01	Nightwind						06:30
	02	Northern Lights						07:49
	03	Boundless						03:11
	04	Dedicace						06:12
	05	Lost In A Dream Yell						07:44
	06	Dreadful Memories						02:44

Asia Minor "Between Flesh And Divine" 1981, CD-reissue 1991

Members:
Setrak Bakirel - Voice, Guitars, Bass
Lionel Beltrami - Drums, Percussion
Robert Kempler - Keyboards, Bass
Eril Tekeli - Guitars, Flute

Arranged by Asia Minor
Recorded and mixed at Studios de la Grande Armee, Paris, July 1980
Sound engineer: Emmanuel Guiot
Assisted by Bruno Permane
Produced by Asia Minor





Asia Minor - Crossing The Line

Musicians:
Eril Tekeli - flute, fuitars, and bass
Setrak Bakirel - lead vocals, guitars, and bass
Lionel Beltrami - drums and percussion
Nicolas Vicente - keyboards


Released: 1993
Label: Musea
Cat. No.: FGBG 4082.AR
Total Time: 35:19

Reviewed by: Stephanie Sollow, July 1999
While the prominence of the flute in the opening and last two tracks might make you think of Ian Anderson (as opposed to, say, James Galway), it is only the tone here that I find Tull like. The music here has a decidely Middle Eastern feel - not surprising given their Turkish roots and musical interests.

This really is a good album, very listenable with interesting and involving compostions, most sung in English, though a couple are in Turkish. "Visions (of a Midnight Show)" seems Genesis influenced (that same influence that seems apparant in 80's Marillion; though this predates by a few years). "Without Stir" is possibly the most Tull sounding track, hitting the same groove without sounding imitative.

The vocals are accented, yes, of course, but mostly on key and listenable. If there are any drawbacks it is that the production seems a bit fuzzy around the edges, but even still, the musicianship of this trio (Bakirel and Eril Tekeli share bass and guitar duties, Tekeli also handling flute; Lionel Beltrami, drums and percussion) comes through. Recommended.

More about Crossing The Line:

Track Listing: Preface (4:18) / Muhzun Gozler (8:13) / Mystic Dance (1:45) / Misfortune (4:30) / Landscape (3:50) / Vision (5:35) / Without Stir (1:50) / Hayal Dolu Gunler Icin (4:38) / Postface (2:00)


Contact:
Musea Productions
68 La Tinchotte
57117 Retonfey
France

Website: www.myndefyre.com/asiaminor/ (unofficial)
Note: will open new browser window

Discography

Crossing The Line (1979/93)
Between Flesh And Divine (1980/91)


Asia Minor - Crossing The Line (1979)


Originally published in Reels of Dreams Unrolled No. 4, February 7, 1998:
One of the many fantastic, obscure European progressive bands to be unearthed and made available to the prog-buying public by the French label Musea is Asia Minor, who only released two very small-time albums in the late '70s. This Turkish/French band created some great symphonic progressive rock tinged vith a subtle, unique middle-eastern twist which helps guarantee their singular niche in the world of progressive rock.

This is the first of Asia Minor's two albums and from what I have heard of the second one, this one is a little simpler but maybe more original. Crossing the Line is characterized by its clever displays of different textures and tonalities. Genesis-like guitar arpeggios and light, melodic, yet fuzzy solos combined with rough, breathy flute playing create a melancholy, dreamy atmosphere which is also achieved throught the use of chorus, phasing and other effects. The instrumentation is usually quite sparse, but cleverly arranged. There is a little keyboard now and then, but it is never takes the center stage. Seven of the nine tracks contain very, very thickly accented English or Turkish vocals, but they are usually short, unobtrusive and embedded in several minutes of instrumental passages.

Occasionally the band breaks from the dreamy, melodic land scape and employs some heavier, faster group phrasing in asymmetrical time signatures, allowing most of the tracks to be quite composionally episodic and dynamic. Overall this adds up to quite a pleasant listen, but it does seem to suffer slightly from the same ailment as Anglagard's Epilog in that it is excellent, original music, but it can be very difficult to pay close attention to throughout the length of the whole album. Maybe this is more a fault of the listener than the muisc, however. It's very hard to think of any band Asia Minor resembles. Aside from some very slight Genesisisms and the Ian Andersonish flute technique (probably coincidental and coupled with a completely different melodic sensibility), Asia Minor are pretty much in a class by themselves. Adventurous proggers know that's a good sign and that it's reason enough to check them out. - Scott Hamrick [February 1998]

