Customer Reviews

Genclik Ile Elele

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Mustafa Ozkent's Orkestrasi is a Turkish funk machine. Genclikle ile Elele is their strongest offering and has recently been reissued for those of us who weren't around when it was originally released in 1973. Wait, did you say "Turkish funk? Oh yes, that's right. Hints of Anatolian folk themes mix with in-the-pocket rhythms and spikes. Great stuff, really. The recording quality isn't the best, but for my money, that almost makes it seem even more authentic. If you want to blow your buddies out of the water, pick this one up and ask them one evening, "Hey, how about some Turkish funk music?"

Its front cover may promise "Rhythm `N' Soul, Blues `N' Jazz, Rock `N' Pop," but the most obvious reference point for this album is funk, and funk of the stone-coldest variety. This is the kind of miles-deep world party throb that set the whole hip-hop movement in motion, complete with rattling guitar runs, ten-ton bass, and layer upon layer of snaky, amorphous, and sensually hypnotic percussion. The rhythms thicker than blood, the atmosphere is raw and exciting, and the whole record is just plain dap.

But the truly incredible thing about this album is how it combines the nerve-crushing immediacy of funk with traditional Turkish melodies, a restless hunger for sonic tinkering, as well as all those styles mentioned on the front cover- the guitars, for example, spit out melodies that mingle Western grit and strange Eastern (er, south-central) sensibilities. Ozkent was something of a maverick inventor, creating specially crafted guitars that could handle the otherworldly territory of traditional Anatolian instruments and rock out at the same time, and it shows here- just listen to that stunning six string meltdown during "Emmioglu!" Thankfully, it never sounds hokey or contrived- Ozkent and his band show an instinctive understanding of Western forms, and they know how to merge them with the sounds of their homeland without condescension or forced exoticism.

In other words, this stuff can rock the bejeevers outta you. Get it and be damn glad that Finders Keepers had the good sense to reissue it.

No, that is not me in my review workshop. I am not that sexy.

Mustafa Ozkent is a rediscovery of Andy Votel, who goes around the world, unearthing the psychedelic, the exotic, the funky that has long been forgotten or never in mind to start.

This is one Votel's best finds. Ozkenrt's Glenclick Ile Elele is one slab or propulsive, synth driven dance music that never let's up. It is not psych and not disco, but mines a funky nitch in between. The slam and groove and crunch never let up.

A rock and roll fan may have heard this in the mid-1970s and dismissed it as cheese, but hear it now, and that fan would be both kicking themselves and stomping on the dancefloor. The thing about cheese is, it is really yummy, and yummy does not get better than this

The only thing funkier than the cover is the music found within. This is an all instrumental romp through a diverse interpretation of the meaning of funk. Never did I think that I would be rocking the sitar and the wurlitzer at the same time. This is a must have for any funk aficionado.

not all that. decent frenetic overly bongo'd beats with a slight bossa vibe - the melodies are subtly asiatic. i like the monkey cover but i prefer selda and that turk psyche comp over this cd.