Baba Zula - ‘XX’

 

UK media quotes

 

"World fusion does not come more eclectic than this … Baba Zula combine harder edged psycho-rock with Jamaican dub … The underlying rationale is one of a greater openness towards the world and, in planet full of narrow-minded tribalism, that is an approach to life that one can fully endorse and subscribe to … This pioneering music should be supported.” UK Vibe

 

"Baba Zula are a one-off, their “Istanbul psychedelia” offering an often madcap brew of Anatolian folk, krautrock and reggae ... XX is by turns playful and earnest. Their biggest hit, Biz Size Aşık Olduk, is a sweet melody with rattling spoons, while Eternal Is the Word of Poets is a pulsing broadside against the political establishment, led by electric saz. Bosphorus rock’n’roll.” ** The Observer

 

“Two decades of joyously decadent Turkish dub fun … Baba Zula show their love of Turkish music, from folk to wedding music, embracing it all with enthusiasm and carrying the listener with them.” ** Songlines

 

“Packaged in a manner calculated to get under the skin of an increasingly authoritarian political system, this career-spanning 20-year history of one of Istanbul’s most inclusive musical institutions is a defiant statement of the value of creative promiscuity.” ** Mojo

 

“The distinct twang of the saz (a Turkish stringed instrument) forms the backbone to electronica, reggae and rock grooves. The group’s rousing vocals convey a sense a urgency and exploration. Laced with alternative and revolutionary fervour, Baba Zula’s music feels more relevant than ever in these uncertain times.”9/10 DJ magazine

 

“Celebrating their 20th anniversary with a collection that fuses Kingston soundscapes, folk melodies and an anarchic, Zappa-like sense of humour.” The Sunday Times

 

“Their exuberant and enlightened psychedelia is represented by …a motley mixture of Anatolian folk music, blues rock, 60s and 70s psych, krautrock and other genres predisposed to dizzy-spell inducement.”** Record Collector

 

“XX is choc-full of creating an alternative history of the band which is very much in keeping with their defining off-kilter spirit … well-programmed in its shifts from driving rock to digi-reggae (Sly and Robbie are in the mix) to delicate folk and out into all kinds of weirdness.” fRoots (Playlist Album Choice)

 

“XX [is] a new two-disc compilation encompassing their 20-year career, from the ensnaring “Biz Size Asik Olduk”, the song that catapulted them to fame in 2002, to a live recording of “Abdülcanbaz” (2013), a sweaty stomp running to almost 20 minutes in which electric oud and goblet drum combine to hypnotic effect, while the saz, yielding to the power of Osman Murat Ertel and his impressive moustache, whines, whahs and drones. Thanks to Baba Zula, Turkish psychedelia is here to stay.” 1843 magazine 

 

“Whether you’re new to the world of BaBa ZuLa or just want to remind yourselves on why they are one of the most original artists on the planet, grab a copy – you’ll be revisiting this album for years!” T-Vine

 

"Though highly entrancing and mostly destined for psychedelic shindigs this eclectic voyage is every bit the rallying call of protestation; just existing amounts to a form of dissention in the face of increasing nationalism. Here’s to another twenty years of stirring the omnivorous musical stew.” Monolith Cocktail 

 

“A brilliant evocation of a truly unique band.” ** R2/ Rock’n'Reel 

 

“Within the first few tracks of XX we are treated to dub, drum n bass, reggae and marvellous episodes of electric saz and varying recording techniques via digital, analogue and tape ... this may be one of the best things you hear this year.” 8/10 Louder Than War

 

“Taking the 'best of' concept to new heights by choosing live recordings and remixes, instead of re-releasing already established tracks, the Istanbul-based explorative ensemble celebrate their twenty-years together with a release that captures some of their most adventurous work … enter the world of Baba Zula.” ** Northern Sky

 

“Stunning … Traditional instruments are here twisted and mangled and diffused, native language vocals are delivered in a foggy, distorted manner, reverb washes the soundstage, drugged-fuelled percussion staggers from one speaker to the next and then, when an electric saz strums right on the centre the of the stereo image, it provides a false sense of security because, reality takes a dive from that moment.” The Audiophile Man

 

“Dub mixes come courtesy of the likes of Mad Professor and Asian Dub Foundation’s Dr Das, so you can expect greatness.” Morning Star

 

“The electric saz gives to BaBa ZuLa the opportunity to create a new sound and to experiment. Experimentation is truly a part of BaBa ZuLa’s spirit, and has become something for which BaBa ZuLa is respected.” 8/10Rhythm Passport

 

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LIVE REVIEWS

 

“As an effects-laden electric saz, electric oud and heavily reverbed vocals combine with the darbuka drum, heavy bass and percussion to create the unique and mesmerising sound which make Baba Zula essential listening, it brings a heady sense of hope and freedom during these dark times for Turkey.” *** Morning Star(about Baba Zula at Under The Bridge, London)

 

Derin derin press

 

BaBa ZuLa, the legendary ensemble from Istanbul, have brilliantly established themselves over the past two decades as the missing link between Turkish Psych, Krautrock and dub-wise stylings.

 

Live in the UK

Saturday, 2 November 2019, at the Jazz Cafe, London + Sunday, 28 July 2019, at the WOMAD Festival

 

Art ... it’s a way to keep sane in the dark times, to fight, to grasp at life drawing together the elements that have been the heart of the band’s sound throughout its existence: the rich wildness of Turkish psychedelia and the blinding, pure emotion that runs through traditional Anatolian music, tempered with the constant musical questing of the band’s inspiration, Krautrock pioneers Can, and the electro-dub experiments BaBa ZuLa has undertaken with producer Mad Professor. It’s an utterly 21st century sound.

 

Any band becomes like a family, especially one that’s been together for more than two decades, but the sense of family took on deeper overtones for the songs here. Ertel and his wife composed one of the pieces, and most of the words to “U Are the Swing” came from his young son.

 

It’s a track that carries particularly profound echoes of Can’s late drummer, Jaki Liebezeit. The drum part was played by Ertel’s children on a kit Liebezeit himself had modified, and Liebezeit sat in with BaBa ZuLa on many occasions.

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“After losing him, I understood just how big an influence he was,” Ertel recalls. “He was like a mentor without even realising it, and he could play those Turkish rhythms excellently.”

Those rhythms form the bedrock of BaBa ZuLa’s sound, just as they were the foundation of the early Turkish psychedelia of the 1960s and ‘70s that has been a lifelong influence on Ertel.

 

"This was the 38th Womad, held in an increasingly crowded festival market made all the more difficult by visa restrictions. But there was still a varied global lineup – anything from Macha y El Bloque Depresivo’s tragic Chilean ballads to the emotional soul classics of Macy Gray, BaBa ZuLa’s wild and angry Turkish psychedelia, and the extraordinary voice of Ustad Saami, Pakistan’s 75-year-old master of a haunting microtonal style that predates Islam.” The Guardian