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Koh Samui is a vampire...

It sucks the joy right out of me.

Or at least it did at first, walking down the main strip of chaweng beach with its faux friendly suit sellers, restaurant menu hawkers and calls of ‘MASSSAAAA’ was a test of will and patience.

So much so that by the end of our first evening I wanted to move on. This wasn’t what I came to Asia for, Magaluf of the west. All sun sex and suspicious parents.

Aspinall and the charming Kiki

Thankfully though, renting a scooter for the first time and going for a drive south away from the main tourist strip the next day, we found a lot to like about Koh Samui. There’s a loop road around the south that kisses the south coast sea with no traffic, lovely smooth roads and jungle all around.

if you take that road, keep your eyes peeled for a small outdoor restaurant on the more westerly of the loop. We stopped off for some succulent pork BBQ for cheaper than anywhere else on the island, run by a lovely young woman and overseen by her mother and aunt.

Take the road north and its pretty much all coastal, there’s a small tourist village with not much to see but a rickety pier and the usual collection of farang focused shops and restaurants. But along the way there are numerous small restaurants with the main road on one side and the beach on the other.

Food reccomendation this way? A small chicken rotisserie place run by a family of Thai Muslims, you’ll smell it before you see it. 200B for a full rotisserie roast chicken of the juiciest and most flavoursome variety including 2 portions of sticky rice, sweet chili sauce and 2 bottles of water. Do not drive past!

If you’re on Koh Samui and aren’t in the mood for a boozy, overpriced, undervalued, western fetishistic stay. Just rent a scooter your first day and drive in the opposite direction. Its easier than you think to find something worthwhile.

I should also take the time to say stay at Baan Smile Hostel when you visit. It’s run by the most formidable yet lovely woman we’ve ever met in Kiki. She runs Koh Samui secretly, we’re sure. She holds power and sway with even the banks but couldn’t be a nicer person.

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The Village

'Yes, Smiley Bungalows this man knows the way, trust him and you can go. 1800 for the three of you!'.

We’d just stepped off our flight from Bangkok to Surat Thani (£30) and were attempting to find our way to the bus station in Surat Thani town, when the Thai Del Boy, complete with ‘diamond’ ear stud, flagged us down.

According to him it was 500 to get to town, and then get a bus to khao sok. We’d looked online but reliable information about this area is near impossible to find so reasoning that it was only 100 more to get this lovely air conditioned pickup truck to our hotel door we decided to go for it.

A couple of nights later we discovered it was 100 for the his from Surat thani town to khao sok…

The drive down was beautiful, the luscious jungle landscape of thick forest and exotic misty mountain tops flew past our tinted windows. We passed elephants, boars and endless cockerel gangs en route to our jungle lodgings at the mouth of the national park.

And when we got there… wow did the surrouncheap impress. Dense green jungle pressed from all sides with gibbon cries and strange car alarm sounding birds providing the soundtrack.

That first night we strolled down to the appropriately named Monkey Swimming hole, a serene little spot where you can cool off in the waist high river that flows through the village accompanied by families of monkeys.

The village itself had very little to give outside of swimming spots and hotels, being the holding pen for the national park and all it’s goodly offerings. The food was all around 80-120 baht with drinks costing up to 100 for a large beer.

That being said there are 2 institutions we would happily travel back just to visit:

1 - The Jungle Bar. A small outdoor bar run by a friendly local stoner, his wife and his mother. The music is pretty terrible but the drinks at happy hour are cheap and their hospitality is priceless. If you want they’ll cook you up a BBQ feast on the bonfire they try to keep constantly going, passing around rice whisky and talking with you into the night. They’re also the cheapest place to get the 2 day national park lake tour from in the village and if you’re after anything else they can probably sort you for it.

2 - Khao Sok Island Resort. Run by the charismatic Tove (phonetically spelled) and his family the koh sok island resort is a selection of stilted bungalows on the opposite bank of the river to the jungle bar. We stayed here one night one our last day before moving on but ate here 3 times thanks to Mama’s flawless cooking (she even offers cooking lessons). Each time we chose from the BBQ menu and each time tasted better than the last. Tove’s hospitality as well won’t be forgotten, each night we ate there we’d wile away the evening watching his magic tricks, teaching each other card games and trying to beat him at his many bar tricks and games. We ended up donating a Liverpool top to him as he mentioned he was a fan but couldn’t get the kit and he in turn bestowed each of us with a gift. Hopefully we’ll travel back and see him soon.

I’ll write more about the national park itself in another post soon.

