Beats From the Vaults (2008 – 2021)

On Beats From the Vaults (2008–2021) Istanbul-based beatmaker and avid digger Grup Ses stitches together snippets of tape, radio, and vinyl recordings through a series of woozy, psychedelic hip-hop beats, inspired equally by the greats of Anatolian rock like Baris Manço and Selda Bağcan and giants of beatmaking like Madlib and J Dilla. The tracks on here are a testament to Grup Ses’ omnivorous approach to beatmaking, and his ability to blend such disparate sounds into something that sounds both classic and fresh. Even though many of these tracks were recorded years apart, they tie together like a colorful tapestry rather than a simple sequence of songs — flowing seamlessly from the bumping psych folk of “Damar Operasyonu” or the groove-laden “Büyüleyici, Pt. 1” to the gloomy atmospheres of “Mono” and lurching beats of “Makara.”