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 Candan Erçetin - Neden [Topkapı Muzik - 2002]Turkish popmusic has always been a big stew of western and eastern cultures, traditional oriental songs arranged with western chords and harmony structures, but still maintaining a strong Turkish identity by their melodic sense and typical inflections. One time Tarkan made it to the charts in Europe with his song Simarik. I even heard a street organ play it a while ago. Lately model Holly Valance has hit the charts with her version named Kiss Kiss (and I heard she adapted it from an American artist called Stella Soleil.This one song somehow appealed to the western youth and Tarkan's popularity among Turkish people living in Europe probably helped. For me personally I always felt that, as usual, the biggest seller is not the best artist in the genre by definition. I liked the fact that an overtly Turkish song, in the Turkish language even, made it to the charts in western Europe. At least it's something else than your average cheap American hiphop or the lousy rocksongs in the Anglo-Saxon tradition that are usually found there.I picked up Candan Erçetin's second album Çapkın a few years back while going through the Turkish popular section in the local worldmusic store. It caught my attention because of the a little more distinguished artwork than most of the CD's in that section, which normally would focus on Arabesk Türküler. When I heard it I was pleased by the way the Turkish traditions were combined with contemporary triphop- and dancebeats and although a lot of computers were involved there were still some acoustic and traditional instruments to be found. I also liked her voice much more then for instance the very popular Sezen Aksu, the best known Turkish singer in western Europe.On her fourth album, Neden, she still keeps the east/west cocktail pretty balanced. Resulting in dubby tango-techno with gypsyviolin (Anlatma Sakın), Morricone-like whistling in Mühim Değil and light rock-influences in Ben Böyleyim. Yüksek Yüksek Tepelere is a Turkish traditional and appears again, unmentioned on the CD, in an Anatolian mix. The arrangements are tasteful and rather sparse compared to the lush orchestrations common within the genre. No big stringsections, just some cümbüs (Turkish, fretless banjo), keman (violin) and various percussion instruments here and there, besides the to western ears more common (electric) guitars, accordeon and clarinet to spice things up.Typical for Türkpop (and even more for Arabesk) is the somewhat dramatic tone which might be a bit too much to some people. On the other hand: in times of bling-ridden times like these it shouldn't be a problem for westerners either. I have no problems with it and the amount of drama varies. Some songs are a bit too 'kitsch', others are surprisingly tasteful. This might not be music on the outer fringes of experimentation and avant garde, but it's comfortable entertainment. Emotionally speaking I feel it's some kind of sad, but hopeful (I don't speak Turkish, so I'm not sure about the subjectmatter, which undoubtedly will be 'love' and the subsequent 'pain').  
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|  | | Candan Erçetin - Neden | Turkish popmusic has always been a big stew of western and eastern cultures, traditional oriental songs arranged with western chords and harmony structures, ...
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