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Bangkok... Round 1

I’m currently 8 days in whilst writing this and my body is finally starting to adjust to the Asiatic climate. Not that I, or more accurately, Bangkok, helped in that regard.

Being with 2 friends that have (let’s say) a keen interest in beer in a city such as BKK meant that after 17 hours of sleepless flight we were thrown straight into the thick of it. ‘It’ being 3 rounds of 3 large Chang beers and our first excursion to the infamous khao San road.

Now if you’re heading to Bkk you’ve probably done a little research, you know that khao San is the backpacking centre of the universe. Everybody travels through bkk, and everyone ends up eating phad Thai and drinking Chang when they get here. Its a street filled with bars, street food vendors, suit sellers, ping ping show promoters (*pop pop*), tat sellers and a club (appropriately named The Club).

It’s a bit like the 2nd, 3rd and 4th circles of hell thrown into one strip of bright lights and neon. You’ll love and hate a night out here and whilst we were in BKK 5 days, 3 is easily enough.

Of the city? I saw so very little. One walk around the local’s backstreets in the searing heat and one failed walk to the grand palace were enough for me. Each leaving me dangerously low on water content in my body

The nights out we did have did have some memorable moments to be fair. Sangsom buckets, crowd surfing in The Club, live rock band jukebox in Molly’s and late nights in the back street reggae bar.

I’m revisiting BKK a few more times before the end of this trip, more out of necessity than any real love for the city (aside from the Bonchon chicken chain at Central World). Hopefully it’s charm will find a way to shine through.

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My favourite meal of SE Asia so far... Has been an international chain.

To understand how big this statement is for me, you have to understand my eating habits. I never eat in chains or franchises. Even the kebab or chicken shop I frequent after a night out will be an independent. This isn’t because I hate capitalism or ‘the man’ its just that living in Liverpool our independent food businesses are superior in quality, price and portion to the national franchises.

So the other day walking around Bangkok’s Central World shopping centre looking for somewhere that looked suitable for an aching stomach we saw a Korean fried chicken chain entitled Bonchon…

The meal that followed was 7 days ago now. We’re still talking about it. We’re still looking at pictures of it. We’re still dissecting every last moment of that meal. I’m pretty sure this is what falling in love feels like.

We ordered a selection of wings and drumsticks in both their hot and soy & garlic seasoning options, with kimchi coleslaw and sticky rice on the side.

Its a simple set up with a decent sized menu (not dissimilar to KFC) devoted to the art of dunking pieces of chicken into boiling oil. Where it differs from the Colonel though is all in the skin.

As our platters were set down immediately we knew we’d struck crispy chicken gold, the skin glistening under the light, radiating a scrumptious resonance. We sat a moment drinking in the aroma, smiling at our good fortune and saying a silent thank you to the food gods, before diving in.

That first bite will be hard to forget. Biting through the crisp shell to the succulent meat below was a Thai massage for the mouth. Hot, spicy, crunchy and soft all at once. It was like no chicken we’d ever had before and for less than half of the price we’d usually pay for such things.

Its difficult to convey just how good a piece of fried chicken can be. But that was hand on cholesterol riddled heart among the top 5 best meal experiences of my life.

We’re already planning the next visit.

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Show Me The Body - One Train

My own body has been fighting back after a stretch of late nights, heavy drinking, sporadic eating and generally bad life decisions. Thankfully I stumbled across these New York sluggers (SO to Mass Appeal) to accompany my general ill-being. 

'One Train' probably shouldn't work when you try and describe it to someone: it's these 3 jewish dudes out of New York making this sludged out vastly less aggressive but no less menacing version of Death Grips kind of ideal complete with a banjo. And maybe it doesn't for some, but I can't help but be drawn in to this leaden rhythm. 

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PUP - Mabu

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Tallows - Sea Bitch

I have a skylight above my bed now. It's pretty much my favourite thing. And as I was listening to the new track from painfully underrated and regretfully obscure Tallows, staring out of the window, a bleach white plane crossed the pristine blue canvas from left to right at around the 1:30 mark. 

That has no correlation to the track, I just quite enjoyed the moment and wanted to cement it in pixels and keystrokes.

The track itself is more of the same from the guys that brought us one of the best albums and worst album covers from last year, with unmistakably odd vocals and 1am experimental indie charm.

Odd title.

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Southeast Asia

So I've booked the flights and from November until April I will be exploring, the temples beaches and plentiful bars of Southeast Asia. Finally.

This is something I've been wanting to do since I was 18, but have never had the funds. And it's now or never as I piggyback on a trip with 2 of my new good friends that I've made since moving to my new home in December.

