# The 7 Best Anadolu Rock Tracks of All Time

Istanbul at the end of the sixties, where a generation set Anatolian folk melodies and aşık poetry against fuzz guitar and Hammond organ — microtonal saz lines arranged for a rock band, and often pointed squarely at the state.

- **Origin:** Istanbul, Turkey, 1968
- **Tempo:** 90–150 BPM
- **Also known as:** anatolian rock, turkish psych, anadolu pop
- **Tracks:** 7
- **Updated:** 2026-08-31
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/anadolu-rock/

## The list

### 1. [Erkin Koray](https://waxonia.com/artist/erkin-koray/) — [Estarabim](https://waxonia.com/track/erkin-koray--estarabim/)

*1974*

From Elektronik Türküler, and the record that settles the argument. Koray built himself an electric saz because no guitar would give him the intervals he wanted.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Erkin%20Koray%20Estarabim) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=jsd8h83BLnU)

### 2. [Moğollar](https://waxonia.com/artist/mogollar/) — [Ince İnce Bir Kar Yağar](https://waxonia.com/track/mogollar--ince-ince-bir-kar-yagar/)

*1971*

A folk song arranged with organ and a rhythm section that keeps threatening to become funk. Moğollar were the scene's most disciplined band and the most studied.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Mo%C4%9Follar%20Ince%20%C4%B0nce%20Bir%20Kar%20Ya%C4%9Far) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=X6f-1rclNlw)

### 3. [Cem Karaca](https://waxonia.com/artist/cem-karaca/) — [Yuh Yuh](https://waxonia.com/track/cem-karaca--yuh-yuh/)

*1977*

Karaca sang about workers, migration and hunger until the 1980 coup made Turkey too dangerous for him and he left. The voice is enormous and entirely unornamented.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Cem%20Karaca%20Yuh%20Yuh) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wcEQOzqGLkE)

### 4. [Barış Manço](https://waxonia.com/artist/bar-s-manco/) — [Dönence](https://waxonia.com/track/bar-s-manco--donence/)

*1981*

Manço became a children's television presenter, which has obscured what a strange composer he was. Nine minutes, and it earns every one of them.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Bar%C4%B1%C5%9F%20Man%C3%A7o%20D%C3%B6nence) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=aRsi3SHma6c)

### 5. [Selda Bağcan](https://waxonia.com/artist/selda-bagcan/) — [Yaz Gazeteci Yaz](https://waxonia.com/track/selda-bagcan--yaz-gazeteci-yaz/)

*1976*

"Write it down, journalist." Selda was imprisoned three times and had her passport confiscated; the fuzz bass on her records is as blunt as the lyrics.

Also on: [1976](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Selda%20Ba%C4%9Fcan%20Yaz%20Gazeteci%20Yaz) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ReKfCicUoRE)

### 6. [Selda Bağcan](https://waxonia.com/artist/selda-bagcan/) — [Cemalim](https://waxonia.com/track/selda-bagcan--cemalim/)

*1975*

A lament for a dead boy, over a bassline Mos Def later sampled. The clearest evidence that this scene's records travel without any explanation attached.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Selda%20Ba%C4%9Fcan%20Cemalim) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=F-k_Fr67bPQ)

### 7. [Erkin Koray](https://waxonia.com/artist/erkin-koray/) — [Kendim Ettim Kendim Buldum](https://waxonia.com/track/erkin-koray--kendim-ettim-kendim-buldum/)

*1973*

Koray's guitar tone is filthier here than anything coming out of Britain the same year, and the melody is a straight Anatolian folk line. Both facts at once is the whole genre.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Erkin%20Koray%20Kendim%20Ettim%20Kendim%20Buldum) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=LyVcp9IC894)

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Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.