into Blur, Gorillaz or any band that Damon Albarn got involved in, but I appreciate him so much since I found out about “Honest Jon’s Records” some years ago because of him. The label released an ep of Steel An’ Skin last year, called “Afro Punk Reggae”, short after Honest Jon’s release, I discovered this album which is a collection of the band’s late 70 and early 80’s recordings. I’m so amazed by their songs and weird sound structures composed by steel drums. Dub based disco couldn’t be much sweeter than the song that has same name with the album. I searched but couldn’t find much about the band, except their appearance as the ex-members of 20th Century Steel Band, also they have been noted as Grand Master Flash’s favorite.
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Tony Takitani [Commmons, 2007]
Sakamoto is a composer who doesn’t need no introduction. I’m not sure how I missed this record while we were in 2007, but I think it’s one of his most touchy works. What do you hear in the album is slightly familiar solo pianoscapes of Sakamoto; deep, atmospheric, intense and a bit melancholic (and sometimes a little jazzy). Actually, it’s a soundtrack of the movie “Tony Takitani” that is adapted from a short story by Haruki Murakami. Since I haven’t seen the movie I can’t say much about it, but the soundtrack is quite dramatic and the music can obtain to affect the listener on its own.
Slaraffenland
Private Cinema [Hometapes, 2007]
Slaraffenland is a band made me to listen to indie rock again which I wasn’t quite familiar since I-don’t-know-which year. Interesting thing about the band is their approach to song structure, I guess. What do they call it now? Post-rock, experimental-rock, math-rock, not-rock or whatever… Slaraffenland is quite good at constructing well-known guitar-based music in unknown paths while keeping it engaging. The mood of the album doesn’t change often, but a lot of different aspects of instruments come and go in a row; sometimes music becomes a bit noisy with agitated guitar noises joined by crunchy drum patterns, and sometimes it gets mellow with quiet chords accompanied by north-ic windy notes.
Harold Budd
Avalon Sutra [Samadhisound, 2004]
Considering the artwork of it, arabesque-ish name and the rumors about being his final work, I always avoided listening to this album in the past somehow. But “Avalon Sutra” is such a pleasant album. I believe there are not many composers can create such deep absorbing ambient textures like he does. I’m glad that I didn’t listen to the album when he said “I don’t mind disappearing” after it was released. The reason is; it is enclosed by ravishing melodies and sad atmosphere which can bring you to the point that you find out that you are about to cry. It’s sure one of his most emotional work; driven by piano and sparingly goes along with varied instruments and bring backs nostalgia over and over through the album.
Porter Ricks
Biokinetics [Chain Reaction, 1996]
I’ve decided to complete my Chain Reaction/Basic Channel collection when I was visiting Hard Wax and seeing those old records on the wall, last year. And I encountered this cd at some point and didn’t know about it before. I’ve become highly addicted to it right after putting it to the player. In general, it sounds like typical Chain Reaction style cold dark Berlin dub, but the little details and hypnotized loops help the album progress in a very deep direction. It’s splendid to see an album that is around more than a decade and still sounds fresh.
The rest of the list is below, in no particular order, without reviews;
Flat Earth Society - Isms [Ipecac, 2004]
Pub - Summer [Vertical Form, 1999]
Boogymann - Walk So Lonely [Superhuit, 2003]
Dj Premier - Haze Presents New York Reality Check 101 [Paydayffrr, 1997]
Dusko Goykovich - Soul Connection [Enja Records, 1993]
Eberhard Weber - Chorus [ECM Records, 1985]
Gemini - In My Head [Classic, 1998]
King Sunny Ade & His African Beats - Juju Music [Phonogram, 1982]
Roger Eno - Lost In Translation [Gyroscope, 1995]
Fariborz Lachini - Golden Autumn 3 [Lachini Media, 2006]
Sensible Inside
I just noticed that I’ve never mentioned about my project called “Sensible Sucker”, even though it’s the address of this page. So, Sensible Sucker is a modern electronic music project which I started around 2002 when IDM was living on its heyday. Despite the fact that the music was constructed by broken glitchy beats; it is mostly influenced by modern classical and ambient music. I didn’t really make a point of this project since composing takes so much time. Anyway, after I was invited to play in Frankfurt for an event during the Book Fair, I’ve chosen some of my tracks and re-arranged them for a live performance. I’ve put the recording of the mini-concert which was performed at Basis-Kunstverein two weeks ago, so you can download or listen to it below.
