Something About Reptiles- kissed by the hands of the devil

Turkish pop & folk songs of yesteryear a la Marlena Dietrich by lusciously eccentric diva Burcu & her trusty band Something about Reptiles.

Kitsch meets classic with traditional Turkish music "warped into something east of cabaret and west of gravity."



Listen to their recording From Instanbul To Orangeville (2000) on their myspace page -- Vancouver, Canada -- http://www.myspace.com/reptilesband



But for the personal, we visit the blog East Van Chronicles- blog written by accordionist Alison Jenkins

http://eastvanchronicles.blogspot.com/2007/12/jet-lagging.html



From their recent trip to Istanbul:

"We ended up by mistake in a Gypsy area one day called Kustepe, and were
mobbed by kids who led us to an internet cafe and asked us questions and sang
songs to us and made us laugh. We were so lucky to have Burcu with us as she was
born in Turkey and is still fluent in Turkish. Having a translator got us into
places that we wouldn't have otherwise visited (or survived). We also all
learned a lot of useful phrases from her, so by the end of the week we could all
order food and beer, ask how much something cost, and say our hellos and
goodbyes.Oh, and our 2 gigs went very well. I wondered how Turkish audiences
would take to 1 ex-pat Turk and 4 foreigners playing their songs, but we were a
hit.

As one Gypsy man put it when we busked in Kustepe: "The hands of the Devil
play pretty well." Bush & Blair may be seen as "2 devils", as our Aya Sofia
guide put it, but we were treated very well.I think all of our appetites were
only whetted by this trip: none of us was ready to come home yesterday,
especially Burcu, whose family, as well as most of her heart, is still in
Turkey.

I'm already plotting how I can return."

My personal connection is through Gord "The Love God" Berry, who told me,"Denny, you have to book the Reptiles. Burcu is amazing." Well, on his recommendation I went to her vintage store, Burcu's Angels, and tried on a gold suit. Unfortunately, it did not fit. And if the gold lame suit doesn't fit, we must acquit.