Saigon Rock & Soul

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Sublime Frequencies "Saigon Rock & Soul" Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968-1974" was easily one of my favorite releases in 2010. Influenced by music brought over by American soldiers during the war, delivers fuzzed out, riffed out, freak out, psychedelic rock songs, unlike anything I have heard before. This is a must have.

"The tracks that form this collection cut a window into a rich musical Vietnamese music scene that has long been obscured, and for the most part, forgotten. As the scope of electrified Vietnamese music from the 1960s and 1970s begins to be revealed, it becomes evident that this was among the heaviest and most eclectic musical scenes of South East Asia at the time. These songs tell of war, love and what war does to love. All of them were recorded in makeshift studios and even US army facilities while the Vietnam War raged – and were issued by a handful of Saigon record companies on vinyl 45s and reel or cassette tapes.
Westernized forms of music in Vietnam had appeared during the latter nineteenth century, and especially during the early 20th century, under the influence of the French colonizers. Tan Nhac (modern music) always incorporated both domestic and international sounds, and continued to develop alongside Western musical trends."-Sublime Frequenices