Sensible Sucker - Live at Basis-Kunstverein / Con tempo
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I’m going to touch down Germany again; I have a Dj gig tomorrow at Gewölbe im Westbahnhof & Westpol in Cologne. Last time when I played there it was mostly a house set, but I guess it will be a bit faster this time. So stop round if you are in Cologne. In the bargain, Havantepe and Rubsilent will play back to back set at Gizli Bahçe and Batu will be playing at Indigo along with Cess.
+ Sublime Porte’s track “Selam” took a part on the Ibiza Afterhour 2008 compilation!
What’s New
… We are a team of creative individuals from Istanbul Turkey. We intend to infuse our eastern influences with the western oriented genre we produce. Considering that different experiences cause different inspirations, the music that we produce is unique in the way that it incorporates the various elements of our diverse culture and the impressions of modern practices…
Yes, Turkey’s finest label Sublime Porte finally has launched its page. It’s running and already has two mp3 releases from Cold Form and Iksenit. You can also find a downloadable podcast from Rubsilent at Sublime Porte’s blog. Havantepe - one of the label’s founder - made a remix for Christoph Schindling’s Vacation; it was released few weeks ago on Cism. Also, his track Grey Days took a part on a cd that compiled by Ryan Pryor for Detroit’s Pronounce label.
As the new season began, the existence of life forms has emerged in the city again. The energy which was absorbed by the sun has finally started to emanate into the night life. Now, there are lots of events, festivals and exhibitions going on in Istanbul. Many of the clubs has been opened and we had a new season welcome party in Indigo last Saturday; me and my mate Batu played back to back set which was much more harmonious than I thought before the night. The club has it’s the most proper sound system to date now and it was really bangin’ last weekend. Tomorrow it’s time for Gizli Bahçe, again; I’ll be on sometime around 11 pm, and Saturday there is a Konrad Black gig at Indigo; me playing before and after. Well, it’s really bad that I’ll miss Theo Parrish’s gig, too.
I’ve listen to so many new music lately, and I want to share my thoughts about some of them. I am really enamored with the new Mogwai album which is called “The Hawk is Howling”. It has a ludicrous artwork, but I really think that it’s one of their best records so far. I never liked the previous one, just because of that I had no expectations for this one, too; especially after seeing the artwork. At the outset I didn’t get into the whole album, but apart from their conceptual records, this one has individually exceptional tracks.
I read a lot of negative reviews of the album, but I can say that this is my favorite Mogwai album after Come On Die Young and Young Team without hesitation. I don’t really care if they don’t deal with other forms of so called post-rock or basically rock music. But they are doing a scrumptious work at what they’re doing best and not messing up their music with unnecessary experiments. Also they have never been a revolutionary band in that sense, so why expect a neo-futuristic-robobama-retro-hallelujah music from them?
I have stumbled across the project called Need More Sources while I was checking Moteer’s catalogue. The album is called Shed and was released last year. I wish I know the album before because it’s simply a stunning work, especially if you like post-rock-ish chamber/contemporary music. So, I think I found my winter listening for the following months.
Steve Jansen who released brilliant Slope album last year, got a FLAC release called Swimming In Qualia (Ascent) from Samadhisound. Ascent is a 25 minutes long quiet ambient journey; phrases of the track are meticulously written and leisurely changes during the work. It’s highly recommended for the listeners of dronish-cloudily ambient music. I, also, saw that there is a remix ep of Slope has been released but haven’t checked it yet.
I’m really thrilled that there is a new Bohren & Der Club Of Gore album is coming up, it’s called Dolores and will be released by Pias next week. Can’t wait to hear it.
+ Mille Plateaux is acquired by Total Recall and will be an active label, soon.
+ + My friend Işıl has launched her blog. Fashion Boost!
