Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [383]
The ubiquitous pop-rock band comprises a singer, bass guitar and one or two electronic keyboards, hailed throughout the country as the greatest labour-saving device, despite their cheesy sound. Indeed, in rural areas where there is no electricity, these portable keyboards run happily on batteries, and all the rhythm buttons that are so rarely used elsewhere – rumba, tango, bossa nova and surf-rock – are here employed liberally. The slap-echo on the singer’s microphone is intentional; without it, they say, it sounds “unprofessional”. Each evening, when the traffic noise dies down, you can hear the mournful laments of neighbouring karaoke bars mingling together, the ghostly echoes of lonely pop singers reverberating from another dimension.
Music and theatre |
Discography
There are more recordings of traditional music available outside the country than in. But if you find yourself in Hanoi, stop by the Vietnamese Institute of Musicology at 32 Nguyen Thai Hoc (www.vn-style.com/vim) and check out their extensive database of field recordings.
Music and theatre | Discography |
Traditional
Music and theatre | Discography | Traditional |
Samplers
Hò! Roady Music from Vietnam Trikont, Germany. Crass, crazy, funky street music taken from pop cassettes and recorded in situ with mopeds and car horns in the soundscape. It opens in cracking style with a plucked dan bau doing “Riders in the Sky” with what sounds like fireworks as well. There’s a wild funeral brass band and all sorts of surprises. Highly recommended.
Music from Vietnam Vol 1 Caprice, Sweden. An introduction (in conservatoire style) featuring songs, instrumental tracks and theatrical forms. Featured instruments include the dan bau, dan nguyet and k’long put. Music includes Quan Ho folk songs, Cai Luong and Hat Cheo theatre, Hat Chau Van possession ritual and Nhac Dan Toc Cai Bien new folk.
Stilling Time: Traditional Musics of Vietnam Innova, US. A sampler of field recordings from all over Vietnam, including songs and gong music of the ethnic minorities. An introduction to the many surprises in store for the musical traveller. Recorded and compiled by Philip Blackburn.
Music and theatre | Discography | Traditional |
Theatre
The Art of Kim Sinh King, Japan. Blind singer/guitarist Kim Sinh has something of a cult following and knows how to wrench the emotions from those old Cai Luong opera songs. His venerable musical personality is more affecting than many of the commercial Cai Luong releases available, and one struggles not to make comparisons to the blues. This recording has influenced a whole generation of California guitarists.
Vietnam: Traditions of the South Audivis/UNESCO, France. Southern ritual music from the eclectic Cao Dai, Buddhist and indigenous spirit-possession religions, as well as a good helping of Cai Luong theatre music (the traditional, not the cheesy Western-style band!). The liner notes and recording quality are on the dry side but the music is very lively.
Vietnamese Folk Theatre: Hat Cheo King, Japan. Cheo theatre, expertly played by the Quy Bon family and recorded in Hanoi. Features a Chau Van possession ritual and the famous story of the cross-dressing Thi Mau going to a temple.
Music and theatre | Discography | Traditional |
Song and classical music
Anthology of World Music: The Music of Viet Nam Rounder, US. This is the Vietnamese equivalent of the Rosetta Stone, the earliest published recordings of some of the standards of the repertoire, performed by the masters of their day. Music and Theatre of the Court, Ritual Music and Entertainment Music, and the Music of South Vietnam. The presentation may seem a little dusty by modern flashy conservatoire standards but it’s still revelatory.
Ca Tru: The Music of North Viet Nam Inedit, France. Performed by the Hanoi Ca Tru Thai Ha Ensemble. A tenacious vestige of Vietnam’s 500-year tradition of women’s “songs for bamboo tokens”, Ca Tru (or Hat A Dao) is a private entertainment forced underground until recently.