Radio Phnom Penh

Radio Phnom Penh is a compilation of Cambodian rock and pop, rescued from the airwaves and presented in the style of a radio programme from Phnom Penh. I only just found it a few days ago.

Radio Phnom Penh -- Synthesizers East of Siam

While the new generation of karaoke artists like Preap Sovath are flooding Cambodia with modern pop and Khmer covers of Western pop songs (there are Khmer covers of practically everything going) and Thai techno thumps out of wedding parties until 3am, older classic pop seems to survive on the cassette tapes in Khmer taxis, Cambodian radio stations, and obscure recordings floating around the Internet. I have no idea if anyone has done any work to safely archive the catalogues of artists lost in the Khmer Rouge period such as Ros Serey Sothea and Sinn Sisamouth. These older tunes are incredibly evocative, not least because they sound like they’re being blared out of a megaphone speaker at a wedding even listening to them on a laptop, but also because it’s difficult to listen to them without thinking about the recent history of the country. The trailer below from John Pirozzi’s documentary Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten gives a little background.

I don’t know how excited I might have got about Cambodian classic rock had I not gone there, but the story of what happened to the musicians and the culture is completely intertwined with the bombings and the violence, it adds another dimension to the story, a soundtrack. Cambodia’s musicians and artists were specifically targeted for execution by the Khmer Rouge, few survived, and Cambodia’s entire culture was nearly wiped out, a rich culture stretching back centuries to a time of great kings and incredible temple cities. I’m trying to think of parallels in other war zones around the world -- what impact has the ‘war on terror’ had on Iraqi culture, how has the culture of places like the Congo, Somalia or North Korea been affected by conflict or repression?

One band recreating the sound of Cambodian pop music from the 1960s and 70s is Dengue Fever, a Californian surf-rock band with a Cambodian singer. And they rock.

Dengue Fever -- One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula