Baba Zula - Hayvan Gibi '2020

Tracks list

Recorded direct-to-disc on Thursday 22nd & Friday 23rd August 2019 at Artone
Studio and in collaboration with Gulbaba Records.

BaBa ZuLa describe their sound as ‘Psychedelic Istanbul Rock ’n
Roll’ – a heady mixture that laces the classic Anadolu psych sound
with modern electronics, dubwise studio smarts, and fiery left-field sonic
radicalism. Founded in 1996 after the break up of experimental band ZeN, BaBa
ZuLa began by scoring for film, before developing a style that pushed the
classic Turkish psych sound of the 1970s forward into the 21 st century.

The band are led by electric saz player Osman Murat Ertel, who grew up in the
creative musical milieu of 1960s Istanbul. It was an era of innovation, when a
new wave of musicians such as Erkin Koray and Barış Manço, and groups
like Moğollar and Bunalım, were fusing the ancient folklore sounds of
rural Anatolia with international psychedelic rock and pop to create the
renowned musical fusion now known as Anadolu psych. Among the most important
innovations of the era was the electrification of the saz, a seven-string
bouzouki-like instrument also known as a baglama that dates back to 1000BC, and
which is the most important instrument in Turkish folklore. As the microtonal
sound of the saz was cranked up through electrification, the ancient folk music
of the saz-playing ashiqs – travelling troubadours, able to speak truth
to power from beyond the fringe of mainstream society – was made newly
relevant for a modern generation. With the searing fuzz of Ertel’s
virtuoso saz playing at the front and centre of the BaBa ZuLa sound, this
radically innovative tradition is the backbone of the group’s music.

But the BaBa ZuLa musical vision has always been exploratory. ‘BaBa ZuLa
is a special group,’ explains Ertel today. ‘We are following
traditional Turkish psychedelic folk, and mixing in stuff from all over the
world, but we are not doing it the way people did that in the 1960s. We have
other approaches.’ Most notably, Ertel’s love of reggae led to
production collaborations with celebrated reggae artists including dub master
Mad Professor and legendary rhythm team Sly and Robbie. Searching for input from
motorik rock and electronics, they have worked with drummer Jaki Liebezeit of
krautrock supremos Can and bassist Alexander Hacke of industrial
experimentalists Einstürzende Neubauten, and with their penchant for
improvisation they have worked with French improvising guitarist Titi Robin and
Norwegian jazz legend Bugge Wesseltoft. With their feet planted firmly in the
Anadolu psych of their Istanbul base, the band have drawn threads from across
the musical spectrum and woven them into a uniquely outernational expression of
psychedelic rock.

Dubwise studio flair is usually a big part of a BaBa ZuLa recording, but the
full force of their music is best experienced live, where the magic of the
boards is replaced by the sorcery of extended, trance-like jams lit up by
scorching improvisation and super heavy riffs. It is in a live setting where the
truly psychedelic aspects of their music become apparent. ‘I always like
live playing,’ says Ertel. ‘I like improvisation, I think the real
music is improvisation, and it is very precious.’

In keeping with Night Dreamer’s one-take, live-to-disc ethos, for this
session BaBa ZuLa rocked it live in the studio, bringing the fiery energy of a
gig performance to a raw studio session so expansive it required a 2LP to do it
justice. ‘It was a musicians dream,’ says Ertel of the session.
‘Cutting direct to disc and doing a whole album live from start to finish,
this was a challenge for us!’ he explains. ‘This way you cannot
hide anything – you have to play the whole side of the record, in the
best way, with all your flaws! he says. ‘With this record you can get as
close as you can to a live BaBa ZuLa experience’.

BaBa Zula co-founder and percussionist Levent Akman agrees: ‘Being a
member of the BaBa ZuLa group always means being ready for live recordings and
concerts,’ he says. ‘The people who listened to our albums and came
to our concerts sometimes told us that they couldn’t find the energy of
the concerts in the albums. Every time we heard this comment it made us a bit
sad. But I think that we have succeeded finally with these recordings. All the
songs we recorded had an extreme positive aura to them.’

Murat Ertel also considers this session significant for another reason –
it captures the band together just before the coronavirus pandemic separated
them. ‘This record’s timing is also very important, because at the
moment bands cannot perform,’ he says. ‘This makes the recording
even more precious, because it was before the pandemic, and it shows the power
of people playing together. The interplay between us, and the telepathy we have
after more than twenty-five years together, really creates a group
feeling.’

The result is an extraordinary recording that documents one of the
world’s heaviest bands at a decisive moment in their twenty-five year
history, putting everything into a live session that captures their visionary
expression of classic Anadolu psychedelia at its most naturally incandescent. 

Tracklisting:
01. Baba Zula - Kücük Kurbaga (Froggie) (15:04)
02. Baba Zula - Sipa Dub (The Foal Dub) (15:13)
03. Baba Zula - Kelebekler Kuslar (Butterflies and Birds) (9:05)
04. Baba Zula - 4 Nal (4 Horse Shoes) (4:28)
05. Baba Zula - Tavus Havasi (Peacock Mood) (3:54)
06. Baba Zula - Çöl Aslanlari (Desert Lions) (7:52)

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