Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Cambodian Psych-Pop Gets Its Due in ‘The Hangover: Part Two’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij4ILlDAIOg&feature=player_embedded

June 13, 2011
Mai El-Mannai
National Geographic Magazine

Even if you—like many of us—have never heard of Cambodian psych-pop, you may have heard some recently. A song by the California-based band Dengue Fever, 1000 Tears of a Tarantula, is featured in the soundtrack of the new movie The Hangover: Part Two.

Where did this trippy music come from? East meeting west. As the Vietnam War introduced Western music to Southeast Asia, Cambodian singers began fusing the sounds of bands like The Beatles and The Doors with some of their own traditional folk songs. This unusual style was pushed aside by Khmer Rouge regime’s “cultural cleansing” campaign in the 1970s, and remains largely obscure.

California brothers Ethan and Zac Holtzman became interested in the genre after Ethan heard some old cassette tapes while backpacking in Cambodia in the late ‘90s. They formed a band called Dengue Fever—a name that aptly conveys the, um, infectious quality of their sound—with lead singer Chhom Nimol, a native Cambodian singer based in Long Beach. Their aim is to “shine the light back on that body of music,” says Zac, by recording covers of works by Cambodian singers of the era as well as their own unique songs.

And if you like what you’ve heard, Dengue Fever’s fifth album, Cannibal Courtship, was released in April.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

KI team, please post this if you can!

To Lok Prothean Sam Rainsy:

Have you spent a few minutes to think over and re-assess your progressive performance in the political arena so far? SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) from different perspectives will help! SWOT will map out your success plan.

- What defines Leadership to you?
- MPs Mu Sochua, Son Chhay & Mao Monivann and a few more are the core pillars of SRP. Ms. Mu has shown her great leadership skills. Everyday, she spends her valuable time helping the poor Khmer victims. She refused to run away from the Kangaroo's court when come to injustice. You should not be afraid and stay in Cambodia. What can Hun Xen do to you? Instead, you will be gaining more popularity by showing your bravery/lealership. Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar dared to stay in the country even though she well knew that she risked her life. Nelson Mandela of S. Africa stayed in the prison for 27 years in exchange for true justice & freedom. That's the true leader.
- Stop painting the same Khmers. This is a lose-lose strategy. Speculation would lead to nowhere besides destroying our country.
- Many grass root supporters are overwhelmed with your rhetoric attacks and pretext/propaganda to cover up your un-workable leadership skills/strategies.
- Learn something from the real enemies; i.e. Know yourself clearly, fight 100 times, you will win 100 times.
- You should take the notion that "NOT only SRP who love Khmers the most, let others who truly love latter prove their passion for the country as well".

The thing is not about CPP is stronger than SRP or HRP, but the opposition parties never learnt its past failure and refused to accept new ideas.

If SRP continues to run on the same status-quo platform with obsolete leadership skills, you will never ever be able to win the CPP/Youn Hun Xen.

Hope KI could help post this in your blog.

Best Regards,

SRP+HRP+All True Khmers > CPP/Youns!

Anonymous said...

Hun sen has temperament to resolve problem with its neigbore, that thailand understant his manner is not strict.