Escape from Dragon House [Vinyl]

Dengue Fever | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (August 26, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: M80
• ASIN: B001CZJOX6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,912 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #19 in Music > World Music > Far East & Asia > Cambodia

Track Listings

1. We Were Gonna

2. Sui Bong

3. Tip My Canoe

4. Tap Water

5. Sleepwalking Through the Mekong

6. One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula

7. Escape from Dragon House

8. Made of Steam

9. Lake Dolores

10. Saran Wrap

11. Hummingbird

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Named for a remarkably unpleasant tropical disease, Dengue Fever is a seething Petri dish of mutating influences. The band was spawned when the American founders became fascinated by an unlikely combination of Cambodian music and Buda Musique's multi-volume Ethiopiques series, which documents that country¹s sixties pop heyday. Meanwhile, their future lead singer, famed Cambodian chanteuse Ch'hom Nimol, had grown up with East Asian/American hybrids which had erupted when local musicians internalized and transformed sounds they heard on Vietnam-war-era American Armed Forces Radio. Churning, vertiginous rhythms and honking sax lines betray the Ethiopian sources while stratospherically ornamented yet demure Cameroonian folkways inform the lead vocals (sung in English and Khmer) and Zac Holtzman¹s dan bau (a Vietnamese mono-string instrument). But the mix further incorporates campy organ riffs straight out of Question Mark and the Mysterians, the Shangri-Las' stiletto-edged girl-group theatrics and Ennio Morricone¹s surreal Spaghetti Western guitars. The group's stage persona is equally eclectic, ranging from a sweet-faced "Oriental" B-movie heroine, to a guy whose beard would scare the heck out of ZZ Top, to a latter-day Super-Fly clone. A testament to following your own star no matter what, Escape from Dragon House is at once blindingly authentic in the cosmic sense and delightfully deranged. --Christina Roden --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Description

On "Escape From Dragon House" the sound is denser, thicker and richer than on their 2003 self titled debut. Escape From Dragon House is darker musically and lyrically with a fully relized style melting all of their incluences into one realized voice that's pure Dengue Fever. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dance Dance Revolution, November 9, 2005

By 

Mike Stanbridge (Quincy, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Escape From Dragon House (Audio CD)

Truthfully, I didn't know Cambodia had Pop music until I heard "Escape From Dragon House," the fantastic sophmore album of Dengue Fever. That took a little research and the discovery of their first album, which is retro-dance covers of 60's Cambodian pop that I still know little about but, am enjoying immensely. I am a little wiser and much happier.

I am not trying to give the false impression that Dengue Fever is a purely "International" band. The group consists of five Americans, with an obvious knowledge of the last forty years of Pop Music and one incredible Cambodian lead vocalist, who before emmigrating was the toast of her country. This is not "International" Music. It is Universal.

With the exception of "Tip My Canoe," this album is cover free and all original music. They maintain their penchant for grooving dance tunes and add a little thrill and smash. From the beginning of the album with "We Were Gonna," you can feel the influence of Funk and Punk that meshes beautifully.

I suggest you download "Sni Bong" from this page, get addicted and order both Escape and the Self Titied first album for your permanent spin

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Booty-shakingKhmerloungepopyoucanchantto, November 21, 2005

By 

Mr. Richard K. Weems "emperor_weems" (Fair Lawn, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Escape From Dragon House (Audio CD)

All right, I'm a NUT for Asian music (this CD arrived in the same package as Kronos Quartet's rendition of classic Bollywood), but as I listened I couldn't help but twist a little in the kitchen. To call this fusion is to sell it short--this is music, with no style labels to dissect it and let the musicaologists pigeonhole. I wanted to throat in a little kargyraa underneath it all, because this stuff lends itself to everything under the sun (and under rocks). This disc is going to sit in my player a long time.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dengue Fever Fever, November 8, 2005

By 

Joseph D. Ford (Poplarville, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Escape From Dragon House (Audio CD)

2003 doesn't seem like that long ago, but when you are waiting for a new Dengue Fever release...well, it seems like a long time. The wait was worth it! Dengue Fever's first release was so strong that I pulled the CD out of the player and bit through it. This was both embarassing to me professionally and personally. I am, after all, a 54 year old grandfather. Still, the music was that good. I had to order another one! This time I impressed with some elements of controll and restraint I hear, i.e. "Sui Bong" et al. Chhom Nimol's voice is at best hauntingly angelic (at worst it still beats all others). The bass lines in Dengue Fever will scatter the dust on your furniture, and the brass has that distinctive wide sound that "breathes" into the melody. How, oh how can we omit the Phantomoftheopera organ that builds a template for the bass-stripped tenor guitar work. My, my, my. Buy this CD. Quickly, my child.