Search - Mustafa Ozkent :: Genclikle Elele

The front cover ain't the only great thing about this album!

Laszlo Matyas | 12/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Great title for your "I bet no one else has THIS" collection

Samuel M. Fuller | Little Rock, AR | 02/21/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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?""