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CD
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BJR 079CD
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Outernational pop group Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek unveil the second and final part of their double-album and collect both parts here on CD. Once again, their subtle and groovy Anatolian psych folk sound matches the powerful quality of the songs often led by Yıldırım's sublime vocals and bağlama (Turkish lute). With Dost 2, the band have broadened their songwriting horizons and refined their idiosyncratic arrangement skills. Most of Dost 2's material was composed by the band, with two notable tracks composed by guitarist flautist Antonin Voyant whose melodic work brings the music to a non-nostalgic, yet deep and meaningful place. The lyrics were penned by Derya Yıldırım in collaboration with Berlin based writer Duygu Ağal, adding another string to Grup Şimşek's bow. Here they captured a lively, unique piece of interpretation which connects to the meaning of "Dost" as the text inserted inside explains: "Dost is a friend, a comrade, a brother, a sister and even more than that. Dost is the connection to keep this life and world meaningful". Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek bring sounds, people, and emotions together.
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LP
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BJR 079LP
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LP version. Derya Yıldırım and Grup Şimşek are back with their third album Dost 2, the second of a two-part series following 2021's highly acclaimed Dost 1 (BJR 065LP). The eight-track release sees Turkish singer, bağlama player and multi-instrumentalist Derya Yıldırım and her international band of brothers and sisters continue their psychedelic journey, meandering through Anatolian folk music and poetry with their electrifying grooves, while also delving into their own lives and personal experiences. While rooted in Anatolian tradition, Grup Şimşek (which translates into "Ocean Lightning and the Thunderbolts", a play on Derya's surname "Yıldırım", which means lightning in Turkish) draws on a boundless cosmos of sounds and builds on the contribution of each band member. Despite being multilingual, Yıldırım exclusively sings in Turkish. Graham Mushnik (organ, synthesizers, and clavinet player) and Antonin Voyant (guitar, bass, and flute) are both members of London/France-based collective Catapulte Records and played in l'Orchestre du Montplaisant, a quartet known for its cinematic, retro atmospheres -- a clear influence on Grup Şimsek's sprawling, vintage-tinged compositions. The band marries 1960s and '70s Anatolian influences with a contemporary approach to composition and rhythm, thanks in large part to the contribution of drummer, percussionist, composer, and marimba player Greta Eacott. With a background in experimental and contemporary music, Eacott "thinks about essential things like sound and time within music and space, and contributed this whole mindset to Grup Şimsekm," says Yıldırım. Şimşek's original compositions dominate Dost 2's tracklist, with the lyrics on four of the tracks penned by Derya Yıldırım in collaboration with Berlin-based writer Duygu Ağal. Guitar and organ curl around each other on opener "Gümüş", which unfolds and swells as Yıldırım's powerful voice takes off before giving way to an evocative guitar solo. "Meraklı Gönül" deals with memory and loss, feelings that permeate Yıldırım's vocals as they float on a mellow bed of delicate percussions, phased guitars, and winding synth lines; "Mola" is an understated but incredibly powerful bağlama composition, where moments of silence are able to stir up emotions as intensely as the music itself; seconds later the tension is broken by the funky bassline on the irresistibly catchy "Bal". The sorrowful atmosphere on "Odam Kireç Tutmuyor" mirrors the heartbreak of the song's two protagonists. Based on a traditional love song, the track ends with a cry of "Oy Leminê", a Kurdish expression that conveys a feeling of pain, hope, and unfulfilled hopes, artfully captured by a wistful flute line. The third cover on the album is the soul stirring "Ayşe Halam Arıyor" sung by Derya's aunt Ayşe Yıldırım. For fans of: Altin Gün, Satellites, Sababa 5, Mogollar, Baba Zula.
