Up, Bustle and Out! – Istanbul’s Secrets with Sevval Sam
Reviewed by Sadie O., 2/11/08
Turkish/Jazz/Reggae/Flamenco with bits of hip hop and sound collage. Basically a pair of guys from Bristol England, with lots of guest players and vocalists. We have several of their records, many of which have had a very Cuban/Latin flavor, but this time with main guest vocalist Sevval (pron. “shevval”) Sam, many tracks are very Turkish, and this is actually marketed on a Turkish label. But there’s also quite a bit of Flamenco, and many songs have a decidedly Reggae beat. Whew! Mostly it’s a very mellow, jazzy, relaxed vibe.
No FCCs detected. Track 10 rocks my world. Don’t necessarily follow the stars –
I bet a lot of folks here will hella dig stuff that left me fairly cold. Give it all a listen.
1. 4:08 ***a couple of seconds of random sight sounds, then very relaxed and slinky skank with traditional Turkish female singing and instruments, male spoken word in English. Also some really pretty Spanish guitar. Oh, and sitar.
2. 4:35 **violin, chimes, tabla… Female Turkish singing and male flamenco singing, very mellow and relaxed, kinda jazzy (nice acoustic bass).
3. 4:19 *shaker and ethereal electronics, breathy male spoken word in Portuguese. Extremely relaxed. Female singing in English – a less successful element, IMO.
4. 4:38 ***uptempo bellydance beat with electronic burbles, female singing in Turkish, quite pretty and mostly traditional sounding. Turns more flamenco in bits.
5. 4:10 **deep breath, then male spoken word in Jamaican-accented English, male and female singing in Spanish, quite mellow and very pretty. Lots of acoustic bass and guitar.
6. 3:18 **mellow, slightly jazzy groove, female singing in Turkish.
7. 1:34 *relaxed and lovely Spanish guitar solo. Listed as intro to next song, but doesn’t flow into it.
8. 5:48 *ethereal sounds, bit of guitar, female singing in Turkish, very melancholic. No beat, just shakers, until about halfway through.
9. 4:57 ***very slow to get started, just a few bass notes, then downtempo jazzy skank with male speaking in Jamaican-accented English, guest rap by Sultana, Turkey’s biggest female rap star, some vocal beatboxing, odd female spoken word in English and breathing…
10. 4:02 ****midtempo slinky Reggae beat alternating with a very groovy upbeat skank. Female singing in English and Spanish, and male and female dancehall vocals. Worth the price of admission by itself, IMO!
11. 4:52 **random intro, then very upbeat amalgam of electronics, violin, guitar, almost a sound collage but with an uptempo beat.
12. 3:38 *jazzy syncopated (but very relaxed) beat, female singing in English.
13. 4:19 ***very slow syncopated skank with two male voices in Jamaican-accented English, jazzy female singing in English.
14. 4:06 **acoustic bass and violin, slinky and rather mysterious sounding. Beat comes and goes for first minute or two. Female singing in Turkish, jazzy.
15. 4:14 *jazzy mellow vibe, female singing in French.