Bunalim CD

Collecting the few singles released by the act in the early '70s, Turkey's Bunalim is notable for being a fairly unsettled group in terms of lineup -- only one performer, guitarist, and occasional vocalist Aydin Cakus, appear on all the singles. But the grab bag of styles that results throughout the disc is a good enough portrait of what the Turkish rock scene of the time was like -- occasional bursts of wild, rampant energy set against a calmer, more conservative interpretation labeled "Andalou rock," which, according to the liner notes, none of the main members of Bunalim were too thrilled about having to perform. These tensions aside and allowing for the unstable lineup, this compilation never fails to be enjoyable; if many of the songs might be too staid for modern listeners there (or indeed elsewhere), as atmospheric heavy-riffing freak-outs with touches of traditional music they're simply marvelous. Opening instrumental "Basak Saclim" could well have been the theme song to any biker movie of the time if it was set on the Anatolian plateau instead of Death Valley. Meanwhile, the A-side of the first single, "Tas Var Kopek Yok," is pure rough craziness, with barked vocals, sudden mid-song silences and a martial, rolling beat that finds its own logic, even wrapping up with a random conversational snippet and a barking dog. Those songs in the Andalou rock style featuring traditional singing styles, such as "Hele Hele Gel," may lack in the total insanity department but are still wonderfully off-kilter -- and if "Bir Dunya da Bana Ver" ends up with a more polite freakbeat style for most of its length, the opening seconds alone are chaos incarnate. ~ Ned Raggett

Personnel: Arif Sag (saz); Cengiz Teoman, Nur Yenal (drums).