Why Is Thailand So Unsophisticated Musically?

[hammered]

Loog toon, that's Issan music isn't it? Awful stuff it goes from syrupy cheesy love songs to <deleted> up tempo pop stuff all with the same beat and a singer that sings slightly out of tune. Nah mate, I understand it's Thai so I respect that they love it but you couldn't play it anywhere outside Thailand without getting lynched.

It sounds like a cat strangling competition with an 99 year old Ringo Star on drums plus it all sounds the same. That is a perfect example of Thai bad taste. You could wheel out a loog toon drummer with his plodding beats and the Thais would think he was a great drummer but if you resurected one of the best drummers of all time Buddy Rich they would all sit down.

loog toon

Thats a Thai love song, sounds the same as all the rest. Plodding

Otis LIVE now thats quality music

The vocals are perfect and the musicians are as tight as a gnats arsehol_e but in Thailand hearing the cream of Western music like this is not in demand by anyone. Hotel California anyone?

As a DJ and musician believe me I have been out a lot in Thailand and it's not a happening place musically. There are places in rural Brazil that are more open to sophisticated music and stuff they have never heard before than downtown Bkk.

Even in Bangkoks must trendy clubs like Bed they are playing the kind of music that would be playing to chavs in Romford (A London suburb known for tacky nightlife). Not the kind of music any serious music lovers would be listening to in the West End, Hoxton or Hackney.

I know a lot of the club promoters, DJs and owners and even places like Bed Supper Club keeps the music as unchalenging and popular as possible. And Bkk is an oasis of musical enlightenment by Thai standards but compare it to Singapore, Hong Kong or the mighty Tokyo, London and New York it's dead.

You come over like some music facist. If you dont like it then it aint no good and if it dont meet your approval it aint happening. And since when did a someone who labels themselves as a DJ and musician become a judge of what was quality and what wasnt? It doesnt matter if you are a DJ or not Everyone can like or not liek what they want. Maybe Thailand's music scene isnt for you and others, so what it doesnt make it a good or bad scene except for those who either like it or dont like it.

[thaihome]

...Even in Bangkoks must trendy clubs like Bed ...

That certainly explains a lot.

Did it ever occur to you that if you had maybe phrased your post along lines of you have tried what you think are the “trendy” clubs in Bangkok but are not satisfied with the result and want to know if any other members here knew places that didn’t play the same old tired stuff that you might have got a better response?

Your thread showed a built-in prejudice against Thailand and Thais that just shows you are not really interested in finding anything different, you are just looking to start negative thread.

TH

[mrbp]

2 points here

Firstly farangs do NOt want HCalifornia endlessly repeated. Its a Thai thing not a farang choice.

Secondly Thai pop music is made by committee and anything original is voted out!

I produced Thai music in BKK for many years and gave up in disgust both at the committee format and the incessant copying of Western tracks!

Of course other Thai styles exist but even these are copies of previous songs, The same backing track seems to have been used by Luktung producers for over 20 years now!!!!

And where are any original songs????? None in 20 years that I know of!

You sound like someone who understands where I'm comin from.

At home I play the best old soul music like Stax and Motown back to back with rareities that cost for a fortune in London's record shops and the newest most diverse modern sounds around from electronic music to Japanese jazz funk mixed together with genres you've never heard before.

I'm always in demand and well paid.

I have been in Thailand for over two years now and found out that of the 50'000 tracks lovingly collected since 1982 and bought out to Thailand none of them are suitable for the Thai market.

For a while I thought if I stuck to 60's & 70's rhythm & blues, soul, funk and rock and avoided my more cutting edge stuff I could play to the expats.

No the cheesy Fillipino band was more popular than Motown and The Beatles (let alone playing rare stuff, forget about it) and it really does seem to be the farangs as well not just the Thais.

I have tried so many times to play classic popular music from the 60's and 70's and it never works no matter how farang heavy and old school the crowd is. Even with the old stuff it has to be that select few Number 1 hits and nothing else

After that I targeted the high end night club scene hoping I could make a name for myself playing some cutting edge stuff but was told if I wanted the job I had to play pop.

So here I am with a good job working in Thailands most trendy nightspots playing the same <deleted> thats being played on MTV

I'm much more popular now I'm playing exactly the same music that every twenty something backpacker has on their ipod and that every other DJ in Thailand is playing.

