Turkish rocker Taner Ongur, best known as the bassist of the classic Anatolian Rock band Mogollar, uses music to explore curious incidents from the dusty pages of modern Turkish history.

Ongur’s latest release, the third album from the 69-year-old musician and his band in three years, is "Asri Sada," old Turkish for "Modern Times." Yet the album's themes are anything but contemporary. They allow listeners to travel back to the Turkey of the 1930s-1960s.

The lyrics of the surf rock-influenced songs on "Asri Sada" describe the lives of curious historical figures, like Rifat the Tightrope Walker, who performed on Istanbul’s Princes' Islands until the 1960s, when circuses fell out of favor, to be replaced by TV. Another song tells the story of the Vampire of Cihangir, a mysterious criminal who preyed on unsuspecting passersby in Istanbul's famous bohemian neighborhood.

Many of the strange personalities and events that populate Ongur’s songs were brought to his attention by Gokhan Akcura, the self-designated "historian of this-and-that" who has penned such works as “Time Machine: Istanbul Twist.” Akcura wrote liner notes, designed to look like a 1940s newspaper, to accompany the vinyl LP of “Asri Sada.” The insert includes lyrics, factoids, retro advertisements for soap and beer and even a crossword puzzle.