Music

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Asia Minor: a progressive rock band from France with a Turkish touch

It was the end of 70s and early 80s, when punk became mainstream, and Franco-Turkish combo progressive rock band Asia Minor hit their stride, releasing two albums back to back. Suddenly the band was attracting the attention of all prog lovers and prominent musicians of the era, including Alan Par...

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One of the UK’s “finest, most intriguing singers”, Olcay Bayır to play Cambridge Junction

Described as “one of the finest, most intriguing singers on the British world music scene” by The Guardian, Olcay Bayir brings her unique style and powerful vocals to Cambridge Junction for her first show in the city. Olcay’s international band comprises of some of London’s most exceptional music...

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Anger as DJ Kölsch and Cercle cave in to “racist” pressure and cancel North Cyprus show

The cancellation of a concert by renowned DJ Kölsch at Saint Hilarion Castle in North Cyprus has left Turkish Cypriots feeling angry and frustrated. The Danish DJ was scheduled to play a 90-minute live set in the medieval castle atop the Girne / Kyrenia mountain range on Monday evening, 31 May....

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Danish superstar DJ Kölsch to livestream from TRNC’s historic Saint Hilarion Castle

One of the world’s leading DJs will be performing a unique set in an eleventh century castle in North Cyprus that was said to have inspired Walt Disney. Global dance music hit maker Kölsch will be live from Saint Hilarion Castle for a 90-minute concert on Monday, 31 May. Organised by music eve...

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Eurovision Song Contest 2021 crowns Italy as winners

This year’s Eurovision again proved to be a mixed bag of songs, talents and weird costumes but then which year since the 1980s hasn’t. Despite the year off due to the COVID pandemic or maybe because of it, the return of Eurovision with live performers and an actual audience was greeted with jub...

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Azerbaijan’s Samira Efendi competes in tonight’s Eurovision final

The Eurovision Song Contest is back after a year’s enforced absence due to the coronavirus pandemic. Twenty three countries will compete in Saturday’s televised final, among them Azerbaijan. Representing the Turkic republic is 30-year-old singer Samira Efendi, who impressed with her live performa...

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Rise – an empowering song from when Hakan was part of popular 90s band Natural Life

Rock musician Hakan Tuna has returned with his fourth release, Rise, from his 2021 project ‘12 songs 12 stories’. This track takes us back to an early part of Hakan’s life. By the age of 17 Hakan always knew that music would be his passion in life. He had been playing keyboards for around three t...

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Five things we discovered about Texan country rockers Ottoman Turks

When it comes to the world of Turks, T-VINE loves to cover the cool and the quirky, and so we were intrigued to learn about an American band called Ottoman Turks. Hailing from Dallas, Texas, here are five brilliant things we discovered about these booty-shaking, country rockers. Turkey of old in...

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Turkish dancer Serap Yilmaz to perform at special Sufi concert celebrating Rumi’s life

A special event featuring poetry, music and dance centred on the life of the 13th century Persian poet Mevlana Celaddiin-i Rumi will be streamed globally later this week. The line-up for this special event are renowned Persian musicians Seyed Ali Jaberi and the Hamdel Ensemble, and British Turkis...

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March special: from Anatolia to the Middle East, Arts Canteen’s eclectic line-up of music and spoken word

Led by Essex Arab funny girl Esther Manito as MC, and with performances from Palestinian hip hop star El Far3i (47Soul), Turkey’s Olcay Bayir, and Alia Al Zougbi, and with DJ Nooriyah spinning some tunes throughout, the evening promises to be an arts extravaganza of Middle Eastern-inspired music and...

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