Something to Listen to
As you may remember, Turkey's rock music scene exploded in the 90s, with
lots of singers and bands appearing in the professional music market
within the course of a few years. Some disappeared after their first
albums (Reflex, Beyaz Önlük, Egoist), some survived through an
interesting change of style (Tüzmen, Özlem Tekin, Ayna) and some of them
(such as Şebnem Ferah, Teoman, Kargo and Athena) became the basis of
current Turkish rock. I'm aware that it's hard to consider all of these
musicians as rockers if we focus on detailed genre constructions, but
they obviously all have a common denominator in rock music.
These days, a similar thing is happening. After Duman and Mor ve Ötesi,
Manga, Redd, Gece Yolcuları, Anıma, Seksendört, Badem, Dorian, Yüksek
Sadakat and many others have made their move from the pubs of İstiklal
Avenue or Sakarya Avenue to the studios of huge production companies.
(Time will tell whether any of them will produce an arabesk vocalist in
the way Ayna produced Erhan Güleryüz.)
One of these new bands, Yüksek Sadakat, attracts particular notice due
to its "experienced" sound. This difference arises from the fact that,
unlike many of those in the above list, the band doesn't consist of
youngsters or teenagers. For instance, the bassist, song-writer and
founder of the band, Kutlu Özmakinacı (the one with the weirdest
appearance in the music video of "Belki Üstümüzden Bir Kuş Geçer"), is a
former writer/editor for Hürriyet and Turkey's Blue Jean magazine.
Similarly, guitarist Serkan Özgen, as a former member of the bands
Egoist and Af, is also no newcomer to the music scene.
The title of this band's current album is also "Yüksek Sadakat," and
it's a direct translation of the music term hi-fi (high fidelity).
According to the website of the production company (www.dmc.com.tr),
the band was founded under the name "Filinta" (yes, it's a very bad name
for a rock band) in 1997, and later, they decided to use the name
"Yüksek Sadakat" to symbolize their fidelity to music.
In this article, I was planning to make detailed comments on the songs
on the album, but as so often happens, plans and realities clashed. So,
I'll try to be contented with giving you a summary:
The opening song, "İhtimaller Denizi," has a strong rock quality, with
its usage of electric guitars and drums. "Pervane" starts with a vocal
that has characteristics of Anatolian traditional music and continues
with a very nice melody. "Kafile" adds a sufist discourse to the album
through its lyrics.
"Döneceksin Diye Söz Ver" is a potential classic with its similarities
to Turkish classical music (just like Nev's song "Zor") and impressive
blending of piano and cello. Track five, "Denizaltı," is based on a
wonderful bass guitar melody and has a relaxed tempo.
The song that introduced the band to the public, "Belki Üstümüzden Bir
Kuş Geçer," is the sixth track on the album. It's a nice synthesis of
local tradition and international music. The clarinet solo performed by
Hüsnü Şenlendirici, in particular, takes the song to another dimension (he
did this before in an Athena song, "An"). The last four cuts, "Aklımın
İplerini Saldım," "Hüzün," "Yine de..." and "Ikarus" have relatively
weak melodies but the strength of the band's sound and the beauty of the
lyrics make up for this.
In short, if you're tired of listening to "we're-trying-to-understand-what-we're-up-to"
rock bands and open to something new, Yüksek Sadakat is a good
alternative these days. Good luck on your midterms.
İsmail O. Postalcıoğlu (POLS/III)
ismail_orhan@yahoo.com
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