#Khmer Music

[cowboy-tendencies]

Today I Learnt to Drink - Roy Serey Sothea

[salvadorbonaparte]

Rules: shuffle your "on repeat" playlist and post the first ten tracks, then tag 10 people

I was tagged by @yovelknell

Getting Closer - Billy Joel

Willenlos - Westernhagen

Cha Cha Cha - Käärijä

Allentown - Billy Joel

Dance The Night - Dua Lipa

Sax Rohmer #1 - The Mountain Goats

Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen

A Matter of Trust - Billy Joel

Proud Mary - The Cambodian Space Project

To Pouli - Nana Mouskouri

@thebreakfastgenie (hey look I'm in my The Bridge phase) @orangealleycat @onekisstotakewithme @sarduy @blue-ravens @tealingual @doctorparmak @bluescreening @bibi-blogsberg @profiterole-reads and everyone else who feels like sharing some music :)

[hanniehaeism]

Me: likes kpop and anime and gets haircuts inspired from a kpop idol

My family: do you want to be Korean/Japanese ⁉️

[aloneandforsakenbyfateandbyman]

When 28-year old B-movie star and photojournalist Sean Flynn disappeared on April 6, 1970, his mother left his apartment untouched for over 20 years in hopes her son would someday return.

He was the son of Errol Flynn and the French actress Lili Damita, yet unlike his father, he was less of a hellraiser and more soft-spoken and introverted, but had an obsession with danger and thrill-seeking just the same.

Sean’s Parisian apartment on the Champs Élysées was sealed by his mother to preserve his memory and remained a time capsule of the 60s until it was opened up after the death of Lili in 1994.

The walls were plastered with images of counterculture figures such as Jimi Hendrix, Che Guevara, and Ho Chi Minh, pictures of Sean travelling around the world as well as skydiving and hunting, copious amounts of taxidermy, a miniature of the Zaca (his father Errol Flynn’s yacht), expensive camera equipment, books, rolls of undeveloped film, psychedelic-patterned ties, unopened mail, and snappy clothing.

Sun Day magazine described the apartment as a “weird mixture of 60s flower power and very gruesome souvenirs” from his stint as a game hunter in Africa.

After moving to Europe to start an acting career and recording a music album, Sean grew bored and went to Vietnam in 1966 to risk his life by becoming a combat photojournalist. His images were published around the world and he helped save an Australian platoon from being blown up by a mine, as well as numerous other brave acts.

Yet Sean’s bravado would cost him dearly when he and fellow journalist Dana Stone disappeared in 1970 after being kidnapped at a military checkpoint near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, after which they were most likely held captive for years and then killed by the Khmer Rouge in 1973.

His mother Lili Damita spent millions of dollars and the rest of her life desperately searching for her son, but it was of no use. Sean’s tragic fate remains a hazy mystery to this day.

[atlaculture]

Not ATLA-related, but I just wanted to bring some attention to the band YĪN YĪN. They're a Dutch band that takes inspiration from the psychedelic rock of East and Southeast Asia from the 60s and 70s. As someone who grew up listening to Khmer rock, I think their music is a really good example of cultural appreciation. I also think they're a good entry point into the genre as a whole, as their modern production values are a lot more approachable than the gritty mid-20th century recordings that influenced them.

If you guys like their sound, I might share more Asian psychedelic rock on this blog.

[noona96n]

Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

no worries, im happy to answer. and, if i happened to already answer sth, I'll link u to it.

so, fav medias... hmm...

book(s): the radiant emperor duology

ik it just came out and was only recently finished (like, finished Sept 2023 lol) so this is probably bias speaking but i am extremely taken by She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World, these books are fckn phenomenal. the gender-fuckery, the exploration of gender and sexual performances, the hidden message of embracing ourselves in all our ugliness and 'deficiency' and making a place for ourselves and ppl like us when others shun us. these books are just!!!

documentaries: immortal egypt (Joanne Fletcher)

i really really love documentaries and this mini series hold a special place in my heart bcs i love history and I've always been fascinated by egypt and Joanne's enthusiasm is just so joyous and infectious, i love it. i put this on repeat in the background when i was doing my graduation project in 2018 lol yea, just me listening to egyptian docu while working my ass off on AutoCAD lol

anime: sarusuberi/miss hokusai

idk how to explain but there's just a quality to this animated film that got me going... like, i adore howl's moving castle but miss hokusai is sth else. it's so peaceful but also deeply profound and visceral somehow.

