Sublime Frequencies is a record label based in Seattle, Washington which specialises in music and DVD releases of global musics, mainly from Southeast Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. All of the releases are worth acquiring for superb field research, experimentalism and refreshingly non middle class non-Womad like approach to documenting global sounds.
This release proposes to be a sampler of Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh's airwaves. However it is clearly third party mixed, produced, and contains no credits other than arbitrary track names, such as, Condoms and Condors (referencing sex tourism). Searching on Wikipedia revealed that Phnom Penh has a vibrant and unregulated radio which has flourished since the fall of the communist Khmer Rouge & Kampuchea genocides and subsequent immigration into and out of Cambodian.
So how real is it? Honestly... I don't really care if it sounds this good; strange dialects mixed with synths, guitars, old Cambodian classics remixed with cheap drum machines, sugary pop confection as addictive as any western pop, but less cynical and more joyous. This could be Southeast Asia's version of Mikey Dread's Africa Anthem.
Also recommended: Cambodian Cassette archives (Sublime Frequencies)
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