1. Preface - 4:18
2. Mahzun Gozler - 8:13
3. Mystic Dance - 1:45
4. Misfortune - 4:30
5. Landscape - 3:50
6. Visions - 5:35
7. Without Stir - 1:50
8. Hayal Dolu Guler Icin - 4:38
9. Postface - 2:00

Eril Tekeli - flute, guitars, bass
Setrak Bakirel - lead vocals, guitars, bass
Lionel Beltrami - drums, percussion
Nicolas Vicente - keyboards




Asia Minor [France]
Crossing the Line (79), Between Flesh and Divine (81)

Truly fantastic Turkish/French progressive band that put two great album out Crossing The Line and Between Flesh And Divine. The latter has just been reissued by Musea on CD!!!

A French-Turkish band that recorded two albums in the late 70's then split. Their sound could be related to a mesh between Snow Goose period Camel, King Crimson type guitar pyrotechnics, and the very french sound of bands like Pulsar and Ange, with some slight jazz influences. Vocals are sung in english, and sung well. The two albums are Crossing The Line and Between Flesh and Divine, the latter one is absolutely essential. In the late 80's they supposedly reformed and started work on a new album, but nothing ever materialized of it.

Asia Minor released two albums, but only Between Flesh And Divine, the latter, has been reissued on CD. The music is very much in the vein of Camel, all the way from the flute leads to the melodic guitar and keyboard work, down to the vocal style. The band is French, but the lyrics are in English. At times, though, the musicians let loose and unleash aggressive barrages, very much in the spirit of their countrymen, Edhels, and the like. All in all, this is well executed progressive rock that runs the gamut of moods, from the quiet to the symphonic, and can be likened to a blend of Camel and Edhels/Minimum Vital, with an added melodic bent.

Between Flesh and Divine is a classic of French symphonic. At least they're usually considered French, though there are also Turkish members in the band. Plenty of flute can be found swirling in and out of the keyboard, mellotron, and guitar. There's a somewhat dark, haunting feel to the music, similar to other French bands such as Pulsar. Sounding pretty unique to my ears, I guess I can imagine a hybrid between Camel and the above mentioned Pulsar. Strongly recommended.

I like Between Flesh and Divine but it still hasn't really grabbed me. The instrumentation is great...a good active bassist and drummer, a fine guitarist and competent vocalist but the music hasn't made me want to listen to it that often. The synths are a bit tinny but nothing I can't deal with. I can't think of any band off the top of my head to compare these guys to. They definitely fall within the symphonic category and they are doing something original. At times the vocalist reminds me of the male singer from Dead Can Dance - that dreary, depressed, drugged out style. Other than that words fail me. But I still recommend it.






First album, Crossing The Line
Musea, FGBG 4082.AR Track Listing:

Preface (4:18)
Mahzun Gozler (8:13)
Mystic Dance (1:45)
Misfortune (4:30)
Landscape (3:50)
Visions (5:35)
Without Stir (1:50)
Hayal Dolu Guler Icin (4:38)
Postface (2:00)


Details:
Eril Tekeli - flute, guitars, and bass
Setrak Bakirel - lead vocals, guitars, and bass
Lionel Beltrami - drums and percussion
Nicolas Vicente - keyboards


All compositions written by Bakirel/Tekeli
Arrangments by Asia Minor
Cover design by Bakirel/Tekeli
Recorded at Maia Studios, Bondy, France
Produced by Asia Minor


Re-release executive producers: Francis Grosse, Bernard Gueffier, and Alain Robert for Musea
Re-released by Musea in 1993





Track Listing:
Nightwind (6:23)
Northern Lights (7:45)
Boundless (3:00)
Dedicace (6:11)
Lost In A Dream Yell (7:42)
Dreadful Memories (3:00)

Second album, Between Flesh and Divine
Musea, FGBG 4035.AR
Details:
Eril Tekeli - flute and guitars
Setrak Bakirel - lead vocals, guitars, and bass
Lionel Beltrami - drums and percussion
Robert Kempler - keyboards and bass


All compositions written by Bakirel/Tekeli
Arrangments by Asia Minor
Cover design by Setrak Bakirel
Recorded and mixed at Studios de la Grande Armee, Paris, July 1980
Produced by Asia Minor


Re-release executive producers: Francis Grosse, Bernard Gueffier, and Alain Robert for Musea
Re-released by Musea in 1991






Asia Minor's story goes like this:

1953: Guitarist/vocalist Setrak Bakirel is born.

1954: Flautist/guitarist Eril Tekeli born.

1960: Drummer Lionel Beltrami is born.

