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

MV : "Mhuen derm eak tee nueng" by Takkatan Cholada

Takkatan has a dance remix album out, not sure i like the sound of that really. Usually those sort of things are a bit cheesey. Anyway this song has not been megamixed.

MV : "Mai loy lum farng" by Takkatan Cholada

Love the microphone!

MV : "Jep nee mai mee wan jaang" by Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลลดา

Nice song by Takkatan, her 4th album is now out.

MV : "Takkatan pook bow" by Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลดา

New song (well to me anyway) by Takkatan.

MV : "Tode tarn kong karn ma sai" by Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลดา

My current favourite Takkatan song, playing this a lot at the moment!

MV : "Lhong aiy duay ter" by Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลดา

Another song off Takkatan's latest album. Its a very good album so if you haven't got it yet, what is stopping you?!

MV : "Dok neon barn kum" by Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลดา

Time for another song off Takkatan's latest album. This is an uptempo and jaunty little tune. A bit mean of the MV director though, considering it's Takkatan's song, to get her to do the ironing!

MV : "Kor kae mee ter hai ruk" by Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลดา

Been a while since the last posting i know. I've got a lot of new albums very quickly including the new Jintara one. However here is a song from my Youtube account by Takkatan. The song is one of the filler tracks on her album (not that i am saying its a bad song, its not but there are a lot better ones on there) however has a very interesting video. Very pink for sure.

CD : Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลดา - dok neon barn kum

Takkatan's third album and greatly anticipated by myself (and i'm sure many other people too) after her superb second album. Actually it has been a long wait, over a year (which is usual for a young luktung star) so how does this album go? It starts off up-tempo with the title track "Dok neon barn kum" which has a jaunty beat and a good melody. Takkatan nails slow songs better than most but also is pretty good at the fast stuff.



Good though that is, what we really want are superb slow songs full of emotion, heart break and amazing singing. "Yah tho ma kae plob jai" is the first attempt at that. The song also has some interesting things going on in the melody. It maybe just falls short of being a truly great song though. "Mee khon ngao ror yoo ber nee" is a very country song with good instrumentation. "Fan geb" is where things start to get really good though. The best song on the album and my song of the year so far. From the opening chords shivers run down your spine as the melody and tension slowly builds. Takkatan's voice also building to a tremendous chorus.



"Yark fhun dee tee barn rao" has to follow that and of course can't help but being a bit of a let down, its a nice enough song with the feel of the hills behind it (you'll understand when you hear it, hopefully). "Tode tarn kong karn ma sai" is another slow Takkatan song, she has a template for them now : opening slow restrained chords then the crisp vocals cut in building to a chorus.

"Sa-nguan sit chapor khon sode" is for a bit of variety, a faster song with a beat that is up-tempo and lightens the mood. "Lhong aiy duay ter" is back to slow stuff, again with a great country feel. "Kor kae mee ter hai ruk" is an interesting song having a slinky start and into a mid-tempo melody. Finally "Tarng lud kong khon ror" is another slow song, not bad but compared to the others on this album pretty average. The song sounds a bit too much Tai Orratai to be honest, actually that is one criticism with the album. A few times you wonder if its Tai or Takkatan singing. Takkatan doesn't need to copy anyone.

So overall a truly excellent album chock full of great songs. Well balanced and well mixed. So is this better than the latest Tai Orratai album? Yes, but because Tai's latest isn't quite her best. GMM should just be thankful they have 2 female singers producing such high quality goods like this at the moment. Getting back to this album : essential.

Fav songs : Fan geb, Dok neon barn kum, Tode tarn kong karn ma sai

Rating : 9.9/10

Click here to get this CD

MV : "Fan geb" by Takkatan Cholada ตั๊กแตน ชลดา

Best song of 2009 so far (yeah i know the album came out at the end of last year but anyway), and the song is by Takkatan Cholada of course. I got the VCD version of the album today and uploaded this to my Youtube account...



I'll be uploading a few more over the next few days. Maybe one a day, actually ripping them takes minutes, its the actual uploading that takes ages, and i have broadband already!

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!

MV : "Kor kui duay dai mai" by Takkatan Cholada

My current favourite Takkatan song.

