Wednesday, December 22, 2010

latda siworanan: oh, thun kramom



artist: ลัดดา ศรีวรนันท์ (latda siworanan)
album: โอ้ทูลกระหม่อม (oh, thun kramom)
tracklist:
01. โอ้ทูลกระหม่อม (oh, thun kramom)
02. หัวใจมาร (hua chai man)
03. จักรวาลแห่งดวงใจ (chakkrawan haeng duang chai)
04. ลมรักลมลวง (lom rak lom luang)
05. หวานลิ้นกินตาย (wan lin kin tai)
06. พอกันที (pho kan thi)
07. ว่าแล้วเทียว (wa laeo thieow)
08. รอยรักรอยทราย (roi rak roi sai)
09. พลาดรักสิ้นหวัง (phlat rak sin wang)
10. มารชีวิต (man chiwit)
11. ฝันถึงน้องบ้างนะ (fan thueng nong bang na)
with นริศ อารีย์ (narit ari)
12. ผกาฟ้า (phaka fa)
with นริศ อารีย์ (narit ari)
13. โอ้บุพการี (oh, bupphakari)
14. รักนิรันดร (rak nirandon)

i tried my best to dig up some thai christmas songs this week, but this is as close as i got! though the cover may promise all the holiday cheer your heart could desire, the songs are a bit incongruous (to say the least), featuring titles such as "heart of the devil", "a sweet tongue will eat you to death" and "hopeless failed love". latda siworanan is a top practitioner of the bangkok blues sound, luk krung, with tasteful horns and jazzy rhythm section to back. so despite the dissapointment of promised yuletide themes, there should be enough schmaltz to keep everyone happy... merry christmas!!

Friday, December 17, 2010

iw phimphayom rueangrot

this week's post comes courtesy of mr. peter, possibly the most prolific concert-goer in thailand (almost certainly, among foreigners). he makes it to over 100 shows a year, and as you might imagine, has learned quite a bit about the music he sees. today he'll be sharing the first tape of thai music he ever bought.


artist: อิ๋ว พิมพ์โพยม เรืองโรจน์ (iw phimphayom rueangrot)
album: รวมฮิต 16 เพลงหวาน 1 (ruam hit 16 pleng wan)
tracklist:
01. รู้ว่าเขาหลอก (ru wa khao lok)
02. สัญญารักปากช่อง (sanya rak pak chong)
03. ลั่นทมลืมทุ่ง (lanthom luem thung)
04. แก้วรอพี่ (kaew ro phi)
05. น้องคิดถึงพี่ (nong khit thueng phi)
06. แว่วเสียงซึง (waew siang sueng)
07. ช่างร้ายเหลือ (chang rai luea)
08. ร้ายนักรักนี้ (rai nak rak ni)
09. โหดนักรักนี้ (hot nak rak ni)
10. เขาดวงนักร้อง (khao duang nak rong)
11. คนสวยใจดี (khon suai chai di)
12. สาวชาวสวน (sao chao suan)
13. แม่พิมพ์ของชาติ (mae phim khong chat)
14. ลมหนาวที่เรณู (lom nao thi renu)
15. ตะวันรอที่หนองหาน (tawan ro thi nong han)
16. แล้วคุณล่ะพอหรือยัง (laew khun la pho rue yang)

here's what mr. peter has to say about it:

"this tape was released in june of 1994 and is titled "16 sweet songs". iw has a very clear delivery and a captivating voice and while some listeners may think the sound somewhat sweet, i love the quality of her vocals. unfortunately, although she made over 20 albums (some with male singer ot oppart tossaporn), little of the material is original and is mainly covers of other singers' output, including a re-make of the classic mon rak luk thung soundtrack. iw appears to have started off with an outfit called the d.c. band in the 80’s, and by the early 90’s she was famous enough to appear solo on the covers of popular magazines such as "chiwit jin (chinese life)". she is a rarity in a thai singer in that she also recorded many albums of chinese songs (although she is not of chinese origin herself). these include the famous songs of taiwanese star teresa teng who died in thailand in 1995, at just 42. iw retired from full time singing in 1997 but did release a comeback double album of love songs in 2003. the songs on here are mostly luk thung and luk krung. another singer once pointed out to me which were which but i have forgotten, and it is difficult to tell, as iw sings them in her own particular style; sweet indeed."

Thursday, December 9, 2010

phon phirom: nam ta la sai



artist: พร ภิรมย์ (phon phirom)
album: น้ำตาลาไทร (nam ta la sai)
tracklist:
01. น้ำตาลาไทร (nam ta la sai)
02. กระท่อมทองกวาว (krathom thong kwao)
03. บัวตูม บัวบาน (buatum buaban)
04. น้องนุชสุดท้อง (nong nut sut thong)
05. สุดสวยทั้งสอง (sut suai thang song)
06. บัวหลวง (bua luang)
07. แววตา (waew ta)
08. สวรรค์สวาท (sawan sawat)
09. ลานรักลานเท (lan rak lan the)
10. ลมจ๋า (lom cha)
11. ฝากใจไว้กับจันทร์ (fak chai wai kap chan)
12. รักคุต (rak khut)
13. หลานรักวัยรุ่น (lan rak wairun)
14. เห็นใจสาวสาว (hen cha sao sao)

i'm very sad to report that this past week the great phon phirom passed away, at the age of 82. i thought it would be nice to honor his legacy by sharing one of my favorite luk thung albums, this collection of his earliest singles, dating from around 1962. phon was born into a theatre family from phra nakhon si ayutthaya, and from a young age was fascinated by the world of thai classical music. growing up, he studied the arts of the piphat ensemble and chinese opera, in addition to traditional thai vocal forms. after touring for a number of years with a traveling liké troupe, he was persuaded by famed chularat bandleader mongkhon amatayakun to apply his talents on the burgeoning luk thung stage. phon found a way to integrate the folk & classical styles he so loved into the framework of the latin-inspired pop styles of the day, and became an inspiration for generations of future stars. since the early 80's, however, phon had left the entertainment world behind to join the buddhist priesthood, taking the monastic name phra punyawangso. he lived out his last days at wat rattanachai in his home province of ayutthaya.

a farewell concert will be held on dec. 17th at the thailand cultural center in bangkok. also, you can purchase a beautifully remastered version of this album (with a number of different tracks!) from maemaiplengthai