Patchy cloud with some blue skies: 2021 in review from the vantage point of LengPleng Towers
In 2020 we appeared to have been spared the worst of the pandemic, and Phnom Penh was the live music capital of the world, with Siem Reap a creditable second, and Kampot not doing too bad either. We kicked off 2021 with eight weeks of business-as-usual: while international traffic was at a standstill, January and February saw mini-tours around the country by Phnom Penh-based Blue Wave and Siem Reap acts Dean Wolf Bailey and Son Sabor Trio, and short visits to Kampot by the likes of Two Jacks, Little Thieves, Boxchords and The Sock Essentials. Not to mention two Original Sessions – Jeff Baker and Mirasol & Arone shared a bill which included live painting (while singing), and Pisey Oum and Clara Shandler. Then our world too got quiet.
Mirasol Aguila
Not too quiet. Siem Reap held out a little longer, but soon they too were put out of business as well. Livestreaming and YouTube videos became far more common – Mimi and the Merrymakers, Metta Legita, Clara Shandler, the Boxchords and Grass Snake Union stand out – and the Sunday Sundowners open mic continued on Zoom, and intermittently as a Mekong boat cruise. The Balcony Show made a few appearances just as live music came back. On the less professional side, the Phnom Penh Ukulele Circle continued – where possible – to meet at Bong Bonlai.
Also folks got busy in the studio. We saw releases this year – everything from full length albums to EPs, by Geography of the Moon, Ernie Buck, Funan Beat Empire, Professor Kinski remixes of Kampot Playboys, ZyctDan, Metta Legita & Jen Bird, Alan Ou ft Theara Ouch, The Schkoots, Gone Marshall, Scoddy Bywater, Initial G and Cecile Hinas – many of which made it into the nominations for the Radio Oun Top 100 Songs Of All Time list to be counted down on New Year’s Eve.
In May, you see, Kampot Radio upgraded itself to Radio Oun, with plans to add studios in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, and kept on a-rockin’. LengPleng itself went through some changes, technical issues forcing a redesign of the website and the return of the weekly email (subcribe at gigs@lengpleng.com).
As we struggled through the year, Phnom Penh venues such as Botanico, Bouchon and Lantern managed to keep live music going from time to time. We saw the closure of Alchemy and LF Social Club, and several other venues have not returned to live music; as the dawn appeared, so did new venues – by the end of the year The Attic at the Hyatt Regency, Sam’s, PREI, The Cove, Sunset Boulevard, The Lighthouse, Central Cafe, The Vine and Botanico@Odom Gardens were all doing at least semi-regular shows.
From late October the floodgates opened and Phnom Penh was awash with gigs from everywhere from Elephant Bar to Cloud to Bosporus to Oscar’s on the Corner, where there was a rapid return to six nights week, featuring crowd favourites K’n’E along with Cambodia Country Band, The Extraordinary Chambers, Joe & the Jumping Jacks, and relatively new band First World Problems. A watershed moment was the restarting of open mics at The Harbour in Siem Reap and Samurai Saloon in Kampot.
Srey Ka Soun Vutha
This year we said goodbye to, among others, Mike Dynamo, Clara Shandler, Carrie Herbert, Lauren Tipton, Adrien Gayraud and Peter Doyle; we said welcome back to Ernie Buck and Geography of the Moon, and we said both goodbye and hello to Bob Passion and Brian Wood.
Lauren Tipton Peter Doyle (photo: Chris Bean) Mike Dynamo
Fingers crossed we look forward to 2022, new bands and line-ups and projects forming to take the place of those that haven’t survived the minor exodus. There’s always new people coming to town – point them in the direction of LengPleng and we’ll get them to the shows. And if they play, so much the better.
LengPleng would like to thank the audience and the performers who make up this music community, with special thanks to the court photographer, Steve Porte, for his unflagging generosity.
Sincere apologies for any glaring omissions from this review. Musicians, venues and audience are invited to send your list of highlights to gigs@lengpleng.com for inclusion in next week’s edition of LengPleng.
See you around the traps
Guillermo Wheremount