Angkhanang Khunchai & the Ubon Phatthana Band [ Isan Lam Phloen ] CD [EM1126CD]

Digital version available at https://emrecords.bandcamp.com/album/em-records

Born in the province of Ubon Ratchathani in Isan (the northeastern region of Thailand), Angkhanang Khunchai was a young female prodigy who emerged on the molam scene, and became one of the first generation of molam performers who were able to “sing” popular music (*3). From an early age she was mentored by renowned national molam artist Chawiwan Damnoen, and in her mid-teens joined the legendary musical troupe the Ubon Phatthana Band as the lead vocalist.

In 1971 at the age of 16 she released a single "Isan Lam Phloen", which went on to become an enduring classic, covered most recently by major contemporary pop star Tai Orathai. The song was also a defining moment in the career of Ubon’s legendary producer Surin Phaksiri, as it was the first recording in which Isan music – in particular molam – was fused with luk thung from Bangkok to form the new musical genre of luk thung Isan. This music invented by music industry genius Phaksiri, transformed molam groups into rock bands and saw them starting to perform with the same kind of intensity as luk thung artists. The mix of contemporary singing styles with traditional molam broke new ground and resulted in some truly surprising and influential music. "Isan Lam Phloen" became a major hit as the theme tune to the film Bua Lam Pu, and before long this new forbidden cool began to infect everyone, with performers turning in their droves to the luk thung Isan style. This turned out to be a precursor to the spread of Isan music across the country and the molam boom that engulfed Thailand in the 90s – an unprecedented period in Thailand’s musical history in which luk thung singers were simply not able to make it in the record business unless they could perform molam.

While typically albums produced in Thailand tended to be collections of singles, this work produced by Phaksiri has an unusual degree of conceptual unity, and this is a very significant aspect of the album. It is an undeniable masterpiece that sees the Ubon Phatthana Band, led by Phaksiri, delivering a performance that dramatically traverses genre boundaries, in an eerie sound-scape populated by the cute and rarefied tones of the young singer… It stands above and apart from the many luk thung Isan works that followed. As a bonus track, we have included Kongphet Kaennakhon’s version of the much-covered "Isan Lam Phloen". Includes commentary in English and Japanese and an explanation of the lyrics.

Footnotes:
(*1) Molam: “Mo” is an artist and “Lam” is a kind of performance art where the artist tells a story using tonal inflexions.
(*2) Luk Thung: An important musical genre originated in Thailand which pulls together influences from various musical sources including rock, latin, regional Thai, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiian music. It is also known as music for country folk. This term was coined in the first half of the 1960s.
(*3) Molam pieces are not actually “songs”, so this distinction is significant. At the time, Molam performers were basically forbidden from singing popular music.

+ Newly remastered
+ First ever world release by the artist outside of Thailand
+ Standard jewel case. A 28-page booklet including liner notes written by Soi48 and rare photos. English & Japanese text

TRACKS:
1. Isan Lam Phloen
2. Lam Phloen Koi Aai
3. Lam Phloen Phatthana
4. Lam Sarawan
5. Lam Phloen Saan Rak Jak Lao Thong
6. Lam Phloen Kiew Hak
7. Lam Phloen Salap Kon Sawan
8. Lam Sao Putai Rampan
9. Lam Yaaw Aalai La
10. Isan Lam Phloen - Kongphet Kaennakhon +

+ bonus track

Soi48 (EM Records/OMK):
DJ unit and Thai music research team comprising Tokyo natives Kei'ichi Utsuki and Shinsuke Takagi. They are the authors of the 2017 reference book “Trip to Isan: Traveling Thai/Isan Music Disc Guide”, and the organizers of and resident DJs at the long-running “Soi48 Party” at Be-Wave, Tokyo. They are also members of a mysterious group called OMK (One Mekong). Soi48 values music, old and new, over format, using vinyl, cassette, CD, VCD and USB to bring a wide range of Asian music, from modern to traditional, to audiences at their DJ events. They are the directors of the EM Records Thai music series, which currently consists of more than ten releases. They also served as the music directors for the critically acclaimed 2016 Kuzok film Bangkok Nites. They are active both in Japan and internationally, appearing at Fuji Rock Festival, writing for magazines and books, and appearing on a number of radio and TV programs.