Kaybola - Islandman (2020)
I’m generally not a fan of terms like “world music” or “global music” because it seems essentialist: what you really mean is that it didn’t come from the US or the UK so it must be that single other thing that isn’t “normal” music. Nobody would try to label Miles Davis, Olivia Rodrigo, Aaron Copeland, and Metallica as “American Music” because it wouldn’t make any damn sense. So why should music from four other continents and a thousand different musical traditions get one label applied to it?
My self-righteousness kind of gets wrecked, though, when trying to describe Islandman. The band itself centers around Turkish producer Tolga Böyük. There is some of the 20th century psychedelic music you hear from around the Mediterranean and the Middle East, but it gets mixed with modern electronic production, sophisticated dub, dancefloor beats, funk bass, and the north African “desert blues” guitar sound I’m such a sucker for.
While that sounds like a recipe for a hot mess, it actually stays surprisingly well-organized. Everything seems to fit together to keep it from overwhelming. Other everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-core acts trade in keeping the listener off balance, swirling their influences into a heavy stew. Islandman keeps everything much more neatly organized. It’s a record of solid deep listening music first and foremost, with lots of layers to drill into if you want.
