The Balkan Hour: Guest Hosting World Beats at WRFL 88.1; Cambodian Rock Music from the 60s

UPDATE:

Here are the links to the WRFL show from last Sunday. Please feel free to download and share.

FREE and Downloadable (But Please Support the Artists):

Sunday, December 21st, 4pm - 5pm

Sunday, December 21st, 5pm - 6pm

Check'em out.

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On Sunday, I will be filling in at WRFL 88.1 for Marc Heft who currently shares a World Beats show with William Cheeves. Since I'm going to be filling in for an already existing World music show, I originally was going to just play some more Balkan Music. However, I happened upon some old Cambodian Rock from a friend and after about 6 non-stop hours (honestly) of research on the internet, I'm addicted.

So, since I'm filling a slot for another fellow DJ of world music, I figured I would just get my Khmer Rock and Roll fix out of the way in one sitting. I thought I would just pepper my usual accompiment of Balkan music with some Khmer stuff, but I've found hours of fascinating music online.

Why?

The Khmer or Cambodian music is fascinating to me because of a combination of two unlikely but equally poignant aspects; great music and contextual sadness. First, if you listen the the Khmer music of the 1960s and 1970s, you can defintely hear the Western and American influences in the form of Garage Rock, Psychedelic Pop and other popular genres of the time. Combine this with the amazingly innovative talent of the musicians and the beauty of the Khmer language and it just rocks; plain and simple. Additionally, there is a more serious historical background to what was an explosion of musical innovation in the 1960s and 1970s--The overbearing knowledge of the Khmer Rouge that started in earnest in the mid 1970s. Almost all of these musicians were targeted and killed during the Reign of Pol Pot. This is another sad and less fortunate example of how music shapes and affects culture insomuch as political leaders see the musicians as threats and actually exterminate them.

While the music is great, its a shame that there isn't a lot of master tracks for fellow listeners to work with. Most of the copies of the music (both masteres and commerical copies) were destroyed during the Khmer Rouge because of its percieved threat. Aside for the cassette and vinyl recordings that were found in Cambodia by westerners searching for more Cambodian Rock, there really isn't a lot of source material in the western world. The online community, however, is changing that. Myspace is filled with "profiles" of long since passed away Cambodian musicians almost as if to create awareness the almost forgotten greats of their time. And currently there are two documentaries working to create a historical imprint of the time for years to come as well.

Cambodian Rock Documentaries:

Don't Think I've Forgotten - http://cambodianrock.com/

The Golden Voice - http://www.thegoldenvoicemovie.com

In 1996, Parallel World released one of the first western market CDs of this Khmer Rock music. Paul Wheeler made the CD based off of material he had found on vacation in Cambodia. After interest gained, another companies started releasing compliations of the Cambodian music. Probably one of the bigger breakouts for the Cambodian Rock'n'Roll pre-Khmer Rouge was on the City of Ghosts soundtrack where many (I unknowingly) heard this music for the first time. The City of Ghosts soundtrack is selling for about $100 on Amazon.com if that's any indication of popular demand of an out of print album.

Album List of Cambodian Rock Music:

Cambodian Cassette Archive Not Recommend Alternative

Cambodian Rocks (MUST DOWNLOAD, free .mp3s):

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/12/cambodian-rocks.html (Full CD)

Khmer Rock Music from the Cole Ranch (Free Downloads):

http://khmermusic.thecoleranch.com/

Cambodian Swing Machine ( Compilation )

Cambodian Rocks Volume 1 On Amazon

Cambodian Rocks Volume 2 On Amazon

You Tube Video Archives:

Old Songs with Stills: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=872D9A48223F5F9A

Old Movie Songs: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D7494F417654C522