***for full gig listings jump to the bottom***
Greetings,
Tonight, Thursday, find Mary & Takeshi at Botanico, Kiss Bang Bong at The Plantation, and The Blue Souls at Trattoria Bello. Los Primos play for a tango night at Lantern, while Geography of the Moon are at Sundance and later The Extraordinary Chambers at Oscar’s on the Corner.
On Friday Miss Sarawan are at Craft, and Geography of the Moon will be at The Deck. Crossing Roads are at Cloud, around the corner from Joshua Chiang at Can Can, while Aguita E Coco are at Duplex and K’n’E can be found late and loud at Oscar’s on the Corner. In Siem Reap Mira is at Arin’s and at The Harbour the artist showcase series continues with Brin Wood and P Mac.
Saturday and Sunday, with alcohol sales banned for the sangkat elections, the live music menu is pretty quiet. However Grass Snake Trio are taking the opportunity to run a Facebook livestream event from 6.30 pm. And there’s a The Last Night of the Proms concert at Chaktomuk Theatre.
Joshua Chiang is today releasing a second lyric video from his album Everything Under The Sun – Love Has Its Own Mind. Check it out here. And find the album at Bandcamp.
The Wildmen have caught the notice of Khmer Times.
**For the rest of the gigs check out the listings at the bottom of the page** As Wednesday is starting to grow as a live music night, remember to check the guide early next week, as many shows are not advertised early and so won’t be included until the last minute **
Passing Chords: a few things you might not know about…
Photo credit: David Flack
Jet Odrerir, once of Minnesota and now of Austin, Texas. Singer and guitarist Jet spent many years in the Phnom Penh music community, and since relocating to Myanmar in 2015 and then the USA in 2017, he still visits regularly – he’s now back for a couple of weeks to do some recording. Along the way he’s played with: Wicked Flesh Party (goth band at high school), The Trash Harlots, The Hellbillies (psychobilly), 18 Gauge Steel (very hard rock), Suicide Bride (in Seattle), a few nameless outfits in New Orleans, The Squabs – then moved to Cambodia and the list gets longer – the legendary Betty Ford and the GT Falcons, Muscle of Love (Alice Cooper tribute band), Stoned Again (Rolling Stones tribute band), Station to Station (David Bowie tribute band), Soular Eclipse (a late incarnation of The Fumes), Bum’n’Draze, Psychesonica, Cookie Puss, Two Shots and a Chaser and A Jet Set. He also hosted the Paddy Rice Thursday open mic for four years, 2010 – 2014, and was part of the 2009 Abbey Road tribute at Cavern.
Do you have a pet musical hate?
Insipid pop. Which is kind of ironic, because some of my favourite music is insipid pop – I’m a huge Abba fan, I love The Carpenters.
A private musical indulgence:
Musicals, particularly Disney musicals. One of my recent songs sounds like it should come out of Dr Doolittle. Certainly nobody else wants to hear it – I listen with headphones or in the car.
The year you first came to Cambodia :
February 2001. It was life-changing. I’d lived coast to coast, north and south in the US, and the US is pretty diverse and large, but I think I had a lot of fear of travelling too far. It didn’t take long before I said – as I say in a song I ended up writing – I love it, I want to stay. The song will be on an album, hopefully next year, by my band The Squabs who broke up when I moved to Cambodia – we’re releasing our second album 20 years after we started recording it.
An early music memory:
Writing a piece of music in second grade for a project. I’d been taking piano lessons, and was a fairly decent player at seven years old. I was trying to come up with my own original thought, and the beads of sweat were metaphorically pouring down my forehead, trying to write a song. How do you come up with something new? I did a terrible job, but goddamit I tried.
The last thing you had to eat:
A delicious hot fish shwarma at Hummus House.
A country you want to visit:
I can’t believe I haven’t been to Central America. Belize, Nicaragua. There’s amazing architecture and things to see.
A book or movie you keep going back to:
The Bible. I’ve read it back-to-back three times. As an athiest I have my own take on it.
What languages can you speak?
English, fading Khmer (used to be able to haggle all day at the markets), improving Spanish
Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:
Guitar. I started playing it when I was 14. At 13 I had some lessons and learned how to strum Me & Bobby McGee, and I said that’s not what I hear when I put on Dressed to Kill. All these years later I see the benefit of learning full chords. I wanted to be at highway speed on a pushbike.
Something people might be surprised to know about you:
I have 7 names. Only use 3 for ease. Jet Azriel Cyer Raphael Constantine Robert Odrerir runs off the edge of my credit cards.
You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
Sitting in a German church listening to J.S. Bach playing a massive organ. Or Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in the late 40s at the beginning of bebop.
A question from the last participant, Giuliano Turello: What instrument you wish you had learned to play?
I wish I had kept up on piano. I’m going to get to that. Hauling a piano around is easier now than it ever has been.