tv series: aircrash investigation

i love planes, i love the Concorde in particular, but it has nth to do with how cool planes are but with how child-me saw riding planes as a thing that only ppl with money could do. it evolved from there.

i also love mysteries and aircrash investigation is both lol

i remember watching it on tv when i was an adolescent and i was fascinated with the mystery and problem-solving of it all ever since.

movie: the prince of egypt

it's a story about love; love that forgives, love that creates hate, love that divides.

drama: nirvana in fire (c-drama), beyond evil (k-drama), kluen cheewit (thai soap opera)

bl-specific: old fashion cupcake (anime AND manga)

the plot of these dramas is impeccable (tho kluen cheewit is extremely dramatic so pls beware lol), the character developments are fckn amazing, and what's even more important is the platonic relationships between the characters!!!

also, special shout-out to thai bl soap opera khun chai/to sir (with love) as well! the drama is off the charts, the characters are flawed & human & infinitely relatable & Tian & Yang's brotherhood is EVERYTHING

just one of the best bls out there and I've consumed A LOT of BLs/yaois... ALL SORT of em lol

the story is really grounded in reality, the plot is so mundane and relatable, the characters are mature but extremely flawed, and the art (in the case of manga) and the acting (in the case of the series) are amazing.

song: queen bee by vannda (contemporary music from my country)

i DO NOT agree with the lyrics AT ALL but i adore the melody. i absolutely love, love, LOVE how he blends traditional khmer music with the modern one. it's not a necessarily modern take but it's sth different. this artist is very good at blending the old w/ the new and i applaud him for that. his music is so pleasing the ear but the fkcn lyrics... urGH

well, a song of his with message that i completely agree with is time to rise with master Kong Nay... though the mixture is too in my face lol which is why i prefer queen bee

[afterthegreatunknown]

List of Snicket-Verse Characters I headcanon as Asian Descent, Fully or Partly, with the One (1) Book Canonical Asian Character

The One (1) Book Canonical

Haruki [Murakami]: Japanese. Originally born in Kyoto in the Fushimi-ku ward, Haruki and his family moved to the City when he was six due to his father’s job (in the organization). When it comes to reading and writing Japanese, it isn’t as perfect as people assume, for Haruki spend more of his childhood reading and writing in English. Speaking Japanese though, Haruki can 100% do.

Headcanons Characters, ATWQ

Dashiell Qwerty: Chinese descent. Qwerty is an alias surname his family uses when out in the field for VFD. His real surname is Qiao, and whenever not in the field, volunteers call him Qiao. Or ‘Q’, if they can’t pronounce it. Dashiell has a technical middle name; his Chinese given name, Qiang. Dashiell is (was) only call Qiang by his parents.

Jackie’s Grandfather: Korean. Jackie’s grandfather full name in western order, is Pyong-ho Ahn, nickname in his youth as Moray. Phyong-ho used to manage Moray Wheels in the past in addition to racing, before retiring and allowing Jackie to take over. Phyong-ho by the present no longer goes by Moray, unless you’re a very close friend of his.

Jackie (Ahn): Korean descent. Jackie is really Jackie’s first name, though they do accept the Korean name their grandfather gave them: Jae-kyung. Jackie only answers to Jae-kyung if it’s spoken by their grandfather, their parents (now decease), and their aunt and uncle and cousin who lives in the City, finding it something special meant for family only.

The Talkie Brothers: Asian descent of different nationalities. Arthur Takei is of Japanese descent. Amit Sharma is of Indian descent. ‘Talkie Brothers’ came because many couldn’t pronounce Takei. They thought about going by “the Sherman Brothers” for some couldn’t pronounce Sharma correctly either, but that is used by a real pair of musically talent brothers.

Alice Lost, nee Takei: Japanese descent. The younger sister of Arthur Takei, Alice has a great talent of doing origami. She can make anything out of a piece of paper, but her specialty was making paper cranes. In fact, before her death, Alice was aiming to create 1,000, and had reached 1,000 exactly when the fire broke out at the Lost Arms.

