narong manmaen & wanphen chaturathit

artist: ณรงค์ มานแมน + วันเพ็ญ จตุรทิศ (narong manmaen & wanphen chaturathit)
album: น้ำตารักจากหัวใจ (nam ta rak chak hua chai)
tracklist:
01. รักกลางดง (rak klang dong)
02. ครวญถึงนาง (khruan thueng nang)
03. ฟาตีมะห์ (fatimah)
04. เสียงตอบจากฟาตีมะห์ (siang top chak fatimah)
05. พเนจร (phanechon)
06. โลกมืด (lok muet)
07. วอนฝากฟ้า (won fak fa)
08. น้ำตารักจากหัวใจ (nam ta rak chak hua chai)
09. รักมีกรรม (rak mi kam)
10. หากรักอย่าระแวง (hak rak ya rawaeng)
11. วอนนางกลับนา (won nang klap na)
12. สั่งบินหลา (sang bin la)

this week, we'll hear some rare thai-muslim luk thung from singers narong manmaen & wanphen chaturathit! narong hailed from bangkok's nong chak district, a historic center of the capital city's islamic community, and went by the nickname "ai num malay '85", a reference to his southern thai malay muslim heritage. aside from his singing career, narong was a popular a.m. radio dj as well^[1]. this cassette finds him teaming up with another little-known singer wanphen chaturathit, and together they deliver 12 songs featuring melodies sourced from india, indonesia, malaysia, pattani, singapore and southern thailand. enjoy!

preview:

withep kanthima & the champagne band

artist: วิเทพ กันธิมา + วง แชมเปญ (withep kanthima & the champagne band)
album: ดนตรีลานนาผสมสากล ชุด บรรเลงคำร้อง (dontri lanna phasom sakon chut banleng kham rong)
tracklist:
01. เพลงดาดน่าน (phleng dat nan)
02. ซีจานตุง (si jantung)
03. เขมรกล่อมลูก (khmer klom luk)
04. จันทร์โลม (chan lom)
05. เพลงกันตรึม (phleng kantruem)
06. เพลงเร็ว (phleng reo)
07. ลำหลวงพระบาง (lam luang phrabang)
08. คางคกปากบ่อ (khang khok pak bo)
09. มอญดูดาว (mon du dao)
10. ลำเพลินอีสาน (lam phloen isan)
11. เสเลเมา (se le mao)
12. changing of the guards

this week's post marks the seventh in a series of cassettes gifted to us by educator cliff sloane. a former professor of ethnomusicology and founder of asianclassicalmp3.org, a major influence behind this blog.

our seventh tape from cliff again features the talents of lanna artist withep kanthima. born in 1954, withep trained from a young age with his father in the local music of northeast thailand, studying a range of folk instruments and performance styles. aside from this paternal instruction, withep was also a student of chao sunthon na chiang mai, our previously featured performer from cliff's collection. like his teacher, withep made his name hand-crafting local instruments and instructing young musicians at the chiang mai college of dramatic arts, marking that institution's first hire of a folk musician, according to cliff. he passed away in 2006 at the age of 54^[1]. this fourth cassette from withep finds him taking up the pi nae, a northern reed oboe, running through melodies drawn from lanna, thailand, laos, cambodia, indonesia and america (specifically, bob dylan). accompanying withep is a modern rock combo, "the champagne band", with electric bass, drumset and keyboards, as well as an assortment of local instruments. enjoy!

preview: