In honour of International Women’s Day, Hammam Blues explores 30 years of turkish female singers, spanning countless styles, rhythms and genres.
The last decade has seen a large spike in interest in Turkish psychedelia, Anatolian rock, disco, and funk, with European labels like Finders Keepers, Pharaway Sounds and Matsuli music reissuing notoriously well sought after records for western audiences.
However, Turkish sounds have long appeared in hip-hop, house and techno records, in the form of samples, remixes and re-works. Artists including Mos Def, Red Axes and Todd Terje, have made extensive use of the vocals and instruments of the likes of Selda Bağcan and Neşe Karaböcek.
This mix begins with the Anatolian rock stylings of the aforementioned Selda, and flows in to the disco sounds of Nazan Soray and Ruyu Cagla. Neşe Karaböcek’s atmospheric Soprano voice cuts across the guitar and drums on the short but sweet ‘Yali Yali’, and the mix ends on Turkey’s 1975 Eurovision song contest entry by the vocal pop girl band Cici Kizlar.
Tracklist:
Bundan Sonra – Selda Bağcan
Yali Yali – Neşe Karaböcek
Dalkavuk – Şenay
Odana Serdim Halı – Rüya Çağla
Teselliye Sen Gerek – Nazan Şoray
Hal Hal – Nazan Şoray
Dokunma Keyfine Yalan Dünyanın – Gülden Karaböcek
Gencim, Yaşamı Severim – Cici Kizlar
Hammam Blues is a blog, radio show and DJ based in Manchester, UK. From Brasilia to Benghazi Hammam Blues explores the old and the new, forgotten gems, dancefloor fillers, and sounds on the more unusual side of the global music spectrum.