The Borusan Muzik Evi. As you enter, you have already forgiven yourself for often being dazzled by the large Shake Shack sign down the road and walking straight past this music venue, assuming it to be upscale offices or an art space awaiting a new installation. In fact this place is a pleasant surprise. You ascend the metallic staircases to the 3rd and 4th floors which reveal rings of white steel beams at angles to one another, which prop up the oval music space like industrial matchsticks.
The performance space is not raised and only separated from the crowd by a border of black audio cables, which you feel is well suited to the overall minimalist aesthetic of the venue. You have the 20 TL ticket and are therefore politely ushered from the tables and chairs up one floor to the standing space. This is, however, not relegation. Upstairs people drink wine, beer or coffee and many are already seated cross-legged behind the curved glass which borders the balcony.
You have watched a few preparatory YouTube videos of Youn Sun Nah and the rest of her quartet and despite their quality you settle in, beer in hand, with only modest expectations for the show. Youn Sun Nah walks across the wire border and takes the floor solo, her spoken voice seems timid and close to a whisper but soon transforms into the smoky tones of “A Few Of My Favourite Things” accompanied by the deliberately slow chiming of a kalimba, an instrument you feel you might be able to pick up with some success.
As the set moves forward Youn is accompanied by three highly talented musicians, Ulf Wakenius (Guitar), Vincent Peirani (Accordion) and Simon Tailleu (Double Bass). The group keeps it going slow with a cover of “Hurt” by the Nine Inch Nails and then picks it up with various compositions by different band members that flex not only Youn Sun Nah’s vocal range but also the lightning fingers of the guitarist and accordion player. As her voice sinks, raises, holds incredible notes and in an instant shifts from husky whisper to belting cry, you are most of all transfixed by Youn’s effusive hand gestures, at one moment conducting the band and at another winding, beating and toppling every sound that rises from within her.
Time passes quickly, which you take as the sign of a good performance, and with each song the band wind their way through myriad genres and styles. At one point, during a song called “Pancake”, which sounds like the excited reading of a lunch menu whilst on LSD, your friend takes his cue to exit for a quick smoke. However, he is filled with regret to return only at the tail end of “A Sailor’s Life”, a beautiful British folk song that begins with slow and sweet solo vocals, romanticizing a life on the sea, and builds up to a foot stomping celebration with Youn Sun Nah using technological wizardry to harmonize with herself.
Throughout, the quartet use every percussion sound at their disposal to add a rich depth to the songs and, whether appropriately or not, this inspires you to drum out your own additions to their repertoire on the glass panel you are leaning on. You get the feeling that they are enjoying this as much as you are anyway.
The show closes with a rock influenced number called “Ghost Riders in The Sky” and a wonderful song “Same Girl” originally by Randy Newman. For the last song Youn Sun Nah uses a music box, feeding the notes into it on a single strip of paper. With each wind of the box the paper rolls itself through and emerges from the other end, eventually curling in upon itself, and it is at this point you realize with some sadness that the show will only last as long as this flimsy music sheet.
The show ends to standing ovations and lengthy applause and after a musical rollercoaster and three beers you feel like your night has been well spent. You seek out some of the quartet to thank them and make your way out onto an empty Istiklal vowing to make a concerted effort to come back to this venue in the near future.
