The Album Club: "Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan Vol 2" by Various Artists

Trollheart · 08-20-2017, 10:04 AM

Frownland's choice for round two. Please keep all discussions, reviews, comments etc on this album here, in this thread.
I don't see it on Spotify, so here's a YouTube link.

Zhanteimi · 08-20-2017, 07:06 PM

.

Trollheart · 08-21-2017, 04:28 AM

After the highs (!) of Underworld last week it's back down to Earth with a bang for me anyway. I'm no great fan of World Music in the first place, and while I can see this is all very well played and composed etc, and it's interesting, it's also something I find highly annoying. Like the wailed vocals on the flamenco album, the vocals on this seem to consist of chanting in what sounds like a child's or a woman's voice - they may not be, but that's how they come across to me. The music, to my ears, sounds pretty much the same for each track, and in the end it's almost like listening to Apu and his daughters play their favourite hits.

I didn't know what molam was when I began this. Now that I do, I know it's not for me. I only struggled through the album (a full hour of this!) the once, and have no desire to repeat the experience. Definitely not for me. I guess there is an upside though: I can now move on to the next album and get a jump on next week's selection.

Sorry, man: not enjoyable at all to me. Just annoying and repetitive. I realise I may be doing molam a disservice here, but I can only go with what I hear, and what I hear bores and irritates me.

2/10

innerspaceboy · 08-22-2017, 07:16 PM

While I am decently versed in world-infused musics which draw influence from Mali’s mande music, Indian drone, and other world elements, my exposure to genuine world music is quite limited. I suppose the closest I’ve gotten is the Vietnamese “Me Ru Con” vocal track issued on 1987. So I was definitely curious to give this a solid listen.

I definitely tried to keep my mind open throughout this record, but I was troubled by the limitations of its production value, which was particularly evident in the vocal register. I tend to gravitate toward incredibly high fidelity recordings, chasing the best masters I can find and going to extremes like that of the lowercase genre. As such, I struggled to enjoy this particular album, especially as the production varied greatly from track to track.

I liked some of the more relaxed selections, like the slow jam that comes in just after the eleven-minute mark, but overall there was little of this album that really grabbed me. Quite likely my ignorance of the genre and the culture contributed to my difficulty in connecting with the music. While I’m learning to listen more intuitively of late, my general approach has been highly contextual, and my pure novice failed to afford me that sense of familiarity and understanding.

The track around the 48-minute mark is likely my favorite, though personally, I would have preferred it as an instrumental. The tempo and fixed key gave it a drone-like quality that I enjoyed.

I don’t feel adequately equipped to score this record given my limited understanding. I’m always glad to hear something new to me, but this wasn’t my cup of tea.

OccultHawk · 08-22-2017, 09:06 PM

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Love the way starts and ends with that crazy laugh.

Love that song that uses the Jumpin Jack Flash riff. Actually, ejaculated it's so cool.

Love how the vocals swirl in that weird tonal style along with the instrumentation.

Vocals must be of the same language as the Butthole Surfers' Kuntz.

If you like this I recommend: ho! #1: roady music from vietnam

Goddamn Frown you made my Tuesday night. Fantastic. Highest praise. 5 stars.

~~MicShazam~~ · 08-23-2017, 01:45 AM

I've been through this album at least a good 3,5 times now, so I don't think I'm going to feel any different about it if I continue listening. It's been interesting checking out this type of music, but I didn't find it to be a genre that I'm dying to hear more of.

While I certainly enjoy a lot of the grooves on this album, I also found 1 hour of this type of material to be somewhat redundant as it doesn't strike me as the most varied genre. There is some variation in tempo and instrumentation here, but I do feel like a lot of the compilation blends together for me. Even after spending this long time with the album over the last few days, I can't really recall any specific tracks when not listening to it.

