Music Video: Dub Addiction - Zunguzeng Inna Di Penh

Some of the most interesting - and even sometimes enjoyable - music pops up when you least expect it.  Today I was fumbling around YouTube looking for any available tracks from Irie Révoltés upcoming album "Allez" (due out May 3, by the way), and as always I was checking out the recommended videos that also popped up.  What caught my eye was something that both surprised me and made me somewhat suspicious: a dub ragga band from Phnom Penh, Cambodia called Dub Addiction.

Well, how could I possibly not look into this further?  My suspicions turned out to be well founded, as it turns out that Dub Addiction is only partially Cambodian, with the rest of the band from elsewhere.  But the lyrics are an engaging blend of Jamaican patois and Khmer.  It turns out that the music, as illustrated in Zunguzeng Inna Di Penh, has a surprisingly organic sounding groove.  Unlike some musical styles that have been transplanted in a "foreign" culture, nothing about Dub Addiction's take on dub ragga sounds forced or affected. 

Music Video: Casino Royale - CRX (lo rifletto)

I wasn't sure whether to put this song in among my "Blast From the Past" selections, or here with the more contemporary selections.  After all, CRX (lo rifletto) was originally published back in 1997.  However, this track from Italian group Casino Royale stands pretty much apart from time - as does the band, which continues to tour regularly.  Casino Royale first came to my attention back in the early 1990s as a pretty decent ska act.  As with many of the better ska acts out there, though, they metamorphosed into something completely new and different.  While their old stuff was good, I think the change to a hybrid of trip-hop, dub, and electronica was for the better.