'Yaaay Yeah! I feel better already. Thats what I want to hear tickle my thing on a hot July night... Anyway, I like these people [Cambodia Space Project], maybe I should join their band. I think that's a good idea! —Iggy Pop
"In 1973, Iggy Pop declared himself 'a streetwalkin' cheetah with a hide full of napalm,' and though you could wonder if it mattered whether he meant 'cheetah' or 'cheater', there was no doubt where the second reference came from. For those who grew up in the West in the late 60s/early 70s, the conflict in what was then called Indo-China was part of our daily routine, and Iggy was one of the few American artists to so take on its textures. The consummation of a long-standing love affair between Iggy Pop and Angkor, this album is a tribute from the Cambodian bands that have felt the man's indelible Raw Power. Produced by Julien Poulson and Jason Shaw, with the full blessing of the Ig himself, it puts a unique, contemporary Cambodian spin on Iggy's poetry and rock-action: Can you feel it We got a right!' —Clint Walker, famed musicologist and author
Angkor Pop! is an exotic and ambitious compilation project showcasing the very best of Cambodia's new wave of East/West fusion groups—an homage that marks several astonishing milestones in rock'n'roll history: the 50th anniversary of The Stooges, the 40th anniversary of the seminal Iggy Pop/David Bowie albums "The Idiot" and "Lust for Life," and, not least, the occasion of Iggy Pop's 70th Birthday!! The best of Cambodia's music scene—acts like The Cambodian Space Project, Doch Chkae, Kampot Playboys, Professor Kinski with Miss Sarawan and Jessica Lisha Srin, Bokor Mountain Magic Band, Phnom Skor just to name a few—each covering selections from Iggy Pop's astonishing back catalogue—with the full blessing of the man himself, who seemed (and seems) rather chuffed with this tribute coming from far flung Cambodia.
Read the full story inside the LP, penned by one of the masterminds behind the project, Julien Poulson of Cambodian Space Project, and starring the other mastermind behind the project, CSP guitarist Jason Shaw. Storms of Biblical proportions! Theft by cat burglars of the hard drive which contained all the recordings! Sleuthing and shady back alley deals on the mean streets of Phnom Penh! Soaring fever and emergency surgery! High drama, frame-ups, tension, crimes and misdemeanors, intervention and ultimately redemption: it all conjures up a single revered name, that of one lone lupine man at the pinnacle of the rock mountain—Iggy Pop!