Ornette Lost: Biracial. Japanese descent from her mother Alice, Irish descent from her father (Prosper immigrated to SBTS as a child with his parents). Ornette’s talent of (paper) sculptures came from watching her mother folding origami paper into cranes. Ornette feels connected to her mother when making origami cranes, and aims to fold 1,001 in her memory.

Headcanon Characters, ASOUE

Captain Widdershins: (French) Chinese Cambodian on Father’s side, and native Cambodian (Khmer) on Mother’s side. Widdershins does his best to feel connected to his former home country, be celebrating holidays that he can barely recall celebrating, making meals if the ingredients available, or speaking Khmer to himself and sometimes around Fiona. For that last one, Widdershins gave Fiona a Khmer [nick]name, though after an interaction with a volunteer, had Widdershins stopping it. Post-canon, he starts saying Fiona’s Khmer [nick]name again, usually when it's just the two of them.

Raymond ‘Q’ Quagmire: Chinese descent. Raymond is an adopted Quagmire due to his brother Dashiell’s death/murder. Raymond, like Dashiell, has a technical middle name that is his Chinese given name; Jiahao. However, for reasons, people assume Dashiell’s Chinese given name is Raymond’s, made worse because many had forgot Raymond and Dashiell are related.

Joan Quagmire [nee Morstan]: Chinese descent. Joan’s birth surname is Lau; Morstan is the surname of her adopted family. Two of Joan’s favorite games to play are Mahjong and Wei Qi (Go). While she’s not the best player of the latter, she’s brilliant in the former. Joan likes making her children (all together) play a game with her once a week; they never won.

Alex and Lindsey Morstan: Chinese descent. Being Joan’s triplet sisters, they were forced to play Mahjong and Wei Qi with her, with the latter being the game they’re best at. Alex and Lindsey are fonder of reading (translated) Chinese novels; Alex loves Journey to the West, while Lindsey enjoys Flowers in the Mirror.

Duncan, Isadora, and Quigley Quagmire: Chinese descent. Duncan, Isadora, and Quigley, pre and post canon, do their best to gain insight and feel connected to their identity, in their own ways. Duncan does it by researching Chinese history, particularly of the Chinese Dynasties (the Tang Dynasty is his favorite). Isadora does it by watching Chinese opera (she loves the costumes, and the singing style). Quigley does with the hands-on approach of preparing and cooking traditional Chinese dishes with help (parents and aunt pre-canon. Post-canon, Quigley get Hector or Widdershins’ help, sometimes the two adults together if needed).

Charles: Vietnamese descent. Charles’ full name is Charles Nguyen, the son of two Vietnamese people who lived half their lives in France before moving to the Land of Districts. Charles worked with his parents at their swanky restaurant, Nguyen Bistro; it serves traditional Vietnamese dishes as well as French dishes as an alternative. Charles took business (and cooking) classes to fully take over, but a mysterious fire that burned the restaurant and the apartment home, as well as killing his parents, changed his path.

Sir: Thai. An immigrant that came to the Land of Districts to escape his past, Sir found work at Lucky Smells Lumber Mill as a regular employee, before getting promoted to foreman. When the owner Smogface Wiley died, the mill was doom to close. However, Sir managed to get a trial run as boss, and later became the new permanent owner. Sir’s cousins working at the Mill is true; they’re the ones who made Sir escape his past in the first place. Sir had no qualms on the conditions they’re working, seeing how he survived it and worked his way upward (and maybe revenge).

(Regarding Sir’s unknown name, his first name at least, it’s Chalermchai. When he was a regular employee, Chalermchai was usually referred to or call by that didn’t require the foreman or anyone else to say his name. But when Chalermchai became foreman, people discover they were unable to say it, so Chalermchai became ‘Sir.’ Not many people call Sir by his first name nowadays. Charles says it, and even then, it’s rare.)

R, Duchess of Winnipeg: Biracial. Japanese descent from her father, Ryutaro (Second generation Japanese-Canadian), and French from her mother, Sabine (French from France and French Canadian). R is a naming pattern from her father’s family, for in Sabine’s family, no one ever had an ‘R’ name before (Sabine does have the alias of ‘Rhea’ though). R isn’t connected to her Japanese heritage as much as she likes; the most she knows of is Japanese theater, mainly Kabuki. The R engrave ring was something Sabine did herself, much to her mother (R’s Grand-Mère Thea) disapproval, for Sabine wanted the ring to be special for R when she gets it.

