Time to reveal one of my favorite genres to listen to when deep in writing – Türkü, Turkish folk music, which can come in several forms, but I like them for working as I can sort of ignore the lyrics (since my Turkish isn’t fluent by any means), and let the music drive me and concentrate in a way that more hypnotic and entrancing genres like Qawwali and Persian classical don’t allow. That’s not to say Türkü isn’t great on its own merits though – today’s song of the day is one of my favorites, “Ada Sahilleri,” AKA “Ada Sahillerinde Bekliyorum,” “Adalar Sahilinde,” or several variations (“The shores of the island,” “I’m waiting on the shores of the island,” and “on the shore of the islands,” respectively), referring to the Prince’s Islands, simply known as the “Islands” in the Marmara Sea just off the coast and within sight of Istanbul.  This is, then, one of the more famous Istanbul türküs, about waiting on the shores of the island, and among other things, watching over the lover’s travels, and asking to be made happy and later remembered as he passes away.

Being a folk song, there’s no definitive version, so here are a couple of the better ones. İyi çalışmalar! -work well (for the weekend is nigh!)

(first half)

Paco de Lucia meets 1980s Metallica – two Mexican metalheads gypsyfy their style, with brilliant results. Total roller coaster of a song by one of the more original and captivating acts out there – check out the rest of their stuff ASAP!