click here for an audio-visual look at the gig highlights

***for full gig listings jump to the bottom***

Greetings:

Thursday in Phnom Penh it’s the jazz jam with Dr George at The Deck, while Hugo Marcellesi is at Samai Rum Distillery and later The Extraordinary Chambers are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Siem Reap Rod Tolentino is at Koulen Central.

On Friday in Phnom Penh Brooke Palmer is at The Vine, The Playful Minds are at Botanico, Miss Sarawan are at Bat Muk Yu, Cardboard Lo-Fi at Noisy Chili,  Pick & Bow (Gaby & Sharon) are at Khmer Funk Sky Bar and Adam Marsland is at Little Susie.  Later, Checkered Past are at Hometown Hangout, Chi-Town are at Oscar’s on the Corner and Miss Sarawan are at Uniga.  In Siem Reap Bless is at Infusion Bar.

On Saturday in Phnom Penh at Bong Bonlai @ YK Art House, the Phnom Penh Ukulele Circle offer an introductory hour for the ukulele curious before the return of the Day Time Open Mic.  Elsewhere Bassac Brass are at The Deck, Vince Solomons is at Botanico and Miss Sarawan at The Tin Hat.  Soselo Summer are joined by new band Drunk on Champagne at Noisy Chili, Mazama [see Passing Chords below] is at Cloud and Judy J & the Dr G Trio are at Au Marche.   There’s an early start at Oscar’s on the Corner for the Phnom Penh rocks for Cesar fundraiser featuring The Extraordinary Chambers, The Riverside Kings, Cambodia Country Band and Shake79.  And Brooke Palmer is at Tropico.  On the coast, Chiet & Max are at The Wave: Kep West.

Come Sunday it’s the 15th Musica Felica choir charity concert, Living Hope, at Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, while Mirasoul is at The Vine, the Sunday Sundowners open mic is at Tacos Kokopelli, Adam Marsland is at Botanico and Sammy & Dave are at Bar Oz.  Later and louder, Shaken Spirit are at Oscar’s on the Corner.

Passing Chords – a few things you might not know about

Aaron Pramuk AKA Mazama.  “Mazama is ambient music. I used to play it back when I lived in the USA – Lexington, KY to be specific. I got the idea to do it from listening to lots of Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. The album No Pussyfooting really grabbed me and I started to research how they got those sounds. Back then, Fripp would connect two reel-to-reel tape machines from across the room from each other to give very long delay times. And over the course of time the delay would degrade in a way that only analog tape can. (I use a delay pedal with an extremely long delay time). It’s like using a looper but the loop degrades and fades out slowly which requires the user to create more sound. The approach they used to create this type of music was really interesting too – the idea was not to impose on the listener.  What if I could make music that people could relax or space out to? Back in Kentucky I would play regularly at a coffee shop and my friend overheard a person say that she didn’t understand what I was doing but it was helping her study.  I thought that was really cool.

“The name Mazama came from a recent vacation I took to visit family in the Pacific Northwest. We visited this place called Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is a giant, clean freshwater lake in the mountains that was formed in the crater of an extremely violent volcanic eruption almost 8,000 years ago.  The Klamath Native American tribe name for the mountain is Mazama.  Since I was a kid, I’ve always found volcanoes to be fascinating – beautiful, serene, snow-capped mountains that are capable of such destruction, completely indifferent to everything that’s around them. And for some reason, people build cities next to them.

“Originally, I didn’t want to have a name for the ambient act. I thought that a name would impose on the listener – give the listener some sort of expectation about what the music would be.  My idea was to just show up with my gear, play for an hour or two and then leave. But then I took the trip to Crater Lake and decided to go with the name and now I can indulge in the imagery and concept of the “volcanic” theme.   What I do when I play is ‘mostly’ improvised. I play the bass guitar and an abnormally large pedal-board and just see where the sound takes me.”    Mazama plays at Cloud on Saturday night.

Do you have a pet musical hate/pet peeve?
Lack of self-awareness. I know it’s rather vague but it can take many forms. I think every musician goes through this and still does no matter how experienced or skilled. It’s hard to put yourself on stage and suddenly go from being a regular, average, worker/husband/father person to a performer that is expected to entertain. It’s awkward as hell and akin to being shot of a cannon.

A private musical indulgence:
Captain Beefheart – Trout Mask Replica. Probably the rudest, most genius album ever put on tape.

The year you first came to Cambodia:
I arrived here in 2022, right after COVID.  I really wish I could have experienced this city and country prior to the pandemic.

An early music memory:
My dad has a massive vinyl collection. When I was 8 or 9 years old he would make cassette mix-tapes for me. ELP, Steppenwolf, Yes, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath. I used to wander around my backyard with my little tape player blasting Muddy Waters.

Stagefright: yes or no?
Absolutely. What I do is 98% improvised.  It’s terrifying showing up to a gig and having no idea what you will come out of your instrument.

A country you want to visit:
Not a country but maybe a region – Eastern Europe, Czech Republic and Serbia are at the top of the list.

