DOCUMENTARY - Sleepwalking Through The Mekong

Dengue Fever (the band, not the scary tropical disease) describe themselves as a "Cambodian Pop Rock Psychedelic dance party!" Their sound is a throwback to Cambodian pop music from the 1960's and '70's, which was a crazy mix of psychedelic sounds familiar to us in the west with a Cambodian twist.

A new documentary about the band's 2005 music tour through Cambodia is coming out on DVD April 14th, and it looks like it will be really awesome.

From a press release about the documentary:

Sleepwalking Through The Mekong (www.sleepwalkingthroughthemeking.com) chronicles the journey taken by Los Angeles based Khmer rock band Dengue Fever to lead singer Chhom Nimol’s native Cambodia during the 2005 Water Festival. The band’s performances there marked the first time a Western band had performed classic 1960s and ‘70s Cambodian rock ‘n’ roll in the country where it was created and nearly erased from existence by the brutal Pol Pot regime.

More than a rockumentary, the film serves up a portrait of 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.

Dengue Fever on Myspace

Archived collection of Cambodian psych and garage music from the 60s and early 70s (AWESOME, check it out)

Thanks Pitchfork for giving us the heads up!
Pitchfork

-ca