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"No easy-listening for sure, but with enough hooks to make
listening an unexerted pleasure" Tobias Fischer, Mouvement
Nouveau / Tokafi
"The
name of a shy revolution: Betty Ween" - Trendsetter magazine
"Betty Ween’s debut album tells
us that a change has finally occured"
- Aktüel
magazine
"For those who
are bored of pop" - Cumhuriyet
newspaper
"For those who don't
listen to what everybody listens" - FHM
magazine
"A first class album along with its vocalist
and musicians"
Sevin Okyay, music
critic
"Let it be heard, these are beautiful fresh
necessities for the music of this country"
- Hülya magazine
Betty Ween is the pseudonym used by
singer-songwriter-lyricist Gülüs Gülcügil-Türkmen
for her musical project. Having lived between
Belgium
and
Turkey
during her childhood and youth, she chose this name in homage to
the feeling of being in-between and belonging nowhere.
Gulus first started singing in a Belgian alternative rock band in
1996. She then gradually started composing and writing her own
songs. She used the name Betty Ween for the first time when she
participated to
Turkey’s
famous Roxy Music Contest in 1999. The jury made a weird choice
and did not choose one winner but five.
So
Betty Ween won…
Her debut album “In Betty Ween” (Elec-Trip, 2004)
was described by the Turkish media as “an experimental mix of pop,
jazz and rock”. The second album “Bitter”
(Web-Premiere/Elec-Trip, 2006) has been
Turkey’s
first new album to be released on the Internet. The absence of a
rhythm section, the unusual arrangements and the dramatic vocals
of Bitter positioned the band to a very different place compared
to the first album.
Betty Ween lately performs as a “chamber pop” trio, involving
acoustic guitar (Onur Turkmen), cello (Baris
Guvenenler) and voice (Gulus). The simple melodies, the
engaging lyrics and the improvisational freedom for the musicians
makes this music a type one can rarely come across.
Gulus’s next wish is to record her new songs live with her trio,
combining composed music with free music, and obtain a true “chamber
pop” feeling.
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