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

Greetings:

Thursday night in Phnom Penh check out the Coz Collective EP launch party at Little Susie [see our feature #1 below] Scott Bywater at Villa Grange and/or Stu Cottom followed by Kevin Sysyn at Excelsior , while The Extraordinary Chambers go late at Oscar’s on the Corner .  In Kampot, The Bay celebrate their first anniversary with Chiet & Ngiet of the Kampot Playboys.

On Friday night in Phnom Penh, Geography of the Moon [see our feature #3 below] are at Sra’Art, Sharon & Metta are at Green Pepper, Sinville Roadshow are at Craft and Silver & Taylor at Botanico.  Find Fallen Apples at Voodoo Boulevard, Arome Khmer at Cloud and Antonio & The Playful Minds at Ninkasi.  The Lark goes into the small hours at Oscar’s on the Corner.  The Bald Gringos are at Kep Natural and in Siem Reap, Scapegoat Candy are at Laundry.

 On Saturday afternoon, Oh San Ramen & the Jazzmen (Daisuke & Gaby) are at Oh San Ramen Bar, while Mirasol & Band are at The Waterside, A String Thing (Sharon Lui & George Hess) is at Craft, and The Blue Souls are at Lantern.  Penh Pals are at Welsh Consulate, Cardboard Lo-Fi are at The Velvet Room and Ex-Pulse help The Tin Hat celebrate their first anniversary.  Also find Geography of the Moon at The Deck, Sinville Roadshow at Little Susie and Silver & Taylor open for The Lazy Drunks at Oscar’s on the Corner. In Siem Reap, X Bar hosts the Punkocalypse Festival featuring Slang Poor Kids (Italy), Regin in Slumber, Doch Chkae, After God, The Wildmen.

On Sunday in Phnom Penh, find Joe Wrigley at Villa Grange, Cove Aaronoff & Frank Scarfone at The Vine and Sunday Sundowners open mic hosted by Scott Bywater at Tacos Kokopelli.  Later on, the latest of the Back Street Bar Originals Showcases with Lewis & Gary, Greg Beshers and Sinville Roadshow.  And for a dose of Sunday night loud, Waisted Laika (China) [see our feature #2 below]  take to the stage with Radioactive Deathmonkey at Oscar’s on the Corner followed by Joe & the Jumping Jacks.  In Siem Reap, Amok Soul are at New Leaf, One Man Dan and Giuliano Turello will be jamming at Duckmart, and there’s an open mic at The Steel Horse Stables. 

The LengPleng Feature Interview #1

Not Necessarily Twiddling Knobs: Greg Beshers talks about producing the Aunt Cathy & Me EP for the Coz Collective

Launching on Thursday 16 November at Little Susie with a listening party is Aunt Cathy and Me, a five-track EP of songs by Cathy Cilliers and Roz Fisher performed by the Coz Collective – find it here on Bandcamp.  LengPleng sat down with the record’s producer, Greg Beshers, to discuss the recording process.

How did you come to produce this EP?

In recent years I’ve acted as a producer with Joe Wrigley on the Joe & the Jumping Jacks EP Best Damn Bar and the still to be released Miss Sarawan LP Sabay Jong Jam, also with Jared Bibler and Jet, and some of my own songs.  I already knew about Roz’s project; she had sent Joe three songs, and I think he suggested I produce.  He played me the songs and I mapped out some quick production notes in about 20 minutes, oh, it’s this meets this meets this.  I was actually under the mistaken impression that these were her Aunt Cathy’s songs: oh, these are pretty good.  And Joe said no, these are Roz’s songs.  Well, yeah, these are pretty good songs.

Read the whole article here

The LengPleng Feature Interview #2

Trying to Express – an introduction to Wasted Laika

It’s a heavy weekend in Cambodia – alongside the Punkocalypse Festival in Siem Reap, Oscar’s on the Corner in Phnom Penh presents Wasted Laika on tour from China, supported by local band Radioactive Deathmonkey.  Wasted Laika founder and leader singer Tu Junnan was good enough to answer some of LengPleng’s questions.

LengPleng is always interested in a band’s origin myth.  How did Wasted Laika come to be, and what is the story behind the name?

Let me quote directly from our bio: ‘With the stray dog Laika aboard, the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 launched into space on November 3, 1957, the 40th anniversary of October Revolution. Laika was then killed by overheating on the fourth Earth orbit. The following year when the Soviet Union recovered the spacecraft, Laika was reduced to ashes in the atmosphere.’  Wasted Laika is a Chinese rock band of five carefree drinkers. Formed on campus, they loaf around in society. None have steady jobs, always struggling to eat.’

Read the whole article here

The LengPleng Feature Interview #3

The beauty of the job – Geography of the Moon look back on an amazing 2023  

Almost as regular and welcome as the seasons, in the lands where seasons turn, Geography of the Moon is back in Cambodia after nearly a year of adventures.  Virginie and Andrea sat down with LengPleng to recap their activities, beginning as usual with Twin Peaks references inspired by the handheld recorder.

VI: Dianne, it’s Wednesday, 12.30, I’m looking at a white car.  Isn’t like just wonderful.  I see ducks swimming on a lake.  I used to have a massive crush on Agent Dale Cooper.  What a great character.

AD: I’m getting nervous here.

VI: I should watch Twin Peaks again, it’s been a long time.  We should totally do that.  We barely ever have time to watch anything.  We watched Princess Mononoke one night because we were really tired and hungover and had nothing else to do.

AD: We went to watch Barbie at the cinema in Osaka.

