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LP
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GB 137LP
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LP version. Wildly acclaimed Istanbul-based artist Gaye Su Akyol delivers an unforgettable fourth album, Anadolu Ejderi. Building upon her mélange of Turkish psychedelia, empowered commentary and retro-futurist sonics, her vision is more personal and uncompromising than ever before. Lauded for her startling, innovative mix of Turkish psychedelia and folk song, surf music and ʼ90s Western rock, a global sweet spot where Anatolian music heroine Selda Bağcan rubbed shoulders with Kurt Cobain, Akyol was ready to expand her vision after a relentless period on the road. Everything on Anadolu Ejderi -- the title translates as "Anatolian Dragon" -- breathes fire. It takes chances, the lyrics offer an exploration of politics in today's Turkey. The personal is very much part of that. While it can hark back to the beauty of Istanbul before the coups that changed the place, when the country shifted, Anadolu Ejderi is a record that's filled with possibilities and dives into the unexpected. It's there in the dancing joy of slipping a disco section into the title track or the stark beauty of the acoustic openings to "Yaram Derin Derin Kanar" and "Biz Ne Zaman Düşman Olduk," which arrive as shocks to the system. If you thought you knew what to expect in Gaye Su Akyol's music, things have changed. Akyol's lyrics lure, puzzle, and often take by surprise, as with the album's final track, "Içinde Uyanıyoruz Hakikatin" (We Are Waking Up In Reality). Musically it can seem like the closest to a straightforward Western song she's come, but, Akyol notes, "you also hear non-existent Turkish folk". Akyol is an astute observer of what's happened to her country. The tales history tells are important to her. That first upheaval of 1980 was followed by another in 1997, and her cries for what's lost stand in her words. The political allusions are often carefully oblique, but they're there. The instrumentation forges closer connections between Turkey's past and its present. The rock guitar, bass and drum trio are now accompanied by traditional instruments such as violin, oud, electro baglama, cümbüş, sazbüş. With Anadolu Ejderi, Akyol says, "I'm telling stories for the future." To do that takes courage. It takes bravery and daring. Listen, and you'll hear the roar of the Anatolian dragon as it roars. "Her voice is a mesmerizing thing, deep and plummy enough to shake trees and stir hearts." --Pitchfork
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CD
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GB 137CD
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Wildly acclaimed Istanbul-based artist Gaye Su Akyol delivers an unforgettable fourth album, Anadolu Ejderi. Building upon her mélange of Turkish psychedelia, empowered commentary and retro-futurist sonics, her vision is more personal and uncompromising than ever before. Lauded for her startling, innovative mix of Turkish psychedelia and folk song, surf music and ʼ90s Western rock, a global sweet spot where Anatolian music heroine Selda Bağcan rubbed shoulders with Kurt Cobain, Akyol was ready to expand her vision after a relentless period on the road. Everything on Anadolu Ejderi -- the title translates as "Anatolian Dragon" -- breathes fire. It takes chances, the lyrics offer an exploration of politics in today's Turkey. The personal is very much part of that. While it can hark back to the beauty of Istanbul before the coups that changed the place, when the country shifted, Anadolu Ejderi is a record that's filled with possibilities and dives into the unexpected. It's there in the dancing joy of slipping a disco section into the title track or the stark beauty of the acoustic openings to "Yaram Derin Derin Kanar" and "Biz Ne Zaman Düşman Olduk," which arrive as shocks to the system. If you thought you knew what to expect in Gaye Su Akyol's music, things have changed. Akyol's lyrics lure, puzzle, and often take by surprise, as with the album's final track, "Içinde Uyanıyoruz Hakikatin" (We Are Waking Up In Reality). Musically it can seem like the closest to a straightforward Western song she's come, but, Akyol notes, "you also hear non-existent Turkish folk". Akyol is an astute observer of what's happened to her country. The tales history tells are important to her. That first upheaval of 1980 was followed by another in 1997, and her cries for what's lost stand in her words. The political allusions are often carefully oblique, but they're there. The instrumentation forges closer connections between Turkey's past and its present. The rock guitar, bass and drum trio are now accompanied by traditional instruments such as violin, oud, electro baglama, cümbüş, sazbüş. With Anadolu Ejderi, Akyol says, "I'm telling stories for the future." To do that takes courage. It takes bravery and daring. Listen, and you'll hear the roar of the Anatolian dragon as it roars. "Her voice is a mesmerizing thing, deep and plummy enough to shake trees and stir hearts." --Pitchfork
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CD
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GB 062CD
