Cambodian Cassette Archives was originally released as a CD in 2004, and is being reissued as a double LP in April, 2016. with new liner notes, vital updated information on artists and tracks, restored and remastered audio, and bonus tracks. Tracks span from the 1960s–1990s, with a focus on music made by the Cambodian diaspora in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Between 1999 and 2003, during the time Cambodian Cassette Archives was initially compiled, western knowledge of Cambodian music of the folk-pop variety was still largely insular, with little exposure outside of the culture itself. Oakland, California’s Asian branch of the public library had maintained a collection of tapes that served the local Khmer community during the 1980s and early 1990s until CDs entered circulation. In the latter 90s, I found the cassettes, hundreds of them, in a bottom drawer, in various stages of disarray and decomposition. Many had aged poorly; ravaged by time, wear, demagnetization and oxidization. I took them all home in intervals – you could check out only six at once – and digitized them. Some of the tapes had gaping dropouts, or had been recorded over by people playing with their tape recorders. In many instances, the cassettes were loose and without packaging, or in the wrong cases, making identification difficult or impossible. In more severe cases, the tapes were unplayable.
Hopelessly inspired by the findings, I began to seek more. At the time, a few knowledgeable Cambodian friends and music shopkeepers in the area were able to make suggestions and help fill gaps of information and context. Still, some of the more obscure tracks remained difficult to identify. Many of the production companies who produced the cassettes had either closed or couldn’t provide assistance, and as opposed to the present day, the Internet at that time yielded minimal results. Fortunately, in the decade that has passed since the compilation’s 2004 CD release on Sublime Frequencies, some errors have been corrected, and many of the artist names and song titles have been identified in time for the forthcoming 2016 LP reissue.
Culturally, the 1980s remain a unique and often overlooked period in modern Cambodian history. When the Khmer Rouge lost their grip to the invading Vietnamese in 1979, many of those who had endured and survived found their way toward refugee camps established across the border in Thailand – camps already inundated by those who had managed to flee between 1975-1979. Though entertainment was clearly not the top priority during these times, surviving musicians and singers inside the refugee campswere among the first to record what can be called a post-war Khmer music.
Blue Basket aka Sronos Kantong Khiev, track 1 on Cambodian Cassette Archives, proved to be one of the most popular songs on the compilation over the years. At the time it was compiled, the singer could not be identified, and was listed as unknown the liner notes. In late-2013, with assistance from Mr. Long Thach in Australia, I finally discovered that it was sung by Mr. Kieng Yuthhan; a beloved singer from the 1980s, who still sings today. I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Kieng in Cambodia that year.
Kieng was born in 1953 in Svay Jek district, near Battambang, Cambodia, and had been an aspiring singer and guitarist in Cambodia during his teen years in the 1970s. After the Khmer Rouge period, he found his way to Thailand’s SITE 2 refugee camp – just 4km from the Cambodian border. He was among a few singers who began to record cassette-albums from within the camps. If chosen, as his were, these tapes were then sent to Cambodian companies a in the United States, where they were duplicated and distributed.
Kieng attributes his desire to sing in the camp to the great sorrow he felt for the tragic loss of Khmer culture and its most cherished singers. He and his group fashioned a crude studio out of bamboo, and in their spare time, played their songs into a cassette recorder with borrowed instruments and two microphones loaned by local monks – one for the vocals, and one for the music. Blue Basket was recorded this way in November of 1986. The song itself is a rendition of a traditional folk tune in the Rom Saravan style, sung by many over the years. Kieng Yuthhan’s wistful voice and his group’s specific sound lend an essential soulful urgency to his version. He returned home to Cambodia in 1990 and continues to sing to this day.
– Mark Gergis, April, 2016
Photo: Kieng Yuthhan in 1972, singing with his group Yuveadontrey (Youth Band) in Thmar Puok district, Cambodia. Kieng is the only member of the group who survived the Pol Pot regime during 1975-1979.
