| features in: Album Chart of 1975 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s |
It’s exceedingly difficult to get a good grasp of Selda Bağcan’s complete discography – I spent a long-time having a go, and reckon her to have released 19 “A-list” albums between 1975-2011. The most difficult area seems to be at the very start i.e. the mid-70s. From what I can ascertain, the Türküola label, founded in Germany, was first to showcase Selda’s work on albums, and I think that German-produced cassettes were first on the scene in 1975, initially serving as round-up compilations of single sides recorded in the first-half of the 70s. “Selda 4” was the first of these cassettes to break the mould and include “hot-off-the-press” recordings of new material in 1975. 12 of these 15 recordings would be released on her first long-player, “Selda” released in Turkey in 1976 on Türküola (Turkey) LP 304. If anyone with deep expertise on the subject could clarify my reading of the situation then I’d be delighted to hear from you. By ’75, Selda had left behind her acoustic-guitar-led brand of middle-eastern folk, and had radicalised her sound, collaborating with cutting-edge young Turks such as Moğollar, fusing the exotic folklore heritage of Anatolia with western pop and rock, enthusiastically embracing new synthesizer technologies. The results here are highly interesting, even if I’m rarely over-excited. Her voice is a constant force of nature itself, and the overall mix keeps me engaged for 50 minutes; the flat “Euro-Pop” moments are overcome with plenty of edgy highs such as “Gitme”, “Yaylalar”, “Mehmet Emmi” and the excellent closer, “Bad-I Sabah”. Notably, my two favourite tracks are the ones which sound most Turkish; make of that what you will.
The Jukebox Rebel
20–Aug–2016
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [03:48]  Selda - Dam Üstüne Çul Serer (Selda Bağcan) Folk |
| A2 | [03:02]  Selda - Dost Uyan (Aşık Mahzuni Şerif) Folk Rock / Americana |
| A3 | [04:12]  Selda - Gitme (Neşet Ertaş) Cerebral Pop |
| A4 | [03:41]  Selda - Kızıldere (Aşık Ihsani) Folk |
| A5 | [03:42] Selda - İnce İnce Bir Kar Yağar (Aşık Mahzuni Şerif) Folk Rock / Americana |
| A6 | [03:05]  Selda - Anayasso (Selda Bağcan, Şemsi Belli) Cerebral Pop |
| A7 | [03:38]  Selda - Nasırlı Eller (?) Pop Ballad |
| A8 | [02:13]  Selda - Aşkın Bir Ateş (Ülkü Aker) Folk |
| B1 | [03:15]  Selda - Niye Çattın Kaşlarını (Neşet Ertaş) Rock |
| B2 | [03:47]  Selda - Yaylalar (?) Rock |
| B3 | [03:39]  Selda - Meydan Sizindir (Aşık Mahzuni Şerif) Rock |
| B4 | [04:54]  Selda - Gine Haber Gelmiş (?) Middle Eastern |
| B5 | [03:22]  Selda - Mehmet Emmi (Aşık Mahzuni Şerif) Middle Eastern |
| B6 | [02:45]  Selda - Yaz Gazeteci Yaz (Aşık Mahzuni Şerif) Folk Rock / Americana |
| B7 | [04:24]  Selda - Bad-I Sabah (Traditional) Middle Eastern |
