Doublemoon Kadınları [V.A/Turquia/World music]

Fundada en 1998 como una rama de las producciones de Pozitif, Doublemoon Records, una discográfica independiente con sede pionera en Estambul, Turquía,se ha dedicado a la difusión del tapiz cultural que es el sonido de la ciudad en todo el mundo. Doublemoon ha hecho un nombre, por sí misma ,que es sinónimo de la fusión del mundo donde las almas globales se reúnen jazz y del mundo, acústicos y electrónicos, y la música occidental y oriental.

Doublemoon pays tribute to the most memorable songs by the women in its orbit on this very special compilation, celebrating the label’s 10th anniversary.

“Doublemoon Women” is a musical story of female experiences. Featuring stories of those who migrate, seek, find, question and recount… Living independent of years and addresses, these women are both young and mature, near and far. Hailing from Germany, America, Canada, Anatolia, Iran and India… mingling the past, the contemporary and the future.

The women on “Doublemoon Women” are storytellers. Not just with their voices and music but also through their own stories. Some stories are riotous, others are questioning, all of the stories are communicated using the power of sounds and lyrics. Despite their differences in age, identity, voice, attitude and emotion, all of these women are profound believers in the facts that they are distinguished believers in the power of musical expression as well as they are all ladies create a common ground.

The opening track is “Kuşu Kalkmaz”: a song with provocative lyrics written and sung by the US- based Sultana. These lyrics communicate the convergence of Hatice, a woman working in a seedy Turkish gentleman’s club and Döndü a woman who waits at home each night for the husband she was sold to for a bride price to return. The beauty of the song is the way in which a modern Turkish woman, Sultana seizes hip-hop and rap and uses it as her tool to communicate the injustices of a culture in which women are still sold and pimped out to men. Sultana plucks words used on a daily basis such as “kadınbudu köfte (lady thighs meatball), “başlık parası” (bride price), “balını yalamak” (licking honey) and forces the listener to consider their origin.

Although Sultana narrates her tale using local names and actors, she burlesques so-called manhood in general. It is obvious that what she tells us, through both the story and the music, is of local nature as well as universal.

Next up is Natacha Atlas: an artist born to an Egyptian father of Jewish origin and a hippie British mother. A gifted songstress who reveals the presence of the east in the west and west in the east; On “Habibi—Beloved” Atlas calls out to her love over a foundation of Arab melodies.

Soprano Ayşe Sicimoğlu makes her mark by singing a song previously recorded by Dario Moreno, Four Lads and Frankie Vaughn in the dynamic, fun-loving and even cheeky voice of a young girl...artfully capping off the familiar song with a surprise ending conveying a thirst for life felt so passionately in the young...A harbinger of stories to come.

Still in the prologue of the story of her life, Burcu Baş possesses a voice that first entered our consciousness on a surprising, entertaining and melancholic album. Only 14 years old, she invites us to discover Roman culture...

On “Dera Sor”, Aynur Doğan, the “Keçe Kurdan (Kurdish Maiden)”, proves that stories can transcend the barriers of language when communicated through the universal language of music ... Through her delivery the audience is fully exposed to love, misery, exile, pain and joy.

In an interview Doğan emphasizes her belief in the power of the female intuition. Her lifespan— comprising haunts in Tunceli, Elazığ, Istanbul, England and the USA—seems to confirm this very belief. Getting her start singing traditional folksongs in upland meadows Doğan says “I used to wish I could make myself heard”. Doğan now wishes to perform concerts all around the world. Because she believes that music and emotions are not restricted to any one language. Because she still has many tales to tell...

