Tunes, laughs, and the smell of an oily rag: Kampot Radio
While we find ourselves staying home an awful lot these days, in sleepy Kampot, and indeed all over the world, folk are tuning in to...
Category: អត្ថបទ និង កិច្ចសំភាសន៍
Don’t fear the Siem Reapers: Son Sabor Latin Trio
From this Saturday until the following Saturday, Phnom Penh streets and dance floors will be vibrating to the sounds of the Son Sabor Latin Trio,...
Joining in: a patchy but joyous history of Grass Snake
Once upon a time in the early years of the previous decade, one of the most popular bands on the Phnom Penh expat circuit was...
From the El Mocambo to Cambodia: the long strange story of Will Canuck
There’s a familiar story told around the traps by musicians in Phnom Penh – “I’d given up on music before I came here, now I...
Capos, burnout, bed bugs and the craft beer rescue: Jeff Baker
Tucked away in an alley off Street 51 clustered with small Japanese restaurants is Embargo, a craft beer bar co-founded by Jeff Baker, a sometimes...
Sometimes they suck: the crazy world of the Table 6 Miniature Harmonica Orchestra
One of the more unusual musical developments of 2020 in Phnom Penh was the emergence of the Table 6 Miniature Harmonica Orchestra (T6MHO). You may...
2020: An Incomplete and Selective Review of the Year
Just like last year, for the last Leng Pleng of the year, we’ve passed the hat around for a collection of memories of gigs and...
2020, or The Year Phnom Penh Became the Live Music Capital of the World
This year started as the preceding few did: Phnom Penh had increasingly been on the itinerary of bands passing through South East Asia, there were...
In the Joezone: Joe & the Jumping Jacks
Way back in August 2013 I took to the stage behind the drum kit at Slur Bar in a brand new rockabilly band with my...
The search for the tonic: Michele Bowen and Clara Shandler
Phnom Penh can be a tough town for a classically trained musician; gigs are few and far between. This weekend there are two treats –...
A series of leaps: Vanntin Hoeurn
Vanntin Hoeurn, the softly-spoken, loudly-screaming, rock’n’roll-haired front for Sliten6ix, Phnom Skor, The Phnom Devils, Reign in Slumber and Blood Bricks is about to leave Phnom...
Uncommon denominators: Little Thieves
Call me old fashioned, but while styles and gadgets come and go, the wheel keeps turning back to the simple alchemy of a couple of...
Exotic textures and captivating rhythms
Another post-COVID weekend in Phnom Penh, another new band. The six piece Maki Orkestr will be “kindling the fire of the Gypsy spirit,” playing music...
It’s not pop music: the rise of the Funan Beat Empire
Funan Beat Empire grew from the combined imaginations of Adrien Gayraud (The Schkoots, Moi Tiet) and Pierre Lenormand, a production team you may remember from...
An unknown quantity
The great 2020 closing of borders has had many unexpected consequences. Many have found themselves trapped in places – heavens and hells both – with...
Lingua Musica
Dairon Reyes – stage name Kairon – having spent two years out front in the Havana Kings, is stretching out with a new project called...
Blues and the World
In another life I wrote an unpublished comic crime novella that referenced an imagined book called Skinny White Guys: The Unlikely Triumph of British Blues,...
The adventures of Rhiannon Johnson
After eight and a half years in Cambodia, singer Rhiannon Johnson is moving on to her next adventure. She will front one last big gig...
The train starts to roll again
As the city slowly comes back to live music, each week we seem to be welcoming back bands and performers that we haven’t seen for...
The explorations of Intan
As Phnom Penh slowly reopens for gigs, one of the faces and voices making a big splash is Intan Andriana. Both of her Friday night...
A full figure of eight – Dan Davies is back with The Bloody Marys
With St Patrick’s Day in their sights, Darwin band The Bloody Marys have landed in Phnom Penh to bring us their Celtic/ska/punk blend of sounds...
Been really blessed: on the road with Ryan Cook
Visiting Phnom Penh this weekend is Ryan Cook, a Canadian singer-songwriter in the classic vintage country style with a good dose of hillbilly rolled in. ...
Okay, sing! The music and inspiration of Mirasol Aguila
Among the harder working gigging musicians in Phnom Penh is singer Mirasol Aguila. Most weekends she’s out performing with a range of musicians – including...
Building it: five years of 60 Road Studios
There’s a special celebration this weekend in Siem Reap – the recording studio 60 Road marks its five year anniversary with a concert on Saturday...
Perhaps the end, perhaps not
2013 was a dramatic year in Phnom Penh expat music. There were innovative and supportive venues like Equinox, Sharky and Slur Bar, and many bands...
Around the traps once more
New from Battered Hat Creations this week is Around the Traps, a collection of interviews and writings about music in Phnom Penh in 2019 by...