Popular Turkish songs?

Yshka

New member
Hi all! I've been a lurker for ages but finally on board again and immediately I have a question for you all I hope you can help me with. I am looking to bring some fresh sound to my repertoire for Turkish clients in the shape of some 'popular' (modern/classic) tunes I could use as opening number to a show, and some new catchy popmusic to add. So far I've adopted Fire Dance by Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Rakkas by Sezen Aksu, Eline Düstüm, Sinan Aktas' Tabi Tabi and Serdar Ortac's Karabiberim. This is kind of the style I'm looking for as to popmusic. For opening pieces I have been using Mavi Mavi from one of John Bilezikjian's albums which I love, but I'm open to anything as I just need new inspiration but am not as 'in the know' in Turkish music as I am in anything Egyptian or Lebanese.

Thanks in advance, all suggestions will be super appreciated! :D

And hi to everyone I've missed!! *Waves at Shanazel, Daimona, Amulya.......:lol:
 

Shanazel

Moderator
Hi, Yshka! Missed you terribly while you've been gone and hope you intend to join in more often.

Currently using Ask Hic Bitmetz and Senden Baska from an album called Turkish Hits I.
 

Shems

New member
I'm going to have to come back to this thread when I have access to my itunes because there are a lot of tune names I forget, but of the ones I do remember.

ok, first off, this is an annoyingly difficult CD to get one's hands on, up to this point I've always referred people to go to Artemis or Tayar directly, but I did just find a copy on Ebay. The CD is Rhythms of Turkey and it is a rhythm learning CD, however, the last few tracks are some of my favorite dance pieces ever. There are two on there that I used a bazillion time for my Turkish entrance pieces because of their level of awesomeness in melody, energy, arrangement and instrumentation.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rhythms-of-Turkey-Vol-1-Tayyar-Akdeniz-CD-Turkish-Music-/381185548946

I would also recommend getting the Tanyeli Album where she is in gold for a number of usable dance tracks
http://www.tulumba.com/storeItem.asp?ic=MU940920PJ017

As well as Asena's self-titled 2001 CD if you don't already have it. Asena's has several Turkicized versions of Arabic songs, but the instrumentation is energetic and clean and really can't be beat.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...ena&qid=1461061290&ref_=sr_1_1&s=music&sr=1-1


Kardes Turkular also has some fantastic stuff, I like all their albums that I have, particularly Bahar. Similarly to Omar Faruk Tekbilek you will want to be selective about which tracks you use, as some aren't the best for some contexts, but they have all the lyrics in the liner notes, so it is very easy to be selective.

Check out Husnu's "Chiftitelli" (actually the whole album) on his Laco Tayfa. So fun to dance to!
https://www.amazon.com/Bergama-Gayd...77&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=husnu+senlendirici

Also, the New York Gypsy All stars, just search them on Amazon and listen to some clips on all their albums (I believe there are only 3 so far) and see if you like any. I was on the Istiklal in Istanbul and asked the guy in the CD shop for recommendations for dance music and theirs was the first CD he pulled, which I thought was hilarious because technically they are an American band and also because I already owned the CD. It looks like they release something last year I haven't listened to yet... :)

For more classic popular tunes check out Huseyin Turkmenler - His newer albums have much better instrumentation than his older ones, so listen to the clips to make sure you like the sound, but I've gotten a lot of use out of these:
http://www.israel-music.com/ensemble_huseyin_turkmenler/

Didem's CD has quite a few really great tracks:
http://www.tulumba.com/storeItem.asp?ic=MU936064EA851

In general I'm a big fan of Yasr Akpence who did Didem's CD, the "Harem" CDs, some amazing percussion CDs, I recommending perusing some clips of his albums and picking up a few.
http://www.tulumba.com/icy_qSrch.asp?ops=s&x=&tag=&s=yasar+akpence

None of these are "pop" music per se, but very danceable stuff, and Turkish audience friendly. If I wanted to use a pop song, I usually used an old Tarkan song (not Kiss Kiss, but I'm forgetting the name now).

If I think of any others, or get to my itunes and look up some names, I'll revisit the thread.
 
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Shems

New member
found it! Actually, found two, I might as well share both because one has the full troupe in it, the other just a pair of us, with different intro music I cut in for the beginning. The intro music I cut in for the performance with the pair of dancers is off another one of Yasar Akpence's Haramde albums, this one:
http://www.tulumba.com/storeItem.asp?ic=MU902091GE836

here is the full troupe video clip of Silk Road (that piece starts 20 seconds in)
[video=youtube_share;k_3m9yzOtbM]https://youtu.be/k_3m9yzOtbM?t=20s[/video]


And just the duet of Silk Road with the Arabi intro
[video=youtube_share;lb8wcDEuWVk]https://youtu.be/lb8wcDEuWVk[/video]
 
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