VIETNAM VINYLS part 14

Various Artists - Khuc ca duyen lanh / Noi buon dem bong 7"  (Viet Nam, M. 7057-7058)

Charming lounge-trad -combination.

VIETNAM VINYLS part 13

Various Artists - 7"  (Viet Nam, M. 3443-3444)

Three singers and four songs. One of my favorites. Great smooth lounge pop - song descriptions are on A-side 'bolero' and on B-side 'slow rock'. Unfortunately this is one of those records where surface noise is unbearably loud compared to music itself (plus five times needle gets stuck) so I had to do some serious editing and cleaning on this one.

VIETNAM VINYLS part 12

Le Thuy & Ming Phung & Tan Tai - Ngay buon / Ao trang ngay xua 7"  (Viet Nam, M. 6979-6980)

Le Thuy singing duets with different male companions. Typical mixture, except this time lounge parts being in the beginning and in the middle of each song (instead of starting with and ending to lounge parts). A-side lounge parts are quite good smooth pieces. Dirty vinyl.

VIETNAM VINYLS part 11

My Chau with Minh Canh & Minh Phung - Boan cuoi tinh yeu / Thoi boi 7" (Viet Nam, M.6937-38)

This a change of label from Continental to Viet Nam. Both sides are male/female -duets, in a sense of exchanging vocal turns instead of singing together or to each other. Musically it is the good old mixture of lounge elements, Mekong-delta-blues & traditional which we have heard many times already. Very often the transitions between different styles sound quite strange and unexpected, but here in the end of side A this sounds even more 'out of place' than usual. I would appreciate if someone with a knowledge of Vietnamese popular music would explain this sort of musical expression to me. I have heard a fair amount of vintage Asian popular and traditional music but this is something I have heard only in Vietnamese records.

VIETNAM VINYLS part 10

Bach-Tuyet & Hoai Vinh Phuc / Ngoc-Giau - Nhac ru'ng dem / San khau ve khuya 7" (Continental, C.167-566)

Here is some more lounge-traditional-lounge -formula on A-side with female & male alternating vocal duties. B-side being musically more minimal with female singing, talking and something in-between. As I mentioned before, Vietnamese singles seem to be quite long in duration but this one makes a record so far, lasting 16½ minutes!

I noticed that there exists also another 7" with the same catalogue number on same label (which I'll digitize later). That makes documenting Viet vinyls even more confusing, good luck to anyone who makes an effort.

Vietnam field recording mix

This time something different: a collage of recordings I made in Vietnam recently. There's street sounds, announcements, radio & tv, park karaoke, music shows etc.

Enjoy

VIETNAM VINYLS part 9

Various Artists - Hai moi oan tinh 7"  (Continental, C.167-666-51 / C.167-666-54)

This seems to be a one track spread on two sides. Mostly female singing, occasionally with a male crooner. Collection of lounge, trad & talking stuffed in one track - so it is propably some musical theater piece.

VIETNAM VINYLS part 8

Various artists - Vo dai-lang ban pho 7" (Continental, C.167-765-2, K.D. 3429)

Here is a piece of musical comedy which goes way beyond my understanding. Lot of comical dialogue accompanied with occasional song fraqments. Really scratchy record, by the way. There's more to come.
If someone out there understands Vietnamese and could post a comment here telling shortly what is this piece about, I (and some other readers) would be extremely grateful.

VIETNAM VINYLS part 7

Bach-Tuyet / Thanh Nhan & Hoat-vinh-Phuc - Chung minh dep doi / Tinh mua ly biet 7"  (Continental, C.167-966, Dia so 71)

A side female solo number. B-side with male/female duet. Listen closely side A vocals. Some excellent tender vibrato singing there.
Typical example of a strange mixture of western and eastern influences alternating. First both songs start as western lounge influenced but quickly translate into oriental folk, only returning back to western style in the end. There's gonna be much more of that style coming in subsequent posts.
It is quite notable that nearly all the Vietnamese 7-inches I have last more than 12 minutes, this one lasting for 15 minutes!

VIETNAM VINYLS part 6

Ha-Thanh/Phuong-Thanh - Roi 20 nam sau / Doan chim canh - Nguyen cau 7" (Continental, C.167-566, C.167-56-19, K.D.577)

If you liked the previous post... you gonna love this. Three tracks of exotic beauty. Styles are 'slow', 'slow rock' & 'bolero', as the labels state. 1st and 3rd tracks are female voiced and I gotta tell you that the first song is a bloody excellent moody piece. I understand nothing of the lyrics but I have a strong vision of a young female longing for her long lost loved one in a hot summer night. It is included also in the mix I made previously.