lung naep & his troupe: laap phet

artist: ลุงแนบ พร้อมชาวคณะ (lung naep & his troupe)
album: ลาบเป็ด (laap phet)
tracklist:
01. ลาบเป็ด, pt. 1 (laap phet, pt. 1)
02. ลาบเป็ด, pt. 2 (laap phet, pt. 2)

here's a crazy old comedy tape from lung naep & his troupe! lung naep, or narong kosaphon, is one of the first & greatest isaan comedians. he's a prolific songwriter as well; he's been writing hits since the 60's for the likes of phanom nopphon, samai onwong, nophadon duangphon, suang santi & many others. this album is a live recording of a 1994 performance.. the tape is called "spicy minced duck salad", and appropriately, the jokes are mostly food based, though there are also some routines mocking famous luk thung singers, as well as impressions of chinese & vietnamese songs. i wish i understood even half the jokes, but they must be pretty good if the receptive audience is any indication.. they are having a blast! hope you do too!

thai classical music angkalung ensemble

artist: thai classical music angkalung ensemble
album: ยะวา (yawa)
tracklist:
01. มโนราห์ลุยไฟ (manora lui fai)
02. ลาวดำเนินทราย (lao damnoen sai)
03. ลาวครวญ (lao khruan)
04. ลาวดวงเดือน (lao duang duean)
05. สร้อยแสงแดง (soi saeng daeng)
06. เขมรไทรโยค (khmer sai yok)
07. ลาวคำหอม (lao kham hom)
08. ยะวา (yawa)
09. ลาวกระแซ (lao krasae)
10. ลาวเจริญศรี (lao charoen si)
11. แขกอาหวัง (khaek a wang)
12. แสนคำนึง (saen kham nueng)

bit of a curiosity this week, we've got some old thai-style javanese music! the instrument featured here is the indonesian angklung (อังกะลุง (angkalung) in thai), a set of tuned bamboo rattles. the angklung was brought to thailand in the early 1900s by thai composer luang pradit phairo, following a royal visit to java in the entourage of his patron prince woradet. upon return, pradit adapted the instrument to the local tuning system, and it became a popular favourite. in the latter half of the century, it came to be a staple for school bands, much in the manner of handbell choirs in the u.s. or u.k.. the songs on here are mostly based on thai classical melodies, and backed up by a nice band, full of drums & a bit of electric organ. very cool!

chanthana kitiyaphan: kliat khon suai

artist: ฉันทนา กิติยพันธ์ (chanthana kitiyaphan)
album: เกลียดคนสวย (kliat khon suai)
tracklist:
01. เกลียดคนสวย (kliat khon suai)
02. ข้าวนอกนา (khao nok na)
03. ชีวิตคนดำ (chiwit khon dam)
04. ขอสักวัน (kho sak wan)

one thai musical tradition which has been under-represented here is "string", particularly the fantastic thai funk scene of the 70's. of course, considering that this is probably the genre of thai music best represtened in the western market (from those "thai beat a go-go" compilations of years past, to the fine folks at zudrangma today), i haven't felt too guilty about the neglect. nevertheless, i was excited to share this great album from chanthana with you.. imagine my dismay, then, when the reel spun out halfway through side one!! luckily the first 4 songs are the best, pulled from the soundtrack to the 1975 (พ.ศ. 2518) film "ข้าวนอกนา (khao nok na)". you can just pretend it's an e.p.! enjoy!!

khana rung thawi: hae sot dontri phuen ban nong ko

artist: คณะ รุ่งทวี (khana rung thawi)
album: แห่สดดนตรีพื้นบ้านหนองโก ชุดที่ 8 + 9 (hae sot dontri phuen ban nong ko, vols. 8 & 9)
tracklist:
01. แห่สดดนตรีพื้นบ้านหนองโก ชุดที่ 8 (hae sot dontri, vol. 8)
02. แห่สดดนตรีพื้นบ้านหนองโก ชุดที่ 9 (hae sot dontri, vol. 9)

some more great stuff from a recent trip up to isan: khana rung thawi & their fantastic festival sounds! needless to say, the cover made this one irresistible, although the music lives up to it in about every way possible.. this is some of the most manic phin sing i've heard.. distorted drum machines, some amazing fake saxophone and the requisite phin shredding. rung thawi is a local khon kaen band, from ban nong ko specifically. this music, as the cover informs us, is great both for parades, or just listening for fun! enjoy!!

maitai uraiphon: ruam hit 16 pleng dang talap phet

artist: ไหมไทย อุไรพร (maitai uraiphon)
album: รวมฮิต 16 เพลงดังตลับเพชร (ruam hit 16 pleng dang talap phet)
tracklist:
01. คิดฮอดอย่างแฮง (khit hot yang haeng)
02. ดาวเคียงเดือน (dao khiang duean)
03. ให้เขาเป็นคนสุดท้าย (hai khao pen khon sut thai)
04. แฮงฮักแฮงชัง (haeng hak haeng chang)
05. คันเท (khan the)
06. คุณนายสวิส (khun nai swiss)
07. หัวใจจิ้งจก (hua chai chingchok)
08. เห็นเธอที่เยอรมัน (hen thoe thi germany)
09. หัวใจผู้ชาย (hua chai phu chai)
10. คนไม่มีสิทธิ์ (khon mai mi sit)
11. วันที่รอคอย (wan thi ro khoi)
12. หัวสักหัวข่วม (hua sak hua khuam)
13. พอเซแฟนช้ำ (pho se faen cham)
14. อยากอายจิ้งจก (yak ai chingchok)
15. ไหมไทยคนเดิม (maitai khon doem)
16. บักสิเด๋อ (baksidoe)

something a bit more contemporary than usual this week.. we'll hear from maitai chaitawan, who is topping the charts in thailand right now! this tape, however, is a compilation of his hits from a couple years back, mid-2000's i think, back when he was "maitai uraiphon". maitai is from khorat, and started out in doi inthanon's lam sing group. i think he's on gmm grammy now, so you can hear him every day on the radio.. interesting to hear his old stuff! plus check out this video of his concerts from back then (the song is track 16 on here).. fantastic liké get-up! enjoy!!

preview:

khamkoeng thongchan: da da da

artist: คำเกิ่ง ทองจันทร์ (khamkoeng thongchan)
album: ดา ดา ดา (da da da)
tracklist:
01. ดา ดา ดา (da da da)
02. คุณขอมา (khun kho ma)
03. ใจมักคิด (chai mak khit)
04. หัวอกคนจน (hua ok khon chon)
05. เจ้าหัวใจ (chao hua chai)
06. คนพเนจร (khon phanechon)
07. ดีกว่าอยู่สื่อ ๆ (di kwa yu sue sue)
08. อาจารย์ดี (achan di)
09. ชั่วช่างมัน (chua chang man)
10. อีสานพันโว๊ล (isan phan volt)
11. ลาน้องไปซาอุ (la nong pai sa u)
12. เสียนาเสียเมีย (sia na sia mia)

providing no one minds terribly, i thought we could keep with isan stuff for a bit longer, and so here's some nice lam phloen from khamkoeng thongchan! unfortunately, i don't know a great deal about khamkoeng.. he's remembered not so much as a molam in his own right than as the achan (plus composer, lyricist, etc.) of his "thongchan promotion" music collective, which launched the careers of stars like sathit thongchan, dueanphen amnuaiphon, a pojana & others.. nevertheless, he's pretty good himself! the band's got some cool keyboard & sax and of course, that unstoppable molam groove.. plus there's no beating his hat!! enjoy!