Grup Ses & Elektro Hafiz – Varyete [Zel Zele Records]

Morning Mari*‘s album of the week is “Varyete” by Grup Ses and Elektro Hafiz out on Zel Zele Records.

Varyete is the new collaborative album from Istanbul’s producer extraordinaire Grup Ses and Cologne-based electric-saz player Elektro Hafız. Travelling from deep Anatolian psychedelic grooves to dirty electronics, playful beats and hip hop, Varyete is an adventurous ride of genre-bending music.

The opening track, ‘Mega Hafıza 2’, is based around Elektro Hafız’s strong psychedelic chops on the electric saz, backed up by Grup Ses’ raw, neck-stepping beats. ‘Gargara’ takes things even deeper featuring an exploration into Tuvan throat singing, laying over a driving rhythm section and an atonal saz chord. Across the first side of the album, the duo take forays into soundscapes, psych, acid and electronics with remixes from Berlin’s producer Onofon and
Istanbul’s acclaimed hip hop producer and MC Da Poet adding yet more layers.

Being a prolific crate digger and a sampling whiz, Grup Ses is armed with the perfect source material for Varyete. He sits at the controls for B side, kicking off with a Grup Ses classic ‘Atardamar Operasyonu’, which has been on heavy rotation on Istanbul’s dancefloors, finally sees its release here. The track is a hard-bodied hip-hop smash infused with arabesque melodies. ‘Re Ya Hat’ features one of the only vocal performances on the album courtesy of
Istanbul natives Roadside_Picnic, who deliver menacing double-time bars over a doomy beat. Grup Ses manages to tip-the-hat to the styles of yesteryear and gaze into the future while maintaining an immediately recognisable individual style. ‘Grup Ses Meets Salah Ragab in Spacetime’ sees the producer flip a sample from the Egyptian jazz musician Salah Ragab into an astral facing drum workout. Varyete finishes off with Telesafir 2, dramatic strings droned out with distortion effects to leave the listener in a state of wonder.

Grup Ses

Blurring the lines between artist and archivist, Grup Ses is one of the leading heads of Istanbul’s beats scene. The producer and DJ can be found schooling Turkish music lovers with his #AwesomeTapesFromTurkey digging project unveiling unheard cassette jams from the 1970s to mid-90s. Following 2016’s Alliance LP, he recently released a collaborative album with Ethnique Punch on Discrepant Records. Grup Ses performed in various festivals such as Distortion (DEN), Le Guess Who (NL), Milhões de Festa (POR), Off Istanbul (BEL) and Other Futures (NL).

Elektro Hafız

Born and raised in Istanbul, Elektro Hafız is currently residing in Cologne. His open approach to mixing Eastern and Western musical styles is his trademark, as well as his provocative style complemented by a healthy dose of humour. His diverse compositions are influenced by his Anatolian roots, which are reflected in his instrument of choice, the microtonal electric saz. The past years saw Elektro Hafız performing in Berlin, Paris, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Barcelona, and Brussels.

Tracklist:

A side: Elektro Hafız
A1 Mega Hafıza 2 (with Grup Ses)
A2 Gargara
A3 Mega Hafıza 2 (Grup Ses Acid cut)
A4 Aralık
A5 Yarım Pansiyon (with Grup Ses)
A6 Agar (Onofon Remix)
A7 Yarım Pansiyon with Grup Ses (Da Poet Remix)

B side: Grup Ses
B1 Atardamar Operasyonu
B2 RSPC – Ya Hat (Grup Ses Remix)
B3 Paran Yetmez
B4 Analog Şeytan (VIP Mix)
B5 Grup Ses meets Salah Ragab in Spacetime
B6 Büyüleyici part 4
B7 MMH Extended edit
B8 Telesafir 2