Dengue Fever is anything but your average indie-rock combo. Based in Los Angeles, the exotic six-piece outfit is fronted by Chhom Nimol, who sings in her native Cambodian dialect, backed by guitarist Zac Holtzman, his brother Ethan (keyboards), Senon Williams (bass), David Ralicke (horns) and Paul Smith (drums). Some photos of the boys in the band from their three previous albums look like they’ve come from Homeland Security’s no-fly list. In reality, Dengue Fever may be the best U.S. cultural ambassadors to Southeast Asia since the glory days of jazz stars Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane 50 years ago. The band’s “new” album, Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia (Minky), spotlights vintage performances by its favorite Cambodian artists from the late ’60s/early ’70s. Dengue Fever will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with them.
Ethan Holtzman: Experts estimate that there are nearly 500 billion galaxies in the universe. I find it nearly impossible to believe that we are the only sentient intelligent beings floating around on this tiny speck of dirt. The possibilities are infinite with dimensions, quantum physics and other things our minds have not yet fully grasped. Personally, I think most of the UFO sightings are our own military, but a few may just be an advanced race checking in on us. Who knows: 12/21/2012 is right around the corner.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3NQ0Di7jDY
