Dolapdere Big Gang

A Turkish ensemble (review notes eight musicians) that reworks Western pop songs using traditional Turkish and related instruments; best known on DeBaser for the album Local Strangers.

The DeBaser review of the album Local Strangers lists covers of songs including Sting's "Englishman In New York", Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water", R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion", Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", Madonna's "La Isla Bonita", Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence", and others; the reviewer strongly criticises the vocal approach and arrangements.

One DeBaser review (Lesto BANG) strongly criticises Dolapdere Big Gang's album Local Strangers. The reviewer describes Western pop covers played with traditional Turkish/Arabic instrumentation and rejects the vocal and arrangement choices. The overall judgement is highly negative.

For:Listeners interested in cross-cultural covers, world-fusion experiments, and critical music reviews.