MLDVA & Çınar Timur

In recent years, there’s been a surfeit of European groups dedicated to recreating the sound of 1970s Anatolian pop and rock. Bands like Altın Gün (from the Netherlands), Ipek Yolu (Denmark) and the pan-European Grup Şimşek have all included or collaborated with musicians of Turkish heritage to add extra authenticity. Now add to that list the Polish outfit MLDVA, which draws upon the talents of Turkish multi-instrumentalist Çınar Timur. Playing electric guitars – both regular and microtonal – Timur injects bite into the six concise tracks on this debut album, whether imitating the brittle clip of the saz or shredding prog licks on a thumping take of the traditional tune ‘Kozan Dağı’. But it’s Wojciech Długosz’ electric piano that steals the show, lending the album a much jazzier feel than we’ve heard from other devotees of retro-Anatolian sounds. The instrumental ‘Bir Adım Öte’ is a gorgeously dreamy psychedelic jam with Długosz’ keys echoing both Bob James’ ‘Angela’ and Ray Manzarek’s atmospheric turn on ‘Riders on the Storm’. Turkish vocalist Ulaş Çıbuk nails the gloomy dramatics of Barış Manço’s ‘Sarı Çizmeli Mehmet Ağa’, while a jaunty version of the evergreen ‘Fesupanallah’ – made popular by Erkin Koray – is the album’s most traditionally folk-inflected moment.