Music from Thailand: Field Recordings by Deben Bhattacharya, 1973

Another limited first-time double vinyl and cassette release for recordings from Deben Bhattacharya’s early 1970s journeys around South East Asia, this time focused on the traditional and religious music of Thailand.

As in most countries of Asia, Thai music consists of two distinct features: the folk songs and dances of village traditions, and the Piphat orchestra, with its complex structure, developed and played for the elite in villages and towns.

Village music is mainly melodic, with songs and dances accompanied by woodwind and stringed instruments, drums and metal percussion. The Piphat band employs metallophones, xylophones, drums, gongs and cymbals, sometimes led by the Pi Nai, an oboe-like woodwind. The record begins with Piphat orchestra music played for Ramakien, the epic that has represented the political and cultural history of Thailand since ancient times.