The Liminanas/Getty Images
Qalam strives to explore the interpenetration of different cultures. To this end, we have decided to launch a series of playlists in which music mediates between different geographical and ideological spaces. Our first playlist is called ‘West to East: One Hundred Best Songs’. It will be updated several times a week, and its curation will focus on how Western pop culture has reflected the realities of the East, whether they are musical, geographical, religious, or political. (The terms ‘West’ and ‘East’ should be taken as broadly and arbitrarily as possible.)
This amazing and relatively young indie band from Perpignan plays in the genre of ‘rest is best’. In every album, they bring together the proven techniques of the old masters, such as monotonous decadence hypnosis in the style of the Velvet Underground, tight German school drum rhythms, and vintage French pop beats. This reliable strategy only works under one condition: it is important to sustain good taste and not to add anything extra or over the top. And this is exactly what the Limiñanas do, and while they are somewhat lacking in variety, they still come out top due to their minimalist chic and drive. It is likely that nothing new can be said using this particular musical language, but their self-contained grammar works really well when applied to any ordinary realities with unexpected effect because at least not many ever spoke about Istanbul in this way. To add to all of this, the guest vocalist here is the leader of another outstanding band, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, which makes this outing to the shores of the Bosporus especially rich in sound.