Altın Gün – Turkish psychedelic from Amsterdam
The independent Turkish music of the new and older times has a special place in our hearts. Here we have featured various artists and interesting names based both in Turkey and outside its borders. Today we continue this line with the latest album by Turkish-Dutch band Altın Gün. Formed in 2016 in Amsterdam, the band features two musicians with Turkish roots - Erdinc Ecevit on keyboards, baglama and vocals and singer Merve Daşdemir, the other members are Dutch.
Altın Gün are rapidly gaining popularity, playing continuously at Europe's and the world's top festivals and in 2019 they reached a Grammy nomination in the category of world music.
The key to their success lies in that very Anatolian psychedelic note that grabs attention immediately and brings a sense of the south, colours, weightlessness and a Mediterranean connection with nature and the moment.
The musicians step on the rich roots of classical ideas such as the work of Erkin Koray, Barış Manço, Mogollar. These days we would safely place them alongside current bands Ayyuka, Islandman, and singer Gaye Su Akyol.
At the end of March, Altın Gün released their fourth album and, to our delight, shared it for listening on digital platforms. "Aşk" (ATO Records 2023) continues the themes that the musicians have been experimenting with - covers of classical songs and folklore, keeping the specific hypnotic sound and playing between the old and the new, full of mood and rhythm.
Today, we let this warm wave take us directly to the Anatolian south (as today's photo, taken somewhere in the Göcek bay, does) and add to this year's music another album to listen to on repeat. What follows is a live recording of their guest appearance at Seattle radio station KEXP's studio.
Happy listening!
May 2023
Image ©МА
