Search Results for:

ISLANDMAN

Islandman

Popsicle Obstacle

    Ahead of their European tour, Turkish electronic group islandman announce the release of the EP Popsicle Obstacle. The new material collected on the EP tracks a musical pathway from archaic folk traditions and regional acoustics through the electronic sequencer. From the spiritualist dream of primitive past to the glossy utopia of digital future. The core members of Islandman are multi-instrumentalist & producer, Tolga Böyük and Eralp Güven (percussion) and Erdem Başer (guitars). Islandman have become known for their live performances, as anyone who has witnessed their live streams from Istanbul for the London Jazz Festival and Boiler Room can attest to. The Popsicle Obstacle EP follows the group’s third album Godless Ceremony of 2021 and their 2022 EP Bahar.

    TRACK LISTING

    A1. Sunshine (Extended Mix)
    A2. Kalpler
    B1. Simple Man (Extended Mix)
    B2. Hemşin

    Islandman Ft Okay Temiz And Muhlis Berberoğlu

    Direct-to-Disc Sessions

      Balearic folktronica meets percussion genius on a unique one-take recording that finds Turkish downtempo specialist Islandman in triple conference with legendary percussion innovator Okay Temiz, and contemporary saz virtuoso Muhlis Berberoğlu.

      Recorded in Amsterdam for Night Dreamer’s ground-breaking Direct-To-Disc series, the session captures the innovative brilliance of the great Okay Temiz in full flow over Islandman’s trademark balearic-tinged production, alongside the modern Anadolu folk sound of Berberoğlu’s saz.

      Freewheeling dance project Islandman moves in a bold new direction with this essential Direct-To-Disc session featuring storied Turkish percussionist Okay Temiz and contemporary saz player Muhlis Berberoğlu. Expanding beyond their electro-acoustic DJ formula into a wider sound world of experimental instruments, neo-traditional rhythms and folk improvisation, Islandman’s vision on this Night Dreamer disc seeks to reconnect cerebral downtempo beat- making with the folkloric and ritual bedrock that their music has always rested on.

      Bandleader Tolga Boyuk’s vision has always been expansive, and the link-up with Night Dreamer was a chance to try out a more spontaneous style of playing and recording. ‘When Night Dreamer told me about their label, for which they only record Direct-to-Disc, I wanted to go there with a special project,’ he says. ‘I thought it would be a nice opportunity to make a more organic, more live and more improvised album. So I came up with the idea to make it with Okay Temiz.’

      Known for his inventive genius on percussion instruments ranging from the berimbau to the bricklayer’s trowel, Turkish percussionist and drummer Okay Temiz is one of the world’s foremost improvising musicians. In the course of a career stretching back to the mid-1960s, he has collaborated with jazz greats including Don Cherry and Johnny Dyani, led his own Oriental Wind unit, and played with countless musicians across dozens of genres. His 1975 single ‘Denizaltı Rüzgarları’ is a revered break-beat classic among crate-diggers worldwide, and it gets a refixed outing on this disc. ‘Okay Temiz is a real legend for us,’ reflects Boyuk. ‘He's very special to the Turkish music scene. He is one of a kind, and his music has always been so free. He's always been very special. And we always wanted to do something with him.’

      Approached for the project by Islandman’s drummer Eralp Güven, the always open and experimental Temiz was enthusiastic to participate. To complete the unit, Boyuk turned to Muhlis Berberoğlu: ‘He's a very young but amazing virtuoso saz player. He represents the young generation of Anatolian music – very open-minded and very open to working together. So I wanted to invite him too, and I wanted to create an album of folk songs with Okay Temiz’s crazy instruments and Muhlis’s virtuoso saz playing.’

      The session unfolded with controlled unpredictability. Boyuk arrived at the studio with simply produced tracks, and from there the ensemble let improvisation and organic synergy take control. The brilliant wildcard was the effervescent imagination of Temiz, who came equipped with an eclectic mix of homemade instruments including an electrified flute made of industrial bathroom piping, and a shaker with a contact mic wired to a wah-wah pedal: ‘Okay put all these instruments on a table, and he put a stereo microphone left and right. And then he grabs one of his instruments, and he’s moving around the mics to create a live ambisonic sound – a very open space. We were amazed at how brave he is. He's not afraid of the physics of sound, or the technology of sound recording – he always wants to be very edgy.’

      Combined with Islandman’s subtle and responsive beat-science and Berberoğlu’s scintillating agility on the saz, Temiz’s visionary rhythm force leads the session into unknown territories of improvised future-folklore, strictly for the heads. ‘All the tracks here have folk song melodies in them’, explains Boyuk, in conclusion. ‘And all of them are from different regions of Turkey. They have different senses of rhythm, specific to the regions. I wanted it to be a picture from different places in Turkey.’ 

      STAFF COMMENTS

      Matt says: A smouldering melting pot of global influences executed with flair and panache. This is a highly infectious blend - jam packed with organic instrumentation, decorated with psychedelic flurries of electronic wizardry and driving by some highly skilled musicians. In short - an outernational future classic!

