New and Used Records: Dengue Fever

MP3 - "March of the Balloon Animals" - Dengue Fever

Out today on M80 is the latest release from Dengue Fever - a two-disc set that includes the documentary Sleepwalking Through the Mekong and an accompanying soundtrack. Directed by John Pirozzi, Sleepwalking has made the rounds at a number of film festivals and chronicles the bands visit to lead singer Chhom Nimol's native Cambodia during the 2005 Water Festival. The accompanying soundtrack includes a number of Cambodian musicians, in addition to Dengue Fever's score.

This Saturday, April 18, the band will make a special 7" available in honor of Record Store Day. Dengue Fever contributed the unreleased track "Genjer Genjer" to the 7", which is a split with Brooklyn-based Chicha Libre. Pressing is limited to 1000 and will be available in stores, online and on tour.

Sleepwalking Through the Mekong Trailer

Bonus Tracks:
MP3- "Sober Driver" - Dengue Fever
MP3 - "Seeing Hands" - Dengue Fever
Buy Dengue Fever at iTunes

Seeing Dengue Fever live is an experience unlike any other. For one, I get to see them an intimate setting - The Independent in San Francisco - which is almost unfair given the broad scope of their sound. Singer Chhom Nimol commands the stage, playfully interacting with both the band and the audience. The five musicians carry the force and talent of a jam band - but without all that pesky jamming. The crowd is well-behaved, yet completely mesmerized at what they are witnessing. On record - the sound is equally powerful. The five musicians - who hail from Los Angeles - came together through a mutual interest in Cambodia pop/rock of the sixties and seventies. Adding Nimol on vocals - a bit of a Cambodian pop star in her own right - completed the formula, creating a sound that meshed these mutual interests with Nimol's prior leanings, and a host of other musical influences. Spending much of their debut covering classic Cambodian rock songs, the band took to writing original material for last year's Escape From Dragon House. Performing new material was a new task for Nimol - who also translated much of the lyrics from English - but one she fulfills with ease.

We caught up with the band's rhythm section when they were recently in San Francisco, and the video features the songs "Tap Water," "Sni Bong," "Tip My Canoe," and "We Were Gonna" - as well as footage from their shows in Cambodia last year.

Watch and/or download podcast no. 6 here.

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