I can accept that it's a cultural thing and Thais are just not musically open minded but I'm shocked at the low level of musical sophistication from the farangs.

PS:SpoliaOpima I'm not really into indie rock but I know a few people who are and they struggle to find stuff as well. I will give them your tips. Cheers

[TallForeigner]

The Thai music is very developed. There are some sophisticated classical interpreters around. The traditional Thai music is a core piece of the Thai culture for centuries and equal its counterpart of western classical.

The hardrock scene is international accredited, like Smile Buffalo, Silly Fools, Loso etc.

Fooling around the wrong places tends to lead to misinterpret things.

"That is this kind of snootiness that makes us being welcomed very warm by the Thai people."

Since when it is should be an objective to party the whole night in a drug abusing community with aggresive music which only distributed to get people consuming more and more of alcohol and others. I am happy things are still a bit more normal here.

I agree 100%

I think the OP is very narrowminded indeed and somehow cannot understand that other cultures like totally different styles. Not having the OP's taste about music doesn't mean at all to be unsophisticated. If you don't like the sound of traditional Thai music it doesn't mean at all that it is bad.

I actually love many different traditional styles of Thai music. I like the traditional Thai instruments and in particular I love the Kaen. I've seen performances by top Kaen players that were genuinely as impressive as the best performances of classical musicians I have seen in the West - but well...totally different style. I understand if someone doesn't like it - as much as I understand when someone doesn't like the music from where I come from.

I also recommend the OP to attend a village festival somewhere in a rural area. A festival where they built a huge stage, invite some Kaen players, several drums, a few Thai style guitars and some other traditional instruments and most importantly a good singer. Then mix with the locals, enjoy the Thai music and dance Thaistyle together with very old and very young, with farmer, schoolgirl, mayor, student, bargirl, katoey, trader, villageboss, mafiabride and policemen from 10pm to 4am and enjoy the evening. I've been at many such festivals in different places in Thailand and I always had a blast.

For me that's 100 times better than being shaken through the night by the loudspeakers by some aggressive boom-boom sound full with drugs.

After such a great night there is nothing more beautiful than waking up with family and nature after very few hours of sleep in a country hut, while listeneing the sweet sound of classical Thai music coming over from the temple nearby.

Just open your mind and you will eventually find a richness here that you have never dreamt of before.

[mrbp]

Thailand is musically stagnant and I don't understand why.

The entire culture seems stagnant.........part of it has to do with education......it does not foster creativity.........it does not stimulate imagination.

So, the same old crap over and over and over again.............so boring......it is the worst music on the planet.

Bob Dylan could come over, sit on some sidewalk, play and most Thai people would walk away--would not want to even listen, especially to his voice.

There are, fortunately, a few young people who are thinking out of the box, but they are not yet popular.

I have been teaching one of how to play some tunes from Dylan, SRV, Buddy Guy, Springsteen, Neil Young, John Lee Hooker, Kurt Corbain (all musicians with a special edge).......for one year now. At first he though it was all "weird." Now he gets it; he loves it. And he is writing his own stuff now.

This guy, when he gets away from his sweet Thai voice, can actually sound almost exactly like Kurt Corbain..........I am trying my best to encourage him to change his singing voice, but when he does the Thais around him don't like it (too real? too different? too good? who knows).

Thais just like sweet stuff...........especially sweet voices.........which make me want to throw up.

Sounds great, I agree totally. Keep up the good work mate.

[mrbp]

Maybe you can tell us where you are next performing and we can come judge for ourselves.

Ha haaa, yeh right and get lynched for saying what I think about Thai musical culture. lol No thanks. I will keep my anonymity thankyou

[chriswatson]

I agree with the OP.

Given Thailand is a holiday destination and has a huge "long/over-stay" tourist population, no genre of "sound" has ever developed and been exported in the same way as it has in, say, Ibiza.

Thai's home grown music is probably stagnant because "she has never been colonoized" and there has been no introduction of radically different cultural elements to the indigenous produce, unlike the West following the exploitation of slave labour from Africa.

It's the bar workers who stifle the good music. Red Hot Chili Peppers might be tolerated but it seems anything else that is "Western", other than covers of "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" or "Take me Home Country Roads", is not.

