Cambodian Classics is your ticket to the gone but far from forgotten world of Cambodian classic rock and film.
After a decade-plus boom following independence from French Colonials, Cambodia's arts scene was driven underground by the Khmer Rouge. Artists that couldn't flee were imprisoned, executed, or put to death under Pol Pot's rule. Much music was seized and destroyed. Out of hundreds of films produced during this period, only a few dozen have survived.
Today, archivists in Cambodia, France, and other countries work diligently to preserve, share, and memorialize the art of this era. Cambodian Classics will share these efforts in the form of links, clips, images, and informational posts about key artistic figures. As a Westerner, I'm still very new to this scene, so this will be a documentation of all my research.
Until the first post - here's Pen Ran with her breakout hit, 'Pka Kabas'.
Resources
Bophana Center (https://bophana.org/)
Cambodian Vintage Music Archive (https://www.thecvma.org/)
Khmer Advocacy & Advancement (https://www.khaagwa.org/)
Tape from a lot I ordered from Japan. With a little more research we could probably date the exact airings but generally it appears to have been recorded around Jan 1999. No subs.