CD : Takkatan Cholada - nao sang neon

This is the debut album of Takkatan Cholada (though she has only released 2 albums to date so this was only released back in 2006). Now she and Tai Orratai are my favourite singers and its hard to pick who is better (so i won't) though i do think Takkatan is better at fast songs. There is a great example here "Laook jark nong sao" which has a terrific beat to it.

Of course where a singer like Takkatan really scores with her superb and powerful voice is on slower songs and this album starts off with a great one, the title track. Slow paced but with a powerful melody. "Roop see jong tung hua tiang" is also another good slow track with some beautiful singing. Overall the album is great, not quite as good as her next album (which i thought was one of the best of last year) but excellent all the same. Not to be missed. The only annoying thing being the DRM Grammy have put on the CD.

Rating : 8.5/10

Click here to get this CD

MV : "Lah hauk jark haung sow" by Takkatan Cholada

Great song from Takkatan's debut CD.

CD : Pleng ruk grarb tuk mae

This is a compilation released last year, to coincide with Thailand's Mother's Day probably as the theme of the album is songs to Mum. However where i live its Mother's Day this weekend so why not review it now... This Grammy compilation includes a number of their big stars though no Tai Orratai song which is unfortunate. It does include Got Jakkapan though. Now (don't hate me) but i don't really like his songs, i find them a bit too over produced and this is typical of his work. A rich voice, a good tune but the production is a little too... lush for my tastes.

Praewa Patcharee pops up next and this is my favourite tune on the compilation, she hasn't released many songs so they are always welcome. A jaunty song with a cute mid-tempo and a sweet half-spoken chorus. She says she would rather spend her mother on her Mum than herself, ah how could anyone not smile at that? Mike Piromporn's song is also well done. Oddly enough the tune by my favourite artist of those on the CD, Takkatan Cholada is a bit disappointing. The song is OK but compared to some of her other work a bit average. Pee Saderd's song is also not his best. Though Ratchanok Srilophan's tune is not bad. One of the highlights is the uptempo and very dancable tune from Dok-or Aor Toongtaung, it has some great music on the track especially keyboards. A good compilation then, maybe a bit patchy but those patches are real good.


Praewa Patcharee

Rating : 8/10

Click here to get this CD

MV : "Ror pen khon tud pai" by Takkatan Cholada

How can this girl always be so utterly brill?!

MV : "Khon sode prajum concert " - Takkatan Cholada

Our hottest song right now, i wish i could see Takkatan in concert!

Best of 2007 (3) : Top 5 CDs

And finally in our review of the year here are our top 5 favourite CDs of the year.

1) Various - Duay ruk dae kroo salah

What a great collection of songs by Grammy's female luktung singers! There is Tai Orratai with her fabulous "Khor kae roo kao" and Praewa Patcharee's "Jeb tee tong jai" plus other great songs from the likes of Takkatan Cholada and Ratchanok Srilophan.



2) Takkatan Cholada - tanon kon fun

So many wonderful songs on this album, her second. It includes the fantastic Mai chai fan tum taen mai dai, one of the best songs i heard all year.



3) Prik Wharn - fan nai fhun

Best song this year was "Chai kon raek" by Prik Wharn, a sledgehammer of a country torch ballad, sung by a young lady who appears to like strumming her guitar in an armchair placed in a field. Rest of the album isn't bad either.



4) Tai Orratai - pasa ruk jark dokyah

Tai Orratai, whose voice has the ability to take you away from current reality and transport you into a world of woe, lost love, sacrifice and dancing for coin.



5) Sear Napat - kum diew tee kao jai

Sear has a great voice and has an album full of powerful country ballads here.



Others we liked...

Janet Kiew - thank you tee ruk
Suchada - aok huk rueng khum khum
Vit Hyper - wid chanid pised
Morgan - Morgan

Best of 2007 (2) : Top 10 Songs

Our best 10 songs this year.

1) chai kon raek - Prik Wharn



2) wittalai lhai jai - Vit Hyper
3) pieng soang rao - Bew Kalaynee
4) mai chai fan tum taen mai dee - Takkatan Cholada
5) nhai wah jai mai jai aorn - Nui Suweenar
6) chun mai dai ngoe - Sear Napat
7) jeb tee tong jai - Praewa Patcharee
8) plai tarng kong - Takkatan Cholada
9) poo chai jai rai - Golf Sirikwan
10) kaew ror phee - Tai Orratai