İstanbul Sokakları

Hailed as ‘legendary’ this Istanbul-based four piece has been creating music best described as psychedelic for almost 30 years and it is no surprise to find them on Glitterbeat Records – a label well known for related artists such as Altın Gün. BaBa ZuLa fully embody a kind of global esoteric mystique, formerly performing with a live drawing artist and still dressing kaleidoscopically: picture a surfeit of multicoloured paisley and animal masks. Led by Murat Ertel on vocals and electric saz, the group create a hazy ether of drone and improvised melody, with hypnotic riffs and intoning vocals. Traditional Anatolian motifs, percussion and ululations sit alongside programmed beats, field recordings and soaking wet delay. Ertel is subverting the improvisational tradition of taksim somewhat by producing the normally acoustic drones with synthesizers – a technique which is certainly atmospheric but hardly ground-breaking and results in an album which struggles to break out of a jam band aesthetic.