World Bunkhouse Radio

“Suw boyunda biten çynar jogap ber,

Meniň läläm suw almaga gelmezmi?”

Those are the words of the traditional Turkmen song, “Suw Almaga Gelmezmi?”, sung by Nuryagdy Tokgayew on Turkmenistani television, presumably during the late 80s or early 90s. He performed in a dull manner, just standing idly on the spot with no dance moves or anything, as he walked a bit every once in a while; his lips also barely moved, as though he were lip-syncing. The rendition of the song he sang was a slow jam, dominated by FM synthesizers and a drum machine as typical of the era.

We’ve got not one–but two–fragments buried deep within the bunkhouse… this time, from the desert of Soviet Turkmenistan.

The Gunesh Ensemble (ВИА «Гунеш») were a jazz-fusion group formed in 1970 in Ashgabat. Their style blended traditional Turkmen instruments and melodies with frantic fusion and progressive rock. They are most notable for their two studio albums: the eponymous Gunesh (1980) and Looking at the Earth (1984). However, prior to those albums, they have recorded much more obscure songs; two of those include “Nar agajy” (Pomegranate Tree) and “Yelpesene” (Hello). Unlike what they would later record, the two songs are in a Beatles-like vocal style with some ethnic flair. The interconnected music videos for them, which originate from an unknown film, are sometimes played on the Turkmenistan state-owned television channel Miras via the program Arhiwden (From the Archive).