khabuan mukda: electone '81, vol. 4

artist: ขบวน มุกดา (khabuan mukda)
album: electone '81, vol. 4
tracklist:
01. ตักที่น่านอนตาย (tak thi na non tai)
02. รอ (ro)
03. เป็นไปไม่ได้ (pen pai mai dai)
04. เห็นแล้วหิว (hen laew hiw)
05. ผมไม่วุ่น (phom mai wun)
06. ฝากหัวใจ (fak hua chai)
07. แม่เนื้ออุ่น (mae nuea un)
08. เบื่อหมอน (buea mon)
09. ภาษาใจ (phasa chai)
10. ในโลกแห่งความฝัน (nai lok haeng khwan fan)
11. ถมไม่เต็ม (thom mai tem)
12. ฉงน (changon)
13. คางคกอยากขึ้นวอ (khangkhok yak khuen wo)
14. รักกันวันละสองเวลา (rak kan wan la song wela)
15. คนพิการรัก (khon phikan rak)
16. เทพเจ้าแห่งความระทม (thepphachao haeng khwam rathom)
17. เหมือนคนละฟากฟ้า (muean khonla fak fa)
18. ฐานันดรรัก (thanandon rak)

some more great old electone sounds this week, though unlike the previous albums (here and here), this one's got a big name attached: the "son of p.m.", mr. khabuan mukda!! khabuan is best known for his outstanding electric organ work in the "shadow" bands of the 60's (p.m. pocket music, p.m. 7 jupiter, etc.) created by his father, the incomparable phayong mukda. in the 70's, while the the rest of the pocket music guys settled down as don sonrabiap's backing band (p.m. 5), khabuan apparently went off to do his own thing. what this was exactly i had no idea, until i came across this tape! seeing that this is the 4th of who knows how many volumes, we can assume that electone stuff was keeping khabuan busy in the early 80's.. and lucky for us, as he comes up with some nice sounds here, filtering "string" hits of the day through a sci-fi soundtrack sensibility. enjoy!!

sutrak aksonthong: nak rop ramphan

artist: สุดรัก อักษรทอง (sutrak aksonthong)
album: นักรบรำพัน (nak rop ramphan)
tracklist:
01. นักรบรำพัน (nak rop ramphan)
02. ชาวเรือฝากรัก (chao ruea fak rak)
03. หนุ่มมโนห์รา (num manora)
04. นาขาดน้ำพี่ขาดน้อง (na khat nam phi khat nong)
05. พอแล้วรักลวง (pho laeo rak luang)
06. ผิดหวังรักแรก (phit wang rak raek)
07. ดินกันคลอง (din kan khlong)
08. หวงน้อง (huang nong)
09. กองเชียร์สอื้น (kong cheer sauen)
10. เสียดายแฟน (sia dai faen)
11. ยามดึกนอนเดี่ยว (yam duek non dieow)
12. คืนฝนตก (khuen fon tok)
13. หนุ่มใต้ฝากรัก (num tai fak rak)
14. อยู่คอยใคร (yu khoi khrai)

here's another great album from down south, this time in a more popular vein. sutrak aksonthong is a luk thung singer from nakhon si thammarat, but besides his place of provenance, i can't find much info about him.. he often sings about having been a fisherman, though, so maybe that was his occupation before hitting the pop music stage? he's one of only a handful of big luk thung stars from thailand's south, and seems to have been in the same circle as sayan sanya and yodrak salakchai. the music here is great horn & organ-driven luk thung, with some heavy 70's disco/funk influence, and some serious southern-style percussion on a couple tracks. from what i can tell, sutrak is still working in the music sector, djing at various radio stations around nakhon. i'm really a fan of this one, hope you enjoy as well!

khana pleng bok soi siang sano

artist: คณะเพลงบอกสร้อย เสียงเสนาะ (khana pleng bok soi siang sano)
album: การพัฒนาคน (kan phatthana khon)
tracklist:
01. การพัฒนาคน (kan phatthana khon)

i came across this fantastic tape during a recent visit to nakhon si thammarat city. the genre, which was new to me, is called pleng bok, or "herald song", a specialty of thailand's south. pleng bok is a style of melodious call and response ballad, reminiscent of the pan-thai lam tat, and likely with similar roots in malay islamic prayer (though information about the music seems scant). this group, "pleng bok soi siang sano", led by soi damchaem, is really amazing.. their only musical accompaniment is a tiny ching cymbal, but they achieve an incredible rhythmic drive with their voices alone. this recording is of their award-winning performance at nakhon si thammarat's annual "festival of the tenth lunar month" in 1989 (2532). 6 years later, soi would become a national artist (ศิลปินแห่งชาติ), the first practioner of pleng bok to receive this honor.

narit ari: sak wan nueng

singer: นริศ อารีย์ (narit ari)
album: สักวันหนึ่ง (sak wan nueng)
tracklist:
01. สักวันหนึ่ง (sak wan nueng)
02. เปียจ๋า (pia cha)
03. อย่าหลอกฉันเลย (ya lok chan loei)
04. ชบาไพร (chaba phrai)
05. เพลงนี้อุทิศให้เธอ (phleng ni uthit hai thoe)
06. จนแล้วไม่เจียม (chon laeo mai chiam)
07. แพ้รัก (phae rak)
08. ล่องแพแม่ปิง (long phae mae ping)
09. ม่วยจ๋า (muai cha)
10. กลิ่นเกล้า (klin klao)
11. หัวใจใครครอง (hua chai khrai khrong)
12. ให้ผมรักคุณเถิดนะ (hai phom rak khun thoet na)
13. เธอลืมยอดชู้ (thoe luem yot chu)
14. ให้พี่ใกล้ชิดสักนิด (hai phi klai chit sak nit)
15. พระลอรำพัน (phra lo ramphan)
16. ไฝดำ (fai dam)
17. ลักยิ้ม (lakyim)
18. ทาสรัก (that rak)
19. ไม่เคยง้อใครเท่าคุณ (mai khoei ngo khrai thao khun)

sorry for the length between posts; i've been traveling north, south & all over. being back in the capitol now, it seems appropriate to share some sweet, sad old city music. and who better to sing the bangkok blues than mr. narit ari? narit is the younger brother of woranut ari, a founding member of the suntaraphon band. he spent time singing for radio plays and temple fairs, before following his sister's path to suntaraphon. alongside suthep wongkhamhaeng and charin nanthanakhon, narit was one of the "three generals of luk krung", the thai crooners who dominated bangkok's music scene in the 50's and 60's, frequently delighting audiences at the famous sala chaloem thai & sala chaloem krung royal theatres. hope he can do the same for you!