Altin Gün – Yol
ATO Records (US) / Glitterbeat Records (UK) – 26 February 2021
There is more than a bit of cross-cultural collaboration at play in the new release from Altın Gün, Yol. The ancestral homeland of lead vocalists Merve Daşdemir and Erdinç Ecevit is Anatolia, a region in Turkey, yet the band is based in the Netherlands. Thanks to the effects of the worldwide quarantine that has been in place for close to a year, the six band members have been recording remotely, swapping files over the internet, and dealing with this strange new world of musical collaboration. What has emerged filters Anatolian and Turkish folk music through a lens incorporating the vast scope of pop music of the past 40 years.
The result is everything you know about Altın Gün is wrong. There is nothing particularly traditional about their new music, which makes it a very large part of the tradition. People have been playing with the form for hundreds of years, changing instruments, discovering new sounds, basically taking the root elements and making them their own. So, while vibrant and electrified, it is also still folk music. Need I remind you of Bob Dylan and The Band back in the 60s?
Yol, the Turkish word for road, illustrates just how far this band has come. Entry into this new improved version of Altın Gün begins with “Bahçada Yeşil Çınar,” which, in 32 seconds, establishes both the tradition and new world at the same time. Following up with “Ordunun Dereleri” a heavy bass lets listeners know they are no longer in Kansas or even Amsterdam. Rather it sounds like music for a desolate dance floor, swaying to the voice of Erdinç Ecevit.
Rhythm and synths move to the fore as “Bulunur Mu” moves solidly to the dancefloor. Again and again, what rises to the top of the mix are elements from the Omnichord, 808, and drum machines. While the choices may seem surprising, considering the way the album was recorded it starts to incredible sonic sense. Seeking challenges these musicians looked for new approaches and found them. Instead of producing the record themselves, they called on the Ghent based production team of Asa Moto (otherwise known as Oliver Geerts and Gilles Noë).
Moving folk to the dancefloor is an interesting choice, yet when you can make “Hey Nari,” a traditional Ali Ekber Çiçek composition come alive thanks to the reworking it gets from Altın Gün it’s hard to complain. Even a song like “Arda Boylari” which is probably the closest they come to traditional folk has the sounds of woodpeckers deep in a mix that brings Merve Dasdemir’s gorgeous voice front and center.
The saying has it that traditions are made to be broken. If that’s the case, then Altın Gün has smashed them to bits. But what they have done is reassembled the bits, shaken them around and redeployed them within the framework of Yol. Folk music for the modern dance floor, what a concept!
Order Yol via: http://smarturl.it/AltinGun_Yol