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: