For New Year, Political Holiday Messages

As Cambodians began the first of three days of New Year celebrations, the country’s political leaders took the occasion to spread well-wishes, and messages, of their own.

“May the goddess named Mundia Devy of the New Year protect all Cambodian people, making them goodhearted and living with honor and mutual understanding,” Chea Sim, the president of the Cambodian People’s Party and the Senate, wrote in a holiday missive.

In a public message, Prime Minister Hun Sen promised his government would “make further efforts to strengthen peace and stability and push forward social and economical development.”

The government had done well in preserving peace and territorial integrity over the past year, Hun Sen said, alluding to the ongoing military standoff at the border near Preah Vihear temple and the weathering of the global economic crisis.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, meanwhile, said in his own New Year message that “the agricultural system in Cambodia is weak,” a reference to predictions by astrologers that Cambodia could face hot weather and damage from insects in the Year of the Tiger.

Kem Sokha, president of the opposition-aligned Human Rights Party, said in the past year Cambodia had faced political problems, attacks on parliamentarians, drug use and human trafficking.

In the upcoming year, he said, his party will work “to ensure democracy, application of the rule of law and respect for human rights.”
Read more!

Embassy Of The United States Of America In Cambodia Selects Dengue Fever To Perform Free Concert

Band Also Confirms Two Additional Live Dates in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam, a Benefit Performance with Cambodian Living Arts Plus Phnom Penh Screening of Documentary Sleepwalking Through The Mekong and Panel Discussion with Emerging Khmer Bands

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA & LOS ANGELES, CA (Wednesday, April 14, 2010) - The Embassy of the United States of America in Cambodia (http://cambodia.usembassy.gov/) announced today that they will sponsor a free live show by Cambodian rock band Dengue Fever (http://www.myspace.com/denguefevermusic) in Phnom Penh, the evening of Thursday May 13, 2010 at the Cambodian Vietnamese Friendship Park. The event is part of upcoming celebrations by the U.S. Embassy to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cambodia.

Dengue Fever also confirmed today additional tour dates in South East Asia including two new dates in Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam in addition to previously announced dates in Scandinavia, Germany, Turkey, Vietnam and China. The band also will perform at a benefit performance in conjunction with Cambodian Living Arts (CLA), a screening of the bands documentary Sleepwalking Through the Mekong (http://sleepwalkingthroughthemekong.com/) and a panel discussion with emerging Khmer rock bands at the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia (http://www.opccambodia.org/index.html) while in Cambodia. Sleepwalking depicts Dengue Fever’s first trip to Cambodia in 2006 as the first western band to perform Khmer Rock, Cambodia’s lost music, since the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Confirmed tour dates are:

5/01 @ Bergenfest, Bergen NORWAY
5/03 @ Berns, Stockholm, SWEDEN
5/04 @ Atomic Cafe, Munich, GERMANY
5/05 @ IKSV Salon, Istanbul, TURKEY
5/08 @ Club for Art & Music Appreciation (Club Cama), Hanoi, VIETNAM
5/09 @ Boathouse, Ho Chi Mihn City, VIETNAM (Just Added)
5/10 @ Meta House, Phnom Penh CAMBODIA (Just Added, Screening & Q&A of “Sleepwalking Through The Mekong” documentary)
5/11 @ TBD, Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA (Just Added Benefit show for Cambodian Living Arts / CLA)
5/13 @ Cambodian Vietnamese Friendship Park, Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA (Just Added, free concert)
5/14 @ Star Wars, Ho Chi Mihn City, VIETNAM (Just Added)
5/15 @ Grappas Cellar, Hong Kong, CHINA
5/21 @ Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
5/22 @ Baker Center, Ohio University, Athens, OH
5/29 @ Detroit Bar, Costa Mesa, CA
9/9-12 @ Bestival, Isle of Wight, ENGLAND
9/10-12 @ End of the Road Festival, Dorset, ENGLAND

“The US Embassy is thrilled to be able to host Dengue Fever for a free concert in Phnom Penh on May 13, 2010, as part of our celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and the United States,” said Carol A. Rodley, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia. “I cannot think of a better way to kick of this celebration than to have an acclaimed American band performing music influenced by some of the great Cambodian artists of the 1960s. Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Serey Sothea, Pan Ron and many other artists perished more than 30 years ago under the Khmer Rouge, but their musical legacy lives on to inspire and delight new generations of listeners, not just in Cambodia but around the world.”

Dengue Fever is currently in the process of writing, demoing and fleshing out music for the band’s fourth full-length album of new material to be released in 2011. The band is set to launch a new online store at the end of April.

ABOUT DENGUE FEVER
Dengue Fever is Cambodian songstress Chhom Nimol, Zac Holtzman (guitar/vocals), Ethan Holtzman (keyboards), Senon Williams (bass), Paul Smith (drums) and David Ralicke (horns). The band’s music has been featured in a number of film and television shows including City of Ghosts, Must Love Dogs, Broken Flowers, True Blood and twice on Showtime’s hit series, Weeds. They have released three albums, Dengue Fever, Escape From Dragon House Venus On Earth and the DVD/CD soundtrack to the band’s documentary Sleepwalking Through The Mekong, in addition to a collection of lost Cambodian classics, Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia. They are based in Los Angeles.

To embed this press release, copy and paste the following HTML code into your webpage-

Email Contact : Click to email (Partial email = @itsalivemedia.com)
Issued By : It's Alive! Media
Phone : 323-464-6315
Address : 6381 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 540
: Los Angeles
Zip : 90028
State/Province : California
Country : United States
Categories : Music, International
Last Updated : Apr 14, 2010
Shortcut : http://prlog.org/10627121
Read more!