Steve Porte Photo of the Week
Once upon a long time ago, a previous iteration of Grass Snake Trio – Joe, Mark and Antti – mugging at the now closed venue Alchemy, 17 October, 2017
Our sister publication, kumnooh.com, aims to provide a lengpleng.com service for the wider arts – painting, sculpture, literature, dance, architecture and classical music – across Cambodia. Every Tuesday – to subscribe send a subscribe email to fabianhipp@kumnooh.com.
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Musicians, venues, punters: 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 2 June 2022
** residency/weekly
For DJs and clubs, we recommend Phnom Penh Underground
Thursday
- Mary & Takeshi, 7 pm, Botanico
- Kiss Bang Bong, 7 pm, The Plantation
- The Blue Souls, 7 pm, Trattoria Bello
- Los Primos, 8 pm, Lantern
- Kevin Sysyn, 7 pm, Villa Grange **
- Elephant Bar Follies with Phil Javelle & Friends, 7.30 pm, Elephant Bar **
- Intan & Friends, 7.30 pm, The Attic **
- Art Chemistry, 7.30 pm, Hard Rock Café Phnom Penh **
- Geography of the Moon, 8 pm, Sundance
- Lee Neang & Jhamz, 8 pm, Ostro **
- Cloud Open Mic hosted by Initial G, 8 pm, Cloud **
- Open mic hosted by Scott Bywater, 8 pm, Voodoo Saloon **
- Jam session, 8 pm, Bosporus * *
- Hyperion, 8 pm, Rokku **
- The Extraordinary Chambers, 10 pm, Oscar’s on the Corner **
Friday
- Sokunthea, 5.30 pm, FCC Angkor (Siem Reap) **
- Miss Sarawan, 6 pm, Craft
- Open mic, 6 pm, Khmer Surin **
- Geography of the Moon, 7 pm, The Deck
- Open mic, 7 pm, Menaka
- Antonio El Chico, 7 pm, Little Susie **
- Khmer Magic Music Bus, 7 pm, Bouchon Wine Bar**
- Arom Dontrey, 1960 (Kampot)
- Crossing Roads, 7.30 pm, Cloud
- Art Chemistry, 7.30 pm, Hard Rock Café Phnom Penh **
- Joshua Chiang, 8 pm, CanCan
- Acoustic jam night, 8 pm, Boran House **
- Janny & Julius, 8 pm, Ostro **
- Kevin Sysyn, 8 pm, Voodoo Saloon **
- Artist showcase with Brin Wood and P Mac, 8.30 pm, The Harbour (Siem Reap)
- Aguita E Coco, 9 pm, Duplex
- K’n’E, 10.00 pm, Oscar’s on the Corner
Saturday
- Grass Snake Trio, 6.30 pm, Facebook livestream
- The Last Night of the Proms concert, 7 pm, Chaktomuk Theatre
Monday
- Rod Tolentino, 7 pm, Tiki Garden (Kampot)
- Cambodia Country Band, 10 pm, Oscar’s on the Corner **
Tuesday
- Intan & Friends, 6 pm, Le Vin
- The Op open mic, 7 pm, Little Susie **
- Phnom Penh Ukulele Circle, 7 pm, Bong Bonlai restaurant (YK Art House)**
- Graham Cain, 8 pm, Karma Traders (Kampot)
- Open mic, 7 pm, Central Café
- Lone Star Saloon open mic, 8 pm, Lone Star Saloon **
- Sundance open mic hosted by Dave Zdriluk, 8 pm, Sundance **
- The Extraordinary Chambers, 10 pm, Oscar’s on the Corner **
Wednesday
*Note that Wednesday events are often not announced until early in the week – check back here for updates*
- Joe Wrigley, 7 pm, The Vine **
- Wednesday A’live with Jam-Cha, 7 pm, Bouchon Wine Bar**
- The Box Office open mic, hosted by Gone Marshall and Scott Bywater on alternate weeks, 7.30 pm, The Box Office**
- Sam’s open mic hosted by Max Pires and house band Visa Runners, 7.30 pm, Sam’s **
- Kevin Sysyn, 7.30 pm, The Big Easy **
- Acoustic open mic, 8 pm, 308 Electric Kitchen **
- Hyperion, 8 pm, Rokku **
- The Harbour open mic, 8 pm, The Harbour (Siem Reap) **
- Sunset Sessions with Initial G, 8.30 pm, Sunset Boulevard
- blender, 10 pm, Oscar’s on the Corner **
Coming soon:
- Takeshi Band, 9 June, Craft
- Jared Bibler, 10 June, Botanico@Odom Garden
- Jam-Cha, 10 June, Oscar’s on the Corner
- Vanvannak Rose plus The Broken Cymbal, 10 June, My Way
- Sai & Sela, 11 June, Craft
- Bob Dylan tribute, 11 June, Oscar’s on the Corner
- Japan Guitar Shop, 18 June, Bosporus