Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan

by Sublime Frequencies

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$10 USD or more
Limited edition label archive copies of SF019 2xLP
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Out of print label archive copies of this classic SF titles 2xLP
only 10 copies available.

the first modern electrified Molam recordings from the 1970s ever presented outside Thailand. Molam is a multi-faceted folk music native to Laos and the predominantly rural Northeastern region of Thailand known as Isan - home to myriad ethnic groups and provinces, and once a part of present-day Laos. Mo meaning "master" and lam meaning "song", molam literally translates into "master singer", but it remains more of an umbrella term covering over a dozen types of lam styles in which male and female singers can be backed by a free-reed bamboo mouth organ called a khaen, indigenous lute-like instruments (the phin or the soong), a bowed fiddle called a sor and a percussion ensemble featuring finger cymbals and hand drums. Lam phun and lam sing are the two molam styles featured most prominently in this collection. Also in the musical family is look thoong, a slower, more tragic style, usually lamenting lost love and perpetual poverty. Examples are heard on tracks 10, 15 and 20. Costumed Isan comedy troupes called Talok incorporate hyper-eccentric molam and look thoong renditions with low, vaudevillian comedy and high social satire on stages and TVs throughout the country. Maniacal examples are heard on tracks 2, 8 and 11. The classic recordings featured here are selections from rare vinyl LPs, 45s and cassettes recorded in Isan and beyond between the 1970s and 1980s. This was a pivotal time when music of the region began to be electrified and integrated with Western instruments. When electric bass, effected guitars, electric organs, kit drums and horns played alongside the khaen and the phin. Molam had never sounded this way before – and due to the typically ephemeral nature of the music industry and the introduction of the modern keyboard workstation, molam will never sound like this again.

Includes unlimited streaming of Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

Sold Out

1.	Kwanjai Kalasin Yuk Patana – Chiwit Sao Molam 03:04	buy track
2.	Khong Khao Noi Mea Ka 99 – Pleng Peebah 03:38	buy track
3.	Unknown Artist – Pleng Keh Sam Sip Sam Natee 00:35	buy track
4.	Kwanjai Ubon – Oaipon Tahan Chaiden 02:21	buy track
5.	Chaan Siang Phin - Wasana Gam Par 03:08	buy track
6.	Sabaithong Powpuri – Ruk Mai Somwong 02:32	buy track
7.	Gawow Seungthong – Mai Ow Mai Ow 02:55	buy track
8.	Khong Khao Noi Mea Ka 99 – Ahn Nai? 00:50	buy track
9.	Group Tong Me – Eun Sai (I Call For You) Vocals – Tong Me Malai 02:31	buy track
10.	Chaan Siang Phin – Lam Phun Keaogan 03:45	buy track
11.	Boonchu Farlab – Molam Sing Tao Bahn Phun 02:48	buy track
12.	P. Chaland* & Pimjai – Lam Thuy Ying Mora 04:26	buy track
13.	Kwanjai Kalasin Yuk Patana - Lak Pee Deh Bun Mai Terng (I Love The Man I Can Never Have) Vocals – Chabapai Namwai* 03:11	buy track
14.	Group Chaan Siang Phin – Sao Noi Makaleng (Young Girl From Makaleng) Vocals – Tidmee Danchompu 01:49	buy track
15.	Group Chaan Siang Phin – Seangkhuan Jak Sao Nong Khai (Nong Khai Girl's Lament) Vocals – Pet (9), Sumalee 02:45	buy track
16.	Unknown Artist – Soong Nam Dondhan Dodhan Saliga (The Sparrow And The Waterfall) 03:09	buy track
17.	Hongthong Khanonglam – Yung Phen Soed (I'm Still Available) 03:46	buy track
18.	Sangwan Lokum – Songlao Mao Ganja (Ganja Better Than Booze) 03:19	buy track
19.	Gawow Seungthong – Mai Ow Mai Ow (Don't Want, Don't Want - Marriage ? No Way !) Vocals – Chaba Petchaboon 03:47	buy track
20.	Sabaithong Popuri – Sop Na Kap Mon (Cry Into The Pillow) 04:05	buy track
21.	Unknown Artist – Tzung Puthao Hua Tokmon (The Old Man And The Bad Pillow) 02:52	buy track

about

The first modern electrified Molam recordings from the 1970s ever presented outside Thailand. Molam is a multi-faceted folk music native to Laos and the predominantly rural Northeastern region of Thailand known as Isan - home to myriad ethnic groups and provinces, and once a part of present-day Laos. Mo meaning "master" and lam meaning "song", molam literally translates into "master singer", but it remains more of an umbrella term covering over a dozen types of lam styles in which male and female singers can be backed by a free-reed bamboo mouth organ called a khaen, indigenous lute-like instruments (the phin or the soong), a bowed fiddle called a sor and a percussion ensemble featuring finger cymbals and hand drums. Lam phun and lam sing are the two molam styles featured most prominently in this collection. Also in the musical family is look thoong, a slower, more tragic style, usually lamenting lost love and perpetual poverty. Examples are heard on tracks 10, 15 and 20. Costumed Isan comedy troupes called Talok incorporate hyper-eccentric molam and look thoong renditions with low, vaudevillian comedy and high social satire on stages and TVs throughout the country. Maniacal examples are heard on tracks 2, 8 and 11. The classic recordings featured here are selections from rare vinyl LPs, 45s and cassettes recorded in Isan and beyond between the 1970s and 1980s. This was a pivotal time when music of the region began to be electrified and integrated with Western instruments. When electric bass, effected guitars, electric organs, kit drums and horns played alongside the khaen and the phin. Molam had never sounded this way before – and due to the typically ephemeral nature of the music industry and the introduction of the modern keyboard workstation, molam will never sound like this again.

credits

released December 2, 2022

Compiled By – Alan Bishop, Mark Gergis
Design – Mark Gergis
Edited By, Liner Notes – Mark Gergis
Layout [Assistance] – Miles Stegall
Liner Notes [Translated By] – Lamort Souvangsa, Wanida Wannapira
Mastered By – Scott Colburn

license

about

Sublime Frequencies Seattle, Washington

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, other forms of human and natural natural expression not documented sufficiently enough by various communication channels. ... more

sublimefrequencies.com

contact / help

Contact Sublime Frequencies

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Sublime Frequencies, you may also like:

Perú Selvático - Sonic Expedition into the Peruvian Amazon 1972-1986 (Analog Africa No. 36)
by Analog Africa

supported by 16 fans who also own “Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan”

Long ago everthing was brighter, even the future. zeitgarten
go to album
Space Echo - The Mystery Behind the Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed! (Analog Africa Nr. 20)
by Analog Africa

supported by 14 fans who also own “Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan”

I have to say that this one is one of the finest compilation I've ever seen. The story, the cover, the pictures, the booklet and of course the music! Just magic, like a time machine. fabmeyer
go to album
Saturno 2000 - La Rebajada de Los Sonideros 1962-1983 (Analog Africa Nr. 34)
by Analog Africa

supported by 12 fans who also own “Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan”

There's something special about underground foreign music. Very special. King Jeff McJefferson LXIX
go to album
KUANTALAENG
by Pisitakun

Pisitakun Kuantalaeng fashions political dissent out of noisy electronic pastiche informed by Thailand’s urban soundscapes, and its food. Bandcamp Album of the Day Oct 30, 2023
go to album
SI PHAN DON LOVERS ROCK
by SRIRAJAH SOUND SYSTEM

featured on Bandcamp Radio Jan 11, 2022
go to album
DIY Disco Molam : Rarities From The Khaen Sang Label
by Soonthorn Chairatanachot

A killer compilation of Molam from the ’70s, “DIY Disco” is chock full of riveting, wiry vocal melodies and darting organs. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 13, 2019
go to album
Eghass Malan
by Les Filles de Illighadad

supported by 11 fans who also own “Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan”

Inspirational. Love the vocals and the simple yet captivating melodies. Thank you, ladies x arinasingh
go to album