Monday, September 25, 2023

sonphet sonsuphan: karaoke



artist: ศรเพชร ศรสุพรรณ (sonphet sonsuphan)
album: คาราโอเกะ (karaoke)
tracklist:
01. จดหมายตีกลับ (chot mai ti klap)
02. คอยสาวนา (khoi sao na)
03. รักน้องจังเลย (rak nong chang loei)
04. คนถูกแย่งแฟน (khon thuk yaeng faen)
05. นักโทษรัก (nak thot rak)
06. มนุษย์มนา (manutmana)
07. รอพี่ตีสอง (ro phi ti song)
08. รักน้องเมียเพื่อน (rak nong mia phuean)
09. สอบตกอกหัก (sop tok ok hak)
10. เสียไข่แดง (sia khai daeng)
11. แม่มะลิเลื้อย (mae mali lueai)
12. อดทนคือคนไทย (ot thon khue khon thai)
 
this week, a technologically notable entry from sonphet sonsuphan (who we sadly lost early this year). sonphet, as you might guess from his stage name, was a native of suphanburi, the central province that gave us so many golden-age luk thung singers. he had a long career, from ramwong dancer in the '60s to an elder statesman of the luk thung revival in the '90s, though since 2010 or so he had been suffering from serious health troubles. this particular cassette features an interesting innovation that i haven't come across before on cassette (though the trick would later show up quite often on vcd): that is, the backing track and vocal/melodic leads are separated out between the left and right channels. so if you want a "minus one" track for your karaoke performance, merely slide the balance knob to one side; if you want a (mostly) a cappella vocal track, slide to the other! as for the music, it has a classic late-'70s/early-'80s full band sound, with synth leads, a nice disco/bump-ramwong feel, and of course sonphet's one-of-a-kind voice sounding as impassioned as ever. enjoy!