Rumi Sounds Vinyl, CD & Tape 12 Items

Turkish underground rock misfit Erbatur Çavusoglu's first solo album is finally here: an intimate collection of previously unreleased songs and new versions, with fresh arrangements by Big Daddy Mugglestone. The result is like Iron & Wine being fronted by a Taksim Square street poet, or a Turkish Crazy Horse.

Erbatur's wavering falsetto delivers heartfelt and tender songwriting, accentuated by an eclectic band of old and new Berlin friends. A must for fans of Indie Americana and Turkish Psychedelic Folk, this is a warm and haunting departure from his previous work with Zardanadam, deeply personal but with open arms.
Supported by Initiative Musik gGmbH with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media

Schnieke is rich and fruitful, yet carries a sadness within. A 5-string violin charts its melodious journey from Istanbul to Belin, accompanied by electronics, breakbeats, live drums and percussions. An authentic oriental funky mood keeps you in a trance or gets your body moving tribally…

This is Schnieke, a.k.a. Özgür Akgül, with his first studio album Hediye, or Gift. The album is intended as a gift to Özgür's grandmother, Hadiye, who was very important to him and to whom he dedicates a song. But his debut album will also come as a gift to anyone interested in how a sophisticated musical sensibility brings together electronic elements with stringed instruments of all kinds. Özgür plays the violins himself, as well as the analogue synths and drum machines. Guest musicians include Hasan Gözetlik (trumpet and trombone), Göksun Çavdar (saxophone), Korhan Erol (electric guitar and bass), Burhan Hasdemir and Baris Güney (live percussion), Zafer Tunç Resuloglu (live drums), John Gürtler (church organ) and the Istanbul Strings, Turkey’s most vibrant string ensemble.

Their diverse influences create a wide emotional range on Hediye - sometimes dark and melancholic, sometimes wild, groovy and danceable, somewhere between jazz, dub and electro, each song surprising in its own way. Despite the variety of the individual songs, a captivating pulse runs like a thread through Schnieke's first album. Incidentally, Özgür came up with the band name during a night out in a bar, when a friend explained to him what Berlin slang he absolutely had to know. He liked the sound of the word ‘schnieke’ – it means something approximating ‘snazzy’ - and perhaps he secretly also wanted to flatter himself a little! Well, shouldn't we all do that much more often?

Hediye consists of eight tracks, three of which are traditional: Aman Doktor comes from Istanbul, Özgür's birthplace, and is a homage to his own origins. Kadioglu comes from the Aegean region and features the zeybek dance form which, despite its ‘standardisation’ in recent times, still summons up the ecstasy, inspired improvisation and musical finesse of its historical roots. The other five tracks are Özgür's own compositions, with Pasali providing the soundtrack for the 2010 Turkish feature film Memleket Meselesi. Creating compositions for film has been Özgür’s primary passion since his time as a student at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. You can hear that in his music, because on his debut album Özgür does completely without vocal support, the instrumental depth stands for itself, and, in the style of The Cinematic Orchestra, space is created for us to develop our own images while listening – it is a soundtrack for the film we want to make of it.

Berlin based cellist, composer and improviser An?l Eraslan brings together 11 musicians from Istanbul. The dreams of these musicians are composed and improvised for this album. Dream Works offer an extended musical experience that is surrounded by traditional and experimental approaches. Limited 250 Copy

Mozaik began its journey under the oppresive aura of the 1980 coup in Turkey, singing songs of freedom from all around the world, eventually stepping into the more controversial areas of jazz, progressive rock, fusion and ‘authentic music‘ with their own compositions.

Whilist the post-coup music scene was dominated by apolitical pop music, Mozaik produced sophisticated lyrics and composed songs in unusual structures. With a dynamic crew and a rotating list of songwriters in the band, Mozaik maintained its unique sound and poetic narrative throughout the years.

The punchy sound, courageous lyrics and their anarchist attitude was a bit too much for the mainstream music industry. Still the underground rock scene of Turkey in the 2000s was broad and generous enough to welcome the discrete.

Zardanadam hit hard with their DIY practices. Besides being the pioneers of copyleft digitals, they self-produce and distribute almost 100 000 CDs at concerts and via airmail for free.

Here is a selection of their greatest hits from the six-album discography compiled for the first time on vinyl for the 20th anniversary of the band.

