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Monday, October 23, 2006
MESOPOTAMIA
The B-52s
Mesopotamia
Warner : 1982
[Buy It]
BRATISLAVA
Beirut
Gulag Orchestar
Ba Da Bing : 2006
[Buy It]
BAYM REBNS SUDE
The Klezmorim
First Recordings 1976-78
Arhoolie : 1993
[Buy It]
BUTUN KIZLAR TOPLANDIK
Nil Karaibrahimgil
Available on:
Beyond Istanbul
Trikont : 2006
[Buy It]
ISTANBUL COCUKLARI
Baba Zula
Duble Oryantal
Double Moon : 2005
[Preview and Buy]
I have a Turkish friend who, when he's not complaining about other things, complains that the only ideas Yanks have about Turkey are 1) that it's in the Middle East and 2) that there may or may not be camels there. (There are. See?*) But a country is so much more than its livestock, isn't it? Turkey has a Nobel Laureate, so apparently it has some sort of civilization. And with Pope Ratzinger having public flashbacks of the Crusades, it seems like a good time to do a little Turkish-conscious-raising among my fellow Americans.
Despite Europe's god-given victory at the Battle of Tours, most of the continental periphery has been tarred with the Islamic brush. The Ottomans, like the Byzantines before them, ruled most of Eastern Europe; they were also, if indirectly, responsible for the world domination of the brass band. The Ottoman Janissaries, elite troops recruited by a slave tax of nubile Christian youths, brought their own theme music with them to dazzle their enemies: military bands that marched ahead of the troops. The colonized Balkans translated this into their local idiom, the brass band, which eventually spread from Eastern Europe to New Orleans and points beyond. But that's a whole other post.
I guess, from a certain point of view, "Bratislava" isn't authentic; it's the work of this 19-year-old New Mexico wunderkind and a couple of his indie-rock pals. I don't care about that. I fell in love with Beirut over the summer and this song is Balkan brass beautifully done. And "Baym Rebns Sude" ("Dinner with the Rabbi") is brass done klezmer style, based on the Russian army versions of the Janissary bands. My daughter and I used to play this tune in the car on the way to school every day, at her request. Marching music is good for mornings, gets the day started right. She also likes the Nil Karaibrahimgil cut. If I spoke Turkish, I'd probably be too snotty to listen to the song; it seems, well, poppy. Linguistic barriers are sometimes freeing, no? Me, I'm really digging Baba Zula, or BaBa ZuLa, as they seem to call themselves. I guess a bunch of songs on Duble Oryantal (like "I Think I'm Pregnant") were banned from Turkish Radio and Television. Which makes me kind of wish I knew what they were talking about.** Go to Calabash and check out their stuff; highly recommended.
Listen, people: I know not everyone has my tolerance for wild baglama solos and minor mode melisma so I've tried to keep it lively today. Tomorrow I'll get a little folkier as we view Turkey through the eyes of various despised minorities.
*Careful readers will note that the camels Salon describes are actually imported from Iran. Camels are not native to Turkey, but are available to tourists seeking picturesque Oriental excursions.
**A reader from Istanbul writes: "The song [BaBa ZuLa's "Children of Istanbul"] is a celebration of Istanbul's ethnic and religious diversity. He names most of the groups living there, and calls the city a rainbow of peoples, condemning a history of violence against minorities."Labels: megan, world
posted by Megan
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