Thai Elephant Orchestra

Northern Spy Records in partnership with Record Store Day have announced that original recordings by the Thai Elephant Orchestra—an ensemble consisting of Thai elephants located at a conservation center in Northern Thailand—will be released on vinyl for the first time ever on July 17th. This year, RSD Drops will take place on June 12 and July 17 at participating stores worldwide.

Co-founded by elephant conservationist, Richard Lair, and musical artist and a professor of Neuroscience at Columbia University, Dave Soldier, the Thai Elephant Orchestra are trained to play enormous, specially designed percussion instruments modeled after Thai instruments (such as the ranat ek). The completely improvised recordings consist of remastered audio of material released on CD via Mulatta Records as well as previously unreleased bonus material, new liner notes by Dave Soldier, and a beautiful package designed by D. Norsen.

The Thai Elephant Orchestra have previously been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and BBC’s World Service. Read more about the Thai Elephant Conservation Center here.

Tracklist
A1. Three Renats, Gong, Thundersheet
A2. Diddley Bow, Two Renats, Khene, Gong, Thundersheet
A3. Renats, Diddley Bow, Bass Drum, Synthesizer, Thundersheet
A4. Reed, Two Renats, Gong, Synthesizer
A5. Two Renats
A6. Diddley Bow, Slit Drums, Harmonica, Khene, Thundersheet, Gong
A7. Pitch Pipe, Renat, Slit Drums, Diddley Bow
B1. Bass Drum, Gong, Thundersheet
B2. Diddley Bow, Slit Drums
B3. Two Harmonicas, Khene, Bass drum, Tom-Tom, Gong, Diddley Bow
B4. Three Renats, Slit Drum
B5. Renat, Two Slit Drums, Gong, Thundersheet

Bonus 7” Tracklist
A1. Two Renats, Thundersheet, Bass Drum
B1. Elephant Field Recordings

Performers [Elephants]
JoJo, Luuk Khang, Luuk Kob, Phangkhawt, Phrathida and Phumpang

Credits
Mixed by Dave Soldier
Produced by Dave Soldier, Richard Lair, Rory Young, and Linzy Emery
Recorded on location by Rory Young
Assistant recording engineers Maria Banks and Neil Budzinski
Elephant instruments designed by Dave Soldier, Ken Butler, Don Ritter, Richard Lair, and Neepagong, and built with the woodworking and metalworking shops at the Elephant Conservation Center
Illustrations by Jenny Lynn McNuff
Reissue design by D.Norsen
Remastered by Chris Weiss
Photography by Neil Budzinski
Liner notes by Dave Soldier

Links
thailandelephant.org/
northernspyrecs.com/
recordstoreday.com/