Music I heard while traveling in Issan (The NE region of Thailand that was previously Laos)

uzi

uzi

New Fish

I just spent some time traveling Thailand, some of that was in the Issan region, which for those that don't know, is the large NE part of Thailand that was originally Laos, before the French created French Indochina in the late 1800s. After a short war (won by the French), Thailand was given the half of Loas which sits south and west of the Makong River (it was too far from the capital of French Indochina for the French to deal with). The Lao population there have been politically considered Thai ever since, though their language, food, and culture are much more Lao than Thai.

It is an interesting region, far different than urban Bangkok and central Thailand, or the beach resorts to the south on the coasts which are most popular with foreign tourists. The people of Issan still secretly practice dark witchcraft (though the official religion is Buddhism), eat the spiciest and hottest food known in Thailand (it will burn your lips off), and produce an old form of soul music that is known as Molam. Molam is popular in Thailand with Issan people, and also some of the more bohemian Thais in Bangkok. It's history parallels in some ways, the history of Jazz in the US, somewhat because it evolved as the music of the 2nd class within Thailand.
 
Last edited:

One more song from the genre, with a bit more history. Thailand had a military junta seize power in 2014, one of many over the last 80 or so years. The ruling Thai elites that dominated the military leadership and the courts were unhappy with economic reforms that they felt were hurting their dominance in the society. The reforms included a type of guaranteed health care access for all, and some price minimums for farmers. Both of these reforms were very popular in Issan, while the Thai elites felt that Issan votes had been bought with these reforms. The overthrown Prime Minister was very popular in Issan, and many of her votes came from the region.

You may have seen mention of the Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts in the news from Thailand over the last decade. The Red Shirts were and are the supporters of the political party that supports these reforms. The Yellow Shirts are the supporters of the military and court ruling elites, that oppose the reforms.

While most political academics around the world view Thailand as relatively stable politically, some have theorized that the political divided between Red and Yellow, which is in a sense a divide between Issan and central Thailand, could eventually lead to a civil war, as the Issan region seeks independence from Thai control, and perhaps, a reunification with Laos.
 
Chinteresting stuff. I've only been to the touristy southern parts where the tsunami hit.
 
I just spent some time traveling Thailand, some of that was in the Issan region, which for those that don't know, is the large NE part of Thailand that was originally Laos, before the French created French Indochina in the late 1800s. After a short war (won by the French), Thailand was given the half of Loas which sits south and west of the Makong River (it was too far from the capital of French Indochina for the French to deal with). The Lao population there have been politically considered Thai ever since, though their language, food, and culture are much more Lao than Thai.

It is an interesting region, far different than urban Bangkok and central Thailand, or the beach resorts to the south on the coasts which are most popular with foreign tourists. The people of Issan still secretly practice dark witchcraft (though the official religion is Buddhism), eat the spiciest and hottest food known in Thailand (it will burn your lips off), and produce an old form of soul music that is known as Molam. Molam is popular in Thailand with Issan people, and also some of the more bohemian Thais in Bangkok. It's history parallels in some ways, the history of Jazz in the US, somewhat because it evolved as the music of the 2nd class within Thailand.
Click to expand...

Some song on that record has been in a movie lately, its a cool sound. 60's world music is fucking insane, I also highly recommend "Turkish Freakout" a collection of 60's Turkish psych rock. The TSIO drop between the intro and episode music is sampled from there.

Edit: it was this one:


Action Bronson has sampled this too:
 
Last edited:
Some song on that record has been in a movie lately
Click to expand...

What movie? Wasn't sure if you just mean the Action Bronson, or another as well? Some of that album has been featured in the Netflix show "30 Degrees in February" which is a Swedish produced series that I saw in Thailand, but it looks like it isn't available on Netflix USA (though I'm going to look again now).
 
Last edited:
There was a whole genre of Khmer psychedelia (Cambodia, yeah, I know but whatever) that was influenced by French pop music a la Serge Gainsbourne and Jimi Hendrix.

There's a band that got a Cambodian singer to re-create the sound called Dengue Fever that's really fucking good. It's so good in fact, that I think my linking the below video earned me my very first WTF from @GrundleStiltzkin.
 
There was a whole genre of Khmer psychedelia (Cambodia, yeah, I know but whatever) that was influenced by French pop music a la Serge Gainsbourne and Jimi Hendrix.

There's a band that got a Cambodian singer to re-create the sound called Dengue Fever that's really fucking good. It's so good in fact, that I think my linking the below video earned me my very first WTF from @GrundleStiltzkin.
Click to expand...

You always remember you're first!

Good shit doe. Seems ripe for sampling & remixing too.
 
There was a whole genre of Khmer psychedelia (Cambodia, yeah, I know but whatever) that was influenced by French pop music a la Serge Gainsbourne and Jimi Hendrix.

There's a band that got a Cambodian singer to re-create the sound called Dengue Fever that's really fucking good. It's so good in fact, that I think my linking the below video earned me my very first WTF from @GrundleStiltzkin.
Click to expand...

Good stuff
 
There was a whole genre of Khmer psychedelia (Cambodia, yeah, I know but whatever) that was influenced by French pop music a la Serge Gainsbourne and Jimi Hendrix.

There's a band that got a Cambodian singer to re-create the sound called Dengue Fever that's really fucking good. It's so good in fact, that I think my linking the below video earned me my very first WTF from @GrundleStiltzkin.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Dengue Feber is awesome. Got turned on to them shortly after making a Spotify playlist for this Molam stuff I stumbled on, and the Dengue Fever song "1000 Tears of a Tarantula" came up on the Spotify recommended song section.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top