{
  "slug": "cambodian-rock",
  "name": "Cambodian Rock",
  "aliases": [
    "khmer rock",
    "cambodian psych",
    "phnom penh sound"
  ],
  "description": "Phnom Penh in the years before 1975, where Khmer vocal ornament met surf guitar, garage organ and Latin rhythms heard on American Forces radio. Almost every musician on this list was murdered by the Khmer Rouge.",
  "origin": {
    "place": "Phnom Penh, Cambodia",
    "year": 1968
  },
  "lineage": [
    {
      "genre": "rock-and-roll",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/rock-and-roll/",
      "inherited": "The arrival mechanism. American Forces Vietnam Network was audible across Cambodia, and Phnom Penh bands learned surf, twist and rock and roll off the radio without ever seeing anyone play it."
    },
    {
      "genre": "psychedelic-rock",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/psychedelic-rock/",
      "inherited": "What they did with it by 1969 — fuzz, farfisa and long instrumental sections, applied to melodies that stay resolutely Khmer in their ornamentation."
    }
  ],
  "bpm": {
    "min": 90,
    "max": 150
  },
  "updated": "2026-08-31",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/cambodian-rock/",
  "trackCount": 6,
  "curatedBy": [],
  "playlists": {},
  "tracks": [
    {
      "rank": 1,
      "trackKey": "ros-serey-sothea--chnam-oun-dop-pram-muy",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/ros-serey-sothea--chnam-oun-dop-pram-muy/",
      "title": "Chnam Oun Dop-Pram Muy",
      "artist": "Ros Serey Sothea",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/ros-serey-sothea/",
      "year": 1970,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "\"I'm Sixteen.\" A voice of extraordinary clarity over a garage band, and the most widely heard Cambodian record of the era. She disappeared under the Khmer Rouge and no grave is known.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Ros%20Serey%20Sothea%20Chnam%20Oun%20Dop-Pram%20Muy",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=_h8DUTKH6qg",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 2,
      "trackKey": "sinn-sisamouth--jam-10-kai-theit",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sinn-sisamouth--jam-10-kai-theit/",
      "title": "Jam 10 Kai Theit",
      "artist": "Sinn Sisamouth",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sinn-sisamouth/",
      "year": 1972,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The King of Khmer Music, who recorded hundreds of songs and whose death in 1975 or 1976 is undocumented. A crooner's phrasing over a rock rhythm section.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Sinn%20Sisamouth%20Jam%2010%20Kai%20Theit",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Sinn%20Sisamouth%20Jam%2010%20Kai%20Theit",
          "exact": false
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 3,
      "trackKey": "yol-aularong--cyclo",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/yol-aularong--cyclo/",
      "title": "Cyclo",
      "artist": "Yol Aularong",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/yol-aularong/",
      "year": 1974,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The scene's punk, snarling about layabouts over a garage riff. Rougher than anything else here and audibly aware that time was running out.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Yol%20Aularong%20Cyclo",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MKLZSC9ib14",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 4,
      "trackKey": "pan-ron--old-pot-still-cooks-good-rice",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/pan-ron--old-pot-still-cooks-good-rice/",
      "title": "Old Pot Still Cooks Good Rice",
      "artist": "Pan Ron",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/pan-ron/",
      "year": 1973,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Pan Ron sang the risqué material Ros Serey Sothea would not, with a raspier delivery and a wicked sense of timing. Also killed.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Pan%20Ron%20Old%20Pot%20Still%20Cooks%20Good%20Rice",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=GGM4pIwAWs8",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 5,
      "trackKey": "ros-serey-sothea--have-you-seen-my-boyfriend",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/ros-serey-sothea--have-you-seen-my-boyfriend/",
      "title": "Have You Seen My Boyfriend",
      "artist": "Ros Serey Sothea",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/ros-serey-sothea/",
      "year": 1972,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "A go-go rhythm, a farfisa, and a melody that would sit comfortably in a Khmer wedding song. The synthesis working at its most effortless.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Ros%20Serey%20Sothea%20Have%20You%20Seen%20My%20Boyfriend",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=_h8DUTKH6qg",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 6,
      "trackKey": "sinn-sisamouth--kingdom-of-cambodia",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sinn-sisamouth--kingdom-of-cambodia/",
      "title": "Kingdom of Cambodia",
      "artist": "Sinn Sisamouth",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sinn-sisamouth/",
      "year": 1969,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Recorded when the country was still at peace and the scene was the best in Southeast Asia. Hearing it now is not a neutral experience.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Sinn%20Sisamouth%20Kingdom%20of%20Cambodia",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Sinn%20Sisamouth%20Kingdom%20of%20Cambodia",
          "exact": false
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}