This is part of Locust Record's 12-part Location Sound Series.

Audio Mixer: Erdem Helvacioglu.

Recording information: Istanbul, Turkey (09/14/2002).

Photographers: Caner ™zer; Ali Soner.

Arranger: Erdem Helvacioglu.

The Met Life series is an ambitious project where sound artists around the world make a field recording of the city where they live and then use that recording to compose a "response" recording. Helvacioglu's disc is the fourth in the series, with a location recording from a bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, followed by Helvacioglu's remix of the same. The field-recording track opens with the typical urban noise of cars and honking horns, with a few stray voices thrown in, but the vehicles soon become more distant while the voices, ranging from peddlers selling their wares to playing children, become more dominant as the listener is taken deeper into the bazaar. Other sounds can be heard as well: footsteps, objects falling, and snatches of Turkish pop music in a couple places. The recording is very well done, clear, and precise, with good stereo separation to really capture the feel of a third-world marketplace. Helvacioglu's remix throws in some electronic drone, with bits of distorted voices and other chattering sounds from the first track thrown in. Approximately four minutes into the piece, he adds some steady rhythms to create interesting ethno-electronica that doesn't stay in one place too long. Near the end, the piece gets a bit more techno, where the rhythms become less interesting and distract from the rest of the piece. Other than this weak ending, A Walk Through the Bazaar is an interesting addition to an interesting series. ~ Rolf Semprebon