Read the whole article here

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

 

Daisuke Yasukochi.  A Japanese double bass player who has been a fixture on the Cambodian scene for a few years, playing in bands on the jazz side such as Intan & Friends, Metta Legita Trio, Danny Healy Swing 3, Funky Chicken, Swing Time and Rags to Rainbows as well as jamming it up wherever he can.  He leaves Cambodia at the end of the month but not before a run of gigs – find him this weekend at Ohsan Ramen Bar on Saturday afternoon and the [sold out] jazz cruise on Saturday night, a jam at Craft next Tuesday and Bouchon Wine Bar on Wednesday (see Coming Soon in the gig guide below for other performances next week.  Good luck and safe travels, friend.

Do you have a pet musical hate?
I like all kinds of music, but I don’t like karaoke or singing with backing tracks. I think there is value in live performance.

A private musical indulgence:
Since I live alone in Phnom Penh, I often go out to listen to live music. If I have a few days off, I’ll go to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City and look for good musicians.

The year you first came to Cambodia:
I first came to Cambodia in September 2019. Stayed at PP for 2 days for a business trip. I’ve been living here since November 2019.

An early music memory:
Actually, when I was a teenager, before I discovered jazz, I liked the Beatles and 60s rock and roll. And I listened to FM radio every day.

The last thing you had to eat:
Even as I get older, I’ll still be eating very oily Japanese ramen. Yeah, ignore the high fat cholesterol high salt lol

A country you want to visit:
I’m interested in Jakarta, Indonesia, a country I haven’t visited yet. The Indonesian musicians living in Phnom Penh are very good and talented. I would like to see what their music culture is like.  I have visited Thailand several times. There are many talented musicians in Bangkok. There are many venues. It is definitely a country with an advanced music culture.

A book or movie you keep going back to:
There are many, but let me introduce one movie that I watched when I was young. A 1994 Hong Kong movie called “Chungking Express(重慶森林).” In Japan, it is known as “恋する惑星”. Hong Kong in the 90s is the place of passion, luxury, messy and chaos. When I was a teenager, it was a movie that made me admire for Asia I hadn’t visited yet.

What languages do you have?
Japanese and just a little bit of English.  I’m lazy man to learn Khmer.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:
My father was a flautist. So when I was 10 years old, I started playing the flute but stopped after about one year. After few years, when I was 15 years old, I started playing double bass.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:
I love traveling, especially train travel. When I was a student, I traveled by train from Beijing to Shanghai, and also from New Orleans to New York. Oh yes, I love New Orleans the best. Everything in the city is beautiful.

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
In other words, what is my favorite live recording take concert? That’s difficult to answer.   Perhaps LengPleng readers may not know this.  Jass At The Ohio Union 1954 by George Lewis Jazz Band is my favorite record, a New Orleans jazz masterpiece. The whole audience is excited as they follow the rhythm.   Jazz, born in New Orleans, was originally called “Jass.”

A question from the last participant – what do you think you were doing in your past life?
Reincarnation in Buddhism? If that were real, I was probably a damn animal. But I helped a human or did some good deed, I am now reborn as a human being. My next life, I will become a damn animal again.

Musicians: They’re Just Like Us

They sometimes drink coffee and stare into space.

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

Friend of LengPleng the Coz Collective launch Aunty Cathy & Me this very day; next week Robert Marleigh / Gone Marshall will drop the new dual artist EP 25th Century Crooner  – you can pre-order and save at Spotify here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being a Friend of LengPleng gets your logo 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 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

Dane out front of Spring Band on Saturday 11 November at Oscar’s on the Corner

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 16 November 2023

** 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:

  • Graham Cain, 8 pm, 23 November, The Big Easy (Koh Rong Saloem)
  • Daisuke & James, 6.30 pm, 25 November, Green Pepper
  • Lisa Concepcion, 7 pm, 24 November, Botanico
  • Vanno, 7.30 pm, 24 November, The Velvet Room
  • Geography of the Moon, 8.30 pm, 24 November, Laundry (Siem Reap)
  • Graham Cain, 9:30 pm, 24 November, Eden Bar (Sihanoukville)
  • Zeitgeists (Thailand), 10 pm, 24 November, Oscar’s on the Corner
  • Bon Om Touk Festival featuring Sam Rocker, Scapegoat Candy, Kampot Playboys, Jam Cha!, Joe & the Jumping Jacks, Japan Guitar Shop, Geography of the Moon, 25 November, 60 Road Studios (Siem Reap)
  • Zeitgeists (Thailand), Reign in Slumber and Absolute Zero, 7 pm, 25 November, The Deck
  • The Sock Essentials, 7 pm, 25 November, Botanico
  • Brooke Palmer, 7.30 pm, 25 November, Noisy Chili
  • Swing Time, 8 pm, 25 November, Au Marche
  • Graham Cain, 7 pm, 26 November, Beach Walk Resort (Koh Rong)
  • Graham Cain, 7 pm, 27 November, The Secret Garden (Koh Rong)
  • Brooke Palmer, 28 November, 6.30 pm, Craft
  • GC Kora Duo, 8 pm, 28 November, Karma Traders (Kampot)
  • Rags to Rainbows, 7 pm, 29 November, Bouchon Wine Bar
  • Tepi & Bunly, 7 pm, 29 November, The Velvet Room
  • Vanno, 7.30 pm, 30 November, The Velvet Room
  • Scapegoat Candy, 7 pm, 1 December, The Deck
  • Scapegoat Candy, 10 pm, 2 December, Oscar’s on the Corner
By Weekly Wrap