Sabahat Akkiraz takes centerstage next. A woman who has devoted her life to excavating the stories found in the heart of Turkey, Akkiraz has traveled around Anatolia compiling folksongs, listening to stories and witnessing real-life fairytales. Having commenced her personal journey in Germany, Akkiraz is best known for preserving the stories of this country and for managing to illustrate the tales of this landscape to the entire world

Similar to Akkiraz, Brenna MacCrimmon is a traveler, researcher, rapt listener and an adept narrator. Her story begins in Canada where she discovered a passion for a genre of music that led her to the Balkans and subsequently, to Turkey. She says: “it’s necessary to study and comprehend the cultural history and historical facts leading to the formation of these timbres in order to properly vocalize Balkan folksongs.” Not content to just know the songs, MacCrimmon tries to figure out their secrets… make them her own…pulling them out of her ever-traveling carpetbag of tricks to infuse the atmosphere with the musical spirt she has internalized, wherever she may go.

In “Bir Sana Bir de Bana”, she successfully illuminates the sorrow within the story of the song. While she sings “Down from the clouds I let myself down, never did the end seem so welcome, embraced by my emotions, I secretly held your hand”, she portrays a courageous woman in love.
A “fairy-tale” Diva, possessing a voice, looks and attitude that have led her fans to question her very existence, Emel Sayın graces center-stage next. The woman who has shaped the perception of femininity in this landscape through the songs she has sung and the roles she has inhabited on film, is in fact a “dream lady”… a legend just as powerful, permanent and genuine as the tales themselves.

Working to update Turkish classical music together with Burhan Öçal, Sayın contributes her vocals and singular style. Her passionate delivery when crooning “drifted apart as abruptly as would an avalanche, lights faded out, darkness reigned supreme” reveals that thrilling new musical journeys and unique stories will always remain appealing to her.
In “Ime Prezakias”, Funda Güllü builds a cross-cultural bridge that connects the deep blue sea to the blue sky above using her voice, her music…. Blowing Balkan breezes through Anatolia and into our ears… she is whispering an intriguing blend of familiar music and uncommon new sounds into a charming story beyond the constraints of traditional speech.

Aziza A., “the first oriental hip-hop goddess” gets her chance to show her stuff: Be all ears to hear the music infused with oriental motifs and distinctive lyrics recounting the realities of ordinary lives.
A supernatural voice: singer Susheela Raman is Indian in origin, born and raised in England and an Australian resident. Perhaps the stories she tells are mostly quotes from her own story, because reflections of cultural unisons are audible in both her voice and music. As she sings in many tongues, words and languages often seamlessly mingle and flow into each other. In “Ab-ı Beka”, meaning “water of eternity” Raman projects her voice over the harmony of wind and percussion instruments to serve as the embodiment of eternity.

The album’s final female: Azam Ali was born in Iran, raised in India, and eventually immigrated to America. Independent of geographical and chronological boundaries, when she is singing, Ali is free from any rules and restrictions. She regards her voice as “a God-given grace… a reflection derived from within”. Presented with the formidable task of capturing the purest possible form purification on “Dem”, Ali’s interpretation mixes into Mercan Dede’s breath.
With its songs, music and lyrics this album suits the women of Doublemoon. It reminds those of us who insist on the uniqueness of the Earth, Moon, Sun and facts that all realities are in fact multi-faceted and that there are many different sides to a story. A fact that all women are intuitively aware of… the women of Doublemoon salute the ladies empowered by this abundance.

http://www.doublemoon.com.tr

1 Sultana / Kuşu Kalkmaz
2 Natacha Atlas, Burhan Öçal / Habibi
3 Ayşe Sicimoğlu, Ayhan Sicimoğlu / Istanbul Pas Constantinople
4 Burcu Baş, Burhan Öçal And The Trakya All Stars/ Karabiber
5 Aynur Doğan, Orient Expressions/ Dera Sor
6 Sabahat Akkiraz, Orient Expressions / Nokta
7 Brenna MacCrimmon, Baba Zula/ Bir Sana Bir De Bana
8 Emel Sayın, Burhan Öçal / Ben Ağlarken
9 Funda Güllü, Buzuki Orhan Osman/ Ime Prezakias
10 Aziza A. / Takil Bana
11 Susheela Raman, Mercan Dede / Ab-ı Beka
12 Azam Ali, Mercan Dede / Dem

Doublemoon Kadınları