Summer Report
It’s that time of the year again; you can go outside and actually walk around without the fear of the frying sun. The greatest thing about late-September in Istanbul is to remember the feeling of being able to respire easily. Anyway, it’s -partly- gone and I guess it was the longest summer I’ve ever seen so far. It rained almost for a week now and I was so happy like never seen the rain before.
During the /hot-humid-sweaty/ summer I did so many things but didn’t really (want to) use my keyboard to write since my head was all over the place. So, this page had been neglected for a while. However, I‘d like to thank the people who reminded me about this, it’s good to know that this page is being read.
Now, I have a lot of things to tell, but have no idea about where to start. Maybe I should mention about first Sensible Sucker live performance which is going to happen two weeks later in Frankfurt Book Fair. As strange as it sounds but I am invited to play in an event there as a part of “Guest Of Honour: Turkey” section. I’ll give details when everything’s being set.
I have listen to so many new music, watched a lot of movies and read dozens of comics this summer but nothing had an impact on me as the new Batman movie did. I really don’t want to make comments about the movie here, because so many people already drew great conclusions on it. But, in fact; I wasn’t really expecting that the movie would become a global phenomenon. Thousands of merchandises and marketing tools exist out there which is really a big commercial madness. And also the internet is full of BATMAN now; this fancy hi-tech site lets you choose whether you’re Batman or Joker while you enjoy the page. There is that amazing The Dark Knight Boutique at amazon.com includes costumes, headknockers, figures and even a Joker Statue which costs $199.99! I was struggling with myself for not writing this but if you are trendy enough, you can even Jokerize yourself with your IPhone!
Many people say that The Dark Knight is the best Batman movie -for now-, but I’m not really sure that there is any need to compare the pictures. Of course I’m not talking about these hideous 3rd and 4th ones but I think that the movies of Burton’s and Nolan’s are in entirely different genres. But the one thing I’m sure about is the greatness of score. (by Hans Zimmer And James Newton Howard) It was perhaps the most impeccable film music I’ve ever seen on the screen !?! The movie is about to become the most successful one in box office lists and many says it will take Titanic’s place, soon. I don’t mind, really, I have no problem with Titanic, never had nerves to watch it throughout but I believe that many people are having their mid-20’s traumas because of the psychological damage of Celine Dion’s themed song, so I’ll be glad when I see Titanic’s sinking. Alright, I have enough Batman on this post, so you may go on reading this or that, too.
Ok, what else? I visited Sónar festival this summer and missed a lot of performances there because of being erratic with friends all the time. But, in fact, my essential aim was to watch Theo Parrish on the decks and somehow I managed to do that. I settled on the area hours ago and saw many other artists before him and all of them were quite unique actually.
However, Mala’s performance (from Digital Mystikz) was the most energetic and magnificent one I’ve witnessed in a long time. Back to Theo Parrish’s mix; it was the set what I expected from him: soul to jazz, house to techno he rocked the Sónar while the sun was coming up. You can listen to his Sónar session - RBMA Showcase Part 1 here. By the way, he’ll be playing for the first time in Istanbul this Saturday - at the venue called The Hall –, and there is a delightful one question interview with him at moodmat.
Before writing another post it’s better to mention my latest Train Wreck mix on RBMA, because it’s been more than 6 months since I recorded it. Here’s the link, here’s the playlist;
Nick Holder - Time (Manuel Tur Dub) – NRK
Kawabata - Persuasion - Drumpoet Community
Kimouts - Down To Earth (MyMy M.W. Remix 1) - Buzzin Fly
Square One - Twilight – Freerange
Internal Sync - Dif Dif (Stefan Tretau Remix) – Fortek
Alix Alvarez - Ugly – Innervisions
Oleg Poliakov - Dance - Circus Company
Joris Voorn - No Revolution (Technasia Remix 1) – Green
Alland Byallo - Run To Me (Original Mix) - Dialtone
Langenberg - New Try - Resopal Red
Havantepe - Air - Styrax Leaves
In the meantime
You know when it comes to being punctual I’m one of the worst person on the earth. I don’t do my school assignments until last day, never study for exams at proper times… Lazy? Hmm I doubt!. I usually set up my vinyl case in last 30 minutes before a gig, even though I prepare its order in my mind during the day. I guess it is just my dissonance with time conception, yes!?
