Thursday 29 January 2009

Top 5 CDs of January 2009

Our top 5 for the month, top 5 from what we have of course and listened to...

1) Takkatan Cholada - dok neon barn kum
2) Ajareeya Bussaba - hua jai... mee ngarn kao
3) Various - Jatura thung
4) Tai Orathai - kon nai kwarm kid hord
5) Maitai Jaitawan - nuk soo hua jai serng

Tuesday 27 January 2009

MV : "Ying rai chai lew" by Vit Hyper วิด ไฮเปอร์

A great album that came out at the end of last year was Jatura Thung. It featured new songs by 4 RS male singers : Noo Meter, Luang Kai, Bao Wee and Vit Hyper. Two songs which are quartets and then each singer has 2 solo songs each. Here is one of Vit's songs. I love all 4 singers but especially Vit who is The Man as far as i am concerned!

Sunday 25 January 2009

MV : "Jam jon tai" by Ajareeya Bussaba หลิว อาจารียา

I am really loving Ajareeya's latest album and this song is my current favourite off of it. Its a very unusual song for her though, with it's off-the-wall piano notes and bluesy laid back feel. In fact the song reminds me of the kind of songs Sunita Leetikul does. Now as Sunita is my favourite Thai pop/rock singer then that ensures i really love this song!



Nice video too even though it resembles a travelogue a bit. Waterwheels rock.

Thursday 22 January 2009

New Releases (22/01/09)

There has been a rush of new releases over the last few days, and some notable new releases too including Jintara's third RS album (already) though that won't be out until the 28th i think. Plus of course releases in December including Takkatan's latest album which is very good (if not quite as good as the 2nd album), the Jatura Thung album is also very good with new songs by 4 male RS stars. Vit Hyper is the man!
  • Kat Rattikarn - ya kid nuk
  • Cream Pimwalai - nang sao khon mai
  • Nidnoi Nantaporn - mai aow pee chai
  • Nongnew Pornpimol - sao mueng pijit
  • Phai Pongsathorn - yhark mee ter pen fan
  • Suriya Changpuek - ha jai mai jer
  • Dao Noy Sieng Esarn - self-titled debut
  • Various - Jatura Thung (Noo Meter, Bao Wee, Luang Kai, Vit Hyper)
  • Tunwa Rasritanu - kaaw soo jood mhai
  • Sao Mard - dao mahalai
  • Takkatan Cholada - dok neon barn kum
  • Mangpor Chonticha - tah ruk
  • Koy Khingkaew - tarm roy kru pleng

Wednesday 21 January 2009

MV : "Ya kid nuk" by Kat Rattikarn แคท รัตกาล

I've bought a couple of Kat Rattikarn CDs that have been so far released by RS but i haven't enjoyed either. I find Kat's voice is good but her songs are a bit dreary. This seems to have changed with her new album just out if this title track is anything to go by!



Great song with an interesting melody. So i'll just have to give her third album a try now. One thing about Kat is that she looks very good and that is one thing that hasn't changed!

Sunday 18 January 2009

MV : "Ruk ter duay khon" by Earn The Star เอิร์น เดอะสตาร์

Earn The Star is more at the pop end of the spectrum than most artists you would call lukthung especially on a track like this. Its a nice fast tempo track from her album of last year (which was released almost a full year ago so you would expect a follow-up to be on the radar now).



This song certainly has a great pop hook, nice video too.

Tuesday 13 January 2009

CD : Noy Stamp น้อย แสตมป์ - theep song

Noy and Kluay Stamp releases albums together and within a few months of each other on their own. I didn't like Kluay's one that much to be honest, it was OK without being that exceptional. How is Noy's effort then? On the first instance is should be noted Noy isn't technically as good a singer as Kluay, his voice is a bit limited and gruff but that does add an "authenticity" to these lukthung rock songs. I like how his voice sounds to be honest.



Though on the title track that opens things his voice appears almost detached from the backing, as if he was singing acapella and the sound got mixed up with an instrumental. The guitar backing is good however though is better on "Aow-wa-sarn" which is a better song. Noy and the band seem on the same page anyway. A decent slow paced power ballad. The two opening songs have been rock based but "Sao nui coyote" is much more lukthung and bounces along at a nice pace. "Klied khon hua mor" is another rock ballad with more delicious guitar work.

