Nem Kaldi

Cem Karaca announces his intent to slay all enemies of Istanbul's leftist counterculture with stompin' Prog keyboards. Sophisticated and passionate, with flamboyant taste in sunglasses, Cem Karaca led Istanbul's music fans through a period of violent political turmoil. Karaca reworked traditional folk lyrics with molten electric bass lines that played up both a poet's broiling righteousness and also his listeners' common ground with their elders in Turkey's history. 1975's NEM KALDI gathers more '60s-'70s singles that lead the listener through Karaca's own musical history, skipping across various collaborations. Sink deeper into the intrigue both musical and otherwise as fractious personnel changes and real-life assassins multiply, yet the double-time drums and badass synthesizer schwings pound on.