An interview with Thailand-based musician Hugo: “What kind of person wants to be in power?”, in Roadbook

I interviewed the fantabulous pop star Hugo for Roadbook the other day… Hugo Chakrabongse Levy is a warm, otherworldly, and handsome presence – a man of bell-bottom trousers, ornate shirts, wide-brimmed hats, and hand-rolled orange-flavoured cigarettes. He’s also a rock star. Born in the UK, Hugo, as he’s known, attended school in London until he […]

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The Tom Vater Collection at the British Library to be digitally preserved

This recording is part of the Tom Vater Collection (C799) at the British Library. A longer extract has been published on The Moken: sea gypsies of the Andaman Sea (Topic Records TSCD919, 2001).  The full collection also includes recordings from India, Laos and Cambodia. It will be digitally preserved as part of the Unlocking our […]

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British Library launches campaign to save the sounds of history

My writing career started right here, at the British Library’s National Sound Archive. I went to see them in 1993 after my first return from India. I was interested in the music of indigenous communities in the region and approached the National Sound Archive’s International Music Collection with an offer of recording and documenting the […]

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RocknRoll Interlude – On Tour with The London Dirthole Company

I’ve been on tour with The London Dirthole Company, legendary London based noise creatives. The music made by The London Dirthole Company is a joyful ride into the world of the modern Outsider artist as a musical phenomena. As out of time and place and unreservedly important as The Fall, The Monks and The Velvet […]

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The Kalash – My 1998 trip to Pakistan as The British Library researcher

In 1998 I traveled from Kathmandu to Istanbul overland. At the time I was recording indigenous music across Asia in collaboration with The British Library’s National Sound Archive/International Music Collection. I recorded street musicians, folk musicians, religious performers and street corner drunks. I worked in Nepal, India, The Philippines, Thailand, Iran and Pakistan. In Pakistan, […]

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Michael LaPalme captures Pussy & The Learjets, Bangkok’s seminal RocknRoll Band!

Bangkok based photographer Michael LaPalme witnessed many of the 2011 shows of Pussy & The Learjets, Bangkok’s loudest RocknRoll band. The Learjets have been defunct for more than a year with Pussy absconding to China and the rest of the band involved in other projects. Michael also shot The Learjets in the studio. Now he’s […]

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From the Vault: Pussy & The Learjets: You’re Gonna Miss Me

From the vaults…a new track by Pussy & The Learjets, who played Bangkok punk rock for twelve months and then crashed and burned, as any great band should. This is a cover on The Thirteenth Floor Elevators You’re Gonna Miss Me, a huge song. And yes, I played guitar for The Learjets. With Manis on […]

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Phnom Penh’s Cultural Revival in Bangkok 101…Again

Seems like British hip hop legend Gobshite aka Grant Mgc Massey, currently based in Phnom Penh, continues to get mileage out of my recent story on the Cambodian capital’s cultural resurgence. The feature, which first appeared in The Guardian in April is now online at Bangkok 101, the Thai capital’s most exciting English language magazine, […]

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