Sleepwalking through the Mekong

On the second day we were here Hege and I saw a Cambodian movie as a part of an Indie film festival - very interesting: check out the link to the band it was about, the music rocks. The following info is from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_Fever_(band)

Dengue Fever is a six-member band from Los Angeles who combine Cambodian pop music and lyrics with psychedelic rock. They were formed in 2001 by Ethan Holtzman and his brother Zac after Ethan was inspired by a trip to Cambodia. As Ethan and Zac were searching for a vocalist to sing in Khmer, lead Singer Chhom Nimol was discovered in a nightclub in Little Phnom PenhLong Beach. She was already a well-known karaoke singer from Cambodia, but decided to move to US after visiting her sister, and thought it was a good chance to make more money to send to her family back home. ^[1] Zac performs vocals and guitar, while Ethan plays the Farfisa organ. Rounding out the band are bassist Senon Williams (who also plays in Radar Bros), drummer Paul Smith, and David Ralicke on brass. area of

Their self-titled debut album was released in 2003. All lyrics on the earlier albums are sung in Khmer, whilst the third album introduces some songs in English. Many of the songs are covers of 1960s Cambodian rock tunes by such artists as Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea, but some are originals, first written in English by the Holtzmans before being translated.

Their second album, Escape from Dragon House, was released in 2005, and contained more original songs. It was re-released on limited edition colored vinyl on August 26th, 2008. Escape from Dragon House was one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.

In June 2008, Real World Records released “Venus On Earth” in all territories outside of the U.S. and Canada. ^[2] Peter Gabriel founder of Real World Records said this of the deal: "We have Dengue Fever coming out on Real World Records (outside of the USA) - it’s really cool stuff, with the small Cambodian singer and big American guys behind! They’re California based but have taken 60’s Cambodian pop as their main source of inspiration and it’s done with a lot of style. It’s spirited, impassioned stuff."

The band is the subject of the documentary film, Sleepwalking Through the Mekong. The film chronicles the bands visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, during the Bon Om Thook water festival in 2005. This trip was the homecoming of singer Chhom Nimol and a transformation for the rest of the band as they performed with master musicians and recorded new songs along the way. The film reveals modern Cambodia as the band tours through Phnom Penh and beyond, crossing a great cultural chasm with the same spirit of Cambodia's original rock pioneers. ^[3]

We found out some incredible stuff about Cambodia - Hege is an anthropologist who has spent a lot of time in Cambodia - it was a very moving and clever film, especially for Americans.