Khruangbin

Guitarist Mark Speer and bassist Laura Lee Ochoa discovered Thai psych-funk via the Monrakplengthai blog. The reverb-drenched guitar, pentatonic melody, and hushed vocals became the spine of The Universe Smiles Upon You (2015).

"Iran is the obvious touchstone in Maria Tambien, but the album's deepest roots are in Thai funk cassettes from the 1960s."

Pitchfork ↗

Con Todo El Mundo (2018) drew from 1970s Iranian pop. Melismatic phrasing, modal scales, lush strings. The Vinyl Factory ran a dedicated feature on their favourite Iranian records.

"Iran is the obvious touchstone in Maria Tambien."

Pitchfork / The Vinyl Factory ↗

Mark Speer and Donald 'DJ' Johnson played together in a Houston gospel church band before Khruangbin. The call-and-response, meditative pacing, and devotional stillness of this tradition became the backbone of their live presence.

"There is something faintly liturgical about a Khruangbin show."

The Guardian ↗

Two collaborative EPs (Texas Sun, 2020; Texas Moon, 2022) revealed the deep Black Texas musical heritage underpinning Khruangbin's instrumental language.

PBS NewsHour ↗

Khruangbin played Summer Madness in live medleys for years before recording it for Late Night Tales (2020). Pitchfork: 'Onstage, Khruangbin have long played a medley weaving together old funk and hip-hop rhythms, slotting Summer Madness alongside Nothin but a G Thang.'

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Collaboration album Ali (2022) blended West African desert blues with Khruangbin's reverb-glazed groove, making explicit the structural relationship between Malian music and Texas blues.

Pitchfork ↗

Mark Speer's guitar technique, reverb-heavy sustained phrases, upper-register melody, and mood-generating atmosphere draw on late-1960s psych-rock. The approach of treating guitar as an atmospheric instrument rather than a rhythm tool connects directly to Hendrix's innovations.

"The reverb-laden twang of spaghetti western melodies."

The Guardian ↗

Khruangbin formed while opening for Bonobo's 2010 US tour. Bonobo included 'A Calf Born in Winter' on his 2013 Late Night Tales mix, introducing Khruangbin to a global audience. Pitchfork: 'It was on Bonobo's own 2013 mix that much of the world was introduced to Khruangbin.'

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Laura Lee McBride grew up in Houston's R&B and gospel scene, where The Meters were foundational listening. Their locked-in, minimal pocket, one riff repeated until hypnotic, is the structural engine beneath every Khruangbin groove.

NPR Music ↗

Mark Speer has discussed DJing Gainsbourg records at after-parties on European tours. Pitchfork: 'Mark Speer might fold in cuts like Serge Gainsbourg sleaze in Paris or funky molam in Bangkok.'

Pitchfork ↗

Pitchfork placed Khruangbin in a lineage with Thievery Corporation as practitioners of 'dub-jammy ethereal instrumental music that synthesizes global traditions without exoticizing the source material.'

Pitchfork ↗