Their Thai soppy love songs with their stereotype enforcing accompanying videos with karaoke prompts get on my t*ts very quickly. They play just to make you drink more.

[Soutpeel]

So here I am with a good job working in Thailands most trendy nightspots playing the same <deleted> thats being played on MTV

And you can actually get a work permit for this ?...

[bkkjames]

Maybe you can tell us where you are next performing and we can come judge for ourselves.

Ha haaa, yeh right and get lynched for saying what I think about Thai musical culture. lol No thanks. I will keep my anonymity thankyou

well it's a bit like me saying JF Chandler is a poor cook compared to me. proof is in the pudding.

[toybits]

Why the put down on Thai regarding what type of music they like? Have you listened to Thai music or Chinese music? How eclectic is your collection of musical pieces? Are you not the one who is narrow minded?

In my humble opinion Thailand has one of the best cuisines in the world, one of the most friendly relaxed cultures I have ever encountered, some of the most beautiful people and without a doubt some of the most sublime landscapes I have ever seen. I love Thailand deeply, thats why I live here. Whether it's the friendly locals, a beautiful sunset or a fried egg on top of my curry, I'm in love with the place but as a music lover, DJ and musician I have to say it's hel_l.

Thais only seem to like Western music if it was made in the last four years and featured heavily on MTV or Hotel California and Bob Marley, nothing else is allowed apart from Thai soft rock and cheesy Thai balads.

If they hear music that doesn't fit in to that tiny narrow band of popular music they just switch off.

They don't really know how to party either, sitting down, drinking whiskey and singing cheesey karaoke yes but dancing until the wee hours of the morning to great music they have never heard before? NO

<cut>

In Thailand there is almost no market for any edgy or sophisticated music it just ain't welcomed by the Thais or the fanrangs.

Why is that? Any thoughts?

[mrtoad]

Maybe you can tell us where you are next performing and we can come judge for ourselves.

That would be a fair point - unless he's fully booked up with private parties at the moment.

[OriginalPoster]

I'm sort of surprised by the comments about Hotel California in this thread. I never imagined that there actually are farangs that like to hear cover bands play that song. For Christ sake, that song was a mundane cliche the moment that it was released. As a point of fact, there are some bars (even in Thailand) where that song is banned.

Also interesting is the comment about the Beatles being too sophisticated for Thailand's locals and expats alike. Maybe that's true for the Thais, but my explanation is a bit different for the expats. For those expats who went to school during the 60's, 70', and possibility even later, they likely have heard each and every Beatles song 1000 times and at some point in their lives reached the point of saturation. Sure, the Beatles may have been the most important band of their century, and each album of theirs sounded startlingly fresh and original at the time of its release, but after awhile it loses it's freshness. But I'll grant you though that there is no good explanation for people liking those insipid Thai cover bands that churn out the same songs every night, and whose song list is nearly identical to every other insipid cover band that is playing elsewhere in town.

BTW, the main reason that people like the "out-of-tune" Filipino bands is they are a bit more musically talented than the Thai bands and they often have a cute girls in a short skirts fronting the band.

Edited October 28, 2009 by OriginalPoster

[Soutpeel]

BTW, the main reason that people like the "out-of-tune" Filipino bands is they are a bit more musically talented than the Thai bands and often have a cute girls in a short skirts fronting the band.

Short skirts get my vote everytime...

[mrbp]

You come over like some music facist. If you dont like it then it aint no good and if it dont meet your approval it aint happening. And since when did a someone who labels themselves as a DJ and musician become a judge of what was quality and what wasnt? It doesnt matter if you are a DJ or not Everyone can like or not liek what they want. Maybe Thailand's music scene isnt for you and others, so what it doesnt make it a good or bad scene except for those who either like it or dont like it.

Lol don't cry.

I am very open minded musically and I never said everything that I didn't like was crap.

I love loads of different genres from loads of different eras from loads of different countries. Glen Miller in the 40's to the Theo Parrish of 2009, from Nigerian funk to to American bluegrass, from London to Tokyo, from classical to electronic. I even like The Eagles and Bob Marley I would just like to hear something else as well.

My mind is wide open but I honestly don't like Thai music, to me it is bland, it all sounds the same and much of it does resemble cats being strangled to a plodding beat.