1971: Guitarist/flautist Erik Tekeli and guitarist/singer Setrak Bakirel, together with drummer Can Kozlu, formed a band while students at St. Joseph's College in Istanbul, Turkey. Win two prizes in Turkey-wide high school musical competetion.

1973: Bakirel and Tekeli move to Paris, Kozlu to Grenoble (southern France)

1974: Bakirel and Tekeli perfoming as duo named Layla. This was not only in reference to the classic Eric Clapton song, but also to a character in Persian mythology. Not surprising, as that was the source, as I recall, for Clapton as well.
Later in the year, visiting Kozlu, the trio began recording tracks. Thereafter, Kozlu joined the duo and Layla in Paris.

1975: Bassist named Herve (last name unknown) joins Layla. Perform at "the youth-center, Rue Borrego, Theatre Mouffetard, the Faculty of Architecture, and as backing musicians for a play over three nights at the Paris Festival."

1976: Herve leaves, JeanPhilippe Bottier joins. Band takes name of Asia Minor Process, "a title chosen by the whole group as a reference of their origins and the kind of musical style they wanted to develop, inspired by Mid-Eastern culture.

1977: Kozlu leaves, Beltrami joins...suggests band shorten name to Asia Minor. Kempler almost joins at this time as keyboardist, but doesn't. Beltrami had been a member of the bands Atlantis, Phenix, and Graal before joining Asia Minor.
Bottier leaves, new bassist Paul Levy joins.

Work begins on new compositions, combining elements of "Middle Eastern scales with Anglo-Saxon progressive rock, a style much admired by Eril and Setrak, though they didn't consider it a major influence. The Middle Eastern influence [...] manifests itself in the melancholy and sinuous shape of the themes and in Setrak Bakirel's nostalgic vocal style."

1978: Grime's Nicolas Vicente provides keyboards for three tracks recorded at this time; this quintet also plays at the Faculty of Architecture (May 1978). Land "five-day residency at the Drugshow in Paris." Next play in September 1978 at the Boule Noire.
Record demo, almost interest CBS records into a signing, decide to self produce an album. Book studio - Maia Studios, Bondy, France. Levy splits, leaving bass duties to Tekeli and Setrak.
Recording takes place over two weeks in October, but later decides band decides to remix at Studio de la Grande Armee in Paris.

1979: No takers for releasing Crossing The Line, so it is self released under their own label Ware of Asia Minor on April 19.
" The band struggled hard to arouse interest in the media but without the help of a record company or PR officer they only got as far as winning a few lines' space in Rock 'n' Folk. Asia Minor's music, with its instrumental virtuosity and complexity and melodic originality, contrasted totally with the musical fashion of the time, namely punk."


Rest of history soon....





Asia Minor
Crossing The Line
Musea
1979
Manifest Discs and Tapes, Columbia, SC

One of the many fantastic, obscure European progressive bands to be unearthed and made available to the prog-buying public by the French label Musea is Asia Minor, who only released two very small-time albums in the late '70s. This Turkish/French band created some great symphonic progressive rock tinged vith a subtle, unique middle-eastern twist which helps guarantee their singular niche in the world of progressive rock.

This is the first of Asia Minor's two albums and from what I have heard of the second one, this one is a little simpler but maybe more original. Crossing the Line is characterized by its clever displays of different textures and tonalities. Genesis-like guitar arpeggios and light, melodic, yet fuzzy solos combined with rough, breathy flute playing create a melancholy, dreamy atmosphere which is also achieved throught the use of chorus, phasing and other effects. The instrumentation is usually quite sparse, but cleverly arranged. There is a little keyboard now and then, but it is never takes the center stage. Seven of the nine tracks contain very, very thickly accented English or Turkish vocals, but they are usually short, unobtrusive and embedded in several minutes of instrumental passages.

Occasionally the band breaks from the dreamy, melodic land scape and employs some heavier, faster group phrasing in asymmetrical time signatures, allowing most of the tracks to be quite composionally episodic and dynamic. Overall this adds up to quite a pleasant listen, but it does seem to suffer slightly from the same ailment as Дnglagеrd's Epilog in that it is excellent, original music, but it can be very difficult to pay close attention to throughout the length of the whole album. Maybe this is more a fault of the listener than the muisc, however.

It's very hard to think of any band Asia Minor resembles. Aside from some very slight Genesisisms and the Ian Andersonish flute technique (probably coincidental and coupled with a completely different melodic sensibility), Asia Minor are pretty much in a class by themselves. Adventurous proggers know that's a good sign and that it's reason enough to check them out.