Artist: Dengue Fever
Track: Seeing Hands (full track)
Album: Venus On Earth (2008)
Tags: pop, indie, psychedelia, cambodia, world, khmer, lounge jazz, surf, my gang rotw
Video: Click the pic...

YouTube


Today, the 11th day of the 11th month, is the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day, or the international day of peace. To mark the day, and to show my gratitude to those who fought - and fight - on my behalf, I have chosen a band and track of international flavour.

The sound is a great blend of two traditions - western pop and eastern khmer. Those who are familiar with 50s/60s pop from across the continent of Asia will recognise themes: an eastern vocal over western rhythm and blues, rock and roll, psychedelic rock with eastern flourishes, using instruments from both cultures. It's crossovers and blends like these that bring people together and bright, cheerful pop makes it all the easier.



From YouTube:
Dengue Fever is lead by Cambodian songstress Ch'hom Nimol, Zac Holtzman (guitar/vocals), Ethan Holtzman (Farfisa), Senon Williams (bass), Paul Smith (drums) and David Ralicke (sax). The band's music has been featured in a number of film and television shows including CITY OF GHOSTS , MUST LOVE DOGS, BROKEN FLOWERS and twice on the hit Showtime's hit series, WEEDS. They are based in Los Angeles , California

From Wikipedia:
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.

A reviewer in Amazon UK makes a good point of people being quick to dismiss 'world' music sung in other languages yet finding time for bands such as Vampire Weekend and Yeasayer. For me, the leap isn't so great, having grown up listening to music from all over the world, but I can see some might need a little nudge of encouragement to give bands like Dengue Fever a try. I would agree with this writer; if you can handle western bands who cross over and draw in other influences, you should be able to wrap your ears around music that's the other way around.

Hmm... can't say the lyrics have much to do with world peace. Actually, I don't know if it's because I'm full of this seasonal cold but I can't make any sense of the lyrics whatsoever. If you can, post a comment below and tell us.

From LyricsZoo

Forest of pine trees on the ocean floor
Self-hypnotized from holding still for hours
Drift out to sea, frozen
Forgetting how to move muscle

First I’m going to heat you up
And then I’m going to freeze you
So that you can think of all the ways you hurt me

CHORUS
Then
After thousands of years
If I’m in a good mood
I’ll let you crawl out, crawl out from your cave

I’ve given you everything I have
And you wasted it all
Now it’s winter time
And you can suck on a hair ball
And chew on dry fish bones

Then
If I’m in a good mood
We can go for a walk
Roll down a grass hill
Soak our feet in the river




Babs _{My Gang}

Reco of the Week archives





Admin - Stats as of today:


Last.fm listeners of this track - 5,164 (full track)
No. of plays scrobbled in Last.fm - 17,401
Position in Last 7 Days: 4 / 230
Position in Last 6 Months: 4 / 2,724

Video
Date Added: March 07, 2008
Views: 55,046, Ratings: 138, Responses: 2, Comments: 72, Favourited: 402 times

Stats after 7 days:

Last.fm listeners of this track - 5,311 (full track)
No. of plays scrobbled in Last.fm - 17,841
Position in Last 7 Days: 4 / 281
Position in Last 6 Months: 4 / 2,724

Video
Date Added: March 07, 2008
Views: 58,910, Ratings: 150, Responses: 3, Comments: 81, Favourited: 430 times

514 Unique Visitors
654 Page Views




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