I think the world is a richer place for having Issan music, I might think it's crap but I'm glad it's there and making people happy but Thailand is without a doubt a poorer place without an appetite for musical adventure.

It's not me with the closed mind mate. It's the Thai music scene that is strangled by closed minds not me.

[bkkjames]

You come over like some music facist. If you dont like it then it aint no good and if it dont meet your approval it aint happening. And since when did a someone who labels themselves as a DJ and musician become a judge of what was quality and what wasnt? It doesnt matter if you are a DJ or not Everyone can like or not liek what they want. Maybe Thailand's music scene isnt for you and others, so what it doesnt make it a good or bad scene except for those who either like it or dont like it.

Lol don't cry.

I am very open minded musically and I never said everything that I didn't like was crap.

I love loads of different genres from loads of different eras from loads of different countries. Glen Miller in the 40's to the Theo Parrish of 2009, from Nigerian funk to to American bluegrass, from London to Tokyo, from classical to electronic. I even like The Eagles and Bob Marley I would just like to hear something else as well.

My mind is wide open but I honestly don't like Thai music, to me it is bland, it all sounds the same and much of it does resemble cats being strangled to a plodding beat.

I think the world is a richer place for having Issan music, I might think it's crap but I'm glad it's there and making people happy but Thailand is without a doubt a poorer place without an appetite for musical adventure.

It's not me with the closed mind mate. It's the Thai music scene that is strangled by closed minds not me.

63 million or so Thais would think you are full of &lt;deleted&gt;. Then again I suppose they don't really care either.

[LawnGnome]

If you want to hear some good music, please make a trip to hear the Thailand Philharmonic. The best orchestra in Thailand and recently gave their premier performance in Japan at the Toyko Opera House.

http://www.thailandphil.com

[toybits]

Why is it that people think that the only good music is western or european music? I have heard some really nice asian music. Also have a copy of the music used in that Thai movie called Homrong. That was truely awesome. Who would have ever thought that music like that could be played on a Ranaat (Thai xylophone).

I am sure there are lots of other types of Asian masterpieces that have yet to be discovered by westerners. Of course these types of music would not be played on western musical instruments.

If you want to hear some good music, please make a trip to hear the Thailand Philharmonic. The best orchestra in Thailand and recently gave their premier performance in Japan at the Toyko Opera House.

http://www.thailandphil.com

[mrbp]

Yes I have a permit, ever since I started playing identical chart music that every other DJ is playing the work has been coming in. Also high season is nearly here so things were bound to get better.

I see what your saying about the Beatles being old hat but I don't play them all night. I would be playing loads of other stuff but none of it from Motown to Led Zeppelin gets a good response.

In Thailand is it's the opposite of back home where you are being payed to play things people have never heard before.

The rule of thumb out here is "Treat every gig like a wedding reception" Play stuff people know.

Thats why I'm surprised that the Beatles, Stones, Led Zep, Hendrix, Motown and Stax etc are not welcomed by the farangs but The Eagles, Marley and The Red Hot Chili Peppers are.

It's partly an atmosphere thing. If there are 30 farangs in a club and 20 Thais but the Thais go and sulk as soon as the music changes it kills the atmosphere so the farangs move to the next club where the Thais are still happy.

[mrbp]

You come over like some music facist. If you dont like it then it aint no good and if it dont meet your approval it aint happening. And since when did a someone who labels themselves as a DJ and musician become a judge of what was quality and what wasnt? It doesnt matter if you are a DJ or not Everyone can like or not liek what they want. Maybe Thailand's music scene isnt for you and others, so what it doesnt make it a good or bad scene except for those who either like it or dont like it.

Lol don't cry.

I am very open minded musically and I never said everything that I didn't like was crap.

I love loads of different genres from loads of different eras from loads of different countries. Glen Miller in the 40's to the Theo Parrish of 2009, from Nigerian funk to to American bluegrass, from London to Tokyo, from classical to electronic. I even like The Eagles and Bob Marley I would just like to hear something else as well.

My mind is wide open but I honestly don't like Thai music, to me it is bland, it all sounds the same and much of it does resemble cats being strangled to a plodding beat.

I think the world is a richer place for having Issan music, I might think it's crap but I'm glad it's there and making people happy but Thailand is without a doubt a poorer place without an appetite for musical adventure.

