Various Artists - Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's / Various

Release Date:04/16/2016;Notes:Double LP in gatefold sleeve with insert and download code. Expanded edition of the soundtrack to the celebrated 2014 documentary film Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll, originally released on CD by Dust-to-Digital in 2015. On April 17, 1975, Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian rock and roll was no more. It's star musicians were targeted and killed, record collections were destroyed, clubs were closed, and Western-style music-making, dancing, and clothes were outlawed. The deaths of approximately two million Cambodians and the horrors of the Killing Fields have been well documented add to this John Pirozzi's fascinating tale of Cambodia's vibrant pop music scene, beginning in the 1950s and '60s and influenced by France's Johnny Hallyday and Britain's Cliff Richard and the Shadows. Cambodian culture has long been synonymous with a love for the arts. Don't Think I've Forgotten pays homage to the country's rock legends who paid for their creativity with their lives. Punctuating rare archival footage with telling interviews with the few surviving musicians, Don't Think I've Forgotten examines and unravels Cambodia's tragic past through the eyes, words, and songs of it's popular music stars of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. Compiled by Pirozzi, the soundtrack album is very cinematic in nature - the sequencing and remastered audio transport the listener through the rock and roll history of Cambodia in a way that parallels the film. It is both entertaining and essential to hear so many tracks that have never before been available outside of Cambodia. Performers include The Royal University of Fine Arts, Sinn Sisamouth, Chhoun Malay, Huoy Meas, Baksey Cham Krong, Ros Serey Sothea, Pen Ran, Sieng Vannthy, Va Sovy, Drakkar, Pou Vannary, Yol Aularong, and Cheam Chansovannary. Includes two tracks not included on the CD version ("Three Maidens" by Ros Serey Sothea and "Have You No Mercy" by Drakkar).