Anatolian Sun

Moğollar (the Mongols) were the original Anatolian rockers and coiners of the term ‘Anatolian pop.’ Back in the late 60s and 70s when Americans and Europeans followed the hippy trail east through Turkey to Afghanistan and India, Moğollar were the first Turkish act on the scene to hew out a place for themselves, blending Anatolian folk elements with Western psychedelia, in part pandering to Western tastes for Eastern exotica. Clad in rustic sheepskin vests and shaggy boots, they combined traditional folk instruments like saz, daf and rural pipes with electric guitars, keyboards and drum sets, bringing their sound West to critical acclaim.

The group disbanded in 1976, but reunited briefly in 1993 to record some of their best work. Giving a nod to the current Anatolian pop revival hype, Murat Ertel from Baba Zula persuaded his Dutch label Night Dreamer to embark on a series of direct-to-disc recordings, cutting a compendium of Moğollar's greatest hits. One of the most appealing tracks is ‘Gel Gel’ (Come Come), a groovy, wildly hummable love song with dramatic tempo changes. The song dispenses with the keening pipes of the 1973 original, adding instead darbukas, taut saz lines and spacey, microtonal keyboard playing. The, at times, plaintive and sneering vocals of one time frontman Cem Karaca are replaced by Karaca's son. Though lacking the pathos and theatrical intensity of his father's vocals, the song hits home with the same urgent force.