Well anyway, just a quick reminder; tonight I’ll be playing before and after Junkie XL’s live show at Indigo, it’s the last Indigo night of the year and the season ends. It’s really great that these clubs make a pause for a season. We know how sticky weather it gets here in summer, so who really wants to go to clubs in Istanbul summer nights! Beside the fact that the weather is pretty unstable in last few days, we’ll be celebrating start of the summer tomorrow at Gizli Bahçe, with a live show from Richard Davis, and me djing later.
We are living in a time that Brad Pitt is making comments about Jay Haze’s album at Word and Sound: “I was never into this kind of music before, but after hearing this album in the club, it made we want to become a DJ.” In fact, I still don’t believe that it’s real; I wonder in which club he heard the full album of Jay Haze.
Now, quick news; I was doing a research about netlabels for a class, then I found that the precious 1bit-wonder which is/was one my favorite is about the quit, actually it has already been closed.
“Too many other projects have been consuming our time lately, so instead of doing things half-heartedly we decided to quit when it’s best. Thanks for three wonderful years full of love and great music! Our site will remain active for a while and may still serve you as an archive.” …Official page says.
Now we have another deceased one, after Textone. Actually, I never understand how quick they have closed Textone, I don’t even remember any explanation about it. I googled it and found nothing but a tribute dj set from Deepindub.org, also I ran across another dj mix which includes a track of mine in the same page.
Roam The Hello Clouds, a band which has released one of the greatest albums of the last year from ~scape, has a downloadable (also streamable) live studio session that has been recorded for ABC Australia’s Sound Quality. Also, there is a dubstep compilation has been released from ~scape this month which is called Round Black Ghosts. I can say that the tracks are a bit minimal for today’s general dubstep sound; but the album is doing a great job on displaying a different side of dubstep. It seems that Pole is creating a new genre again. Did I say that I appreciate all of his works so much? He is on the latest Slices magazine’s tech-talk part; a great interview and gleaming gear you see during the video, ah. Anyway, I just remembered that I wrote an article about ~scape for Basatap magazine two years ago. (Only in Turkish)
+ Muhsinah is on xlr8r !!!
In a Nutshell
After some really hot fake summer days, the sun has decamped from Istanbul. Even though it shows up every so often, the city is unseasonably cold. Notwithstanding the gloomy weather, rhythm of the city is in perfect fettle. A few weeks ago, Carl Craig was the guest of RBMA’s info session party; the night was quite delightful, he played some exceptionally unique tracks which I’d never heard before.
The day after, Emma Warren made a live interview with him on the couch after the info session; I also quite enjoyed it, his knowledge always impresses me. Every time I watch or read commentaries from him, I realize why he is such a great artist. He also features in The Wire magazine this month in the ‘Invisible Jukebox’ section, getting questioned by Philip Sherburne: They have published the whole uncut interview on their web page; you can read it by clicking here.
Anyway, I’m also glad that I hanged around and chatted with Emma Warren in Istanbul, she has compiled a double album called ‘Steppas’ Delight’ which consists of fresh dubstep tracks. The compilation will be released on the scrumptious Soul Jazz Records on May 19th. Talking about dubstep gatherings, Mary Anne Hobbs has also compiled a new album called ‘Evangeline’ for Planet Mu. Beside dubstep artists, this one has some techno producers like Surgeon and Claro Intelecto; also noise-maker Ben Frost! The compilation is released on June 16.
Dave Huismans (better known for his A Made Up Sound moniker by Philpot followers) has released his 3rd Ep ‘Techno Dread / Enforcers’ (Tectonic) under his 2562 alias. He was combining classic Detroit-ish techy sound with some dubstep mechanism before, too; but this time the result is overwhelming. Even though the chord structures sound a bit familiar, rhythmic constructions which are punctuated by dubstep drum layers make the tracks sound fascinating. After Benga and Geiom’s last albums, this Ep is the most influential dubstep work for me so far. If you find my words hyperbolic, you should hear it yourself. I recommend this especially for Basic Channel/Chain Reaction fans.