It's not me with the closed mind mate. It's the Thai music scene that is strangled by closed minds not me.

63 million or so Thais would think you are full of &lt;deleted&gt;. Then again I suppose they don't really care either.

But you still wouldn't convince the billions of people world wide that Thai music is good. I recon your out numbered mate.

[HappyThaiLife]

In my humble opinion Thailand has one of the best cuisines in the world, one of the most friendly relaxed cultures I have ever encountered, some of the most beautiful people and without a doubt some of the most sublime landscapes I have ever seen. I love Thailand deeply, thats why I live here. Whether it's the friendly locals, a beautiful sunset or a fried egg on top of my curry, I'm in love with the place but as a music lover, DJ and musician I have to say it's hel_l.

Thais only seem to like Western music if it was made in the last four years and featured heavily on MTV or Hotel California and Bob Marley, nothing else is allowed apart from Thai soft rock and cheesy Thai balads.

If they hear music that doesn't fit in to that tiny narrow band of popular music they just switch off.

They don't really know how to party either, sitting down, drinking whiskey and singing cheesey karaoke yes but dancing until the wee hours of the morning to great music they have never heard before? NO

I know it sounds racist to generalize like that about a whole nationality but in Thailand it really is true and they will tell you so themselves. It's just not cool to be different or sophisticated. No rebelious music allowed just Top 10 pop pop pop all night long please. One of the things I get told most by Thais is that when it comes to music "If we don't know it we don't like it"

I always reply how do you know any music at all then? But their minds are firmly CLOSED

In addition to the Thais the majority of farangs that visit Thailand are just as closeminded. The younger ones just want Lady Gaga and Akon back to back and will evacuate a bar as soon as the music changes. The older farangs seem to want nothing more than Hotel California repeated over and over by an out of tune Fillipino band.

I never thought I would encounter Brits and Americans who grew up in the 60's who would not like to hear The Beatles and The Stones more than a badly sung cover of The Eagles but in Thailand the old farangs seem to prefer the out of tune cover of the same track than the stuff that really rocked the 60's and the 70's.

It doesn't make any sense.

I have traveled the world and always been able to find real music lovers. Whether it's South America or Germany. There is always a trendy neighbourhood with a plethora of specialist record shops and different music venues packed to the rafters with their different tribes from rockers to ravers.

Whether it's the UK, Europe, America or Brazil from as far back as the 40's there have always been counter cultures. From beatnics to Mod's and rockers, skinheads to hip hop, house music, rythm & blues, funk and soul, heavy metal etc etc

In Thailand there is almost no market for any edgy or sophisticated music it just ain't welcomed by the Thais or the fanrangs.

Why is that? Any thoughts?

Had to add my 2 bits worth:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder theory... If you can't "see" it well it just isn't there? (same for music?)

How many thai songs do you like ? And understand?

You appreciate certain music of past and I can understand that...but what sort of exposure did that music get in thailand? Every country has their own particular "local" country brew that they like - other countries haven't heard of it unless that piece makes it big in the prominent country of that language/culture? Economics at play there...

I like music and I love it that we have the ability to choose any music we like from the past 80 odd years... yet there is so much out there now and new music arrives on the internet daily!

[Birdman]

Do call a whole nation musically unsophisticated because the Stones, Motown and Hendrix are not popular is totally laughable. That could be said by a fan of any kind of music about other music.

And that local farangs only like to hear Hotel California played by Philippine bands is a neurotic obsession, which can easily be healed by joining some of the music festivals in Thailand, like the Jazz festival in Hua Hin.

BTW what about music in India?

[bkkjames]

You come over like some music facist. If you dont like it then it aint no good and if it dont meet your approval it aint happening. And since when did a someone who labels themselves as a DJ and musician become a judge of what was quality and what wasnt? It doesnt matter if you are a DJ or not Everyone can like or not liek what they want. Maybe Thailand's music scene isnt for you and others, so what it doesnt make it a good or bad scene except for those who either like it or dont like it.

Lol don't cry.

I am very open minded musically and I never said everything that I didn't like was crap.

I love loads of different genres from loads of different eras from loads of different countries. Glen Miller in the 40's to the Theo Parrish of 2009, from Nigerian funk to to American bluegrass, from London to Tokyo, from classical to electronic. I even like The Eagles and Bob Marley I would just like to hear something else as well.

