FRIDAY 13 | Lost oral traditions and years of civil war almost wiped Cambodia’s creative slate clean, but the good folk at Bophana Centre have spent the past year compiling a new album of traditional music that might otherwise have been lost forever. Cambodian Forgotten Songs: Eight Songs From Our Ancestors, launching today, is the second such endeavour, the first having been produced in 2008. Each track comes from the 1921 book Chansons Cambodgiennes, by Albert Tricon. The book was gifted to Bophana Centre founder Rithy Panh many years ago and includes 54 traditional songs from before the 1920s. The album spans several genres, including Areak (‘spirit possession’ songs) and Mohaori, and is notable for its poetic lyrics.
WHO: Music revivalists
WHAT: Cambodian Forgotten Songs album launch
WHERE: Bophana Centre, #64 Street 200
WHEN: 6pm September 13
WHY: Hear the ghosts of Khmer songs past