Sufi Traveler

Mercan Dede | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: High Times Records
• ASIN: B0002IQB2Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #212,947 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Even electronic music's most-ardent fans understand that the ghost in the machine isn't conjured as a soulful or spiritual vibe. That comes by bringing in elements from more traditional styles. Understanding this, Turkey-born and Canada-based Mercan Dede intertwines thoughtful down-tempo programming with Sufi devotionals to create an imaginative hybrid that honors both styles. This two-disc effort, Dede's fourth release, includes an eight-part dance piece and a second disc of live performance featuring Dede and his group Secret Tribe. Not your average dance music, "Nar" is filled with impressionistic and moody soundscapes colored with Dede's ney (flute), jazz bass, violin, ambient electronics and, occasionally, devotional lyrics. "Seyahatname" is a more upbeat version of the same format with the band adding an emotional human imprint upon the tremendous ebbs and flows programmed by Dede. Earthy and inspirational, hip and ancient, Sufi Traveler is a voyage to modern Turkey that ably reconciles the past with the present and the future. –--Tad Hendrickson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing! Music for the Soul., October 11, 2004

By 

Thomas W. Altizer (Arlington, VA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sufi Traveler (Audio CD)

Hearing a snippet of this album on NPR was enough to make me want to hear it in its entirety. This is astonishing music; relaxing and exhilerating, new and ancient simultaneously. Having been fortunate to travel to Turkey, I find this CD very evocative of the magic that is Turkey! Buy this CD today. You'll be listening to it for years. "Feed your head."

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Covers the whole gamut of emotion., February 7, 2008

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BrownFoote (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sufi Traveler (Audio CD)

The first thing to note about Sufi Traveler is that it is actually two previously released CD's in one. The first is Nar, and the second is Seyahatname. Next of course, is that Mercan Dede is superb in blending authentic rhythms and insturments from his homeland in Turkey with more "Western" electronica and ambient sound. However, this blend does NOT create what I often call, the "White" effect. It doesn't sound like Americans trying to make a Middle Eastern-style recording. It is soothing to the ear of those accustomed to "real" M.E. music, but also welcoming to those who aren't terribly familiar with it. There is one song on the 2nd disk, however, that does have what sounds like a California surfer talking about doing Dervish dance, Whirling. It is a little disconcerting to me, but once he stops talking, I can appreciate the more exotic sound of the music again. I have used these two CDs for prayer and meditation, and wonderfully for social and also Belly dance. They alternate between songs with a slower tempo and soothing flute and strings, to great, heavy drums on others. Very emotionally evocative over all.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mercan dede and the sufi techno mix, February 11, 2005

By 

Mehmet Deniz Kaya (istanbul) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sufi Traveler (Audio CD)

I have been listening his albums since a long time and he really performs his philosophy of 'counter points in sufism where the idea is everything in the nature exists with its counter points. here techno and tradiitonal rythims create excellent harmony out of counter points'