I guess, I’m a little late for announcing this, but we are having a “Sublime Porte” party at Gizli Bahçe tonight. Our main artist for the night is Marko Fürstenberg from legendary Thinner Electronic Music Collective. He is going to play live with his computer, Havantepe (İsmail Genç) and I also are going to play dj sets. No entrance fee!, everyone is invited. In addition to this, the first Sublime Porte 12” which is called “Charles Quint” has been released two weeks ago on Thirtyonetwenty label. Spread the word!!!
Freshness
It’s been a while since my last post again, but this time my laziness was not the issue. Lately I’ve been really busy with school, work and projects. Now that I found some free time, I can share some newness and inessential topics with you.
Since I bought Twin Peaks Gold Edition Dvd set which was inevitable for me to do, I’ve started to watch Twin Peaks series again. It is really splendid to enter into the crazy atmosphere, however I have fiddling complaints about the box. First of all, I bought it from amazon.de (because it was the only place that I could find selling the suitable region version) and it came without exclusive Twin Peaks cards, I thought I was the unlucky one but after some search on forums, I have found out that those cards were made for US versions (I’m still not sure if it’s true though) Secondly, I didn’t like the design of the box, it seemed a little bit simplistic to me; there is no information card or any booklet about the series. The Dvd set of first season was quite different; the colours, inner design and info was perfect. Anyway, watching it for the fourth time isn’t so exciting like watching it for first time, but I can catch some of the little details which I never noticed before. Image quality is great, but no re-mastering on The Log Lady intros! Talking about Twin Peaks… I have decided to put one of my works which contains of Agent Cooper’s dialogs with Diane; I made it last semester for my computer music class. I hope you enjoy it.
Never Drink Coffee That Has Been Anywhere Near A Fish
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I have another complaint, and it is about the new Funny Games movie. I always confide in Michael Haneke. Last year, when I heard that he was going to re-make the movie and it was going to be a shot-for-shot retelling, I was kind of disappointed and didn’t understand the point. Later on I found out that he always thought that it has a story which can be more interesting for the American audience. [interview (1) (2)] Sorry but I don’t really see the point of this consideration. Well, maybe the story can remind of a classic American stalker or teen-slasher movie but the way of directing, made the movie unique. It’s for sure that this version will be more bloody and dreadful with its swollen budget but this time instead of going to a theather or buying the dvd, I’m gonna download it from a torrent page if I can find it. Because, I guess I’m not in audience he addresses. He probably thought that a tortured and ruined Naomi Watts will scare the shit out of Americans rather than a German speaking woman. Anyway we’ll be able to criticize it when it’s released. I hope that he didn’t change the John Zorn’s opening track with an American college scream-metal band.
Upcoming Gigs
Tonight I’ll be hosting Wighnomy Brothers at Indigo, I hope it will be a great night, because it’s been a while since their last appearance in here (like 2 years ago). The poster is above and I think it’s ridiculous, I’ve never seen such an intricate/university party style poster before, if I compare with other Indigo poster. There will be a Red Bull Music Academy workshop with Carl Craig at 23rd of April at Garajistanbul and the day before he is going to play at the same place. Me and Ali (sometimes known as Nick Jett) will do the warm-up set for the night. It will be the Tuesday night but the next day is national holiday, so we can stay up all night with legendary Carl Craig. All my dates for this month are below.
05 - Indigo - hosting/Wighnomy Brothers
11 - Gizli Bahçe
12 - Smood - Ankara (RBMA After Session Party)
18 - Indigo - hosting/Mattafix
19 - Gizli Bahçe
22 - Garajistanbul - (b2b set with Nick Jett) hosting Carl Craig
26 - Gizli Bahçe
Before I finish my post, I need to mention about Muhsinah’s scrumptious album Day Break, it has finally been released in Europe, too. You can preview snippets of album here or here and may buy it from that sources.
ps. this is hillarous
Various Assets
Red Bull Music Academy releases a compilation titled “Various Assets” every year. The album includes the tracks done by the participants of that year’s academy. I’m glad that I had a chance to be included on this year’s album with two tracks. The first one “Gone Away” was a collaboration between me and Mauro Staci (MAT64) at first place; we were jamming in the studio for fun, playing with a Rhodes simulation and the Fender jazz bass. At the end of the night we ended up with an almost-complete track. The next day, I asked Muhsinah to sing over it; a few hours later she came back with the recording. She put the track to another level with her wonderful voice: “Gone Away” wouldn’t be complete without her magical touch.
The second track is another collaboration that I worked on with Victor Vélez. The name of the track is “Send More Cops” and this title is referring the movie called “The Return of the Living Dead“(1985). It was a phrase the zombies used over the transceiver to ask for more cops in order to eat their brains. Contrary to this gore incident, the track is a simple tech-house tune in a chilled mood… Meanwhile back to the story, we had a great student attendant during the academy, “My Man Henri”, and he was using a transceiver to manage shuttles and stuff all the time. One night Vélez took the transceiver off of Henri and started to say this phrase to whoever was on the other side of radio…Send more copssss!!! So this was the short story behind the title, I know it doesn’t sound funny to you now, but it was. Anyway, I have to add this note, too; this track is dedicated to the after-parties at the Gladstone Hotel.
Various Assets has two cd’s, 16 tracks each; there are lots of nice collaborations from the other participants of the academy, too. The exciting thing is that you can also see some well-known professional names on those collaborations like Theo Parrish, Marco Passarani, Om’Mas Keith, Todd Osborne, Benga, Dj Zinc, Jake One and Tony Allen!!! Red Bull is going to start giving the cd away soon, (for free) and I have put “Gone Away” and “Send More Cops” in the listening room section.
No Particular Order
I feel a little guilty when I realize that I don’t really take care of my blog. As a matter of fact I knew that this job needed some kind of responsibility when I decided to open it, but it is my nature; I can be lazy sometimes, actually, most of the time.
Anyway, I have lots of things to write, now. I can briefly touch on what’s happening lately. My friend Ismail Genc (better-known as Havantepe – who is, also, one of the founders of Sublime Porte) took a part on the Ep called “4th Bouquet” along with Lawrence, Leftover and Quantec, which was released from Styrax Leaves label. I’m really glad that I keep seeing the Ep swirling the top of several charts.
Baris K has featured on RBMA Radio with a new mix called “Turkish Cosmic Space – Eurasia Mix” which consists of some momentous Turkish psychedelic folk/pop/rock songs from bygone days. His choice of tracks is really good; some of these tunes have just been buried deep down in Turkish music history. After I listened the mix I just remembered that I was going to introduce an album when I first opened this page and that was a compilation called “Bosporus Bridges - A Wide Selection Of Turkish Jazz And Funk 1969-1978”. In this album there are unique examples of Turkish jazz, bossa, psych, fusion & funk tracks which had appeared before the coup(s). It was released from Twimo Records two years ago and its selection from that forgotten scene includes re-mastered tracks by Emin Findikoğlu, Mustafa Özkent ve Orkestrasi, Erkut Tackin, Fikret Kizilok, Erkin Koray, Aksu Orkestrasi, Ferdi Özbeğen, Erol Pekcan, Okay Temiz and Durul Gence.
At that time when I discovered this compilation, I also found another one which has a similar concept with ridiculous artwork, “Love, Peace & Poetry - Turkish Psychedelic Music.” Even though it belongs to same era, it has wide range of styles and names. (Edip Akbayram, Alpay, Erol Buyukburc, Bülent Ortaçgil…) Well, after talking about some old Turkish tunes I wanna mention Stones Throw Records’ OH NO and his latest album “Dr. No’s Oxperiment.” You can encounter a lot of samples from the names I counted up there while you listen to the album; there are lots of nice cuts and tricks throughout the Oxperiment. You can find an interview in which he speaks about the samples and the album by clicking here.
I’ve delved deep into the Rmba Radio archive and found a mix of Ali’s that he recorded while he was in Melbourne. This cloudy dark-ish dub space has some of my favorite Chain Reaction tracks. Actually, what you’ll find in this mix is just a trip to Basic Channel/Chain Reaction galaxy. Last but not least, my new mix has been published as a part of the Train Wreck Mix series on Rbma radio, too. The sound of it is not too far from the last one but warmer and more in tech-house border. Here is the playlist;