royal sprites: rueang chip choi

artist: รอยัลสไปรท์ส (royal sprites)
album: เรื่องจิ๊บจ๊อย (rueang chip choi)
tracklist:
01. เรื่องจิ๊บจ๊อย (rueang chip choi)
02. กินรีเล่นน้ำ (kinari len nam)
03. กิ่งฟ้า (king fa)
04. เจอะคุณเข้าอีกแล้ว (choe khun khao ik laeo)
05. มนต์รักบ้านนา (mon rak ban na)
06. ธาราระทม (thara rathom)
07. เพ้อ (phoe)
08. ลมจ๋า (lom cha)
09. สั่งฟ้าฝากดิน (sang fa fak din)
10. จับปลาสองมือ (chap pla song mue)

this cassette was a generous gift from our pal sam of the (now sadly defunct) archive of southeast asian music!

this week, some classic thai funk! originally styled the royal academy of magic sprites, today's group was founded in 1969 by lead guitar amnat sima and singer adisak prakhunhangsit while they were studying at the poh-chang academy of arts. they played at nightclubs and string combo competitions around bangkok, in friendly rivalry with fellow pop/rock groups like the impossibles. toward the end of the 70s, adisak left the group and sunthon sutcharitchan came on as lead vocalist, whereupon they took on a more funk/disco bent and also began their recording career in earnest. they released a string of successful albums up until 1987, when they disbanded. the cassette featured today was their first for the azona label, released in 1982. enjoy!

preview:

chinthara phunlap: molam sa-on, vol. 3

artist: จินตหรา พูนลาภ (chinthara phunlap)
album: หมอลำสะออน ชุด 3 น้ำตาหล่นบนเถียงนา (molam sa-on, vol. 3: nam ta lon bon thiang na)
tracklist:
01. น้ำตาหล่นบนเถียงนา (nam ta lon bon thiang na)
02. เหงาใจในต่างแดน (ngao chai nai tang daen)
03. นกตูมร้องน้องสะอื้น (nok tum rong nong sa-uen)
04. รักร้าวที่บึงพลาญ (rak rao thi bueng phalan)
05. เดือนหงายอ้ายสัญญา (duean ngai ai sanya)
06. นั่งซึมใต้ต้นมะยม (nang suem tai ton mayom)
07. หมอชิตสองน้องคอย (mochit song nong khoi)
08. อ้อนอ้ายขายนา (on ai khai na)
09. ซังผู้ชายหลายเมีย (sang phu chai lai mia)
10. ไร่ข้าวโพดโกรธพี่ (rai khao phot krot phi)
11. ปอสี่พี่ไม่มอง (po si phi mai mong)
12. คนสามใจไก่สามขา (khon sam chai kai sam kha)

back in may, we had a great compilation from the first decade of luk thung/molam star chinthara phunlap's career.. this week, we'll hear an entry from a half-decade later! for a quick refresher: chintara came from a farming family in roi-et province and worked her way up through singing contests and radio appearances in khon kaen, before signing to gmm grammy and quickly becoming a best-seller. her high tone and ornamented style of singing have earned her the nickname "the girl with the voice of a phin", and her short haircut and energetic presence made her an icon of her generation. this cassette is the third in her "molam sa-on (pleasing molam)" series, released on her own mastertape label in the year 2000, featuring songwriting from dao bandon and music from sawat sarakham. enjoy!

winai phanthurak: kham laeo nai ruedu nao

artist: วินัย พันธุรักษ์ (winai phanthurak)
album: ค่ำแล้วในฤดูหนาว (kham laeo nai ruedu nao)
tracklist:
01. ค่ำแล้วในฤดูหนาว (kham laeo nai ruedu nao)
02. เสียงกระซิบสั่ง (siang krasip sang)
03. แหวนประดับก้อย (waen pradap koi)
04. ยิ่งคิดยิ่งช้ำ (ying khit ying cham)
05. เสียงเพลงทิพย์ (siang phleng thip)
06. ผีเสื้อกับดอกไม้ (phi suea kap dok mai)
07. ใจเป็นห่วง (chai pen huang)
08. คำปฏิญาณ (kham patiyan)
09. บางปู (สะพานสุขตา) (bang pu (saphan suk ta))
10. พรานเบ็ด (phran bet)

this week, a solo outing from the famed winai phanthurak! a saraburi native, winai got his start as a vocalist in one of phayong mukda's youth chorus projects before moving up to be an instrumental contributor to p.m. pocket music, phayong's shadow prayuk or "modernized" thai music ensemble. from there, he teamed up with settha sirachaya to form the impossibles, thailand's pre-eminent smooth 70's vocal/funk group. after they split up in 1977, winai joined rewat phutthinan (future head of gmm grammy) to form a band called the oriental funk. where, through all these comings-and-goings, did this particular album fall? i'm not exactly sure, but it bears the hallmarks of his erstwhile career, with a lightly funk-informed MOR sound dominating. interestingly, the selections all date from a generation or so previous, compositions of early luk krung songwriter and accordion star luan khwantham. on the musical side as well, the band keeps things interesting with some left-field moog-ish stabs. and speaking of left-field, the cassette also includes alternate (though clipped) beardless cover art of winai. as per your taste, i suppose.. enjoy!

preview: