Artist: various
Album: Shadow Music of Thailand
Released: 2009
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 97 MB
”SHADOW MUSIC was a broad term given to the Thai guitar pop movement of the 1960s and the groups that came out of it, all under the profound influence of early Western rock and roll. British instrumental wonders The Shadows (as in Cliff Richards & the Shadows) were the origin of the genre's title, also coined 'Wong Shadow' or early Thai 'String' music. Shadow records were often marketed as 'Thai Modernized Music' which it was in the truest sense. Traditional Thai melodies were given the Shadow treatment; incorporating rock, surf, a-go-go, exotica, soul, blues, Latin and other worldly styles of the times. Inventive compositions and instrumental genius meet the occasional odd vocal arrangement and the results range from plaintive guitar and organ-driven lullabies to full-blown electric garage folk-psychedelia! Featured on this collection are a handful of the leading recorded artists from the time; P.M. Pocket Music, The Son of P.M., P.M.7, Jupiter and Johnny Guitar. Throughout the 1960s, these groups forged a unique and highly self-referential Thai sound.” ~ Sublime Frequencies
Artist: various
Album: Japan Wild Favourites
Released: 2002
Quality: mp3 CBR 256
Size: 120 MB
OK 60s freaks...here it is, the best 60s Japanese compilation on the planet! Featuring 27 tracks of crazy assed Japanese beat, garage, punk and fuzz bands. Contains tracks by The Carnabeats, Jaguars, Dynamites, Mops, Golden Cups and The Spiders.
Artist: various
Album: Steam Kodok: 26 A Go-Go Ultrarities from the Sixties Singapore and South-East Asia Underground
Released: 2011
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 186 MB (with scans)
”For the Grey Past imprint, "a-go-go" seems to encompass everything from beat to 50s soul to surf rock to psychedelia, and for this reason-- whether it's intentional or not-- Steam Kodok thankfully avoids a major pitfall many ethnic samplers plunge headlong into: all too often, the songs are so similar, it makes for a bloated and tedious compilation.
Anyone aroused at the mere mention of 60s beat probably already owns Steam Kodok, but beyond its topical value, this compilation is a remarkable historical document of the effect rock music had on the rest of the world, particularly the East. Up until 1961, the South-East Asian scene was almost entirely instrumental; music was situational: culturally significant, but otherwise insignificant per se. As the Western influence crept in via the increasingly popular Beatles and, says Grey Past, a late 1961 concert by Cliff Richard and The Shadows, South-East Asia eschewed the musical collective and embraced the concept of the "band"-- steady members, writing songs for their own entertainment.
Beyond "significance," though, these songs are utterly enjoyable. South-East Asian musicians were hardly big-budget pop stars, nor did they taut extensive rock pedigrees, and therein lies the charm of Steam Kodok: singers' voices are incongruous but delightfully honest, and the actual compositions-- though necessarily somewhat derivative-- have such a passion that even track 21's note-for-note aping of a Carlos Santana solo is forgiven. The positive energy of each song is just staggering-- Steam Kodok is the sound of a culture thrilled by the prospect of rock-and-roll, overjoyed and unable to stop smiling.” more at Pitchfork.com
Artist: various
Albums: Thai? Dai! The Heavier Side Of The Luk Thung Underground
Release date: 2011
Quality: lossless (FLAC tracks)
Size: 302 MB
It's possibly a misnomer to label music recorded outside of the USA or Europe with terms such as `psyche' or `surf' as it is often just a stylistic innovation based on exposure to foreign records via the radio or music stores. It doesn't necessarily chime in with any of the social shifts or changes that accompanied the music's development in the West. Even in America, the concept of teen culture was relatively new during the height of these genres popularity. People who could afford to take advantage of these new freedoms often had the financial cushioning to do so. This factor was amplified in South East Asia, and the music shouldn't be considered nationally representative - it's a more scaled down phenomenon, relevant to a small cross-section of society. By the same token, this wasn't just bland copycat music to widen a band's audience, or to entertain expat patrons in bars or clubs. This was a sincere desire to experiment and repackage local sounds without necessarily needing to make a statement. The musical information was processed and partially recast amidst a blend of local music and arrangements, transposed onto drums, electric bass, guitar and keyboards. Although in the mid-70s there was a wider protest movement in Thailand that found it's musical outlet in the `songs for life' of Caravan and Carabao, the music collected here was not part of the same aesthetic, although it's possible there was some musical overspill. The styles featured on this compilation fall somewhere between Luk Thung (`song of the countryside') and Luk Krung (`song of the city'). Bangkok was a particular melting pot for the evolution of these two genres, the former alluding to musical themes and lyrics aimed at the wider national population, the latter looking westwards with a more urban `sophisticated' audience in mind. The tracks here were experimentations or dice rolling by both little known groups, as well as established figures like Plearn Promdan. Some tracks might represent a specific artist's only foray into this musical area. Even within Thailand the majority of these tunes remain unissued, so it's with great pleasure that we present this glimpse of the strange underbelly of Thai Luk Thung in all its unique, original and outlandish glory - a small snapshot of an otherwise forgotten era.
Dengue Fever’s enduring love for an extinct period of Cambodian psychedelic surf-rock never weighs down its fourth album, Cannibal Courtship, but the band’s eccentric lyrical style sometimes does. “Cement Slippers” has a chorus with a New Pornographers-style keyboard hook—one of several welcome power-pop jolts on the album—hampered by verses that repeatedly fall flat as Chhom Nimol and a slop-voiced Zac Holtzman trade dull jokes about a couple having a shitty time together. The chorus of “Thank You Goodbye” (“you’re just another stamp in my passport”) can’t help but sound like a clumsy attempt to make another jet-setting love song like “Tiger Phone Card,” from 2008’s Venus On Earth. But when Nimol sings in her native Khmer and spreads her voice through the slow, eerie “Uku” and “Sister In The Radio,” Dengue Fever’s tiny corner of world music becomes deliriously entrancing again. The images of high-tech missiles on “Family Business” are just black-humored enough to complement the sinister cool of Holtzman’s guitar riff—they can pull off funny here and there—and Nimol’s vocal on the title track conjures Blondie as much as campy seduction. Cannibal Courtship once again proves that Dengue Fever is far more than tacky exotica, even when it can’t shake a few irritating personality tics.Scott Gordon, A.V. Club
Artist: The Jaguars
Albums: First Album
Released: 1968
Quality: mp3 CBR 256
Size: 116 MB
Tracklist:
1. Mademoiselle Blues
2. Zabadak
3. Dancing Lonely Night
4. Lady Jane
5. Tobacco Road
6. Awarena John
7. Want You See Again
8. Dancin’ Baby
9. My Girl
10. Wakai Ashita
11. Lonely Girl
12. New Orleans
13. Hanky Panky
14. My Dawn
15. See See Rider
16. Mustang Sally
17. Beat Train
18. Seaside Bound
19. Blue Chateau
20. In A Lonesome City
21. Taiyoh Yaroh
