Venus on Earth

Dengue Fever | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 22, 2008)
• Original Release Date: January 22, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: M80
• ASIN: B00114XM36
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,949 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > World Music > Far East & Asia > Cambodia
  • #54 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Surf Rock

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cambodian Camp, March 22, 2008

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Venus on Earth (Audio CD)

My first encounter with Dengue Fever (the band) was on National Public Radio's Fresh Air, where Terri Gross interviewed lead singer Ethan Holtzman. She also played a few cuts, including the second on this CD, "Clipped Wings." I heard the same cut a few weeks later, on another NPR show, including a different interview with Holtzman.

Yesterday, on a lark, I asked for the disc in a CD haunt. The clerk had never heard of "Venus on Earth" OR the band. Who? He said. Fortunately, I found a copy, albeit the store's very last of any Dengue Fever album.

But music stores nationwide should stock and promote this amazing mix of 1960s and '70s rock style, featuring the ethereal, snaking, dipping soprano Khmer vocalizations of Chhom Nimol---pronto.

In 1997, Ethan Holtzman went to the Angkor Wat ruins outside Phnom Penh. On that fateful day trip, his travel companion contracted Dengue Fever and the pair "enjoyed" a sweaty bus ride back to Phnom Penh while their driver blasted classic Cambodian '60s and '70s rock songs.

During his genocide of 2 million Cambodian intellectuals, artists, students and city dwellers, Pol Pot had murdered all the talented composers and performers whose songs and performances they heard. The soul-stopping mixes---of static-guitar, fuzzy Farfisa organ, metal percussion, and Khmer women singing like perfectly high-pitched violins---blew Holtzman away. He bought all the Cambodian rock he could find and flew back to Los Angeles.

When Ethan's brother Zach also returned to L.A.---from a decade playing San Francisco clubs---the brothers started combing Long Beach's neighborhood known as Little Phnom Penh for a Cambodian singer to join their nascent band, Dengue Fever. In summer 2001, they found Chhom Nimol, at the Dragon House club.

Reluctant to trust them, she finally agreed to join the group, to which Zack also added some buddies---fans of Ethiopian jazz---Dave Ralicke (formerly of Brazzaville) on saxophone, drummer Paul Smith, and bassist Senon Williams (formerly from Radar Brothers), who'd also been to Cambodia.

This CD is Dengue Fever's third album; I love it so much I now plan to buy the first two also.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SUPER!!!, February 2, 2008

By 

A. Volkov - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Venus on Earth (Audio CD)

It's retro and modern... it's rhythmic but not pop... The composition is weird and fresh but not at all alien like rest of the experimental music is... I wouldn't even call it experimental, so comfortable it feels... The sound is wide open and well balanced... What else can I say... Wow!!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Catch this Fever!, March 2, 2008

By 

spitgrrl (libraryland, indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Venus on Earth (Audio CD)

I was fortunate that my local record store put a copy of this album in their listening station. After hearing only half of the first track, I was convinced that I needed to own it. The songs throughout the album are extremely catchy and melodic. An East Asian flair integrates wonderfully with rock, funk and folk inspired music. The singer (from Cambodia, I believe) has a wonderful voice and sings some of the songs in her native language (the others are in English). If you're interested in world music or just want to listen to something unique, I highly encourage you to give Dengue Fever a try!