November 28, 2009
Sweet'n Lowdown Track List: November 28th Edition

Winter Can Wait! Another beautiful sunny day in Istanbul, made even lovelier due to the fact that many have evacuated the city to take advantage of the 4-day weekend, leaving those of us who remain here with a more manageable, peaceful Istanbul.

I’m kicking off the show today with Mumford & Sons, a nu-folk band out of the UK, whose debut album “Sigh No More” was released about a month ago on Island Records.

File next to Noah & the Whale, Wild Beasts, Laura Marling & The Swell Season…and if you are in Turkey I believe you can pick up a copy of the album from Groove Music in Reasurans Pasaji. As for concerts you can check out the dark & gloomy folk rock music of Wovenhand tomorrow night, the 29th, at Babylon if you are in town or if you want something a bit warmer with a free-wheeling spirit then Danish indie rock band Efterklang at Indigo is my recommendation for you!

Another act that’s been getting a lot of buzz over the past two weeks or so is a duo out of Manchester by the name of HURTS. I first read about the band on Dreamwater’s blog (http://hayalsu.tumblr.com/) and once again a few days later by my friend Bee from the up and coming live electronic synthpop act, Soaked http://www.myspace.com/soaked2009. The song is sure to be remixed a dozen times before the band even play their first just-announced gigs in February.

I’ve started researching acts to be playing at 2010 SXSW—the first 200 names were announced on www.sxsw.com this week—and one act I recommend if you like Saddle Creek, The Faint, David Bowie & Arcade Fire is Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson.

His sophomore album “Summer of Fear” is out now, produced by TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone and represented by one of my favorite agents Andy Duggan…MBAR seems destined to be featured on many soundtracks & festival lineups in 2010.

I love hip hop but don’t have many friends who share my love over here in Istanbul and to be honest I’m really slow to discover key names. A few weeks ago I was raving over Jay-Z’s signing for Roc Nation, J.Cole and this week I am really excited about shining some light on the last two names today….Skyzoo & Kidz in the Hall. Skyzoo’s ascent has been a long time coming as he started spitting lyrics at the tender age of 9 and later competed on BET’s 106 & Park freestyle contest… in short he’s probably filled his 10000 hours and is on his way to becoming a master of his craft. His album “The Salvation” is free of guest performers, reserving center stage for Skyzoo’s rhyming skillz. Chicago’s Kidz in the Hall on the other hand have an all-star cast such as Estelle, Skyzoo, Gym Class Heroes appearing on their 2008 release “The In-Crowd”. The male vocals on “Love Hangover” have a Kanye-esque swagger to them, which is probably why I was so drawn to the track.

Playlist:::::::

Little Lion Man // Mumford & Sons

Whirring // Arms

Island, IS // Volcano Choir

Laura // Girls

The Sound// Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson

Honey Trap // We Have Band

There Is XXXX (Within My Heart) // You Say Party! We Say Die!

Norway // Beach House

Everything Is Shattering // Maps

Wonderful Life // HURTS

Moonsoon // Delorean

Quiet Little Voices // We Were Promised Jetpacks

Don’t Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go) // Noisettes

Love Hangover (feat. Estelle) // Kidz In the Hall

Under Pressure // Skyzoo

1:48pm  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/260660248/snl281109
November 24, 2009
Let's Give Em Somethin' To Talk About: Samantha Ronson to Istanbul

One of the bold-faced names in the entertainment industry here in Istanbul is Melisa Cakarlar, and with her latest booking for a party for Zen Diamond she does not disappoint. DJ Samantha Ronson (Mark & Charlotte’s sister—what a family!) will be in town in December and spinning before a crowd of lucky attendees.

Oh, and for all of you Melisa naysayers out there, I have one message for you…Don’t hate the player, hate the game!

6:23pm  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/255763688/samantharonson
(No. OF NOTES: 1)
  
November 21, 2009
Back to Basics

I was feeling a bit under the weather, but when had that ever stopped me from going out before? Well aware that it was too late to bail on A, I just wrapped a thick scarf around my neck, pushed a pair of gloves onto my hands and skipped out into the night for a truly 21st century meet-up.

As you are all well aware, in today’s world it is easier than ever to follow your favorite musician on twitter and/or friend them on facebook. A friend of mine follows the music industry very closely by friending many of her favorite musicians and by doing so, she gets the inside info before it’s a bold-faced link appearing in my google reader. As a result of such a connection she recently noticed via a status update that one of the musicians she is “friends” with happened to be passing through Istanbul. She sent him a message and the next thing I know, I am in a cab on my way to Tunel area to join in on a dinner with the two of them.

As soon as we met up with the delightfully pleasant Todd—of Harlem Shakes & ARMS—the three of us sat down to a dinner of mezes & some Turkish lion’s milk (called so because of its translucent color upon mixing water into the colorless anise flavored liquor more commonly known as Raki or Ouzo), and quickly made up for the fact that we are perfect strangers by discussing all things music, which not-so-surprisingly gave us a lot to talk about!

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2:04am  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/251273120/vinylrevival
November 20, 2009
"You can’t take a man’s face and put it in a bowl and eat it with a spoon. I wish I had known that when I was choosing my husband. I only ever looked at the cute ones. My friends and I wouldn’t ever make a pass at a less than handsome man…and where did that get us?"

— My housekeeper, wed at 16, pregnant at 17, reflecting on her choice in a husband.

9:00pm  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/251028905/you-cant-take-a-mans-face-and-put-it-in-a-bowl
November 13, 2009
“I’ve lost my mind many times...But I’ve lost my wallet and my mobile phone many more...Cause all we’ve goooot is each other - and the Muzik! To keep us waaarm!"


