Kazim Çalisgan & Andreas Heuser - Asya

Just as Istanbul serves as a meaningful connective link between two continents, Kazim Çalisgan and Andreas Heuser constantly cross the "musical Bosporus" between Central European and "Oriental" musical tradition on this production. Other than customary with many of the "world music" offshoots, Turkish music is constantly in the foreground on Asya and isn't just exotic ornamentation. This is manifested not only in the many traditional melody fragments and the wonderful "uneven" Balkanesque rhythms but also in the primarily Turkish instruments - the "conventional" steelstring or concert guitar, which appear quite nonconformist with their ten strings, tend to be more of a fine spice than an aroma-defining ingredient on this album. This makes Asya a delight for all the ears plagued by the mainstream, a dazzling pleasure for all those who have always assumed there was a musical life beyond four-four time.