A book or movie you keep going back to:
The film Mandy with Nicolas Cage. A man’s descent into revenge and psychedelic, God-like madness.

What languages do you have?
I’m pretty good at Khmer – I can read and write well although not the most useful in day-to-day life.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:
Bass guitar at 13. John Entwistle of The Who saw to that.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:
Honestly can’t think of anything.  I wish I had something profound and maybe somewhat personal.  But to my close friends, I tend to be rather open given the correct situation.

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
Maybe the Live at Leeds album by The Who. I will always love the live performance of the album Tommy.

Department of New Releases etc.

MC Lisha has dropped a new video – They’re Forgot About Us.  Check it out here

Australian band PlanB, who will be visiting Cambodia once again this December this week got a write up in the Phnom Penh Post.

Geography of the Moon have a new video, I Came Here For, a song from their most recent album Aberdeen Hiroshima, celebrating the glamours of being a touring musician.

Department of SOS update

Cesar needs our help

Cesar Toni, a beloved member of the musicians community in Cambodia, is seriously ill.  He is now at Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh.

Paul Mackie reports:  after four days at death’s door Cesar began to respond to the antibiotics cleaning the vital infection which all but shut down all internal organs.  His kidneys were the biggest concern.  He has had some dialysis over the last three days which has shown a return of strength to our friend.  He is now getting the first food in a week, fruit after some milk was given yesterday and was successfully processed by his organs.  All this gives us a lot of hope in the darkest time.

We in the musicians community are doing all we can to help Cesar tide through this emergency, and we would be extremely grateful for any donation. You can scan the ABA QR code in the poster attached. No amount is too small. The account you are donating to belongs to Cesar’s long-time partner Gloria.

A special fundraising show will be held on Saturday night at Oscar’s on the Corner – note the early start time of 8.30 pm.

For further details, please contact Paul Mackie –https://www.facebook.com/paul.mackie.37

On behalf of Cesar and Gloria, we thank you for your help.

Cambodia musicians community

 

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

Please welcome soon to be opening TTP venue The House of Jazz and More as a new Friend of LengPleng.  We thank you very much for your support.

Being a Friend of LengPleng is open to venues, acts, and even private individuals; if you value the service we provide please consider assisting us financially.   For a modest contribution ($25 for three months, $40 for six months, $75 for 12 months), you get the logo of your choice into the weekly email and onto the weekly wrap page, and an automatically click through to a page on our website for further information, photos, videos and so on – we like to think of it as an alternative to Facebook.

We also pay special attention when you have a good story for us – an upcoming event or an artist you wish to highlight.  Email gigs@lengpleng.com for further details or bail up Scoddy wherever you see him.

 

      

 

 

 

 

Steve Porte Photo of the Week

Summer Lee Carlson performing at The Deck with Cameron Smith and Frank Scarfone as part of her birthday show on 18 October 2025

 

If you wish to receive LengPleng in your inbox every Thursday please send a subscribe email to gigs@lengpleng.com.

Musicians, venues, punters:  if there are things you know that LengPleng should know, please tell us and we’ll do our best to tell the world.

See you around the traps.
your correspondent,

 

 

Guillermo Wheremount
LengPleng.com
gigs@lengpleng.com (mailto:gigs@lengpleng.com

Weekly Gig Guide – week commencing Thursday 23 October 2025

** residency/weekly

For DJs and clubs, we recommend Phnom Penh Underground

Thursday

Friday

Saturday                                                             

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

*Note that Wednesday events are often not announced until early in the week – check back here for updates*

Coming soon:

Thursday 30 October

Friday 31 October

  • The Sock Essentials, 7 pm, Tacos Kokopelli
  • The Louisiana Layabouts, 7.30 pm, The Tin Hat
  • Carnival Youth (Latvia) plus Japan Guitar Shop , 8 pm, B-BOX – note ticketed event
  • Rave and Grave Madness with Sam Rocker, After God, Doch Chkae and DJs, 8.30 pm, Cloud – $5 entry (includes one beer)
  • Alli G & TheQuilas, 10 pm, Oscar’s on the Corner

Saturday 1 November

Sunday 2 November

  • Brooke Palmer, 5 pm, The Vine
  • The Lark, 5 pm, Kep Art Bar (Kep)

Tuesday 4 – Friday 7 November

  • Dave Fest featuring Knell, Soselo Summer, Jazz Sauce, Vince Solomons, Johatsu, Wind-Up Mice, Drunk on Champagne, Bullshit Boy, Nightmare A.D., Brooke Palmer and more, M’Pai Bai Bay, Koh Rong Somleoun.

Friday 7 November

Saturday 8 November

  • Niki Buzz Band, 7 pm, Chew & Bash
  • Carnival Youth (Latvia) plus Japan Guitar Shop , 8 pm, The Labyrinth (Siem Reap) – note ticketed event

Friday 14 November

Saturday 15 November

Sunday 16 – Sunday 22 November

Saturday 22 November

Sunday 23 November

Sunday 23 – Sunday 30 November

By Weekly Wrap