R’s heir, Ramona Q, and the Q stands for Quach (Quách): She's the daughter of two Vietnamese refugees who were very good friends with R. They confided to R about the odd interactions Ramona had with her local librarian, leading to R telling them things to do to keep their daughter safe. When Ramona’s parents died in a fire, R decided to adopt Ramona to lessen VFD’s influence. R loves Ramona very much, being an honorary aunt to the girl before adopting her, and does her best to let Ramona be connected to her culture (clothing, music, food; food is most common and accessible one of all).

[biophonies]

los ángelessss it's COOK LIKE YOUR ANCESTORS' birthday tomorrow!

come thru for a multi-culti celebration of all people & their foods, check out some comics, get a book signed, or just vibe and enjoy the pound cake y chicha morada <3

also, I made a playlist for the eve with music from just about every one of the 25 countries featured in the cookbook!

i'm talking viet new wave, tamil movie tracks, naija alté, cumbia, icelandic folk, afro-peruvian rhythm, khmer resistance songs, & bahia beats, plus sounds from other places such as Haiti, Palesteen, Armenia, Sudan, and Uyghur... in honor of everyone holding on to their heritage despite everything. food & music forever ✌🏽

[famousinuniverse]

Cambodian Traditional Dances

Traditional dance is a popular art form in Cambodia and so greatly revered that no visit to Cambodia is completed without watching at least one Khmer traditional dance performance. During the Khmer Rouge reign from 1975 to 1979, much of this Cambodian traditional art form was almost wiped out. However, huge efforts have been done to rekindle the ancient art from into new life. Dances in Cambodia are divided into three main genres: Classical Dance for the royal court, Folk Dance portraying cultural traditions and Social Dances performed in social gatherings.

1. Classical Dances.

Khmer classical dance, or locally known as Robam Preah Reach Trop, is a highly stylized performing art form originating from the royal courts. Originally, it was performed and maintained by attendants of the royal palaces, with the purpose of calling upon the gods and spirits, as well as expressing the respect to the royal courts. Later then, Khmer classical dance was popularized to the public in the middle of the 20th century.

Khmer Classical Dance was originated from the royal courts.

It soon became the symbol of Cambodian culture and often performed during special occasions like holidays, public events and for tourists in main tourism hubs. In the performance of classic dance, intricately costumed dancers perform slow and figurative gestures, with the musical accompaniment of a pinpeat ensemble. The classical repertoire includes dances of tribute or invocation and the enactment of traditional stories and epic poems such as the Ramayana. There are more than ten Khmer classical dances but the most performed and known dances are Apsara Dance (Robam Tep Apsara) and Blessing Dance (Robam Choun Por).

Apsara Dance.

The most popular form of classical Cambodian dance is Apsara, stretching back to the 7th century. A walk around the main temples of Angkor gives tourists general ideas about the importance of Apsara Dance in ancient Khmer culture, with the images of apsara dancers carved into the walls and bas reliefs. Its roots were found in both Hindu and Buddhist mythologies, with the concept that Apsaras were beautiful female creatures that visited Earth from heaven to entertain Gods and Kings with their enchanting dance.

Apsara is the most popular form of classical Cambodian dance.

The Khmer King Javayarman VII in the 12th century was said to have over 3000 Apsara dancers in his court. The dance moves in slow, hypnotic, and gentle paces in order to reflect the idea that spirits entrap mortals with their beauty. With more than 1500 exist, hand gestures are the main traits of the dance. Every single movement of the fingers has its own distinct meaning. Some movements even require dancers to bend their fingers almost to their wrists. Elaborate traditional costumes is the identification of Apsara Dance, and help to mirror the majestic moves of dancers. They wear elegant silk clothes with floral motifs, stunning jeweled headdress, and sparkling accessories like necklaces, earrings, bracelets and anklets. Due to the extreme complexity of this performing art, Khmer girls start training from a very young age to get enough flexibility in their hands and feet to execute intricate movements.

The Apsara Dance was almost wipe out because the Pol Pot-led regime took a massacre included Apsara dancers in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge period in 1975-1979. Luckily, few surviving dancers kept the tradition remained by passing their knowledge and skills to the younger generations. The most outstanding event marking the new life of Apsara Dance was when Queen Sisowath Kossomak Nearirath Serey Vatthana, the wife of King Norodom Suramarit, visited the Sothearath primary school in 1940s.

