Altin Gun On Cassette

Cassette release of Turkish Psychedelic band Altin Gün recorded by Jacco Gardner and co-released with Bongo Joe Records! On their debut album ‘On’ (Bongo Joe Records), Altin Gun show what happens when you open doors between Turkish folk songs on the one hand and a dirty blend offunk rhythms, wah-wah guitars and analogue organs on the other.

The Amsterdammers who come from various backgrounds (Turkish but also Indonesian and Dutch) comfortably create their work in the adventurous no-man’s land that exists between these two worlds. Older generations of Turkish musicians have also experimented with opening doors between previously unconnected sonic worlds.

During the seventies, artists such as Baris Manço, Selda Bagcan and Erkin Koray practiced a way of songwriting and composing similar to Altin Gün’s. Manço, Bagcan and Koray have all influenced Altin Gün, but their foremost inspiration is Neset Ertas, a Turkish folk musician whose musical legacy is invaluable. Comparisons are almost impossible to make but imagine someone with the same impact and status as Bob Dylan or George Gerschwin and you’re getting close.

Many of the songs he wrote have become standards in Turkey, national treasures which are cherished up until the present day. Altin Gün retain the lyrical and thematic structure of Ertas’s songs, though they often alter their time signatures and add fuzzy bass sounds, sweltering organ sounds and raw saz riffs.

Ertas wrote the majority of the songs on the album even if these are hardly recognisable after all the work Altin Gün have done on them. Let Altin Gün open that door for you and get ready to indulge in their fresh and beautiful sound.