My mind is wide open but I honestly don't like Thai music, to me it is bland, it all sounds the same and much of it does resemble cats being strangled to a plodding beat.

I think the world is a richer place for having Issan music, I might think it's crap but I'm glad it's there and making people happy but Thailand is without a doubt a poorer place without an appetite for musical adventure.

It's not me with the closed mind mate. It's the Thai music scene that is strangled by closed minds not me.

63 million or so Thais would think you are full of &lt;deleted&gt;. Then again I suppose they don't really care either.

But you still wouldn't convince the billions of people world wide that Thai music is good. I recon your out numbered mate.

I recon that 3 billion + people in India and China couldn't care what the latest greatest thing in London or New York is either. Where's Girlx when we need her? Have you two met? Are you one and the same?

[hammered]

You come over like some music facist. If you dont like it then it aint no good and if it dont meet your approval it aint happening. And since when did a someone who labels themselves as a DJ and musician become a judge of what was quality and what wasnt? It doesnt matter if you are a DJ or not Everyone can like or not liek what they want. Maybe Thailand's music scene isnt for you and others, so what it doesnt make it a good or bad scene except for those who either like it or dont like it.

Lol don't cry.

I am very open minded musically and I never said everything that I didn't like was crap.

I love loads of different genres from loads of different eras from loads of different countries. Glen Miller in the 40's to the Theo Parrish of 2009, from Nigerian funk to to American bluegrass, from London to Tokyo, from classical to electronic. I even like The Eagles and Bob Marley I would just like to hear something else as well.

My mind is wide open but I honestly don't like Thai music, to me it is bland, it all sounds the same and much of it does resemble cats being strangled to a plodding beat.

I think the world is a richer place for having Issan music, I might think it's crap but I'm glad it's there and making people happy but Thailand is without a doubt a poorer place without an appetite for musical adventure.

It's not me with the closed mind mate. It's the Thai music scene that is strangled by closed minds not me.

63 million or so Thais would think you are full of &lt;deleted&gt;. Then again I suppose they don't really care either.

But you still wouldn't convince the billions of people world wide that Thai music is good. I recon your out numbered mate.

But if you looked at what the majoity world wide liked at an instant in time (say now) it would almost certainly be the pop music you seem to dislike! I thought you argued that it was minority, edge, sophisticated or unheard music that you favored. Those forms of music (I wont use the word genre as genre as they cross genre)

The vast majority worldwide also dont go to clubs.

[CitizenSmith]

It seems like the owners of establishments will listen to whatever is being played and stand there and grin as long as the punters are enjoying themselves and spending money, where as the staff don't give a toss about what the punters want and are only interested in what they like.

You get a bar full of 30 or 40 somethings having a good time and throw on The Jam - Going Underground (for example), many would love it, unfortunately the staff become lifeless and sit there with the right ump so it sort of kills the moment.

Many other things here though compensate for the complete lack of decent music.

[mrbp]

I would suggest that you are going the wrong places then too be honest, I've seen some great bands in Thailand that play superb covers of rock and blues including some of the lesser well known artists.

It seems people think I have just been going to girly bars and wondering why it's all the same. I avoid girly bars and it's still all the same.

As I said I'm not much into soft rock, I don't much like heavy metal or indie rock either. If I'm going to listen to rock it will be rhythm & blues rock. Raw lowdown dirty rock with beats and bass, dripping in funky rhythms and cracking raw vocal like this.

Something New

Edgy and funky rock music, the anti soft rock

Something Old

Now thats amazing musicianship, I have yet to see a Thai or Fillipino band that can rrrrreally play and sing deep soul growl like that

Something funky....

My favourite Asian band, Soul & Pimp Sessions from Tokyo

Carabau is an ok musician, these guys are amazing and 100 fold more lively and inventive.

None of these amazing bands would have an audience in Thailand even with the expats they would be hard pushed to find a gig.

I have no problem with Issan music, Fillipino bands, The Red Hot Chili Peppers or The Eagles it's just such a shame my favorite country in the world is totally closed to anything like this which is underround and different.

Sad but true.

[TallForeigner]

...compensate for the complete lack of decent music.

