• LIFE

  Echoes of Isan

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 12/03/2024

  » Sombat Simla is one of Thailand's top khaen players. He's been bending the notes of his khaen baet (eight rows of double pipes, sixteen in total) for more than 50 years.

• LIFE

  Celebrating three decades of discovery

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/02/2024

  » World Beat celebrates 30 years on the music trail this month. The column started in Feb 1994 when Chuan Leekpai of the Democrat Party was in his first term as Prime Minister.

• LIFE

  The beat goes on

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/12/2023

  » Molam continues to evolve with time. Musicians, especially from Isan, are experimenting with new musical combinations, creating new hybrids and sounds.

• LIFE

  Latin soul with a Thai twist

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/03/2022

  » Amaru Tribe, a Latin band based in Melbourne, Australia, released their second studio album, Between Two Worlds, on March 18. The band visited Thailand in 2019 for a mini-tour, which culminated in a full band concert at Studio Lam, for which they jammed with phin and khaen players from Toom Turn Molam Band.

• LIFE

  The beat of Soweto

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/07/2023

  » Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde, known as the "Lion Of Soweto", was not allowed to leave South Africa until the mid-1980s, when he was invited to perform at a pioneering festival of music in Angouleme, France, along with the three Mahotella Queens, the musical engine the Makgone Tsohle Band, and producer and saxophonist West Nkosi.

• LIFE

  Remembering an icon

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 01/08/2023

  » On July 13, luk thung singer, actor, movie/TV producer and label owner Phanom Nopporn passed away in hospital at the age of 77. One of the giants of the "country music" genre, fans and stars of the luk thung industry attended his funeral on July 18 at Wat Bang Rak Noi Ban Sai in Nonthaburi.

• LIFE

  The world beat goes on

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/01/2023

  » This year the entertainment business returned to some form of normality after the hard slog of lockdowns and lack of customers. It was good to see music lovers back at festivals and clubs. And the best festive season present of all was the performance of Ethiopian legend Hailu Mergia and his trio at Studio Lam on Dec 21.

• LIFE

  End on a high

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 24/12/2019

  » The entertainment business is in full swing as we come to the end of 2019 with lots of concerts and end-of-year parties not only in Bangkok but also around the country. Word Beat has been out and about to join in the fun. Here are some recent highlights.

• LIFE

  Last band standing

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/11/2019

  » I first heard Orchestre Les Mangelepa's seductive and sweet sound on one of their songs from the late 1970s, Embakasi, which was a nationwide hit in Kenya and beyond. Initially, I thought they had recorded the song in what was then Zaire but in fact they were expatriate Congolese musicians who had settled in Nairobi, Kenya, mainly to take advantage of the sophisticated recording industry that had developed around East Africa's biggest commercial centre.

• LIFE

  Cumbia comes to Bangkok

  Life, John Clewley, Published on 05/11/2019

  » Amaru Tribe, a Latin cumbia band based in Melbourne, Australia, made their full-band debut in Bangkok on Oct 23 at Studio Lam. The six-member outfit come from Australia, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela, but all have been resident in Australia for many years.

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