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BJR 028CD
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2019 release. Two years after the success of Nem Kaldı (2017), outernational psych-pop sensation Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek deliver their debut album, Kar Yağar. Over the course of its 12 tracks, the powerful sound of the Bağlama (Turkish lute) and Derya Yıldırım's stunning vocals, builds and unravels stories together with the guitars, organs, drums, flute, and bass. Kar Yağar (which translates as "Snow Falls") has the dynamics of an epic journey through the Anatolian highlands; where deep-rooted folk effortlessly switches to sparkly improvisation or dance-y pop tracks. The album was self-produced at their studio in the French Alps, and the band's tour de force resides in their ability to develop their personal sound and approach whilst keeping their heart tuned to Derya Yıldırım's Anatolian roots. Original songs and instrumentals -- all composed and arranged by the band -- are scattered throughout the album. Notably "Seni Hala", a tear-drawing ballad with stripped-down acoustic arrangement and haunting choir... And Graham Mushnik's dreamy instrumental "Çocuklar", in which the band chose to feature a poem by one of Turkey's most renowned 20th century poet Nâzım Hikmet Ran whose title translates as "give the world to our children". The poem is meaningfully read by Derya's father Mustafa Yıldırım. The LP also contains a string of Turkish folk songs, that the band entirely re-arranged whilst preserving their original spirit and soul. In "Ey Şahin Bakışlım" Grup Şimşek pay tribute to the Alevi culture, a minority community in Turkey for which music -- and particularly the Bağlama instrument -- has a sacred value. A powerful and majestic version of Mahzuni Şerif's "Dom Dom Kurşunu" -- one of Grup Şimşek fans' favorites at live shows -- is also featured.
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LP
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BJR 028LP
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LP version. 2019 release. Two years after the success of Nem Kaldı (2017), outernational psych-pop sensation Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek deliver their debut album, Kar Yağar. Over the course of its 12 tracks, the powerful sound of the Bağlama (Turkish lute) and Derya Yıldırım's stunning vocals, builds and unravels stories together with the guitars, organs, drums, flute, and bass. Kar Yağar (which translates as "Snow Falls") has the dynamics of an epic journey through the Anatolian highlands; where deep-rooted folk effortlessly switches to sparkly improvisation or dance-y pop tracks. The album was self-produced at their studio in the French Alps, and the band's tour de force resides in their ability to develop their personal sound and approach whilst keeping their heart tuned to Derya Yıldırım's Anatolian roots. Original songs and instrumentals -- all composed and arranged by the band -- are scattered throughout the album. Notably "Seni Hala", a tear-drawing ballad with stripped-down acoustic arrangement and haunting choir... And Graham Mushnik's dreamy instrumental "Çocuklar", in which the band chose to feature a poem by one of Turkey's most renowned 20th century poet Nâzım Hikmet Ran whose title translates as "give the world to our children". The poem is meaningfully read by Derya's father Mustafa Yıldırım. The LP also contains a string of Turkish folk songs, that the band entirely re-arranged whilst preserving their original spirit and soul. In "Ey Şahin Bakışlım" Grup Şimşek pay tribute to the Alevi culture, a minority community in Turkey for which music -- and particularly the Bağlama instrument -- has a sacred value. A powerful and majestic version of Mahzuni Şerif's "Dom Dom Kurşunu" -- one of Grup Şimşek fans' favorites at live shows -- is also featured.
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BJR 065LP
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Grup Şimşek is a fresh and modern pop group which combines Anatolian folk and contemporary grooves, often contaminated by psychedelia and progressive rock flavors. Led by Derya Yıldırım's hypnotizing bağlama and vocals, the group draw a meaningful continuity from the Turkish folk repertoire to their original songwriting, with a strong sound identity and a dancefloor-friendly energy. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, along with Swiss label Bongo Joe, release the new LP Dost 1, the collective's second album and first of two to be released in 2022. Turkish singer and saz player Derya Yıldırım has been burning the candle for Turkish folk and psychedelia since her infamous performance at the New Hamburg Festival back in 2015. Soon after, Grup Şimşek was born and there started a rich journey of musical feast, exploring and rendering new versions of Anatolian classics as well as building a songbook of original compositions, with references to the music of The Doors, west coast US psych, Turkish musical activist and hero Selda Bagçan and many heroes of musical Anatolia. Grup Şimşek are itinerant by nature. They live apart across various European homes and span Turkish, German, French, and English heritage with Derya living in Berlin. Despite this spatial incongruence, the group's harmony oozes through their music with a rich stew of funk-noir groove, organ energy, hypnotic saz (Turkish stringed instrument) and synths all layered beneath Derya's warm sometimes heartfelt vocal, singing verse and poetry, borrowed, evolved and new.
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