You are wrong. The correct version should read something like this: ...compensate for the complete lack of the kind of music I like...

[Birdman]

..................

Now thats amazing musicianship, I have yet to see a Thai or Fillipino band that can rrrrreally play and sing deep soul growl like that

...........................

I have no problem with Issan music, Fillipino bands, The Red Hot Chili Peppers or The Eagles it's just such a shame my favorite country in the world is totally closed to anything like this which is underround and different.

Sad but true.

So what? Who cares?

Can't see someone playing Glenn Gould or David Helfgott in the region. But on the other hand I would never give a second thought about that.

[bkkjames]

I would suggest that you are going the wrong places then too be honest, I've seen some great bands in Thailand that play superb covers of rock and blues including some of the lesser well known artists.

It seems people think I have just been going to girly bars and wondering why it's all the same. I avoid girly bars and it's still all the same.

As I said I'm not much into soft rock, I don't much like heavy metal or indie rock either. If I'm going to listen to rock it will be rhythm & blues rock. Raw lowdown dirty rock with beats and bass, dripping in funky rhythms and cracking raw vocal like this.

Something New

Edgy and funky rock music, the anti soft rock

Something Old

Now thats amazing musicianship, I have yet to see a Thai or Fillipino band that can rrrrreally play and sing deep soul growl like that

Something funky....

My favourite Asian band, Soul & Pimp Sessions from Tokyo

Carabau is an ok musician, these guys are amazing and 100 fold more lively and inventive.

None of these amazing bands would have an audience in Thailand even with the expats they would be hard pushed to find a gig.

I have no problem with Issan music, Fillipino bands, The Red Hot Chili Peppers or The Eagles it's just such a shame my favorite country in the world is totally closed to anything like this which is underround and different.

Sad but true.

The sooner you realize that TV is not BK Magazine, the sooner you will get over the obsession. It took me 3 years. But thankfully I am more musically diverse now.

[wave]

It seems the OP is just upset that he can't find anywhere to listen to the particular sort of music he likes.

If that's the case he should start a night somewhere playing it. There are plenty of venues in BKK that will let you come in and do night.

It's certainly true that Thailand isn't as musically diverse as the the UK, USA or Europe. That said if you look about there are people doing electronic, indie, alternative etc in BKK. I think the OP needs to get out more and dig a bit deeper.

The other thing to bear in mind is that Thai music tends to be more about entertainment than art or creative expression. Most Thais want to be able to sit with their friends and a bottle of whiskey singing along to songs that they know. This is Sanuk

[JR Texas]

It seems the OP is just upset that he can't find anywhere to listen to the particular sort of music he likes.

If that's the case he should start a night somewhere playing it. There are plenty of venues in BKK that will let you come in and do night.

It's certainly true that Thailand isn't as musically diverse as the the UK, USA or Europe. That said if you look about there are people doing electronic, indie, alternative etc in BKK. I think the OP needs to get out more and dig a bit deeper.

The other thing to bear in mind is that Thai music tends to be more about entertainment than art or creative expression. Most Thais want to be able to sit with their friends and a bottle of whiskey singing along to songs that they know. This is Sanuk

It is total crap.

What I find interesting about it is that it reminds me of the horrible music in the 50s in the USA........Dorris Day and "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" stuff.

It is singalong crap.......sweet and mindless crap.........nothing deep.......nothing that makes you think (maybe that is one reason for it........they don't have to think and don't like thinking).

Perhaps, just perhaps.......we will see a Dylan-like figure emerge in Thailand followed by an explosion of creativity. That would be great. For now. it is total crap......even some of the songs that are supposedly good are rip offs.......I heard one the other day and thought, "Santana riff." Stolen.......

A truly original song.........a truly original artist who channels songs........taps into something new (hard to do these days)..............I have never seen or heard one in Thailand.

Having said that, what do we now have in the USA (for the last 20 years): Crap...........sometimes called Rap.

I heard Van Morrison in an interview the other day..........he was asked what he listens to and gets inspired by today. He said that the current music scene offers him nothing new........it has all been done before.......he no longer listens to it.

He went on to say that he is listening to the old songs that stimulated him in the first place........guessing some old 50s and 60s tunes given his age.

Anyway..........I think I would like to see some creativity.........something new.

And it frustrates me that Thais are so opposed to anything new.