Like someone else pointed out, the vocals are often not recorded very well. The opening track is exemplary of how bad it can get, with it's distorted, shrill, overly loud vocals burying the much nicer underlying music. Some other tracks had more agreeable vocals, but on average, the vocals were more endurable than enjoyable for me. I definitely find world music interesting and am currently exploring this vague genre category a lot myself, but I don't see molam as being anything I'll likely return to.
It feels too much like it's mostly some pretty simple pop music. There's not a lot of depth to most of this music and the vocals tend to feel somewhat ham-fisted in delivery and repetitive in their melodic arrangements. Not a single one of these singers struck me as being particularly talented.

Still, I did have fun listening to this and the music was enjoyable a lot of the time, although not quite interesting enough for the length of the disc.

There's a certain vibe to this that I'd see why some would enjoy. If I was drinking beer with other people at a bar in Thailand, I'd probably happily take it in as part of the local atmosphere.

5/10 Good enough for what it is, but not really doing it for me personally.

Anteater · 08-23-2017, 06:21 PM

Various Artists - Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan Vol 2

This would make for a pretty good soundtrack to the Thai equivalent of Full Metal Jacket (assuming it exists). It has a rambling, psychedelic sort of unifying identity, which gives it some bite as a compilation. The Hammond that weaves in and out frequently on the majority of tracks here strikes me as the best overall element of the sound they are cataloging. My feelings about the vocals mirror what's already been said, though I felt they fit the music in this case.

Overall, this is one of those collections I don't have strong feelings about one way or another. I enjoy my fair share of exotic psychedelia, but I don't know if Thailand will be edging out India anytime this century.

5 out of 10

Psy-Fi · 08-24-2017, 05:16 PM

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
It reminded me of late 60's Captain Beefheart (except with crappy vocals.)

2. What did you think of the opening track?
I liked the music but not the vocals.

3. What did you think of the next track?
Same as above answer.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?
None of them impressed me.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?
Some of it, yes. Some of it, no.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it?
Got worse after about the first 11 minutes.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
N/A

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?
Some of it, yes.

9. What did you think of the production?
It sounded authentically lo-fi. I'm guessing the music was recorded in the late 60's/early 70's under less than ideal conditions.

10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
N/A

11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
Not much but I do listen to this type of music once in a while.

12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
Listened 3 times. My opinion didn't change one way or the other with each listen.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?
Nothing really stood out as a favorite.

14. And the one you liked least?
Nothing stood out as being particularly awful to me.

15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated?
N/A

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
N/A

17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
Didn't know what to expect, so no.

18. Did the album end well?
The last track was mercifully short, so yes.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
Cut out some of the songs and shorten it to 30 to 40 minutes running time.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
Yes, I thought it hung together quite well.

5/10

djchameleon · 08-25-2017, 07:15 AM

Over the course of the week, I have started and stopped this album numerous times. The most amount of time I spent listening to this album was 20 mins straight. There is no way that I would willingly listen to this album again in its entirety in one sitting. I feel like I'm usually open to world music but this album proved me wrong. The vocals were a bit much for me. I could only handle it in small doses. My review is as repetitive as the album itself so I'll end it.

3/10

TechnicLePanther · 08-25-2017, 02:07 PM

Man, I'm cool with this album, but it's not really something that I can analyze, nor something that I would really listen to again. It's just hard to penetrate the mental gap between the music I typically listen to and this. This genre of music is just meaningless to me. And hence another short review. I didn't dislike this album, but I probably won't ever listen again. 6.5/10

On my list of never-ending favorite to least blah blah blah albums:

Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Various Artists - Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan Vol. 2
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

Sorry, Springsteen fans, I'm not a fan.

View Poll Results: How much do you like the album? (Voting without a writeup is UNACCEPTABLE)
Loved it	3	30.00%
Liked it	0	0%
Meh	6	60.00%
Disliked it	1	10.00%
Hated it	0	0%
Voters: 10. You may not vote on this poll

08-20-2017, 10:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	The Album Club: "Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan Vol 2" by Various Artists Frownland's choice for round two. Please keep all discussions, reviews, comments etc on this album here, in this thread. I don't see it on Spotify, so here's a YouTube link. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

08-20-2017, 07:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,874	. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic Last edited by Zhanteimi; 05-01-2018 at 04:22 PM.

