Pioneer Erkin Koray may have been the first Turkish rock artist, he and
his band reputedly playing Fats Domino and Elvis covers in 1957; by
combining rock ‘n’ roll and Turkish traditional music, he spearheaded
Anatolian rock and became the leading Turkish psychedelic practitioner.
East-west hybrid Elektronik Turkuler was an innovative concept album
marrying rock with Turkish trad; in contrast, the 1976 release 2 is
thoroughly grounded in Turkish traditional music, the understated
delivery holding just a touch of psychedelia and a proto-disco
undercurrent in the mix, as heard on tracks like Estarabim, Arap Saçi
and Timbilli.