electone; international for dancing, vol. i

artist: unknown
title: เพลงเต้นรำนานาชาติ electone; international for dancing, vol. i
tracklist:
1. cho cho san
2. magic dream
3. somewhere my love
4. china nights
5. whatever will be, will be
6. tears like a river
7. 500 miles
8. ding dong song
9. who really love me
10. tennessee waltz
11. otomi san
12. variable heart
13. a thousand tears for you
14. tangko bushi
15. goodnight irene
16. love like the moon
17. for the good time
18. japanese farewell song

here it is; the long-awaited first volume of "electone international for dancing"!! as stated in the description for volume ii, the yamaha corporation's electone organ was a pretty big hit in a lot of asian countries, thailand being no exception. while primarily thought of in the united states as a remnant of the "home electronic organ" trend of mid-century, the electone has become something of a studio staple in much of asia, and defines a great deal of thai pop especially. like the first tape, this one features another great melange of foreign dance hits; american, japanese, chinese, etc. adapted for the electone organ, with the support of some acoustic percussion. still haven't been able to find out anything about the artist here, so again if anyone happens to have some info, please chime in! otherwise, just enjoy!!!

phloen phromdaen: khaeng ma

artist: เพลิน พรหมแดน (phloen phromdaen)
album: แข่งหมา (khaeng ma)
tracklist:
01. แข่งหมา (khaeng ma)
02. เสน่ห์น้ำมันพราย (sane nam man phrai)
03. เรื่องของที่ดิน (rueang khong thi din)
04. กรรมของคนกรุงเทพฯ (kam khong khon krung thep)
05. ไอ้เก๋จอมแก่น (ai ke chom kaen)
06. ไปเสียได้ก็ดี (pai sia dai ko di)
07. ทำดีโดนด่า (tham di don da)
08. ก๋วยเจ๋ง ก้วยจั๊บ (kuai cheng kuai chap)
09. จอมสำออย (chom samoi)
10. น้ำท่วมอีสาน (nam thuam isan)
11. ชอบกลเหมือนคนชอบกัน (chop kon muean khon chop kan)
12. ลุงสาเข้ากรุง (lung sa khao krung)
13. คนบ๊องส์ (khon bong)
14. รักข้ามรุ่น (rak kham run)

this week, an album from the "king of talking music", mr. phloen phromdaen! phloen grew up on his parents' farm in aranyaprathet, on the border with cambodia. at age 20, he entered a radio contest and landed a spot in a local ramwong band. however, like so many others, he fell in love with the new style being pioneered by suraphon sombatcharoen et al, which would come to be known as "luk thung". he used his own savings to record original songs, and eventually these sessions produced his massive hit "ชมทุ่ง (chom thung)", which won him a spot among the biggest stars of the era, and even starring roles in several films. shortly thereafter, phloen became interested in comedy and inventive ways to incorporate clever wordplay and skits into his tracks. what he came up with was เพลงพูด (pleng phut) or "talking music", which is exactly what it sounds like.. phloen will stop the band periodically & engage in witty banter with his bandmates. needless to say, thai comprehension would help to appreciate the skits, but the songs are great as well! the tape itself, on the other hand, has seen better days.. hope you will enjoy nonetheless!

sombat simla: lai khaen long ko

artist: สมบัติ สิมหล้า (sombat simla)
album: ลายแคนหลงเกาะ (lai khaen long ko)
tracklist:
01. ลายแคนหลงเกาะ (lai khaen long ko)
02. ลายตีกลองน้ำ (lai ti klong nam)
03. ลายสาวหยิกแม่ (lai sao yik mae)
04. ลายแม่หม้ายกล่อมลูก (lai mae mai klom luk)
05. ลายเต้ยยุคใหม่ (lai toei yuk mai)
06. ลายโปงลาง (lai pong lang)
07. ลายลมผัดไผ่ (lai lom phat phai)
08. ลายนกไซบินข้ามทุ่ง (lai nok sai bin kham thung)
09. ลายแคนยุคใหม่ (lai khaen yuk mai)
10. ลายพิณยุคใหม่ (lai phin yuk mai)
11. ลายแซกยุคใหม่ (lai saek yuk mai)
12. ลายสินชัย (lai sin chai)

this week we've got a great album of solo khaen! our mokhaen here is the famed sombat simla (though on the cover he's สมบัติ ฉิมราช (sombat chimrat).. must be an old stage name!) sombat, who lost his sight at a very young age, is from mahasarakham province in isan. he first shot to fame after he landed an extended solo (oddly enough, playing the 'so' fiddle, rather than khaen!) on the sonchai mekwichian song "siang so sang sao".. but his playing was so compelling that everyone wanted to know more about the player, and his fame soon surpassed that of the star singer's! ever since then sombat has been a widely respected performer & teacher, and is known by many as the "god of khaen". he's got a really crazy style.. he's a great player & alot of fun, hope you enjoy!

