Kh-'mere

Best Sears portrait ever taken, hands down.

If you've stuck with me for more than a day, you might realize that

A) I'm a little omnivorous and

B) I don't stay in one place for long

Right!

Chhom Nimol is the singer of Dengue Fever, an L.A.-area band that plays a kind of patchwork South Asian psychedelia; if you've ever heard Cambodian Cassette Archives, any of the Cambodian Rocks comps or just imagined Nuggets in Khmer with a bunch of miscommunicated flair, then you'll have an idea what they sound like. Anyway, I'm not sure that Escape from Dragon House is really a *great* record; the Sublime Frequencies Radio Phnom Penh comp, while much different in character, is probably a slightly more enjoyable Cambodian-related psych-ish release form this year (though it's also a lot more varied than Dengue Fever and has that archival allure). Still, my song of the moment is "Sni Bong," which can be listened to here. The band's sound is a little anemic/Guitar Center-y, which, compared to the unusual production/archival mystique/lo-fi charm of the Cambodian rock comps, leaves something to be desired. But DAMN, the chorus is like a thousand high school garage bands gleefully steeped in sloppy swamp-disco getting hoisted out of the bog by one of the most hypnotic vocals I've heard in a while.