She saw the school mistress prepare an inspirational Angkor Apsara dance performed by young school children in the paper apsara costume so she got the idea of rekindling the dance. She trained her first daughter, Princess Bopha Devi, to practice the dance and 5 years old and then princess became the first professional Apsara dancer in the 1950s and 60s. In 2003, Apsara Dance was recognized as the Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Blessing Dance.

Robam Choun Por is performed to wish for good health, happiness, prosperity and success.

Cambodian Blessing Dance, or Robam Choun Por in Khmer language, is traditionally presented at the beginning of a ceremony or special occasion in Cambodia. This dance is performed by a group of young Khmer girls in odd numbers (3 – 5 or 7 persons) to wish for good health, happiness, prosperity and success. The female dancers are well-dressed with Khmer Classical Royal Ballet costumes to symbolize the Devata. Each carries a golden goblet filled with flower blossoms inside, like jasmine, lotus or Romdoul. In Khmer’s perspective, blossoms are represented for the blessings from the Gods. With charming and elegant movements, dancers hold the golden goblets, pluck the blossoms and gently toss them toward the audience with honor and wishful blessing. 2. Folk Dances.

Cambodia Folk Dances play important roles in highlighting various cultural traditions and ethnic groups of Cambodia. As opposed to the classical dances, these folk dances are faster paced movements and gestures are less stylized. Folk dancers wear clothes of the people whom they are play roles, such as Chams, hill tribes, farmers and peasants.

Typically, folk dance performances are accompanied by a mahori orchestra, including stringed and plucked instruments as well as flute. Cambodian folk dances are also regarded as ceremonial dances because they are not performed widely in public. They are inspired by countryside life and practices, and tend to be reserved for the particular rituals, celebrations and holidays among rural communities.

There is a wide variety of Cambodian folk dances with different meanings:

Cambodian Folk Dances highlight various cultural traditions and ethnic groups of Cambodia.

Trot Dance– a popular dance featuring a hunter who is chasing a deer. In ancient times, Khmer villagers got troubles from the wild animals going to their villages. Therefore, this dance was performed to protect them from this bad luck. Trot Dance is performed to ward off evil and bad luck from previous year and celebrate the coming of Khmer New Year.

Sneak Toseay Dance – a dance around animal characters, like tiger, peacock, and deer. The dance originates in Phnum Kravanh District, Pursat Province and depicts the Pear people.

Robam Kom Araek – a dance mainly used two or three bamboo pole which hitting every second. Farmers practice this bamboo dance at the end of a long working day in the fields as a way of entertainment. It is reported that the dance came from Kuy people but it is more believed that the birthplace is Philippines during the reign of King Norodom (1834-1904) when he was traveling in Philippines.

Robam Kngaok Pailin – a dance describing the movement and beauty of the peacock. This dance portrays the Kula people in Pailin and their amusement with a pair of peafowl, but also much influenced by Burmese dance.

Chhayam – a well-known entertainment dance about pleasure, including several comedic roles and beautiful girls. The dance is performed at holidays and is a pure Khmer dance.

Cambodian Coconut Dance – a dance performance involving coconuts with male and female dancers. Men wear a yellow shirt and dark red “Changkibin”. Women wear a button up shirt and a green silk “Changkibin”. The dance originated around 1960 from Romeas Haek District in Svay Rieng Province.

Cambodian Fishing Dance – a dance performance involving fishing that was composed in the 1960’s at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. It involves male and female dancers.

Social Dances.

At social gatherings in Cambodia, social dances are performed with common types, such as: ramvong, ram kbach and ram saravan.

Ramvong is social dancing form in traditional events, modern parties or celebrations.

Ramvong in Cambodia, Lamvong in Laos or Ramwong in Thailand represent for the popular social dancing form in these Southeast Asia countries. Both men and women can participate in the same circle, continuously move in a circular manner and perform basic hand movements and simple footwork. This slow round dance style can be seen in traditional festivals, popular celebrations and modern parties. In Cambodia, ram vong dance can be found among ethnic groups of the Phnong, Krung, Tampuan and Brao people.

Ram kbach dance is generally similar to ram vong in terms of circle arrangements, as well as hands and legs gestures. But the movements in ram kbach are slower and more gentle. Besides ramvong and ram kbach, ram saravan dance style are also popular with Khmer people at festival time, when people gather and perform the dance together. Even being thought to traditionally originated from Laos, Khmer people love to perform it at special events like wedding parties, especially at Khmer New Year.

