When Amsterdam-based Turkish psych purveyor Altin Gün rolled into Paris’ Le Trianon in March, it worked up a nearly eight-minute version of the regional folk song “Yali Yali,” which previously appeared on the band’s 2021 album Âlem. SPIN today (Sept. 10) premieres that Paris live recording in tandem with the band’s ongoing North American tour, which visits San Francisco tonight (Sept. 11).
Officially called “Çayeli’nden Öteye,” “Yali Yali” is best known by modern audiences through its 1977 cover by Turkish singer Neşe Karaböcek, whose own version sampled the Jesus Christ Superstar track “Heaven on Their Minds.” In 2013, Norwegian electronic artist Todd Terje caused a stir with his edit of the song, and earlier this summer, Karaböcek revisited it again with Mahmut Orhan for an Ultra Records release shortened to “Yali.”
“The song is about love, longing and separation,” the band says of the song, which originated in the Rize region of northeastern Turkey. “It describes the Black Sea landscape and the emotions of someone longing for their beloved and homeland.”
Altın Gün just began a North American tour in support of its latest ATO album, Garip, which runs through Sept. 26 in Pittsburgh and features support from the Black Angels’ Alex Maas. The LP sports new versions of songs by Anatolian legend Neşet Ertaş, who penned hundreds of songs, recorded more than 30 albums from 1957 onwards and is revered for updating the ashik folk tradition for modern listeners.
When I was five, six years old, my grandfather always had cassettes by Neşet Ertaş and I used to listen to it all day long,” Altın Gün multi-instrumentalist Erdinç Eçevit says. “Then, I was too young to really understand the lyrics and the meaning, but I really liked the melodies. [They’re] stories about what he’s facing in life. The Turkish traditional music is the blues of the Turkish people.”
