Aylar

In the last few years, a plethora of young bands have arisen with a mission to valorise and recreate the sound of Turkish psychedelic music from the 1970s. With such an unabashedly retro endeavour, the challenge is not to descend into pure pastiche. On the follow-up to their self-titled 2022 debut, Şatellites deftly sidestep that pitfall, presenting a sound both reverent of the past and sweatily alive. Every familiar facet of Anatolian freak-out music is present: gnarled, microtonal bağlama; whooshing sci-fi synths; tight bass and funk drum breaks; sultry female vocals à la Selda Bağcan; mind-boggling rhythmic time signatures; fuzzed-up interpretations of ancient folk tunes; even some swishy, Bariş Manço-style disco. It’s all carried off with convincing swagger, brooding energy and some serious musicianship. Suitably named original instrumental ‘Hot Jazz’ even proposes a neat Turkish Frank Zappa / David Axelrod mash-up.