      TRACK LISTING

      A1. Aşik Atişmasi
      A2. Şeker Oğlan
      B1. Deni̇z Alti Rüzgarlari
      B2. Fi̇dayda
      C1. Kaleni̇n Bedenleri̇
      D1. Yayla Yollari 

      Turkish trio Islandman have been busy of late with festival and club gigs around the globe. Now they are setting off on a cross cultural sound journey with their second album “Kaybola” (which means to get lost to find a new way in Turkish). The record is chock full of ethno-cultural material from Japan to Bulgaria, including field recordings of Tuva, Central Asia throat singers. Shamanic rhythms were introduced to nomadic guitars, combining with compact electronic structures, finally transforming jazz elements into dance movements of a tribe that no one knew and emerged as "Kaybola".

      The album has been 2 years in the making and the result will no doubt gain a whole new fanbase. An intoxicating mix of experimental electronics punctuated by distinctly Turkish instrumentation. The album features the single "Lamani" a hypnotically psychedelic hip-swiveler of a track. It also features their latest single "Dimitro" which is their superb re-work of a traditional Bulgarian wedding song using 808 drum machine & bass to work it into a slow-mo dance track whilst retaining the raw vocals and ritualistic feeling. Tolga found the original record whilst digging in a world music record store in Istanbul and immediately fell in love with the vocals.Other highlights on the record include sunset, chill fave "Khepre", the dancefloor chugger "Shu" & the superbly catchy trumpet banger "Sahara", and Pink Floyd vibes on the hippie synth based "Hold Your Breath".

      This special edition double vinyl release includes 5 tracks that are not on the digital album each with their own unique style and includes collaborations with Ibiza legend DJ Pippi on Sem Voce and the jazz journey of Lumiere, produced in Denmark with label mates The Swan & The Lake & Langkilde. Altogether a wonderful new album by Islandman who has taken another musical leap forward from his critically acclaimed debut album "Rest in Space".


      TRACK LISTING

      A1. Dimitro
      A2. Kaybola
      A3. Zebra
      A4. Hold Your Breath
      B1. Sahara 
      B2. Lumiere Et Penombre Feat, The Swan & The Lake & Langkilde 
      B3. Marakesh
      B4. Jambo Maro 
      C1. Sem Voce Feat. Copenema & DJ Pippi 
      C2. Khepre
      C3. Shu
      D1. Lamani
      D2. Island Dub 
      D3. Rama
      D4. Sumeru 

      Islandman are a musical trio from Istanbul and "Godless Ceremony" is their third album, released via our much treasured friends at Music For Dreams. Alligance with the label is bound to signify a degree of horizontal leaning, and across the double album Islandman explore slow-mo Balearic chug, eastern melodies, downtempo house, expansive horizons and sun scorched air. An incendiary, uplifting and psychedelic slew of music drawn from a world of make-believe, rooted in Anatolia and rich with exotic beauty.

      These 13 tracks are awash with acid drenched electronic motifs and stuttering electronic drum machine syncopations. The group effortlessly sail the globe, dropping into the tropics of Ecuador ("Amarnos Ahora"), to Mali visiting North African desert blues masters Tamikrest ("Tarhamanine Assinegh") and North India ("Drums Of Colca") whilst never forgetting the music and poetry from the band's spiritual home, Anatolia ("Kara Toprak"). In "Godless Ceremony" we are withdrawn from time and place, delivered to a fantasy zone, dreamt up in the sea, gazing at the stars. It's a musical storyboard, that whilst conceived in Istanbul by producer, singer and multi instrumentalist Tolga Böyük, journeys to far off places, real and imagined. Hindustani tablas, Tibetan flutes, flamenco guitars, Anatolian Saz and Balinese (Bhasa) vocals all mesh within a concept (and coping mechanism) that contemplates daily routine as beautiful and meditative and as Tolga has appreciated over a testing two years i

      The core members of Islandman are multi-instrumentalist & producer, Tolga Böyük and Eralp Güven (percussion) and Erdem Başer (guitars). Islandman have become known for their live performances, as anyone who has witnessed their live streams from Istanbul for the London Jazz Festival and Boiler Room can attest to.

      Islandman simply avoids boundaries and "Godless Ceremony" is ultimately their most open-minded work to date. The subtleties and deft electronic touches bewilder and their clear appreciation of music on a global level is an education for us all.

      STAFF COMMENTS

      Barry says: Godless Ceremony sits perfectly in-between the dancefloor and the beach, with tropical rhythms and airy ambience beautifully twisting around a solid core of deep-house percussion and euphoric vocal melodies. Perfectly measured and beautifully rich.

      TRACK LISTING

      A1 Kara Toprak
      A2 Sattva
      A3 Aku Membawa - Radio Edit
      A4 Sad Walk
      B1 Tarhamanine Assinegh Feat. Tamikreast
      B2 Drums Of Colca
      B3 Istanbul Lockdown
      C1 Amarnos Ahora
      C2 Godless Ceremony
      C3 Eros Dosco Bossa
      D1 Dere Boyu Kavaklar
      D2 Self Hypnosis
      D3 Gaze Into An Abyss


      Latest Pre-Sales

      158 NEW ITEMS

      E-newsletter —
      Sign up
      Back to top