Having produced the score to Fatih Akin’s dark romance Head-On, Alexander Hacke – bassist with a German band you’ve never heard of – reteams with the director for an odyssey across the musical landscape of present-day Istanbul.

The tour begins interestingly, with Hacke jamming on a boat with funksters Baba Zula whose sound is as offbeat as their hair and teeth. Then he checks out the acts operating under the influence of the West.

The punky metallic sheen of the west is all over some bands: behold the 'civilised noise' of the Replikas (The Ramones meet Napalm Death). Orient Expressions, however, refuse to be pigeon-holed, so I'll do it for them - 'Rubbish'.

Meanwhile, in a tattoo parlour on the Asian side (the Bosporus river divides the city into 'Asian' and 'European' halves), we're treated to the impressive machine-gun delivery of young rapper Ceza.

Sadly, his sister proves that talent isn't hereditary.

For a more traditional Turkish experience, Hacke joins clarinet maestro Selim at a 'fasil' – where gypsy lads go for hangovers and harmonies.

We also meet Erkin Koray, formerly a 60s rebel, now a mild embarrassment. Then pop culture icon Orhan Gencebay (a hybrid of Burt Reynolds and Ravi Shankar) gives a rare 'live' set.

Canadian folk singer Brenna emotes nicely but not as hauntingly as the soulful Aynur, whose Kurdish tongue would not have been heard on Turkish radios until 1990.

Frustratingly, Akin fails to provide more by way of historical and social context so his film ends weakly.

He could do with adopting the guerrilla mentality of street performers Siyasiyabend, but shies away from Istanbul's dark side to end with what amounts to a series of lifeless, 70s-style music videos.

Never mind the Beyaglu, buy the soundtrack.

Elliott Noble