Category: Features

Features
New faces top Spotify’s most streamed Turkish albums and artists of 2023

With another year wrapping up, we take a look at 2023’s most streamed Turkish artists, albums and tracks on the world’s biggest music streaming platform Spotify. Music streaming sites such as Spotify, Soundcloud and YouTube, together with social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, have opened the doors wider than ever for Turkish musicians […]

Features
Turkish Cypriot musician Sal Ormandji realises his dream with stunning debut album Sazmania – Emotions

In every community there are hidden talents, not least in the British Turkish community. We recently discovered the immensely gifted multi-instrumentalist Salahi ‘Sal’ Ormandji. This Turkish Cypriot from Islington, North London, has been performing for over 35 years, and, at the tender age of 51-years-old, has just released his first ever solo album Sazmania – […]

Features
Derya Yıldırım and Grup Şimşek: from “raw, naïve and simple beginnings” to a “special” Anatolian musical jigsaw

Derya Yıldırım and Grup Şimşek are a firm favourite on the indie music circuit with their infectious Anatolian psych-pop groove that’s heavily influenced by the likes of Selda Bağcan, Aşık Mahzuni Şerif, and Barış Manço. Music anthropologist, DJ and friend Sebastian “Booty” Carrell (B-music) introduced lead singer and bağlama player Derya Yıldırım to Graham Mushnik […]

Features
Turks continue to cancel subscriptions after Disney+ abandons Atatürk TV drama, but is the reaction justified?

Disney+ has lost tens of thousands of subscribers after cancelling its plans to air a television drama series about Atatürk. Turks worldwide have reacted furiously to the cancellation news, ostensibly due to American anti-Turkish lobbying, but was the reaction justified? Last year, Turks were thrilled to learn that Disney+ (Disney Plus) was planning to produce […]

Features
The incredible life and legacy of Erkin Koray: the godfather of Anatolian rock, 1941-2023

The term ‘musical legend’ is overused, but in the case of Erkin Koray it is entirely justified. The free-spirited, guitar-playing singer-songwriter is one Turkiye’s most significant artists of the past 60 years; a pioneer of Anatolian and psychedelic rock, the composer of some of Turkiye’s most memorable hits and, together with Orhan Gencebay, the inventor […]

Features
Music inspired by Istanbul’s “kingpins and beggars”, electro rock band Lalalar bares all ahead of UK tour

Musically impossible to pigeon-hole, Lalalar’s sound is a futuristic mash-up straddling punk rock, Anatolian psychedelic funk, and dirty electronic beats. Iggy Pop is a fan, describing them as “Turkey’s most innovative alternative artists”. The band’s name is adapted from the Ottoman word ‘Lālā’ (meaning “wise man”), used to describe the teacher of Sultans. It’s an […]

Books
Book review: Hafsa Lodi’s ‘Modesty: A Fashion Paradox’ is essential reading, but omits details about Turkiye’s vital contribution

UAE-based American journalist Hafsa Lodi’s ‘Modesty: A Fashion Paradox’ has become the definitive read on this fast-growing global industry that marries faith with fashion. Published by Neem Tree Press in 2020, this 288-page book explores the big drivers behind the rise of modest fashion, its controversies and the main players involved. While some of the […]

Features
Five facts about Islandman’s star guests, Okay Temiz and Muhlis Berberoğlu, at Friday’s big EartH gig

This Friday, 27 January, East London venue EartH plays host to the brilliant Islandman, an electro-acoustic live trio behind some of Turkiye’s most exciting new dance music. The group have sold out shows with their combination of Turkish psychedelia and global beats, and they are forever originating. Cue virtuoso guest artists, percussionist Okay Temiz and […]