DEDE Mercan
Breath

DM 033


DoubleMoon
Turchia

 

Inspirational expirations

The Turkish-born, Montreal-based music master who put a UV-lit whirling dervish on stage and wowed the crowd with a fantastic dance set at London’s Forum last year has produced a beautiful, contemplative and very listenable album in Breath. This is the third instalment of a four-part series, following Nar (fire) Su (water) and, I guess, anticipating an Earth to come.
The opening track ‘Hininga’, with its mix of hurdy-gurdy, programmed drums, strings, bells and percussion is a wonder. The hypnotic beats and Sufi spirituality for which Dede has become known are peppered throughout, and, in addition to his own debut vocal foray, reed flute and electronic contributions, there is a eulogy to the visionary Kani Karaca, a musician blind from the age of two who committed the Koran to memory. His death, a couple of years ago, doesn’t hinder his appearance on ‘Zefir’, which features a sample from an archive recording of ‘Ode to the Nightingale’. Besides his mystical voice, there is the Iranian vocalist Asam Ali, and also the fine Kurdish singer Aynur Doðan, who lifts ‘Behin’ into a plaintive, keening, emotional place. Hypnotic, intelligent, mystical and musical, this record is a beguiling triumph.

Mark Espiner
(from Songlines # 39)