Do Not Obey

It's 20 years since Murat Ertel and Levent Akman founded the Istanbul-based psychedelic band Baba Zula. Firmly ensconced in that city's liberal tradition, they mark their anniversary with an eight-track album that is as defiantly renegade as ever.

Their music brings together a Western-facing Turkish rock sound and folk music and instruments more deeply rooted in Anatolian history. Ertel himself embodies this synergy with his electric saz (the lute central to the Turkish folk tradition). He is joined by Akman on spoons, percussion and other gadgets, bassist Can Aydemir and darbuka drummer Özgür Çakırlar. The singer Melike Şahin brings another dimension to their sound. In true psychedelic tradition, the lyrics are often surreal and playful, with songs about flies and frogs, and the Middle Eastern melodies can sometimes descend into extended 1970s rock meanderings.

Baba Zula's music is ultimately real ‘scene music’ made in a country with some striking divisions. It is self-consciously alternative and avant-garde in a concerted attempt to differentiate its producers from a wider conservative society. This latest outing stays true to such traditions.