Like people all over the world, Cambodian people consider dancing is an integral part of spiritual life and rites of passage, as well as a popular form of entertainment. Moreover, they also believe that all dance styles – both traditional and modern styles, can help create friendship and happiness among society. If you are interested in exploring Cambodian culture through traditional dances, don’t hesitate to contact Cambodia Travel to plan your customized trip to this lovely country right now!

Cambodian Traditional Dances (cambodiatravel.com)

[elephantkingdom]

Meas Samon= Larry Butz

So Saboeun= Lotta Hart

Meas Samon, the mustachioed and bespectacled figure in the original picture above, resisted the Khmer Rouge as a singer until the end and was killed,

and So Saboeun, a woman wearing colored glasses, fled to Thailand and is now in her 80s,

and is said to be the last survivor to testify to the Cambodian popular music scene that was fresh, vibrant, and colorful at the time.

[salvadorbonaparte]

Which languages would you learn if you were only allowed to choose based on your taste in music? (languages you're already learning wouldn't be affected)

I'd definitely pick up Khmer and Vietnamese, perhaps Chinese, Japanese and Thai

[rileyisclass]

saddam hussein vs pol pot 360p (Michael Moran, 2011) is a fascinating work of art. A perfect encapsulation of its era, it sources a mirrored low resolution clip from American history program "Deadliest Warrior" which tries to imagine if Pol Pot and a small band of Khmer Rouge operatives attempted to kill Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his guards, who would win? However what really cements the work is the music. Paralyzer by Finger Eleven playing over the low resolution clip, the graphics of the show making it look like multiplayer team deathmatch and abrupt ending gives it the exact mood of a Call of Duty kill montage that were all over the platform at the time. I seriously cannot think of a better "What did YouTube used to be like?" than this.

[eggtqrt]

OH HOLD UP. idk if this is your style either but there's this musical called cambodian rock band and the soundtrack is much more,?,?? idk how to explain but it's a musical! it vibes! it's in khmer style but also really fun to listen to in general! and some of the songs are covers from ros sereysothea (famous khmer singer from the 60s-70s before yk) and dengue fever which is also so cool. there aren't any full performances of it online though which SUCKS bc the story sounds so cool??

OMG A MUSICAL???? I am a big musical person how did you know HFHSHFHSHF ill definitely check it out!!!!!

[disco-cola]

5 forgotten songs from the 70s everyone should know about (in my humble opinion)

🎸 i'm a man (1973) - jobriath - now handled as the "first openly gay musician ever" he was supposed to become as big as ziggy stardust in the early 70s and "americas bowie" but was dropped by his label after minor success; the smiths' morrissey later found his music by chance and desperately looked for him in the early 90s because he wanted him to join his tour, only to find out he d*ed lonely by himself at the chelsea hotel in 1983 from aids-related complications.

🎸 chnam oun dop-pram muy (circa 1974) - ros serey sothea - cambodian singer who was heavily influenced by american and british rock of the 60s and early 70s and combined classical cambodian singing with heavy garage rock. when civil war broke out due to the khmer republic she became a paratrooper to fight for her country but was apparently k*lled in action and never found again.

🎸 bustin' out for rosey (1976) - tommy bolin - a promising young guitarist who was part of deep purple and james gang before going solo. he was on tour with jeff beck when he od'd in late 1976 at only 25.

🎸 theme from subway sue (1975) - pavlov's dog - this song and album and band in general might be somewhat known in the depths of the prog rock scene but imo doesn't get the recognition it deserves in the classic rock world. david surkamp's extremely distinguished voice is like nothing i ever heard before. also check out the song julia please. the band still exists with david on lead vocals and still plays shows sometimes.

🎸 love and a molotov cocktail (1978)- the flys - that song is just so quintessentially british punk that it's hard to believe it isn't up there with london calling and anarchy in the uk. they were handled as an insider's tip and believed to become hitmakers but broke up just three years after their formation after having a big fight during a rehearsal.