The weekend of November 20th-21st. Pencil that magical weekend down in your calendar right now. If you currently have no plans and you pray at the altar of rock’n roll, then don’t miss the opportunity to see Ebony Bones on the 20thor Black Lips on the 21st…or both—like me —next weekend. There are certain blocks of time that stand out in my mind when I think of my preferred genre of music appearing on stage at Babylon. The last time we had such a great opportunity, I think it was in December of 2007 when The National played at Babylon & the following week there was Of Montreal….or maybe it was May of 2008 when Fujiya & Miyagi, Sebadoh & Broken Social Scene all appeared on stage in the course of 1 week!!! For me, those were once-in-a lifetime opportunities. If you, like me, get high from the sheer pleasure of dancing till you’re dizzy, find bumping shoulders with your neighbor a welcome throwback to the days when you actually used to mosh & enjoy getting down’n dirty for the sake of uninhibited rock’n roll then next week is for you! If you want to forget the responsibilities that nag you day in and day out and if you have always felt you are a BAMF with a rockabilly sneer(even if you don’t appear to be so on the outside) then Black Lips on Saturday is my recommendation for you.

Ebony Bones If you consider yourself an ahead-  of-the trends fashion icon within  your pack of friends and you love  to doll yourself up in Technicolor  threads bordering on the  eccentric, then Ebony Bones! is for  you, a band which by the way,  would be a very fitting guest  performer on Ugly Betty. Already a  hit with the fashion pack—her mother worked for the likes of Missoni & YSL among others—Ebony Bones can also count one of her idols, Grace Jones, as a fan!

Tickets are on sale through www.biletix.com or at the Babylon Box Office…but don’t wait until next week to buy them, as I know that both gigs will be sold out!!! Oh and also don’t forget that if you want to see both shows you can pick up a weekend pass/kombine ticket for 55 TL…Also, on Friday night my girls Pandaloop (http://pandispania.blogspot.com/) will be DJing before and after Ebony Bones’ set!

Ebony Bones RIYL: The Rapture meets Santigold…. http://www.myspace.com/ebonybones

Black Lips RIYL: King Khan & the Shrines meets Jay Reatard… http://www.myspace.com/theblacklips

1:29pm  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/242477628/millerfreshweekend
November 12, 2009
"Haven’t you heard of Obama Weather? I use it all the time. It’s great because I never knew how to dress for the weather—I mean what do you wear when it’s 21 degrees celsius?—but thanks to http://obama-weather.com/ I now have a reliable reference."

— overheard outside of 11:11 club last night…

12:36pm  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/241360676/obamaweather
(No. OF NOTES: 1)
  
November 11, 2009
11:11, make a wish!

So tonight after having a wonderful dinner with my fellow fish, I stopped by Babylon where a wonderful songstress by the name of Sema was performing for a calm and seated crowd of people mostly over age of 50, and then trotted down to check out two of Turkey’s best DJs Kaan Duzarat (aka Shrimpy) and Ali Sahinbas (Fuchs) playing under the moniker Two Blonde Guys (though in the dark they aren’t very blonde) at what we call kucuk otto, which basically translates to the OG Otto down the street from Babylon. They are doing the Sali Sallanir nights, which is basically a lets shake down Tuesday for all its worth night and to be honest, it is a great night to go out in Asmalimescit as it is so congested these days what with the smoking ban resulting in twice as many tables on the streets and ten times as many people on the streets to smoke or chat with those that are smoking! On my way out of Otto I decided to stop by a new nightgoing outlet that is opening its doors (fingers crossed!) tomorrow night. The club is the brainchild of the group behind istanbul’s best electronic music club crystal. For the past 2 years or so, crystal has suffered a bit as a result of the fact that nightlife has moved to asmalimescit/tunel area. Many people who would love to hang out at crystal are too lazy to drive to ortakoy in the afterhours and with places like lokal, otto santral and indigo they had other conveniently located dance club options. Well now with 11:11 opening at the place that used to be wann-a, get ready for your new afterhours option. The cool white interior with prismlike lighting and iceberg shaped mirrors gives the venue a futuristic feel—and smokers have no fear there is a back area for you too. The venue is sure to host big names like jimpster, radioslave, francois k, and hometown favorites like tangun, cure-shot, Fuchs, Cervus, and more! Oh how exciting to have a new concrete playground with dance happy music! If you are coming to Istanbul in the next couple of months, update your tour book by adding this venue to your list of must-visit places!

12:27am  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/239524510/11-11-make-a-wish
(No. OF NOTES: 1)
  
November 8, 2009
"Oh My Gooood!!!”
tense pause, es checks datebook.
“Oh no…”
“Es, what happened?”
“I got the date wrong and for a minute I thought New Moon was coming out this week!"

— my sister Es, uber-excited for the second installment of the Twilight Saga coming soon—November 20th to be exact—to a theater near you.

9:11pm  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/237229489/oh-my-gooood-tense-pause-es-checks
October 27, 2009
103.8, www.dinamo.fm’s go-to guy, Ecmen Abi

103.8, www.dinamo.fm’s go-to guy, Ecmen Abi

4:22pm  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/224897962/103-8-www-dinamo-fms-go-to-guy-ecmen-abi
(No. OF NOTES: 1)
  
"If we beat Chelsea then I would wear my shirt for like 3 days. But since we beat Galatasary, well I’ll only wear my shirt for one day…I mean it’s no big deal"

— Ecmen Abi, on wearing his Fenerbahce team shirt in honor of Fenerbahce defeating arch-enemy Galatasaray for the 10th year in a row. See above for photo of Ecmen Abi

4:18pm  |   URL: http://bisousbelle.tumblr.com/post/224895764/if-we-beat-chelsea-then-i-would-wear-my-shirt-for