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The Sound of Siam
Chris Menist moved to Bangkok in 2008 and found a treasure trove of retro hits and obscurities in the city’s many family-run record stores. After two years digging out the best gems he has put together The Sound of Siam: Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz and Molam 1964-75, the first internationally released compilation of vintage Thai pop. Made during a time of great social change – the era was marked by mass migration from the countryside to the cities – the music fuses rural traditions with influences from classical India to psychedelic America.
Where did you find the music? You mentioned some 1960s independent stores in Bangkok are still in business ... Why do you think these record stores survive there? Is vinyl still popular there?
Chris Menist: Mostly in the old record stores in China Town – it’s a weird situation, as it’s like these shops are preserved in aspic! I think they remain open because, like many of the businesses in this part of Bangkok, they are what are called ‘shop houses’. The families live upstairs, and they run the business part on the ground floor. They mostly own these properties, and so rates etc.. are very very low. I think the vinyl they have in their shops is the stock that they were left with after people stopped buying records in favour of cassettes and then CDs. My guess is they’ll just keep the shops open until they’ve sold everything or until they get bored! I don’t think it’s any particular concern for being an independent record store or anything.
Were all the musicians featured here well-known at the time they released these songs? Some of them sound like they were pop hits and others sound pretty out-there! (The Viking Combo Band sounds like the soundtrack to a great 60s horror b-movie!)
CM: Most of them (Dao Ban Don, Waipod, Plearn Promdan) were, and still are, big stars. The Viking Combo Band were just a house band at a local restaurant. This may be their only recorded output. Some of the tracks, such as the one by Plearn, was not necessarily a massive hit, but it just caught our attention, sonically speaking. The tracks by Chaweewan Dumnern though are fairly well known to Molam fans.
You have three tracks by Chaweewan Dumnern – what a beautiful voice - is she an all-time favourite in Thailand?
CM: Yup, she’s the first lady of Molam, and a real ambassador for Isan culture. A classy, strong woman, who still has a fine voice.
One of the genres featured on the compilation, Luk Krung, is called ‘song of the city’ – could you tell us a bit more about how this developed?
CM: Luk Krung reflects the music that became popular in urban settings, particularly Bangkok. Early Luk Krung was heavily influenced by ballroom jazz, and the over-arranged Latin music so popular in the US. Over time, you could say it is bands and singers directly taking their cue from Western pop (such as The Impossibles) and doing their own versions. There are a handful of good Luk Krung tracks, but much of it is rather soulless, and a direct carbon copy of non-Thai styles, with little creative input of their own.
And how is Luk Thung (‘song of the countryside’) different?
CM: Much rawer, better at addressing national concerns, and, for the period represented on the comp, basically more experimental and interesting. It’s the sound of the music moving with the times, with producers and musicians introducing other ideas into the basic Luk Thung style, rolling the dice and seeing what happened. Any music that is captured during these types of ‘crossover periods’ is generally worth checking as the rules weren’t laid down when it was being recorded.
The Molam style (‘dance expert’) feels like an American psych influence reached Bangkok?
CM: Strictly a music found in the north-east, which spread to other parts of the country due to economic migration. Stylistically it has changed little in 1000 years, though some musicians (as you can hear on the comp) experimented with incorporating other styles of music, the bass guitar being the most significant addition. Santana and Pink Floyd were very popular here, and some Thais got work at one of the many US bases which were set up during the Vietnam War. However, I think aside from any GI influence, music played on the radio and made available through the record stores proved to have a more long lasting effect.
Do you know if any artists are playing these styles today in Thailand, as a kind of home-grown retro revival?
CM: Yes they are, but it’s not a revival. They are just doing what they’ve always done – they have their audience (mostly older generation) and I doubt they see any need to change. If this compilation ended up broadening their younger fan base, then that would be very satisfying.
We hear that you are working in Yemen at the moment. Are you enjoying the music there? Any plans for a Sound of Sana´a compilation?
CM: Ha! Ha! Watch this space – it’s a very conservative (though culturally rich) country, and though I’ve found some beautiful, bluesy folk stuff, the type of experimenting that seemed to take place in other parts of the Middle East and East Africa, doesn’t seem to have taken root here.
You can read more about Chris Menist’s Yemeni trip here: http://originalpress365.wordpress.com
The Sound of Siam: Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz and Molam 1964-75
is out now on Soundway
Jody Gillett
// ALSO
- Gilles Peterson
- The Original Sound of Latin New York
- Live Wire
- Record Store Day 16 April 2011
- Joe Bataan & James Pants live at Cargo 11 June plus dates in Leeds and Birmingham
- Quantic and his Combo Barbaro album launch tour starts Friday 5 June at the ICA
- City sounds: Lima, Chicha boom
- Samy Ben Redjeb, Analog adventures
- Fania Records, Fania Records // Back to El Barrio
// ALL SOUNDWAY'S INTERVIEWS
The Sound of Siam
08/12/2010
// DISCOGRAPHY
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Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds and Ghanaian Blues 1968-81 (Compilation).jpg "Tumbélé! Biguine Afro & Latin Sounds from the French Caribbean 1963-74")
Tumbélé! Biguine Afro & Latin Sounds from the French Caribbean 1963-74 (Compilation)// LINKS
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