This isn't so much a vintage musical trip to Thailand as a journey through the looking glass, where things go from weird to weirder to utterly bizarre; The King And I it is definitely not. It's as if someone had rearranged the building blocks of rock music, then tossed in several others from a different musical set. Which results in things like "Sao Lam Plearn," wherein the riff from "Jumping Jack Flash" is bolted onto a completely different song — something guaranteed to mess with any Western head — or "Diew Sor Diew Caan," a neo-Irish jig distorted through a cultural prism, oddly familiar but with disorienting, disturbing harmonies.

The sheer oddness provides much of the quirky charm. At times, you can hear updating of older Thai styles, like the electrified rural molam of "Isan Klab Tin," where the vocals appear to be more spoken than sung; or the slow, bluesy "Uay Porn Taham Chaydan" which reignites the sound of Siamese luk-thung as its simple, repetitive riff meets up with a brass band over fervent singing. But the real joy is in seeing just how far out everything gets. Take "Nom Samai Mai," for instance: A very good crooner sings unaccompanied,… read more »