Tapes Of Vietnam w/ Jordan Obarzanek - 26th April 2026

This mix is an amalgamation of tapes collected from small antique stores, markets and music shops in Vietnam - focussing mostly on the genre of Vọng cổ, a style invented in the early 20th Century by Cao Văn Lầu which was used primarily in Cải Lương (or “Reformed Opera) theatre. When you hear the kind of melodic dialogue with fast plucked guitar-like instruments (traditionally a Đàn Nguyệt or “Moon Lute”), semi-improvising around specific scale structures - that’s Vọng Cổ.

I had the idea to make this mix after a conversation I had with a Vietnamese lady running the bungalow I was staying in by the mountains just south of Hanoi last year. She’d overheard me listening to some of these tapes in the courtyard by the pool on my portable casset...
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/your-specialist-subject-ii/episodes/your-specialist-subject-ii-tapes-of-vietnam-w-jordan-obarzanek-26th-april-2026