08-21-2017, 04:28 AM	#3 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	After the highs (!) of Underworld last week it's back down to Earth with a bang for me anyway. I'm no great fan of World Music in the first place, and while I can see this is all very well played and composed etc, and it's interesting, it's also something I find highly annoying. Like the wailed vocals on the flamenco album, the vocals on this seem to consist of chanting in what sounds like a child's or a woman's voice - they may not be, but that's how they come across to me. The music, to my ears, sounds pretty much the same for each track, and in the end it's almost like listening to Apu and his daughters play their favourite hits. I didn't know what molam was when I began this. Now that I do, I know it's not for me. I only struggled through the album (a full hour of this!) the once, and have no desire to repeat the experience. Definitely not for me. I guess there is an upside though: I can now move on to the next album and get a jump on next week's selection. Sorry, man: not enjoyable at all to me. Just annoying and repetitive. I realise I may be doing molam a disservice here, but I can only go with what I hear, and what I hear bores and irritates me. 2/10 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

08-22-2017, 09:06 PM	#5 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,033	LOVE LOVE LOVE Love the way starts and ends with that crazy laugh. Love that song that uses the Jumpin Jack Flash riff. Actually, ejaculated it's so cool. Love how the vocals swirl in that weird tonal style along with the instrumentation. Vocals must be of the same language as the Butthole Surfers' Kuntz. If you like this I recommend: ho! #1: roady music from vietnam Goddamn Frown you made my Tuesday night. Fantastic. Highest praise. 5 stars. __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html

08-23-2017, 01:45 AM	#6 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,636	I've been through this album at least a good 3,5 times now, so I don't think I'm going to feel any different about it if I continue listening. It's been interesting checking out this type of music, but I didn't find it to be a genre that I'm dying to hear more of. While I certainly enjoy a lot of the grooves on this album, I also found 1 hour of this type of material to be somewhat redundant as it doesn't strike me as the most varied genre. There is some variation in tempo and instrumentation here, but I do feel like a lot of the compilation blends together for me. Even after spending this long time with the album over the last few days, I can't really recall any specific tracks when not listening to it. Like someone else pointed out, the vocals are often not recorded very well. The opening track is exemplary of how bad it can get, with it's distorted, shrill, overly loud vocals burying the much nicer underlying music. Some other tracks had more agreeable vocals, but on average, the vocals were more endurable than enjoyable for me. I definitely find world music interesting and am currently exploring this vague genre category a lot myself, but I don't see molam as being anything I'll likely return to. It feels too much like it's mostly some pretty simple pop music. There's not a lot of depth to most of this music and the vocals tend to feel somewhat ham-fisted in delivery and repetitive in their melodic arrangements. Not a single one of these singers struck me as being particularly talented. Still, I did have fun listening to this and the music was enjoyable a lot of the time, although not quite interesting enough for the length of the disc. There's a certain vibe to this that I'd see why some would enjoy. If I was drinking beer with other people at a bar in Thailand, I'd probably happily take it in as part of the local atmosphere. 5/10 Good enough for what it is, but not really doing it for me personally. Last edited by MicShazam; 08-23-2017 at 01:52 AM.

08-25-2017, 02:07 PM	#10 (permalink)
TechnicLePanther and the livin' is easy... Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: New York Posts: 1,997	Man, I'm cool with this album, but it's not really something that I can analyze, nor something that I would really listen to again. It's just hard to penetrate the mental gap between the music I typically listen to and this. This genre of music is just meaningless to me. And hence another short review. I didn't dislike this album, but I probably won't ever listen again. 6.5/10 On my list of never-ending favorite to least blah blah blah albums: Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction Various Artists - Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan Vol. 2 Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run Sorry, Springsteen fans, I'm not a fan. __________________ Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN *SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM* - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough.