Originally posted on Fat Planet.
DOWNLOAD: 2/5 BZ okuz istanbul (peel session II)
some time ago a small envelope arrived in the post; inside were three homespun cd-rs from turkey from the artist 2/5 bz. at first it was difficult to know what to make of them – blended audio and video cut-ups of local turkish music, found sound (particularly street and market recordings), news reports, film soundtrack, breakcore, abstract electronics and a great deal more.
further investigation revealed that 2/5 bz (aka serhat koksal) is no ordinary musician, and rather belongs to an ever-growing generation of sound artists who have rightly invaded the world of sampling culture and have manipulated it for their own political means. the 2/5 bz multimedia project began in 1986 in istanbul, and in the intervening decades serhat has developed a palate that includes video collage, zine distribution, cd-r and a sprawling live show. those performances have taken him to cities and festivals worldwide – during august and september he will be artist-in-residency in berlin / podewil for the tesla sound & video art project .
a visit to 2-5bz.com reveals as much as it conceals – a surfeit of information, presented in multiple collages of layered electro-psychadelia; often impossible to penetrate, but nonetheless fascinating. therein lies the heart of the 2/5 bz experience.
his latest release ‘militant oriental – peel sessions II’ is (evidently) the second collection of sessions committed to vinyl, and the only material from serhat that’s available to purchase via usual distro channels. interspersed with short out-takes from the late john peel’s bbc radio program, the tracks collected here concern themselves less with abstract sound art, instead based around a more digestible four-minute-beats format. that said, it paints a glorious picture of serhat’s mind at work, and represents some of the most innovative music being made in the middle east today.
download additional mp3s at gozel.2-5bz.comand myspace.com/2serhat5bz
buy ‘militant oriental’ (g√∂zel records) from juno