Erbatur is a Turkey-born singer/songwriter most recognized as the lead singer of the Turkish rock bandZardanadam. However, these two tracks are melancholic ballads dealing with the desire to leave, to run away, and find a peaceful place on earth.
Both "Kaçacağım" and "Seyyah" have been known to his fanbase from live gigs, radio and TV appearances since the 1990s, but are recorded here with a super-group of international musicians living in Berlin. Fans of Erbatur and the songs will be surprised by these beautiful versions complete with pedal steel, cello and tar arranged and produced by Big Daddy Mugglestone.

SO Duo, Sumru Ağıryürüyen (vocal, mandolin, keyboard) and Orçun Baştürk (panduri, voice, keyboard, electronics, drums) have been creating various projects together, in a spectrum between traditional and avant-garde since 2013. So Far is a collection of the works of SO Duo released on vinyl as a double LP for fans and collectors for the first time.

Melodic fragments from medieval Spain with a Judaeo-Spanish version of a Turkish sharki. An Argentinian tango adapted to the dervish tradition. Orthodox church rites in Turkey meet an Andalusian secular repertory in Morocco.



Sefardim is a compilation of popular romansas (love ballads) by ladino-speaking Jews in Istanbul. Forced out of the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the 15th century, the music of the Sephardim survived 500 years in exile and greatly influenced Turkish Art Music. Janet and Jak Esim are accompanied by fretless guitar virtuoso Erkan Oğur and percussion maestro Okay Temiz. They have meticulously collected songs, melodies and lyrics from the last ladino speakers alive.

"The world is rich, the world is colorful. So why not show it in all its complex diversity and contrasts? Why, when you go in one direction, do you have to follow it further and can't just go in all directions at once? These are all questions that Berlin-based Turkish singer Basak Yavuz may have asked herself when she began recording her new album "Raum 610."

Basak Yavuz doesn't take much time to get down to business. Right away in the opener "Promised Lands," different stylistic elements like jazz, rock, funk and hip-hop chase each other as if it were a matter of life and death. The message is unmistakable: this is about energy. The energy of the big city. Crowds on the sidewalk, congested streets, noise from construction sites, cyclists and drivers yelling at each other, barking dogs, screaming children, shattering glass, a new surprise around every corner. Basak Yavuz does not hide, but picks up the tempo of the Moloch and makes it her own pulse with all its fractures and border crossings. She is not afraid to overload her songs, but confidently juggles the explosiveness of creative oversaturation." (Wolf Kampmann)

Cherry Bandora is an oriental jewish princess singing in poetic Greek, rhythmical Turkish and Hebrew slang. The fresh combination of the greek blues guitar, the bouzouki, with the psychedelic hammond organ, accompanied by lively middle eastern grooves on drums creates an exciting clash of tradition and rebellious attitude.
Supported by Initiative Musik GmbH with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media

Big Daddy Mugglestone is back, with his first full-length solo release in over 2
decades! Rumi Sounds is proud to
present this collection of songs about Life,
Love, and God that really embody the idea of Americana Gothic. The
songs are dark but not bleak, giving a glimpse of forgiveness...even the
12-minute long murder ballad for which the album is named is still a love song.

With a mixed band of Denver and Berlin-based friends, Mugglestone steps out of the shadowy depths
to create a record you and yr auntie could listen to while doing the dishes or
lounging on the sofa on a rainy day.

The psyche-melodic guitar swirls of Oska Wald and the alluring back-up
vocals of MTN GRL elevate his wry
croon, not quite country but not quite
contrary. Something like if Lee Hazlewood and John Prine both wanted to buy
the same vintage lamp...

Between tradition and contemporary aesthetics, Sousta Politiki forcefully and uniquely revisits the repertoire of Smyrneiko (Greek rebetiko from Asia Minor) and the songs of Istanbul, adding their own compositions.
Formed in Strasbourg in 2016, Sousta Politiki is a Franco-Turkish music group that draws inspiration from various urban and marginalized music genres of Greece and Turkey. The repertoire they explore is diverse, including Smyrneiko from Asia Minor, Kanto from Istanbul, rebetiko from Athens or Piraeus, and traditional songs from Thrace. However, they all share a common connection to the post-Ottoman traditions of the early 20th century. These songs primarily consist of vocals, and their themes often touch upon of daily life such as alcohol, drugs, prison, and prostitution.
The songs are approached with a sense of irony and celebration. One can find both joy and melancholy, as in Argentine tango or American blues. The five members of Sousta Politiki come from diverse musical backgrounds, including rock, Ottoman music, opera singing, rebetiko, and improvised music. The process of creation and reinterpretation knows no limits, and the unique instrumentation of the group (cello, Ottoman tanbur, accordion, bouzouki, percussion, and vocals) allows for surprising and unprecedented rearrangements.