We go from past to future with Plob Jai Nale-Nar, aka Finding Your Heart in the Future. The Future! Futurama! It's from a compilation called Molam: Thai country groove from Isan, Vol. 2. Molam is Thai country music that has been played since the 17th century. You can read about it on this website.
Listening to this song is like being under attack. It starts off with a falling bomb that explodes, followed by machine gun fire. Take cover! There is a moment of calm when the drums come in at 0:10, but then the music assaults the ears and doesn't let up. It sounds like some sort of hurdy-gurdy uprising, but according to the Sublime Frequencies label website, the various instruments include "a free-reed bamboo mouth organ called a khaen, indigenous lute-like instruments (the phin or the soong), a bowed fiddle called a sor and a percussion ensemble featuring finger cymbals and hand drums." It's relentless.
And how about the singer, Chabapai Narmwei? She rarely takes a breath! I wonder what she's singing about, other than finding your heart in the future. Maybe she's cussing out some poor guy. Generally, Molam songs deal with "village life, tragic love stories, and labor exploitation" (!). Throughout it all, the bombs keep exploding and the machine guns keep firing away. Intense! I surrender!
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