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With the release of her first international album Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu (GB 040CD/LP, 2016), Gaye Su Akyol established herself as one of Turkey's most compelling young voices and most exhilarating sonic explorers. Her work as a singer-songwriter, producer, and audio/visual conceptualist simultaneously navigates the storied past, the hyperconnected present and the unscripted future. Growing up in cosmopolitan Istanbul listening to Anatolian music icon Selda Bağcan and Kurt Cobain in equal measure, Akyol skipped right over the tired Oriental/Occidental paradigmatic clichés. Following the widespread critical acclaim for Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu, Gaye and her sublime band spent 18 months traveling up and down Turkey, Europe, and the Middle and Far East, sharing with audiences a vibrant mix of raki-laced traditional balladry, futurist surf, and post-punk opposition. Istikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir, produced by her and guitarist Ali Güçlü Şimşek, is arguably more immediate and visceral than the first two, reflecting her and the band's growing reputation as a powerful live act. Istikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir, which translates as "Consistent Fantasy is Reality", is a deeply poetic album; an album of personalized politics, an album that digs into the heart our contentious, inexplicable contemporary experience. Gaye Su Akyol: "'Consistent Fantasy is Reality' is the third album in my discography . . . Like my second album, it is published by Dunganga Records (our own record company) in Turkey and by Glitterbeat worldwide. In terms of its philosophy, lyrics, music and motto, this album is the dream of pure freedom, of showing the courage to be yourself, of looking at the culture I was born into without alienation, a 'dreaming practice' propounded into a country and world that is increasingly turning inward and becoming a conservatized prison. Musically the album combines influences from the Anatolian pop/Anatolian rock genre that emerged in Turkey during the '60s and the '70s with Turkish classical music scales and vocal aesthetics, and various subgenres of rock (psychedelic, post-punk, surf), bringing together strong ballads, Turkish folk tunes, the conventional guitar-bassdrums trio with percussions, joined by violin, oud, cumbush, and -- as new additions that the previous albums did not have -- baglama (Turkish native instrument), electronic beats, and wind instruments like saxophone and trumpet, all together making up a very rich instrumental palette." LP version comes on 180 gram vinyl; Includes download code. Personnel: Gaye Su Akyol - vocals, percussions, electronics; Ali Güçlü Şimşek - electric and acoustic guitar, back vocal; Görkem Karabudak - bass and acoustic guitar, keyboard, electronics, back vocal; Ediz Hafızoğlu - drums; İlhan Erşahin - saxophone; Barlas Tan Özemek - classical guitar (şahmeran); Ahmet Ayzit - violin, oud, electro saz, cumbush; Ismail Darıcı - percussions; Oğuz Can Bilgin - trumpet.
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LP
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GB 062LP
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LP version. 180 gram vinyl; Includes download code. With the release of her first international album Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu (GB 040CD/LP, 2016), Gaye Su Akyol established herself as one of Turkey's most compelling young voices and most exhilarating sonic explorers. Her work as a singer-songwriter, producer, and audio/visual conceptualist simultaneously navigates the storied past, the hyperconnected present and the unscripted future. Growing up in cosmopolitan Istanbul listening to Anatolian music icon Selda Bağcan and Kurt Cobain in equal measure, Akyol skipped right over the tired Oriental/Occidental paradigmatic clichés. Following the widespread critical acclaim for Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu, Gaye and her sublime band spent 18 months traveling up and down Turkey, Europe, and the Middle and Far East, sharing with audiences a vibrant mix of raki-laced traditional balladry, futurist surf, and post-punk opposition. Istikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir, produced by her and guitarist Ali Güçlü Şimşek, is arguably more immediate and visceral than the first two, reflecting her and the band's growing reputation as a powerful live act. Istikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir, which translates as "Consistent Fantasy is Reality", is a deeply poetic album; an album of personalized politics, an album that digs into the heart our contentious, inexplicable contemporary experience. Gaye Su Akyol: "'Consistent Fantasy is Reality' is the third album in my discography . . . Like my second album, it is published by Dunganga Records (our own record company) in Turkey and by Glitterbeat worldwide. In terms of its philosophy, lyrics, music and motto, this album is the dream of pure freedom, of showing the courage to be yourself, of looking at the culture I was born into without alienation, a 'dreaming practice' propounded into a country and world that is increasingly turning inward and becoming a conservatized prison. Musically the album combines influences from the Anatolian pop/Anatolian rock genre that emerged in Turkey during the '60s and the '70s with Turkish classical music scales and vocal aesthetics, and various subgenres of rock (psychedelic, post-punk, surf), bringing together strong ballads, Turkish folk tunes, the conventional guitar-bassdrums trio with percussions, joined by violin, oud, cumbush, and -- as new additions that the previous albums did not have -- baglama (Turkish native instrument), electronic beats, and wind instruments like saxophone and trumpet, all together making up a very rich instrumental palette." LP version comes on 180 gram vinyl; Includes download code. Personnel: Gaye Su Akyol - vocals, percussions, electronics; Ali Güçlü Şimşek - electric and acoustic guitar, back vocal; Görkem Karabudak - bass and acoustic guitar, keyboard, electronics, back vocal; Ediz Hafızoğlu - drums; İlhan Erşahin - saxophone; Barlas Tan Özemek - classical guitar (şahmeran); Ahmet Ayzit - violin, oud, electro saz, cumbush; Ismail Darıcı - percussions; Oğuz Can Bilgin - trumpet.
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CD
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GB 040CD
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2016 release. Singer-songwriter Gaye Su Akyol's second album, Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu (Hologram Empire), twines sultry Turkish melodies around spiky, twanging guitars and insistent rhythms. "It's a cliché, but the city is a bridge that combines cultures, and that's very true in music, especially the Greek influence," Akyol explains. "When I was young, we visited Anatolia every year. I had the chance to observe and realise the different perspectives and practices of cultures. That made me feel closer to the diversity of Anatolian civilisation." But that, and the old music on Turkish Radio Television that she internalized, were only parts of the mix that helped shape her sound. She was constantly seeking out the new and the different, something to set off sparks in her emotions. "When I heard Nirvana's Nevermind for the first time, my mind blew up. I discovered other Seattle bands, then people like Nick Cave, Joy Division, Sonic Youth, and Einstürzende Neubauten. A bit later I heard Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit.' The dark, mellow mood of the music, the use of the instruments and the vocal technique of Grace Slick greatly inspired me and led me into psychedelia and then surf bands. What they all did seemed to fit with older Turkish singers I loved like Selda Bağcan and Müzeyyen Senar." The daughter of acclaimed Turkish painter Muzaffer Akyol, Akyol earned a degree in social anthropology and worked as an artist before creating music took over. She experimented, feeling her way towards her vision. And when she met the band Bubituzak, something clicked. They understood what she was doing; they became part of her art. Together they recorded her debut, Develerle Yaşıyorum, in 2013, following it with acclaimed, masked performances in Turkey and at festivals across Europe. "I love masks," Akyol laughs. "They bring mystery and fun, flexibility and a psychedelic aesthetic. Since Bubituzak are already a band, we want to use masks to cover their faces in a mysterious and symbolic way." That first disc seeded the ground. Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu bears the full fruit of the partnership. It digs deeper, fired with a seductive, shadowy passion. The sound is cinematic and gorgeous and Gaye's luminous voice brilliantly orchestrates shifting moods. Echoing the bittersweet tendrils of Turkey's faded past and dramatic present, her lyrics are bold and deeply personal. It is no surprise that she cites Turkish writers like Melih Cevdet Anday and Sabahattin Ali and the English poet William Blake as crucial artistic influences. Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu is heady, powerfully intoxicating and beautifully dangerous.
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LP
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GB 040LP
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LP version. 180-gram vinyl. Includes download code. 2016 release. Singer-songwriter Gaye Su Akyol's second album, Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu (Hologram Empire), twines sultry Turkish melodies around spiky, twanging guitars and insistent rhythms. "It's a cliché, but the city is a bridge that combines cultures, and that's very true in music, especially the Greek influence," Akyol explains. "When I was young, we visited Anatolia every year. I had the chance to observe and realise the different perspectives and practices of cultures. That made me feel closer to the diversity of Anatolian civilisation." But that, and the old music on Turkish Radio Television that she internalized, were only parts of the mix that helped shape her sound. She was constantly seeking out the new and the different, something to set off sparks in her emotions. "When I heard Nirvana's Nevermind for the first time, my mind blew up. I discovered other Seattle bands, then people like Nick Cave, Joy Division, Sonic Youth, and Einstürzende Neubauten. A bit later I heard Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit.' The dark, mellow mood of the music, the use of the instruments and the vocal technique of Grace Slick greatly inspired me and led me into psychedelia and then surf bands. What they all did seemed to fit with older Turkish singers I loved like Selda Bağcan and Müzeyyen Senar." The daughter of acclaimed Turkish painter Muzaffer Akyol, Akyol earned a degree in social anthropology and worked as an artist before creating music took over. She experimented, feeling her way towards her vision. And when she met the band Bubituzak, something clicked. They understood what she was doing; they became part of her art. Together they recorded her debut, Develerle Yaşıyorum, in 2013, following it with acclaimed, masked performances in Turkey and at festivals across Europe. "I love masks," Akyol laughs. "They bring mystery and fun, flexibility and a psychedelic aesthetic. Since Bubituzak are already a band, we want to use masks to cover their faces in a mysterious and symbolic way." That first disc seeded the ground. Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu bears the full fruit of the partnership. It digs deeper, fired with a seductive, shadowy passion. The sound is cinematic and gorgeous and Gaye's luminous voice brilliantly orchestrates shifting moods. Echoing the bittersweet tendrils of Turkey's faded past and dramatic present, her lyrics are bold and deeply personal. It is no surprise that she cites Turkish writers like Melih Cevdet Anday and Sabahattin Ali and the English poet William Blake as crucial artistic influences. Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu is heady, powerfully intoxicating and beautifully dangerous.
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