Venus On Earth - Dengue Fever

Dengue Fever is a six piece Cambodian/Los Angeles crossover fronted by the beautiful and charming Chhom Nimol. Venus on Earth is the masterful musicians' third album. I was lucky enough to catch them at a festival last year and was absolutely captivated by the group's live performance. There's no genre to define them with, it's an intoxicating mixture of Cambodian pop with a heavy 60s psychedelic vibe with a nuance of "surf" rock. The album is sung in a mixture of English and in Chhom's native Khmer and combines cover versions of Cambodian rock songs with tunes written by brothers Zac and Ethan Holtzman. Each tune is incredibly catchy, particularly Tiger Phone ...  Read the complete review

It is rare that British or American bands of today who play in a similar style to their forefathers of the 60s or 70s outdo the originators. The best example perhaps is tonnes of bands have tried to copy The Beatles over the years and none of them have really pulled it off. I'm not sure whether it's because it's often not sung in my mother tongue but there seems to be numerous bands outdoing their influences from other countries at the moment, mostly by fusing it with a more upbeat style of music. Top fusion bands for me include, Kultur Shock, Firewater, Max Pashm and joining them right at the top of the list include Cambodian fronted US psychedelic Khmer pop ...  Read the complete review

There seems to me something rather incongruous (and not a little irritating) about middle class white kids playing "world music". I'm thinking Damon Albarn popping over to Mali now and again to lay down some tracks with Amadou and Mariam, getting back home in time to meet Alex James for tea and homemade cheese. Ditto the sickeningly talented Zach Condon (aka Beirut) who sits in his bedroom creating evocative sounds from all corners of the globe. (But not the overwhelmingly irritating Matisyahu, whose annoying infectious pop music was described as Tom Robinson as being "for all your Hassidic reggae needs" - thus far I'd been unaware I had any although ...  Read the complete review