Various Artists - Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s-1980s

Year: 2007
Style: Thai madness
Country: Thailand
Format: MP3
Quality: VBR, average 256 kbps
Size: 116 MB (5% recovery information included)

The hardest thing about enjoying strange musics from other lands, though, is realizing that the music only seems strange to us... Compiled again by the Sublime Frequencies label, this is "an awesomely confusional mix of Molam, Bollywood, Ethiopian groove, funk, soul, American pop and surf rock, all tangled up into amazing shapes, and peppered with killer hooks, amazing vocalists, bizarre production techniques, but most of all amazing songs."
Beware: this is not for purists. But if you enjoyed the "Ethiopiques" series or stuff like "Bombshell Baby of Bombay", you probably will like also this one.

Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s-1980s
Sublime Frequencies, SF032, 2007.

1. Introduction — Welcome To Thailand
2. Roob Lor Thom Pai (There Are Many Handsome Men Out There)
Buppah Saichol
3. Mae Kha Som Tum (Papaya Salad Merchant)
Onuma Singsiri
4. Lung Dee Kee Mao (Uncle Dee is a Drunk)
P. Promdan
5. Fawn Ngeo (Dance of the Ngeo)
Johnny Guitar
6. Kwuan Tai Duew Luk Puen (You Should Die By Bullets)
Chailai Chaiyata & Sawanee Patana
7. Dek Kai Nuang Sue Pim (Newspaper Boy)
Sangthong Seesai
8. Gao Guek (Wise Old Man)
Gawao Siangthong
9. Tid Lom Ta Lai (Drinking Whiskey Until I'm Blurred)
Man City Lion
10. Mai Na Lork Gun (Don't Deceive Me)
Kampee Sangthong
11. Nan Nan Pob Gan Tee (Long Time No See)
The Generation
12. Koh Phuket (Phuket Island)
Phet Potaram
13. Gang Geng Nai Krai Lab (Look Whose Underwear is Showing)
Kabuan Garn Yor Yod Yung Yong
14. Khor Tan Gor Mee Hua Jai (The Beggar Has a Heart) aka "The Night Chicago Died"
Pairoj
15. Sao Dok Kum Tai (Lady From a Flower)
Pumpuang Duangjan
16. Tangkon Tangnae (We Both Think We're The Best!)
Sangthong Seesai
17. Keng Ma (Dog Races) [excerpt]
P. Promdan
18. Na Doo (Very Striking Girl)
Man City Lion
19. Dteuu (Bothering)
Setha
20. Mia Rai Duen (Monthly Wife)
Duongdao And Chailai
21. Pleng Show (Title Theme)
Chalermpon Malakum

Total time: 57:14 min

Another killer installment in the Sublime Frequencies series of wondrous and fantastical musics from around the world, and although we've probably proclaimed this about past volumes, this just may be the best one yet.

The hardest thing about enjoying strange musics from other lands, though, is realizing that the music only seems strange to us. And with that realization comes a responsibility. C'mon, the pop music popular in the US must seem just as strange to folks in other countries — Avril Lavigne, Britney, every singer from American Idol, or how about Weird Al? So you sort of have to take into account that knowing the language, and growing up listening to the various popular musics of a region, would probably help to contextualize the strange hybridized pop music that we love to listen to and that is such a cornerstone of this series. Imagine how different it would be listening to a band like Circle if you understood Finnish. Might not seem so crazy.
But that's part of the joy, it does sound crazy, and wild and weird, and wonderful, and there's certainly nothing wrong with being fascinated by seeming strangeness of the music, or enjoying the lyrics as just another instrument since we don't speak the language, and digging the seemingly bizarre juxtapositions, as long as we respect the heritage and the makers of this music that gives us such pleasure. And we do.

And holy crap does this latest installment give us all kinds of pleasure. It is wild, an awesomely confusional mix of Molam, Bollywood, Ethiopian groove, funk, soul, American pop and surf rock, all tangled up into amazing shapes, and peppered with killer hooks, amazing vocalists, bizarre production techniques, but most of all amazing amazing songs. The sort of songs that get stuck in your head and you find yourself humming to yourself, wondering if it was something you heard on the radio or something that was playing in some store you were just in, then realizing it was actually some seventies Thai pop song!

We knew this collection was going to be amazing before we even got to the music. Past installments in this series focusing on Thai music were already among our favorites, the photos are awesome, and check out some of these song titles: "There Are Many Handsome Men Out There", "You Should Die By Bullets", "Drinking Whiskey Until I'm Blurred", "Look Whose Underwear Is Showing", "Monthly Wife", "Uncle Dee Is A Drunk"...
And the music is just as fun and funky, crazy and catchy. A killer collection of Thai disco classics, music from Thai films, a bunch of stone cold pop gems, some unknown, some by Thai superstars, and a totally tweaked version of "The Night Chicago Died".

Some of our favorites are "Dance Of The Ngeo" by Johnny Guitar, a bad ass surf guitar jam, that begins with some strange trash can percussion, that surfaces again and again throughout, as well as some awesome fuzz organ, all making it sound like the coolest weirdest track Joe Meek never recorded, "You Should Die By Bullets" by Chailai Chaiyata & Sawanee Patana, a super funky slab of tripped out Bollywood style disco, with some truly damaged alien synths, and some amazing vocals, "We Both Think We're The Best" by Sangthong Seesai, a seasick, slithery groove, all blown out percussion, fuzzy organ, really grimey and groovy and sultry sounding, "Long Time No See" by Generation, a badass Barney Miller wah guitar groove, strutting and sexy, with a super strange totally blown out cymbal that gives the track a really strange shimmer, "Wise Old Man" by Gawao Siangthong, a funky horn flecked funk workout, that almost sounds like the Thai version of an Ethiopian Grooves track, there's even a weird breakdown in the middle of the song, where the two vocalists joke and banter, before launching right back into the song, "Title Theme from Live From The Rocket Festival" by Chalermpon Malakum, a space age seventies sitcom soundtrack groove, with weird warbly synths, funky horns, and a killer psychedelic guitar solo, and maybe our favorite (although it's practically impossible to choose), "Papaya Salad Merchant" by Onuma Singsiri, a slow burning shuffle, moody and brooding, with super sultry vocals, a wicked Morricone-ish Spaghetti Western twang guitar, some subtle waka waka rhythms, and a main melody to die for.

It's hard to describe any of these tracks without the word 'groove', as the above would seem to demonstrate, and that's because almost all of these tracks are indeed groovy, full of funky horns, wah wah guitars, bouncy bass lines, wild percussion, wicked drumming, and an incredible array of vocals and vocalists... but even the tracks that aren't inherently groovy, still seem to groove somehow... and even though we picked our favorites above, the more we listen, the more every song here is becoming one of our favorites... so so great!

Unlike a lot of other titles in this series where the sources were dubbed tapes or unlabeled recordings or radio broadcasts, each track here is credited to the performer (and hopefully, we assume, the performers will see some of the profits this time around?), each with it's original Thai title and translated English title, as well as what album the song is taken from, and there are liner notes from Sublime Frequencies head honcho (and Sun City Girl) Alan Bishop and frequent SF contributor Mark Gergis.

Aquarius Records