onuma singsiri: sao isan ro rak

artist: อรอุมา สิงห์ศิริ (onuma singsiri)
album: สาวอีสานรอรัก (sao isan ro rak)
tracklist:
01. สาวอีสานรอรัก (sao isan ro rak)
02. สาวอีสานครวญ (sao isan khruan)
03. คอยพี่ที่บ้านนา (khoi phi thi ban na)
04. คืนเดือนหงาย (khuen duean ngai)
05. สาวหมอลำช้ำรัก (sao molam cham rak)
06. สาวอีสาน (sao isan)
07. แม่ค้าส้มตำ (mae kha som tam)
08. รอวันพี่กลับ (ro wan phi klap)
09. ออนซอนเสียงซอ (on son siang so)
10. อรอุมา อะบานิบี (onuma "a ba ni bi")
11. อรอุมา พาเพลิน (onuma pha phloen)
12. สัญญารักที่ศาลาลอย (sanya rak thi sala loi)
13. ฮักอ้ายอีหลี (hak ai ili)
14. บ่ลืมพี่ที่ยโสธร (bo luem phi thi yasothon)
15. ลำเพลินเกี้ยวบ่าว (lam phloen kieow bao)
16. เต้ยริมโขง (toei rim khong)

a really great album this week, one of my favorites.. onuma singsiri's classic "sao isan ro rak". the lead single was a huge hit back in the day, though it's hard to find much information about onuma these days. i'm pretty sure she comes from khon kaen, and she sings all about isan. i think she actually was a molam to begin with.. she certainly seems capable of handling some of the associated vocal stylings! and though this album is mostly luk thung, there's also some solid lam phloen intermingling with heavy funk numbers, not to mention alot of nice so fiddle embellishments. i think onuma actually lives in tennessee now.. i wonder if she still sings!! (and yes, track 10 is a cover of israeli 1978 eurovision song contest winner izhar cohen & the alpha beta's "a ba ni bi") don't miss this one!!

caravan: blacksmith

artist: คาราวาน (caravan)
album: คนตีเหล็ก (blacksmith)
tracklist:
01. หนุ่มพเนจร (num phanechon)
02. คนตีเหล็ก (khon ti lek)
03. กองเกวียนบ้านไพร (kong kwian ban phrai)
04. ข้าวลาลาน (khao la lan)
05. ชายคนนั้น (chai khon nan)
06. เหงา (ngao)
07. แด่... เจ้าดอกไม้ (dae... chao dok mai)
08. ใกล้ตาไกลตีน (klai ta klai tin)
09. ภูเขา (phu khao)
10. ฝันร้าย (fan rai)

as per request, here's another fantastic album from caravan... and this one comes courtesy of alexandra, so you know it's good!! caravan, of course, are the progenitors of the เพลงเพื่อชีวิต (pleng puea chiwit) or "songs for life" genre. the band was founded in the early '70s by student protest leaders surachai chanthimathon & wirasak sunthonsi. their tunes & lyrics were a vital force for bringing the messages of urban student activism out to the provinces. their music is fantastic, adapting folk-rock rhythms & melodies from american & british protest songs of the time and interlacing them with thai folk idioms & instrumentation. in the wake of the massacre at thammasat university, the band fled bangkok, some heading into the mountains of the northeast to join the communist insurgency in armed struggle. needless to say, their music was banned from radioplay for quite a while, broadcast only from pirate stations in the hills. this album is from 1983, shortly after their return from exile. very nice stuff, enjoy!

mo du maen maen

artist: 蘇民強, 方思造, 凍莉莉 + 明星音樂隊 (sou ming kiang, huang seu tsau, tong li li & the star band)
album: หมอดูแม่นๆ (mo du maen maen)
tracklist:
01. 算命先生 (sueng meng sing seng)
02. 天頂一隻鵝 (thieng teng tsek tsiah ngo)
03. 紡棉花 (fang mian hua)
04. 門脚一欉梨 (mung kha tsek zhang lai)

so bangkok is going a bit china-crazy as it gears up to celebrate the 2nd of its 3 new years (the gregorian new year back in january, chinese lunar new year, and thai solar new year, songkran, in april). chinese culture is a big influence in bangkok.. by some estimates, nearly half of native bangkokians have some chinese ancestry. for the past week, all around the city people have been hanging red lanterns, setting off firecrackers, burning joss paper, eating chinese food & candy. in the spirit of the festivities, i thought i'd share this great old sino-thai musical comedy album. the jokes are in a mix of thai and teochew dialect, worked around some classic chinese songs. hope you enjoy! and 新年快樂!

khosit nopphakhun: ya long bangkok

artist: โฆษิต นพคุณ (khosit nopphakhun)
album: อย่าหลงบางกอก (ya long bangkok)
tracklist:
01. อย่าหลงบางกอก (ya long bangkok)
02. มาลี (mali)
03. ติ๋ม (tim)
04. ลูกสาวคนดัง (luk sao khon dang)
05. พี่จนน้องจาง (phi chon nong chang)
06. ดวงใจไร้รัก (duang chai rai rak)
07. รักสาวชาวทุ่ง (rak sao chao thung)
08. ปองสาวเหนือ (pong sao nuea)
09. น้ำใจชันน้ำตา (nam chai nam ta)
10. ดนตรี (instrumental)
11. รุ่งอรุณ (rung arun)
12. เพื่อแฟนเพลง (phuea faen phleng)
13. จากกันอย่าลา (chak kan ya la)
14. ใครสอนเธอให้เกลียดคนจน (khrai son thoe hai kliat khon chon)
15. คอยนางกลับนา (khoi nang klap na)
16. น้ำตาตกใน (nam ta tok nai)
17. หนุ่มตังเก (num tangke)
18. พบไม้งามเมื่อขวานบิ่น (phop mai ngam muea khwan bin)

this week we get some nice old luk thung, from the charming mr. khosit nopphakhun! khosit was born and raised in samut prakan province, right outside of bangkok. he spent his early years working on a coconut farm, boiling the sap down into palm sugar... a difficult job, but one which he later insisted was to thank for strengthening his lungs & giving him the high tone of voice which audiences so adored. he made his first recordings in the early 60's with chalong wutthiwai's "roeng napha fa bangkok" band, and after thun thongchai's estrangement from the legendary "chularat" band, khosit was called in to replace him. however, it wasn't until the recording of the lead single here, "ya long bangkok", that he really found his voice. with a little imagination, maybe you can hear the sugar-smoke in his singing, there's certainly a sad sweetness to his sound... enjoy!