Post-Rock: Kafabindünya - Obi (2012)

79 / 100

Obi is a bold and intriguing one-off from Kafabindünya, balancing melancholic post-rock elegance with bursts of experimental grit.

Actually, there’s Stratovarius’ Survive (2022) waiting to be reviewed, but I don’t have the will yet. So I’m back to my current world: post-rock/ambient again. This time it’s an older Turkish band with their only release from 2012, Kafabindünya – Obi.

I first heard of Kafabindünya around the pandemic era— if I recall correctly—and was intrigued by their name, which in Arabic roughly means “sufficient of the world”, though perhaps the band has their own interpretation. The title Obi seems broader; my first thought was the Japanese word obi (帯). But the album cover, a husky dog edited to look alien, only makes the album feel more mysterious and detached from its title.

This ties in with a statement from guitarist Burç: “Ordinary songs with lyrics limit the story that the listener imagines, by the lyrics of the songs. Kafabindünya composes and plays instrumental because they want the listener to imagine their own story and use their music as the soundtrack of their own fiction, limiting imagination only with the song titles.”

That’s the hallmark of instrumental post-rock: interpretation is dynamic, free, and open, even if the background inspiration is explained.

Although the opener “Anger Circus” is energetic and expressive as its title suggests, drawing from grunge/stoner rock distortion, the following tracks contrast strongly. The band almost seems to apologize for the possible discomfort of the first track with “Binlerce Özür” (“Thousands of Apologies”), which carries emotional, post-rock typicality. Tremolo picking emerges in later tracks. “İlk Buluşma” (“First Date”) is already melancholic rather than romantic—maybe my view is skewed since I lack such experiences—with melodies reminiscent of Moonlit Sailor. Meanwhile, the picked climax of “Kapanış Konuşması” (“Closing Speech”) recalls Da Voile’s The Air We Breathe.

Their playing gets wilder and more distorted starting from “Mutlu Son” (“Happy Ending”), though “Nightwalk” is the lightest and most "normal" track. “When We Were Young” is something of a companion to “Anger Circus” with similar characteristics. The peak of their wildness comes in the longest track, “Yapılabilecek Bir Şey Yoktu” (“There Was Nothing That Could Be Done”), which ventures into experimental/psychedelic territory with audio samples, justifying its extended psychedelic-rock length.

Kafabindünya’s music conveys life themes such as love, emotions, melancholy, and energy and sometimes mixing both within a single track. Personally, I don’t usually prefer that duality, but this sole album makes it hard for me to dismiss several songs outright. In conclusion, I lean more toward the purely melancholic tracks (tracks 2–5).

Best tracks: Binlerce Özür, İlk Buluşma, Kapanış Konuşması, Moongazing, Nightwalk.

Honourable mention: Platonik Aşk, Wake Up to a Brand New Day.