[bookwyrminspiration]

i do wonder sometimes! i think having so many desi friends here also reminds me of it too because like. idk it feels similar, some people grew up in the mother country, and then sometimes people talk about how they grew up in places where there is an abundance of street food, which is something my dad talked about getting when he was a kid... but like. i can't really fathom what cambodia would be like now without the khmer rouge. like. there's so much history we wouldn't have lost? so much music and so many movies and like all of this art and history and all these statues that were destroyed? it kind of just makes me feel angry when i think about it now lmao because as much as i wish i could be wistful and imagine what it might have been like. i don't even KNOW. and we can't know because of how many records and films and documents were burned to ash by the cpk. that shit was stolen from us and it wasn't from europe or the wider civilized west, but our own people who decided that they were better than everyone else, and now we are a third world country that is basically just a tourist attraction 👍👍👍 it kind of sucks a lot haha. there's a lot my parents lost too since they were really young when they left, so it's just like, even if they met they wouldn't be the same, so i don't know if i would actually be able to go up against the beauty standards and stuff the way i do now. and also i don't even know if i would have met you guys which would be a whole different kind of sucky tbh!!!! net loss!!! even as much as i wish i knew all those languages from a young age i don't know if it would be a good trade. even if i got to grow up with chickens :/

No yeah that makes a lot of sense! It's like...you want certain aspects of both, the now and the what could have been, but some of the way things and who you are now as a person are are only possible because you lost the what could have been. And trying to reconcile the two and imagine what you lost is still present is near impossible, because they fundamentally cannot exist together. But you still want them to? If all that makes sense

And being around people does remind you of it, because you each have different experiences, different pieces of the overall community/identity, and you can see pieces you wish you had but if you did have them. You wouldn't be you. Yeah I wish I grew up with more mexican foods at home and was taught them instead of learning on my own, but that wouldn't be me, because the me I am has learned the language from scratch on my own and found resources and recipes on my own and etc. so like...to want those pieces and the different options is like wanting to be a different person, and do I want to be a different person? very complicated feelings

Then at the end of the day it's like should I even bother thinking about it when there's literally nothing to be done about it, history and my connection to everything is already in place. I can't change what languages and food I grew up with, where I was born and raised, etc.

Because it's a very emotional topic! There's anger, like you mention, but also so much grief and loss...it's quiet overwhelming. And of course the specific histories for each of us is very different, so I in no way mean to speak for or over your own experiences. This is just what you reminded me of based on what you said and my own reflections. I try not to think about it too often because when I do...oh boy is that a nasty hurt on so many levels

[imminentinertia]

...Here to ask about that "cambodian psychedelic rock pre khmer rouge." 👀 Deets? Recs?

I should have known someone would notice that tag...

Several years ago I stumbled upon a glorious Spotify playlist of Cambodian psychedelic and otherwise alternative rock from the 60s/70s. I artist-surf a lot, so I can't remember how I found it, but I got hooked. Since then I've listened to Dengue Fever quite a bit, an active US based Cambodian band, and Kampot Playboys, also active now.

And a real fucking lovely hard rock gem: Drakkar. They were active before Khmer Rouge, three of them survived and they reunited in 2011. That's amazing. So many, seriously so fucking many people were killed during the Khmer Rouge regime, but some of these guys made it. One of them is still touring with a Drakkar lineup, as far as I know.

The Cambodian music scene was really thriving in the 60s and 70s. New impulses were routinely brought in because there was a strong US military presence, and the Cambodians ran with it and made it their own. Same thing happened in Vietnam, I believe, but I haven't dived into 60s/70s Vietnamese rock (yet. Or Laotian). The psychedelic genre was really popular, possibly more so than in the West, with bands like Les Kantaouiilles really taking off. Sadly I haven't been able to dig up a song by them, as an example.

But to be fair, I didn't throw a ton of time at research now because I'm not gonna write a full article, Medium has done it for me (complete with a good Spotify playlist).

There's a compilation album from 1996, Cambodian Rocks, with the biggest and not necessarily psychedelic names, and there's a documentary about Cambodian rock, Don't Think I've Forgotten. I haven't been able to watch that yet, may end up buying the DVD, sigh.

(I'd love to go back to Pnomh Penh some time and catch some gigs. I've bar hopped there, but none of the places I went to had live music)

(On a small Vietnamese island there's a gecko species called the psychedelic rock gecko. I love that.)

(And just now I noticed a Soundcloud playlist of underground Ukrainian techno, so I have another rabbit hole to visit)