I've neglected this space, and now I'm going to try and use it again, as a soundboard and planner for my trip, and hopefully whilst I'm out there i'll update it. I don't expect anybody to read this, it's more for my own benefit (and probably my mum's) or any mates I have that follow this blog or want an update on my journey.

I'm also going to go back to posting music again, even if Tumblr keeps changing the way they layout the site and ruining any aesthetic you try and build..

The 2 guys I'm travelling with have their own blog > Travel Heavy < having been to the region before. So check that out. No doubt it'll be better than my efforts.

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Jamaican Queens - Wellfleet Outro

I loved the first few iterations of 'Detroit trap pop' that came out of Jamaican Queens surrealist minds. As soon as I heard Kids Get Away I tracked the band down for an interview. But when the album rolled out last year I ended up giving it one cursory listen, making up my mind and moving on. 

But this cropped up in among my youtube subscriptions today, and it's convinced me to give them another go from a new angle of thinking. So i'm off to take a load of drugs and listen to Wormfood again. Laters.

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I've done it again... I start off by telling myself I'm only writing for myself, that I can write however and whatever I want. And then all too soon I'm writing as if I'm trying to inform some imaginary audience. Usually when I start writing for a new blog/website/whatever...

I don't even care about the writing that much, I just like the cathartic feeling of writing out my own 12am thoughts on how a piece of music leaves it's imprint.

I'm stuck with a constant natural attraction to homogeneity that, despite my general apathy, irritates my consciousness. And it's only songs like this that help me brake the spell.

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Mac DeMarco - Passing Out Pieces

Return of the Mac! More hazy lazy rock 'n' roll from the dishevelled rogue we all love. The album is another month (and a bit away) so there's this slim morsel on offer to satisfy the hunger and it's a good 'un. 

It's 'an introspective sauntering stroll through Mac's thoughts on living life in the public eye' -which is probably related to those interviews where it was revealed he jerked the gherk at work and was generally a bit of a creep in his youth.

But who cares, he puts on a good show and his music is sublime. A true master of his craft. I'm fanboying all over the shop right now...

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Eli - Cabana

And now for something a little different... I don't usually go in for these sort of hook-less aural walls, but there's something cleansing about Cabana's latest single 'Eli'.

During the elapsation of it's four and twenty six minutes I managed to hang up my washing, organise my desk and make my bed. 

What i'm saying is that Cabana is good for your soul and should be taken once daily to ensure a pleasant state of mind.

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SKATERS - Miss Teen Massachusetts

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Sherbert - Stupid Hat EP

There’s no denying that when it comes to sunshine-led garage rock there are certain names that instantly take up residence in your thinking, any band that joins the pool-party this late is going to have to get used to walking around with the likes of Best Coast, Bleached and Wavves sticking to them like chewing gum. Fortunate then, that Sherbert more than hold their own alongside the garage pop kings and queens in the kingdom of eternal summer. Acting as a vehicle for Michelle Sullivan’s creativity, each track is a brief window into hazy days filled with boys, booze and narcotics in Nashville. Set to a forever 21 vibe of fuzzed-out garage guitar and narrated by Sullivan’s charming Tennessee drawl, it’s hard not to wish you were the arsehole she was singing about.

(Originally posted on Crack In The Road)

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Xul Zolar - Bedouin man

Outside of electronic music, it can be a real struggle for new European artists to have their music heard within the UK, especially those that choose to sing in English. Excluding the obvious Icelandic exception, if you want to break out of your homeland it’s time to start brushing up on your English skills.

So after picking myself up from the floor having heard the patient sonic evolution of ‘Hex’ for the first time, I was surprised to find that Xul Zolar weren’t the young Oxford band I so readily assumed. Forgoing their native Germanic tongue for a softly spoken neutral English tone means that their labour can be loved across borders.

With very little material online, in fact, in over a year they’ve only made three tracks available digital, ‘Bedouin Man’ being the latest of these. It takes a more immediately infectious route than the slow invasion of your senses that made up their last single, but no less enveloping.

Ich liebe Xul Zolar.

(Originally published on CrackintheRoad)

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Yuno - Grapefruit

You slack off from the music game for a couple weeks and one of your favourite emerging artists goes and releases one of his greatest tracks to date. I'm not angry at myself, I'm just disappointed. You, on the other hand, can just vibe with it. Click play and groove away you lucky thing.

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How Sad - Macee

I still haven't made up my mind about whether I even like this EP, but fuck it. Although I do keep sticking it on... So maybe my subconscious knows something I don't?