Dokfah Tahchana ดอกฟ้า ท่าชนะ - mai mee chun nai jai ter

New singer for me, starts off with a nice basic ballad (and title track) with some traditional instrument flourishes though is pretty much a rock ballad and is a nice enough song with a good melody. "Hok dai hok pai" leaves us in no doubt that this is a lukthung album as its a good hard fast track, Dokfah's vocals crisp and cutting through the music nicely. A bit too harsh to enjoy that much though personally.

"Puean kui chua kraw" is a nicer song, slower with a relaxed acoustic feel. A quality piece of country rock. "Ratchada lakorn" picks up the tempo and is a simple if effective fast song. "Luem sunya" has some interesting instrumentation and is a good mid-paced song with some good vocals and melodic depth and a big chorus.

Overall i like this album, Dokfah's vocals are good though sometimes the song choices do not do her much justice. Its a good album but maybe lacks a bit of stardust to elevate it from good to great.

Rating : 7.6/10

Favourite songs : Luem sunya, Puean kui chua kraw

MV : "Chuntana" by Dear Sasitorn

Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลลดา - kon ngao tee kao jai ter

OK well this is the big one i guess. Takkatan is now the chosen one as far as GMM are concerned. And on this 4th album can she solidify her position at the top? Well the album starts with a nice little tune "Looh jarng sao rong ngarn". Slow and well sung with tasteful instrumentation. "Sao tai soy" is a faster song, in the past Takkatan has done pretty well with these, this one is again decent. A driving melody and a good chorus. So far so good, and quite slick.

But what we need is the "killer song". Takkatan always has THE song on her albums, a massive slow track that can even tug at the strings on my heart of stone. The title track "Kon ngao tee kao jai ter" is the latest attempt at this by Takkatan. Great melody and vocals that could strip the paint off my car. Superb song.

Right that's the mega-hit out of the way, how about the rest? "Mhuen derm eak tee nueng" is a bit of a departure, with it's piano melody and airy feel. "Warng warng yah luem kid tueng gun" is another decent Takkatan slow song though maybe a bit anonymous. To be honest apart from the title track the album is a little bloodless. "Kuen jai hai gun" is a good ballad with a steady build-up however.

Takkatan's album taken together is nice and very listenable. One song stands out from the rest of course. The others are fine, good songs. But you probably won't remember most of them too much afterwards though. But you'll get this and enjoy it of course. Its an accomplished album by a singer at the top, its slick and polished. A little too polished for my liking i admit.

Rating : 9.2/10

Favourite songs : Kon ngao tee kao jai ter, Kuen jai hai gun, Looh jarng sao rong ngarn

Tai Orratai ต่าย อรทัย - fhun yung klai jai yung ngao

After the slightly ill-judged morlum album last year Tai Orratai is back with her 7th album of what she does best : polished, weepy lukthung torch songs. Personally i thought the morlum album was OK but then again i'd buy anything she did. Even if she just read out a list of the Bangkok telephone directory i'd probably buy it. (Not that GMM should take any notice of that!)

Anyway this album is back to what she does best. And of course you will know what it sounds like as it sounds like the first 6 albums more or less. Powerful slow ballads like "Fhun yung klai jai yung ngao" and more up-tempo / traditional tracks like "Mue dai si kid hord". Its predictable maybe and definitely higher-budget and more polished than some artists who might have more "street cred" but its also totally wonderful. Tai sounds as she always does: fantastic. The music is as it always is: tastefully judged and matches her voice perfectly. So get it.

Rating : 9.8/10

MV : "Rum wong pa" by Alexandra Bounxouei

Lets have some more by Alexandra.

Videos gone

Looks like a lot of lukthung videos have been removed from Youtube which is a shame and rather short-sighted by the copyright owners but up to them i guess if they don't want people to discover new artists and maybe even buy some CDs later on!

Lukthung Top 5 (26/09/10)

1) kor mark pai ru - Earn The Star
2) hai jai yah hai - Tai Orratai

3) in hang - Aiden Apinun
4) mai loy lum - Takkatan Cholada
5) yah klub ma - Bew Kalaynee

San Naka - fon ra ruem tee korat

Hard country rock, slow grinding guitar solos, gutsy singing. You know the kind of thing, i am a big fan of this kind of music to be honest. The title track for example is wonderful with an almost cliche like opening with slow guitar chords before proceeding into a chunky slow beat with cutting guitar seemingly punching in and out of the melody. Terrific stuff.

"Kid tueng da dur" is another great track, starting with some bluesy guitar before entering a great power ballad. A departure is "Plong" which is a much faster paced song with traditional instrumentation (though still plenty of guitar too!) A better track though is "Plug ra dom" with its funky beat. Its not a flawless album but the bad is greatly outweighed by the good.

Rating : 8.3/10

Lukthung Top 5 (19/09/10)

1) hai jai yah hai - Tai Orratai
2) in hang - Aiden Apinun
3) kor mark pai ru - Earn The Star

4) yah klub ma - Bew Kalaynee
5) kor pen khon - Vit Hyper

Lukthung Top 5 (11/09/10)

1) hai jai yah hai - Tai Orratai
2) in hang - Aiden Apinun
3) yah klub ma - Bew Kalaynee
4) kor pen khon - Vit Hyper
5) sao sading - P Saderd