Baba Zula – Duble Oryantal
Reviewed by Sadie O., 7/28/07
Turkish Reggae/Dub/Belly Dance/Other. Only a half dozen or so tracks have an actual Reggae beat, but all tracks are distinctly Turkish, so it’s in World rather than Reggae. However, Sly and Robbie guest on tracks 2 and 6 (and the dubs thereof, tracks 18 and 19), and Mad Professor produces. There’s a lot of belly dance-ish feel, and a fair amount of dub. It’s very eclectic and inventive – enjoy!
All in Turkish. The 3 dubs at the end are killer, track 4 is cool too – everything is unique, “exotic” and gorgeous.
1. 0:04 a single squeep
2. 3:47 ***mellow midtempo skank with Turkish strings – really pretty. Mixed vocal chorus, simple singing style.
3. 0:32 drone and lovely flute for 30 secs.
4. 4:26 ****bit of industrial noise, then belly-dance drums and bass. Very Eastern/Middle Eastern vocal style. Really unusual sound.
5. 0:21 bird songs and cool drums, a bit of roaring.
6. 3:13 ***relaxed roots skank with very Anatolian strings and vocals.
7. 3:18 ***big hand drums, dubby downtempo skank. Bits of female rather sexy vocalizations.
8. 1:37 *bird songs, stringed instrument, conversation between man and woman in Turkish (the title tells the story…)
9. 0:17 roars and strings.
10. 3:57 ***downtempo and relaxed, almost a skank, but at least as much a belly dance. Spoken vocals. Very slinky.
11. 0:34 odd noises, then bit of uptempo traditional song.
12. 1:04 ***almost a blaxploitation funk guitar, with hand drums and some stringed instrument – unique!
13. 5:02 **rain sounds intro, downtempo hand drums, clarinet (?), bass – very mellow and groovy instrumental. LONG fade with more rain sounds.
14. 6:27 ***mellow and downbeat skank, very pretty mostly male vocals. Goes into double time periodically. Chorus insinuates itself into your brain.
15. 4:02 ***street market noises intro, then midtempo stop and start slinky groove, female vocals. Steps up the pace and gets funky bass after a minute and a half – very cool. Long outro.
16. 1:36 **all sorts of percussion, squeebly electronics, slide bass. Rather amazing sound.
17. 2:59 ***very slow and relaxed groove, very pretty female vocals, occasionally joined by male vocals an octave down – incredibly lovely.
18. 3:53 ****dub of track 2 – midtempo, lots of handdrums, beautiful, extremely dubby.
19. 3:11 ****dub of track 6 – downbeat and very cool. No vocals, but a clarinet (?) solo that’s quite nice.
20. 6:42 *****dub of track 14, with a whole new riddim layered on, extra sounds of all sorts. Very dubby, downbeat, terrific.
21. 5:02 ****dub of track 4, somewhat uptempo and pretty undefinable –industrial sounding noises layered in, as well as rootsy instrumentation.


For some reason, the English translations of song titles show up in iTunes:
1. Good Morning
2. Essential Things
3. Father in Hospital
4. Foal
5. Slow Forest
6. Free Spirit
7. Zaniye Belly Dance Mood
8. I Think I’m Pregnant
9. Fast Forest
10. Leek
11. Oh No My Uncle Came
12. Flowery Silk Nightgown
13. Wet Lovers
14. Children of Istanbul
15. The Vegetable Man
16. Belle Vue
17. One For You and One For Me
18. Essential Things (dub)
19. Free Spirit (dub)
20. Children of Istanbul (dub)
21. Foal (dub)