Tri Minh’s Electric Sound

Founded Visualgui.com while searching for Thanh Lam, Tri Minh—the son of Thuan Yen and the imaginative arranger behind Thanh Lam’s Tu Su—introduces me to some of his experimental work.

After listening to his arrangements, I must say that this guy has an ear for electronic music, and he knows how to weave the western sound into Vietnamese traditional styles. His remixes of “Chuon Chuon Ot,” “Tan Co Dao Duyen Fucked Up,” and “Ai Oi” are so damn fresh and exotic. From the vocal distortion to the organic-sounding effects to the space-trance vibe, Tri Minh’s artistic vision is ahead of the Vietnamese music scene.

Stood out most for me, however, is the hypnotic electronic bass line in his “Free Jazz” fusion. I asked him, “Why don’t you play improvising jazz?” He replied, “I used to play jazz but I think to some extend, Jazz is quite limited so I shift to electronic music where I found it is quite interesting and give me endless possibilities, and also, making a band in Vietnam is quite difficult.” Too bad that he passed on jazz. With his talent, he could pick up where Miles Davis left off and give Vietnamese music something to look into. Still, I am having my eyes set for his album coming this March.

You could experience the tunes I listed in my Dope Jam station.