1001 Albums
en
Create account

35 albums · 1985–2019

Music of Myanmar, from the saung and the stereo singers to Lay Phyu, Big Bag, Sai Sai and today

· 1 min read · by 1001 Albums

A woman in a lilac blouse playing the saung gauk harp on her lap on a stage
A hsaing waing ensemble playing behind its gilded carved frames under a coloured pandal at a village ceremonyTwo musicians seated on a low stage, one at a boat-shaped pattala xylophone and one with a saung harp, marionettes hanging behind them
A saung gauk player of a hsaing waing ensemble from Myanmar on stage at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak in 2017. Photo: AjarnRichard, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · A hsaing waing ensemble playing at a donation ceremony in Yinnyein village, Mon State. Photo: Paingpeace, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Pattala and saung players in Mandalay, with the marionettes of the yoke thé puppet stage behind them. Photo: Michael Gunther, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Myanmar's popular music has the saung harp and the hsaing waing drum circle at its start, Inle Myint Maung's Mahagita and Kyaw Kyaw Naing's pat waing, Mar Mar Aye's nat songs, then the stereo singers of the eighties and nineties, May Sweet, Hay Mar Nay Win, Htoo Eain Thin, Sai Htee Saing, Khin Maung Toe and Soe Lwin Lwin, the rock of Zaw Win Htut, Lay Phyu and Myo Gyi, Big Bag and Side Effect from the clubs of Yangon, the pop of Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein, Chan Chan, Ni Ni Khin Zaw and Bobby Soxer, and the hip hop of Sai Sai Kham Leng and Hlwan Paing. The list has 35 records from 1985 to 2019, one or two by each of the names above and only a small part of what they made; Iron Cross's own records, Emperor, Me N Ma Girls and Saw Phoe Kwar are on Deezer only as singles or not at all, and the classical repertoire beyond a nod, the zat pwe stage, the regions' own song and the many cassettes of the seventies and eighties that never reached streaming would each need a list of their own. About 30 hours of music, 4 days of a few records each.

By genre

Pop 25%Rock 18%Hip hop 5%Other 52%
  • Pop 25%
  • Rock 18%
  • Hip hop 5%
  • Other 52%

The genres named most: burmese, pop, rock, hip hop, alternative rock, classical.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 1 country: Myanmar 35. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2000s

The 2010s

More lists

Lists of Countries first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.