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As proof of the increasingly global appeal of electronic music comes the Turkish musician Can Attila with an album recorded at the Ankara International Music Festival in may 2002. There is little trace of Attila's Turkish roots to be found in the music (it would have made for an interesting mixture if there had) but Attila certainly wears his twin influences in the shape of Jean Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream firmly on his sleeve. Unlike many artists who use their 70s output as inspiration Attila takes his cues from their up-tempo, highly rhythmic 80s output with noticeable similarities throughout, not least in the titles "Appregiator" which actually sounds nothing like Jarre's track of the same name, being far faster and more dynamic and "Underwater Moonlight" (as opposed to TD's "Underwater Sunlight"-not exactly subtle, is he?). Of more importance, though is the fact that this is an excellent album full of memorable tracks such as the opening "Torchlight" which builds up from it's quiet beginnings (reminding me somewhat of parts of "Industrial Revolution" in the process!) into a piece of some power, dynamics and clarity, helped by Murat Yucel's breathtaking guitar work or the TD-influenced closer "Leonardo" where the sequencing owes a great debt to Chris Franke's recognisable style. The album's highlight comes in the form of the techno-flavoured "Whiteout", an infectious and totally irresistable piece which really rattles along at full throttle. It's obvious that Attila is not only a first-rate musician but also one that knows what makes instrumental music so special. This is demonstrated by the emotional and majestic "Marco Polo" or "Abyss" which expertly mixes more abstract sounds with atmospheric chords into an astounding piece of 'picture music' as well as the touching piano-led ballad "Winterland".
I guess that such an obvious references to his mentors might downgrade this album's worth in some people's eyes and while it would be desirable to see him strike out into new realms in future the fact remains that Attila's music contains as much, if not more, excitement, power and plain old fashioned top tunes than either of his influences are currently exhibiting, something you might want to think about.
RATING: 9
Artist Link: http://www.groove.nl
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