DIE IN VAIN

 

The fine folks at General Speech dropped this blast from DIE IN VAIN a couple of years back, and it was in regular rotation at TEHQ for months. Hyper charged Turkish street punk dripping with '80s UK hooks, but with a...something...that sets them apart (I'm looking at you, "Baska Bir Yer York"). Four tracks that set the stage for last year's EP on La Vida Es Un Mus, four tracks that deserve repeat listens. 

DESPERATE TO PISS

PROJECT YOUTH

 

Variations on a theme - infectious Turkish street punk circa late 2010s. Heavy and blatant UK punk influence, and these kids do something with the guitar melodies and that slight vocal warble that I can't put my finger on...but I feel like I don't ever want to stop hearing it. Something so instantly recognizable, so instantly familiar, so undeniably punk and instantly identifiable as such. And still, PROJECT YOUTH sound fresh, urgent, mandatory...indeed, so undeniably punk and instantly identifiable as such. Read that last sentence again - if it makes sense to you, then you might need PROJECT YOUTH even more than you think you do. 

MIDDLE EAST

YOUR KINGDOM IS DOOMED

 

It's easy to get fooled by YOUR KINGDOM IS DOOMED - they start with a blazing raw DIY crust number that sounds like it was dragged from a filthy Michigan basement in 1997. That vibe continues for the first few songs, but you'll notice this demo start to get...weirder. Spastic blasts, off kilter riffs and you (almost) think you're entering power violence territory on "Menopoz Türkiye" but then "Hiçsin" drops and you're in this whole different realm of freak punk. Fortunately, there are three songs left and they refuse to reign it back in so you're left with this feeling that maybe PLAID RETINA played a one-off gig in Istanbul after that first EP and planted some seeds that became trees because this shit just sounds way out there. They slam the door shut with "Şehir," a sub two minute ripper that's just all over the musical map - blurred riffing and pained high/low vocals and the general feeling that this is the sound of a band who is going to evolve into a grind behemoth but not until they've finished kicking your ass with this song. When sounds develop outside of the trend loop...sounds develop in interesting ways. 

YOUR KINGDOM IS DOOMED

TURMOIL // IGNORANCE // DEPRESS

 

Glorious international hardcore collaboration from the turn of the century. Seven burners from under the radar Yokohama raw thrashers IGNORANCE (there's a self titled EP from 2003 or so, purple cover, not hard to come by....do it), then a few catchy but ultra pissed tracks from Malaysia's DEPRESS wrap up the first side. The flip, however, is all about Turkey's wildest DIY hardcore export: TURMOIL. Raw, manic fastcore that sounds like sonic through line from LÄRM to SPAZZ. Tracks from two different sessions here, and the second batch have a bombastic early Earache vibe - I was only familiar with the REGENERACION split before this tape, and I'm honestly kinda floored. Scroll on by at your own peril, kids. 

TURMOIL // DEPRESS // IGNORANCE

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THE SPINNERS

Ramshackle jerky punk is one thing...but what if it's channeled through three Turkish women and it was recorded in 1991? Exactly. I'm not at all sure how this tape has flown under my personal radar for so long, but when I popped this tape in a few weeks ago it was as if someone had turned on all the lights. I initially assumed it was a ruse - some third generation "dubbed" copy of a "lost" demo from some feminist Turks - but holy hell this thing actually exists and how has it escaped everyone I know for this entire punk existence? I mean, if Golnar and Grace and Layla are all in the dark I suppose I can be excused...but still. Novelty numbers like "Fuck Acid" sit alongside legit bangers like "Anticipation" and true freak punk missives like "Shit In The World"...I want to know the shit world in which this exists in real time. 

DIG THE HOLE, FORGET THE SUN

MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL PRESENTS: "Punk From The Middle East And Asia"

Last year Maximum Rocknroll had a fundraiser of sorts for their record archive. It passed a "collection" many years ago, and has evolved into one of the most comprehensive archives of punk vinyl in the world, well over 50,000 records (and growing). The funds were raised to help create a database (that will include original reviews, and will be free and searchable) and curate the existing archive - it was (is) a shitload of work, and shitloads ain't free, you know? Various incentives were offered to encourage donations, including mix tapes....giver's choice. Some enterprising (and brilliant) fukkr asked for the following tape: "one side Asia (non-Japan), one side Middle East." Well played, punk rocker. Archive coordinator Shivaun crushed this mixtape, and I hope that you will be as thrilled as I was digging on the gems she uncovered from all over the damned place. Not surprisingly, Tian An Men 89 Records makes several contributions (I mean, come on - of course that's the first place you look, right?), but Pakistani grindcore? OK....I'm sold. Bands from: Syria, India, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey, Singapore, Armenia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Algeria, Israel, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Sound Korea, Lebanon, Morocco and United Arab Emirates. 

PUNK FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

SELDA

I snagged this on a whim in Oklahoma City a few weeks back because....well, sometimes I get a little tipsy and I buy tapes. Initially I just thought it was a thing with a weird ass cover (it was dark and I was drunk), but when I got home I realized that some fool bootlegged a crucial Turkish psych/rock record onto cassette and then I got real pumped. My pal Paul goes way deeper to into the psych world and the Turkish world, so I asked him to give all you mutants some background...he obliged:

This record hits on a multiple levels. If you're looking for a great example of Turkish psych, complete with the embedded funkiness that makes Turkish psych so appealing, look no further. If you're looking for an inspirational lady speaking her mind in a time and place where there were reprecussions for such boldness, you've also come to the right place. Check out the infectious groove of Yaz Gazeteci Yaz (Write, Journalist, Write). The fuzzy Eastern sounds of Meydan Sizindir (The Square Belongs to You). One of the best riffs ever on Ince Ince (Tiny Little Snowflakes). The driving lead on Yaylalar (Uplands) over 60s pop psych sounds. Sleepy dreamy sounds of Dam Üstüne Çul Serer (?). The urgency of Dost Uyan (Wake Up, Friends). You really can't fuck with this record. Think about what bullshit was coming out of the US and UK for rock music in 1976, or even soul music. Then stop and think about it again. 

Selda Bağcan studied phsyics and engineering in university, and her early music recordings (45s starting coming out in early 70s) were Turkish folk music on solo acoustic guitar - this was the first time these songs were being played on guitar, traditionally they were played on baglama. Her lyrics and themes have always spoken of solidarity with the poor and social criticism, and after a coup d'état in Turkey in 1980 she was held as a political prisoner off and on for the next few years, but never stopped speaking out. She would sing in Kurdish at a time when speaking Kurdish was illegal. Her musical style continued to change after her self titled album, but subsequent records are worthy listens in their own right. She has been sampled for Mos Def (produced by Oh No, Madlib's younger brother) and even Dr. Dre.

In 2013, she had this to say about the state of modern Turkish rock: "By definition, rock is rebel music. It is the music of protest. But the price of rebellion seems so high nowadays that, unlike us, those who claim to be rockers only sing love songs... Turkish artists forgot that rock was about dissent, about rebellion. Only now do we hear the first steps of a protest rock."

SELDA