***full gig listings at the bottom***

Greetings,

Water Festival has caused something of a disruption this week, with several regular Thursday events moved to last night to take advantage of the holiday, and some venues pulling back their live music calendar for the weekend.  There’s still plenty on though.

Quietly returning to live music is Hard Rock Café Phnom Penh, with newly assembled band Art Chemistry playing Thursday to Saturdays.  Another new act, The November (see Passing Chords below), continues the Friday sessions at Odom Garden, with Friday night rounded out with Alli G & Chema at Bouchon, the Disabled People’s Association Cambodia Band at Duplex and the Stiff Little Punks resuming their activities at Oscar’s on the Corner.

Saturday night the rooftops are alight with Miss Sarawan at Le Moon and Le Union at Lantern, Havana Nice will be crowding the dancefloor at Duplex and find The Extraordinary Chambers taking it late at Oscar’s on the Corner.

**For the rest of the gigs check out the listings at the bottom of the page**

Details are slowly emerging for the Angkor International Festival of the Arts (incorporating the Angkor Writers and Readers Festival) to be held 10 – 12 December in Siem Reap.  Keep an eye on the Facebook pages for more information as it comes.

Note:  LengPleng.com has returned to its weekly email service.   If you wish to receive LengPleng in your inbox every Thursday please send an email saying Subscribe to gigs@lengpleng.com.   And tell your friends.

The Leng Pleng Feature

Make some noise and carry on: new sounds from Ernie Buck

The truism of our recent lives – say the last 20 months – is that time has seemed to stand still while everything has changed; yet some things have suddenly snapped back to a welcome (if new) normal.  This month brought one more piece of normality back to Phnom Penh in the shape of Ernie Buck, who has been in a sort of financial stabilisation exile in the UK for a time that coincidentally coincided with the beginning of the pandemic and its apparent retreat.  Ernie spoke to Leng Pleng about how this journey wound up as a collection of songs, Self Portrait with Moustache, released on Bandcamp today.

“It was overwhelming, the first day getting out of quarantine.  A few quiet hours with my wife, and then I’m walking up the stairs at Oscar’s for an Uncomfortably White Brothers set, seeing a succession of nearest and dearest Phnom Penh family for the first time again.  And then knowing I had to get up on the stage and start singing.  I could have passed out with a mixture of excitement and anxiety, I didn’t know what to say to people.  It was just so good.”

Read the whole article here

Passing Chords: a few things you might not know about… 

 

Esther Mao is a young Khmer singer with a passion for jazz and soul.  Her new pop jazz band The November (with Sai on guitar and Rayuth on sax) will play on Friday at Botanico@Odom Garden from 6.30 pm.

Do you have a pet musical hate?
Khmer remix (baksloy music).

A private musical indulgence:
Indie music, pop, soul, jazz, 70s and 80s music, pop rock.

When was the first time you left Cambodia?
2019, a trip to Singapore.

An early music memory:
Early 2000s music.

The last thing you had to eat:
Anything that is cooked clean.

A book or movie you keep going back to:
High School Musical.

What languages can you speak?
Khmer, English.

Your primary instrument:
Guitar.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:
I’m a Khmer young girl who is into soul and jazz music.

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
Michael Jackson or Amy Winehouse.

A question from the last participant: Who had a bigger musical influence on you, your mum or your dad? And WHY?
Neither of them, because they don’t have music taste.

New and Recent Releases

Another new release on Bandcamp – Ernie Buck & the Cham Ticks, Self Portrait with Moustache – see the feature interview above.  It will be available on your favourite streaming platform in the next couple of days.

Musician/s sought etc

Electronic drum kit for sale.

Phnom Penh resident Jonathan Garrett looking for English-speaking multi-instrumentalists that are open to collaborating on studio work.  He has some rock/hard rock demos he would like to develop.  He can be reached by WhatsApp through 012549440 or johugarr@gmail.com (mailto:johugarr@gmail.com) .

Penh Garden at 278 (https://www.facebook.com/penh278) and Penh Coconut Park are seeking expressions of interest from performers of all kinds.

Steve Porte Photo of the Week

Another one straight out of quarantine: Gem Habito (with Vanntin Hoeurn) at the opening of Sound and Light, an exhibition featuring artworks by Phnom Penh musicians at the new Meta House (St 228), Tuesday, 16 November, 2021.

If there are things that 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 18 November 2021

** residency

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Coming soon:

Phnom Penh Ukulele Circle theme night: birds at Bong Bonlai
Gonzalo Rodino at Botanico@Odom Gardens
Skinny Lydia at Cloud
Machiko & Takeshi at Bosporus
Swing Time at Mealea Restaurant / Palace Gate
Arome Khmer at Backyard Cafe
The Extraordinary Chambers at Duplex

Coming later:

Grand opening of Central Café
Grand opening of The Sharky’s
Metal night (Spiked Gravy & Qiang QUO) at Oscar’s on the Corner

 

By Weekly Wrap