Turkey is a transcontinental country with a very rich history, packed with cultural heritage.
It’s the sixth most visited tourist destination in the world, and you probably didn’t know that one of the Mediterranean’s primary sea turtle nesting beaches is there!
What might be even more interesting is that Istanbul has one of Europe’s most exciting art scenes.
We found a performance of one of Istanbul’s music groups, and we’re pretty sure this is one of the best acts from both sides of the Bosphorus. Check it out.
The band Light In Babylon sheds new light on Istanbul’s soul.
Roots Magazine described the band as “a celebration of the cosmopolitan traditions of both Istanbul and the Sephardic Jewish community and another example of the great music that is coming out of the Eastern Mediterranean right now.”
We must agree. The band has a fresh and original approach, this performance sounds amazing. We bet they made happy everyone who was passing down the Istiklal Avenue that day. The video was uploaded on YouTube in 2013 by a man who says that he was simply enthralled, and had to share it. Who could blame him?
Light In Babylon released their first album Life Sometimes Doesn’t Give Yu Space in 2012. Then, in 2016, their second album saw the light of the world. Interestingly enough, the album was called Yeni Dunya which means “New World.”
As the video begins, you can see a man playing an instrument that doesn’t seem familiar.
It’s called the santur, and you probably haven’t seen it a lot as it’s not so common worldwide. That only adds to its charm, don’t you think? Santur is a percussion string instrument which consists of strings stretched over a trapezoidal resonant soundboard. It’s of Iranian or Mesopotamian origins. The man who plays santur is Turkish, but we love the fact that the rest of the band comes from different parts of the world.
The fusion of different ethnicities and cultures usually results in something incredible.
The singer is Israeli and the guitarist is French, and they often cooperate with English and Iranian musicians.
Light In Babylon have been around since 2010, and they have toured in Turkey, Cyprus, Germany, Switzerland, France, Hungary, Greece, Finland and India. They also appear regularly in a Turkish TV show by TRT Haber DD, and have been on Arte Channel.
The audience loves their alternative sound!
We can see that the audience is enjoying themselves to the fullest.
Since most of the people in the crowd are probably tourists, we love how everyone listens to the band carefully. It just shows that it doesn’t matter where you come from—if something’s good, it’s good. Simple as that.
The band members are even more impressive!
Looking at them, you get the feeling that their minds have already transcended to some different place—and the music they play holds the key to such travel.
We can only say that this was a very pleasant performance. Different, new and yet so easy to get into.
It’s not so hard to learn the Turkish language.
Despite the very popular belief, experts claim that the Turkish language is fairly easy to pick up.
We’re telling you this because the song is in Turkish. If you were intrigued by the language, feel encouraged to dig a little bit deeper!
Since it was uploaded, the video got 20 million YouTube views, and we can only notice that the alternative scene has never been more promising!
Check out the full performance in the link below:
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