Long-time readers will know that I have a soft spot for Seattle’s Kultur Shock, a band I’ve been writing about and following since 2006 (you can read my profile of the band from way back in my days at The Seattle Sinner here). Following in a long line of trad-punk outfits from The Pogues through The Levellers to Gogol Bordello and other Balkan-revival folk today, Kultur Shock is a unique beast. Their music is like a live version of remix culture that normally finds expression through djs and digital artists: the band takes Balkan and Southeast European trad, borrows a violin melody here, a random lyric there, throws ’em in a blender with Sabbath-inspired riffs and their lead-singer’s melisma-heavy vocals, and you wind up with some crazy punk wedding music. It’s a trip, and as always, I encourage the uninitiated to check them out–they’re tons of fun and, as it happens, will be playing Fremont this weekend.

But that said, making music in such a fashion is always sort of tricky, because using traditional music begs all sorts of questions of authorship of the finished product–particularly tricky when it comes to transcultural appropriation in an ethnically divided part of the world. Take the case of Goran Bregović: like Kultur Shock’s singer Gino Yevdjevic, Bregović was a former rock star in Yugoslavia from the Seventies and Eighties, who pursued an eclectic solo career after his band, Bijelo dugme (White Button), broke up. He was most notable for composing music for the films of Emir Kusturica, including The Time of the Gypsies (1988), for which he arranged the traditional Roma song “Ederlezi.” However, ever since a low-level controversy has swirled over whether he took unfair credit for authoring the song, or at least copyrighting it.

Well, this morning I got an email from Kultur Shock guitarist Val Kiossovski suggesting his band is getting its first taste of this sort of issue. Kultur Shock has always been mindful of avoiding the Bregović controversy and crediting trad whenever they use it. But now, a Turkish pop singer named Gökçe has released a tune called “Tuttu Fırlattı,” a Turkish transliteration of the phrase “Tutti Frutti,” which is scheduled to appear on her upcoming album this fall. As it happens, the song sounds nearly identical to Kultur Shock’s “Tutti Frutti,” the lead single from their 2004 album Kultura Diktatura, produced by Faith No More’s Billy Gould, whose label Kool Arrow released the album.

The song’s title and opening lines were borrowed by Kultur Shock from an old Roma trad song called “Tutti Frutti,” while the rest was original material. Since Gökçe’s single was released in Turkey, she’s been accused online by fans (Kultur Shock is far more popular in Southeast Europe and Turkey than in the US) of, essentially, ripping off their song and not crediting them. The trick though is that Gökçe’s people have responded online (note: here I have to rely on Kultur Shock’s Turkish booking agent for translation) that her version is, in fact, based on Adrian Siminescou’s version of the trad song, which would be anonymously authored and not subject to copyright. Siminescou is a famous gypsy musician, and his version of “Tutti Frutti” featured prominently in the 1997 French film Gadjo Dilo (The Crazy Stranger).

So feel free to check it out: Gökçe’s version is at the top; Kultur Shock’s video for “Tutti Frutti” is below, as is both an audio versio of Siminescou’s trad version, as well a clip of its appearance in Gadjo Dilo. I’m not an ethno-musicologist, so I can’t be definitive, but Gökçe’s and Kultur Shock’s are damn similar (down to structure, melodic components, and even lyrical phonetics). In an email, Kultur Shock’s Kiossovski made the following analysis comparing all four versions:

From music analysis point of view:

1. Gadjo Dilo and Adrian Simonsecou’s versions are not the same. But both are based rhythmically on chochek, sa-sa or whatever has a strong 1st beat and is clapping conducive. Ours is rumba, vocal starts on an off beat and swings–so is Gokce’s.
2. GD and AS version have identical vocal lines that have only first line in common with KS. Gokce is using our whole verse line.
3. Harmony and progression in AS and GD are one thing. KS is using completely differrent one–Gokce is using KS’s.
4. Intro theme in KS version is totally original, too, Gokce is using that, not GD or AS version.

Just because a song sounds traditional doesn’t mean it is, obviously, and Kultur Shock feels Gökçe has unfairly used their material. They’re asking in exchange that she make a donation to a Roma orphanage in Istanbul.