"Sai rao pee bao" that follows is a fast lukthung rock song, Noy sings it a bit flat but its an enjoyable song to nod your head to. "Bork ruk korn norn" is quite different being piano led and has a nice tone that gradually builds. Guitar led tune returns with "Ja ruk hai kern roy" that is OK but a bit forgettable. "Yung ngai kor ruk" starts with a lovely guitar solo and into another ballad. Powerful song in fact. Noy struggles with some of the notes though but this seems to add to the emotion of the track. "Jao sao kra tuey" is a fast guitar led mash-up with a great solo. Finally "Ruk jing wung taeng" is a closing rock ballad and pretty much sums the album up : great guitar, rough vocals, great tune.

Stamp

I like this album a lot, it has plenty of variety, some great guitar, the singing is flat but gutsy and overall the album is pretty well done. Its not flawless its a rough diamond.

Favourite songs : Aow-wa-sarn, Bork ruk korn norn, Ruk jing wung taeng

Rating : 8.2/10

Click here to get this CD

Thursday 8 January 2009

MV : "Mue dai si ma" by Newkoi Kannika นิ้วก้อย กรรณณิการ์

A nice compilation released by Grammy last year was their "Loog Thoong - Nong mai tai dao" which featured 5 new artists (4 girls and 1 guy). This song by Newkoi was on the compilation and was one of my favourite songs of last year. Really nice song.



Actually along with Pu Sriwilai Newkoi (below) was the best artist on the compilation so hopefully they will both get their own future solo releases. Actually the other 3 artists weren't bad either and also deserve a listen.

Newkoi Kannika

Tuesday 6 January 2009

MV : "Mii khon gaw ro yu bur nii" by Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลดา

Happy New Year to you all, how is your 2009 so far? My 2008 ended nicely when i received some more lukthung CDs on December 30th (posted on the 26th so it took just 4 days to get to me from Bangkok, that's very good indeed. I've had some letters take longer than that to get to me from the next city never mind the other side of the world!) Anyway one of the CDs was Takkatan Cholada's latest album (her third) and this song is on it.



Not my favourite song on the CD admittedly, that is "fan geb" which is truly superb but a good song from Takkatan all the same. Can she challenge Tai for my heart in 09? We'll see!

Saturday 3 January 2009

CD : Tai Orrathai ต่าย อรทัย - kon nai kwarm kid hord

Tai Orratai's 6th album then, coming less than a year after the mighty 5th one, not that i am complaining. It starts off (with the title track), as is expected nowadays, with a trademark Tai Orratai impassioned song directed at country people cast adrift in the cruel hard city where people don't talk to you, help you et cetera. (Personally its a bit of a stereotype but anyway). Good song with smooth vocals and the usual melody hooks.



Track 2 is "Pen huang der jar" which has it's Chinesey air (i've already talked about the MV on this blog) and is another solid Tai song with some nice musical touches. "Tor jor wor mor hok" which follows is better though and is an excellent faster song, now i love Tai but she doesn't nail fast songs as well as she does the slow stuff usually but this is a very welcome exception. This is my favourite song off the album with an irresistible chorus.

After the fun of track 3 we are back to the slow stuff with "Hed phon tee ton jeb" which as usual is sung well and has a brooding and emotional backing. I suppose you might say its the kind of song she has done so many times before but why deviate from a winning formula for the sake of it? After a couple more slow tracks the tempo rises again for the infectious "Huk talord kid hord samer" which has a jolly little tune. I think she is getting better at these kinds of songs to be honest.

The slow songs are probably the best though, such as "Tua chuay tee boh dai chern" which has some nice keyboards and of course gorgeous vocals.

So a very good album, that will no doubt provide me with months of listening pleasure like the last one. There is no one better right now, Takkatan's latest CD sounds very good but this is my sound of 2009.

Rating : 9.6/10

Best songs : Tor jor wor mor hok, Pen huang der jar, Tua chuay tee boh dai chern

Click here to get this CD

Thursday 1 January 2009

Top 10 Lukthung artists of 2008

And to complete our review of 2008 we take the top albums and songs and a few other measures and calculate the top 10 artists of the year:

1) Tai Orratai



2) Bew Kalaynee
3) Jintara Poonlap
4) Vit Hyper
5) Dear Sasitorn
6) Fon Tanasoontorn
7) Kraetae
8) Karaked
9) Noo Meter
10) Bua Bunchitar