Mirror: Turkish Disco Folk

Arşivplak, meaning ‘Records from the Archives’ has come out with an 11-track instrumental compilation of popular Anatolian psych tracks, mainly from the 70s, that will be a welcome addition in any Anatolian rock dance-floor set. The tunes are disco-delightful re­imaginings of old Turkish chestnuts, put through the stylistic blender, with Moog organ effects, wah-wah guitar, funky bass lines and enough electro saz satisfy any Anatolian folk buff.

Attentive Turkish music devotees will recognise familiar songs like the old Ankara wedding-party favourite ‘Fidayda’, here solidified with beats, broken down and spaced out. And of course Bariş Manço’s indomitably groovy ‘Lambaya Püf De’ earns a place; it is a sultry track in which Manço seductively urges the lover to come on, and blow out the lamp, however here it is shorn of the vocal component. At times, like on ‘Bizim Şarkimiz’ (Our Song), it sounds as if the music had been lifted from a cheesy Turkish comedy rerun from the 70s. Ultimately this feels more like a potpourri of tried and tested Turkish folk-psych tunes – groovy enough, to be sure – but lacking in true rocking freshness.