thahan ruea ramluek

singers: various
album: ทหารเรือรำลึก (thahan ruea ramluek)
tracklist:
01. เนวีบลู (navy blue)
sung by เกศิณี วงษ์ภักดี (kesini wongphakdi)
02. เนวีบลู (navy blue)
sung by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ (thanin intharathep)
03. ชีวิตนาวี (chiwit navy)
sung by บุษยา รังสี (butsaya rangsi)
04. ชีวิตนาวี (chiwit navy)
sung by ชินกร ไกรลาศ (chinakon krailat)
05. หวานใจนาวี (wan chai navy)
sung by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ (thanin intharathep)
06. เขียวคลื่น (khieow khluen)
sung by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ (thanin intharathep)
07. สัจจะ (satcha)
sung by สันติ ลุนเผ่ (santi lunphe)
08. นาวีไทยไปเวียตนาม (navy thai pai vietnam)
sung by สุเทพ วงศ์กำแหง (suthep wongkamhaeng)
09. นาวีไทยไปเวียตนาม (navy thai pai vietnam)
sung by พนม นพพร (phanom nopphon)
10. นาวีลาดตระเวน (navy lat trawen)
sung by สันติ ลุนเผ่ (santi lunphe)
11. นาวี...ที่รัก (navy... thi rak)
sung by ดาวใจ ไพจิตร (daochai phaichit)
12. เนวีร็อค (navy rock)
sung by วินัย พันธุรักษ์ (winai panthurak)
13. วีรบุรุษดอนแตง (wiraburut dontaeng)
sung by สันติ ลุนเผ่ (santi lunphe)
14. เลือดทหารเรือ (lueat thahan ruea)
sung by ชรัมภ์ เทพชัย (charam thepchai)
15. นาวีคู่ไทย (navy khu thai)
sung by สวลี ผกาพันธุ์ (sawali phakaphan)
16. ลาสาวแม่กลอง (la sao mae klong)
sung by พนม นพพร (phanom nopphon)
17. ทหารเรือมาแล้ว (thahan ruea ma laeo)
sung by ยอดรัก สลักใจ (yodrak salakchai)

well here's something a bit unexpected; a collection of pop songs in praise of the thai navy! on the cover we see h.r.h. admiral prince abhakara kiartiwongse, prince of chumphon and "father of the royal thai navy".. he's a semi-mythical figure in thailand, often considered a deity both for his contributions to the country's defense as well as to the fields of herbalism & the supernatural arts. singers from all over are represented on this album; luk thung and luk krung, both old & new, some of the biggest stars of past generations and some i've never heard of, from country star yodrak salakchai to infamous propagandist santi lunphe... everyone seems to have something nice to say about the royal mariners! i know a number of these singers actually served in the navy at some point.. not surprising considering military service in thailand is (to some degree) compulsory. while a few songs are just bland patriotism, most are fond or bittersweet rememberences of service, by self or loved ones. enjoy!

thai classical music marimba solo

artist: สมาน กาญจนะผลิน (saman kanchanaphalin)
album: เดียวระนาดฝรั่ง (thai classical music marimba solo)
tracklist:
01. ลาวดวงเดือน (lao duang duean)
02. ลาวคำหอม (lao kham hom)
03. ลาวเสี่ยงเทียน (lao siang thian)
04. ลาวเจริญศรี (lao charoen si)
05. ลาวกระทบไม้ (lao krathop mai)
06. ลาวดำเนินทราย (lao damnoen sai)
07. สีนวล (si nuan)
08. ธรณีกรรแสง (thorani kansaeng)
09. เขมรไทรโยค (khmer sai yok)
10. เขมรโพธิ์สัตย์ (khmer pho sat)
11. สร้อยสนตัด (soi son tat)
12. เขมรไล่ควาย (khmer lai khwai)

hope everyone will forgive the length between postings, but i had my hands full for a little, whilst relocating from cambridge, massachussetts to bangkok. now that i'm here (and with access to cassette & scanning technologies!), i'm very excited to find all sorts of new sounds to share! let's hear first of all from maestro saman kanchanaphalin! an instrumentalist in the famed suntaraphon big band and a ศิลปินแห่งชาติ (silapin haeng chat) or "national artist" of thailand, saman takes the opportunity with this album to return to his roots in "pleng thai doem", or classical thai art music. of course, years spent playing international dance styles seem to have left him with a timbral preference for the "ranat farang" or "western-style ranat".. that is, the marimba. very calm & beautiful record here, hope you enjoy!