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:

ruam hit bashir wongmasoh

artist: บาซิร วงษ์มะเซาะห์ (bashir wongmasoh)

album: รวมฮิต บาซิร วงษ์มะเซาะห์ (ruam hit bashir wongmasoh)

tracklist:

01. มู่ซีฮะห์ (musihah)

02. ซีตีรอฮานี (siti rohani)

03. ยางัน ฮัยยางัน (jangan hai jangan)

04. กูซิมาชาละห์ (kusi masalah)

05. ฮันยาลา (hanyalah)

06. แห้วอีกแล้ว (haew ik leaw)

07. ฉันมันโง่เอง (chan man ngo eng)

08. รักนี้เพื่อเธอ (rak ni phuea thoe)

09. หัวใจที่ถูกทำลาย (hua chai thi thuk thamlai)

10. ส่งใจจากปอเนาะต์ (song chai chak pondok)

we're back this week with some islamic power pop! i don't have many facts about mr. bashir, but both his style and the fact that i got the tape from yanavy sound makes me think he's part of bangkok's arab-malay cohort.. not to mention that he shares a surname with sobah from baby arabia. this cassette is a collection of his greatest hits (side 1 sung in malay, side 2 in thai) which i would imagine were current to the late 80s/early 90s, going by the dangdut-inflected guitar/keyboard licks and drum machine action. enjoy!!

taofek thong thale sai

artist: เตาเฟก หวังเกษม (taofek wangkasem)

album: เตาเฟก ท่องทะเลทราย (taofek thong thale sai)

tracklist:

01. มาอากะกั้ลเลาะห์ (ma'akakallah)

02. ยาอัต เลลา (ya'at lela)

03. อัลบุคร่อ (al bukhro)

04. บิ้ลอูยูน (bil uyun)

05. ว่ารอกี้ (waroki)

06. อ้าฆุ้ลลัค (akhula')

07. ลุบนาน (lubnan)

08. ยาอัต เลลา (บรรเลง) (ya'at lela (instrumental))

this week, another great entry from bangkok's islamic music scene! there is very little info around about mr. taofek; a record label head who puts out his work could tell me only that he's not a musician by trade. like our tape from soliha & mohamad yamal yusef a while back, this is another fantastic collection of arab-malay grooves. to my ears, the music here is closer to a middle eastern precedent than that of the k.t. band.. heavy on the hand drums & accordion, with an archetypal arabic orchestra sound behind (though fear not, surf-guitar are hand-claps are intact!) enjoy!

preview:

soliha wangkasem & mohamad yamal yusef with the k.t. band

artist(s): ซอลีฮะห์ หวังเกษม + ยามาล แซะห์ยูซุฟ (soliha wangkasem & mohamad yamal yusef with the k.t. band)

album: เลลา-เลลา (lela-lela)

tracklist:

01. บียะห์ (biah)

02. เลลา-เลลา (lela-lela)

03. อานาคอยิฟ (ana-qouif)

04. อุลลี-อุลลี (ulli-ulli)

05. ซิครอน อีลา (sikron ila)

this week, superb arab-malay grooves from the k.t. band!  there's no info to be found about this band or either of our 2 singers.. i can't even say for sure where they're from (although this cassette came out on bangkok-based yanavy records).  what i can tell you is that they have a great take on classic arabic songs.  melodies from the middle east treated to swinging rock'n'roll rhythms complete with hand-claps, surf guitar & synthesizer.  i'm really enjoying this one, hope you do too!

preview:

MRPT170 by monrakplengthai

khana arab bombay: nasib prayuk

artist: คณะ อรับบอมเบย์ (khana arab bombay)

album: นาเสปประยุกต์ (nasib prayuk)

tracklist:

01. นาเสปประยุกต์ ตอน 1 (nasib prayuk, pt. 1)

02. นาเสปประยุกต์ ตอน 2 (nasib prayuk, pt. 2)

this week, another installment of fantastic thai-muslim music!  this cassette features a prayuk or "applied" version of the malay nasib.  for a description of that genre, let me defer to jon ward, of the inimitable excavated shellac: "nasib, or "song of fate" ... is an aching, slow lament; a deeply melancholic popular song type which is built around the singer’s misfortune in life ... the origins of the nasib derive ... from indonesian/malaysian stambul theater music ... where theatrical groups would perform musical dramas, many with stories which had origins in india or the middle east ... nasib is sung by a singer who is in fact playing – or at the very least channeling – a character or situation from these classical stories, rather than singing [t]he[i]r own blues."  here the characters of nasib take one step further in their journey!  in it's prayuk form, thai nasib seems to stress group participation, with a solo singer & chorus trading call & response, as well as greater variations in tempo.. whether these are local innovations or a return towards the genre's theatrical routes, i couldn't tell you.  i also wish i could say more about our performers, khana arab bombay, but i can't find anything.  any further information would be greatly appreciated... until then, enjoy!

sobah wongmasoh & kue baby

artist: ซอบะห์ วงษ์มะเซาะ + กื้อ เบบี้ (sobah wongmasoh & kue baby)
album: รวมเพลงภาพยนตร์อินเดีย 3 (ruam phleng phapphayon india 3)
tracklist:
01. bobby (บ๊อบบี้)
02. zindakyja (ซันดากียา)
03. khudakawa (ฮูดาคาวา)
04. pholo kata (ปูโล คาตา)
05. yadoky (ยาดูกี้)
06. tumbill (ตุมบิล)
07. yatumha (ยาตุมฮา)
08. jallte (ยัลเด)
09. rona (โรนา)
10. amere betee (อเมรี บีตี)
11. rimkim che (ริมคิม ซี)
12. jalterajal (ยัลเตราจัน)

as a lucky follow-up to last week's indian-derived material, today we have bollywood sounds of a different stripe.  just the other day, i came across a great arab-malay tape shop in bangkok.  among their collection was this cassette featuring sobah and kue, past members of bangkok's own baby arabia (recently the subject of a fantastic documentary), doing takes on classic filmi tunes.  unfortunately, i don't know a great deal about contemporary thai-muslim music, but i would guess that these melodies reached thailand's islamic community by way of malaysia/indonesia, where they had played a major role in the development of that region's famous dangdut genre.  to my ears, this tape bears definite dangdut influence... i know some readers here are much more knowledgeable about this scene than i, so if you know anything further, please contribute!