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

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

Greetings:

It’s a quiet kingdom as the last of the new years is recovered from, but still the beating heart of music in Cambodia continues on.

Friday night in Phnom Penh find the simply named Khmer Band at Farm To Table, Miss Sarawan & Scoddy at Botanico and Geography of the Moon at Back Street Bar, while Temple to late at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Kampot Ant Colloff is at TopSpin.

Saturday in Phnom Penh Crucial Dub Alliance celebrate 420 at The Deck, Hounds of Bakersfield led by Clay George bring country to Craft, Green Leaf Motif & Antonio El Chico join up at Botanico, and Geography of the Moon are at Sundance.  Later on, The Extraordinary Chambers are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Kampot, Nico Thoma is at TopSpin. 

On Sunday choose between Green Leaf Motif at The Deck, Miss Sarawan & Scoddy at Villa Grange, Andrea and Virginia of Geography of the Moon doing solo sets at The Vine, while the Sunday Sundowners open mic is hosted by Scott Bywater at Tacos Kokopelli, Brooke Palmer is at Noisy Chili, Joe Wrigley is at Bar Oz and Arnab & Nilimesh (see Passing Chords below) begin their Cambodian tour at LOLA Music Lounge.  Later on the Bloody Mary Morning Band are at Oscar’s on the Corner.

Department of Radio Radio

After a few years of COVID-inspired experiments under the title Radio Oun, Kampot Radio has reverted to its old name and more community-based orientation.  Since 2017 the radio station has worked to promote music made in Cambodia by locals and expats alike, seeking to widen exposure to sounds both old and new.  The annual Top 100 Songs of All Time poll, for example, has pushed local content to the top year after year, providing a platform for active recording artists in a range of genres.  The on-going playlist also features western music from the latest to the greatest – the east meets the west.

As part of the relaunch under the old Kampot Radio name, and in an effort to make the station financially viable in the long term, a radiothon has commenced, running from now until 12 May, culminating in benefit concerts in Phnom Penh (Saturday 11) and Kampot (Sunday 12) marking seven years of operation.  The station is seeking direct donations of cash, and also of items that can be raffled or auctioned off on the concert nights.

LengPleng is working with Kampot Radio to ensure that this vital part of the local music community is strong, stable and able to perform to its best ability.  Your support will help.

To donate visit PayPal.me/kampotradio or ABA Darryl Carter 887 285 115.  For more information about Phnom Penh activities: gigs@lengpleng.com, for Kampot: studio@kampotradio.com.

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

Nilimesh Chakraborty & Arnab Bhattacharya – a sarod and tabla duo from India who commence their second tour of Cambodia on at Laundry (Siem Reap) on Monday, at LOLA Music Lounge (Phnom Penh) on Tuesday, on Wednesday at The Bay (Kampot), then back to Phnom Penh for shows at Meta House, Voodoo Boulevard, Sundance and The Deck.

Do you have a pet musical hate?
NC:  Nowadays technology and AI have made many differences in music. The artists who has been working hard with the practice and trying to improve all the skills including improvisation are facing challenges.  Though it’s for sure that no technology or AI can make it in live music which is 100% improvised, but I feel little unworthy of it.
AB: As an artist I don’t have personal likes or dislikes, but some people might have strong feelings about certain musical elements, like dissonance or a particular genre. It’s all subjective!

A private musical indulgence:
AB: As a musician i like to listen to all kinds of music as they are all best in their own way

The year you first came to Cambodia:
NC:  April 2023 was my first visit to Cambodia, and this trip is my third
AB: The first time I came to Cambodia was in September 2023

An early music memory:
NC:  My first stage performance when I was eight years old in my hometown, Kolkata, India
AB: There are two memories i will remember forever – the first concert of my life at the age of six, and my first solo travel out of India in 1997, to Spain and Portugal

The last thing you had to eat:
NC:  Black coffee
AB:  Black coffee

A country you want to visit:
NC:  There are many places are on my, list including ones I already have been to: Australia, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Thailand and many, many more
AB:  A country I have heard about but have not had the opportunity to visit yet is Italy

A book or movie you keep going back to:
NC:  The Art of Tabla Playing is a book I remember that I loved very much; there are many more
AB:  I love the movie The Pursuit Of Happyness – I would guess I have seen it more than 20 times.  And some Bollywood movies like Chak De and Dil Chahta Hai

What languages do you have?
NC:  Hindi, Bengali & English
AB:  I know couple of languages like English, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya and Marathi a bit

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:
NC:  Tabla
AB:  My primary instrument is sarod, and I started when I was four years old

Something people might be surprised to know about you:
NC:  I always take a shower before the concert whether it’s morning, afternoon, evening or night or midnight concert
AB:  Good question.  Many people don’t know that i am a techy guy. I completed my degrees in Engineering in Computer Science and Engineering, and worked for MNCs – then left it all to pursue my music

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
NC:  Murari Smriti Sangeet Samellan, 20th December 2012 – it was the last concert I performed tabla solo that my mother heard before she passed away
AB:  Woodstock festival, where Pandit Ravi Shankar played with Ustad Allah Rakha Khan on tabla

A question from the last participant: who are your main musical influences?
NC:  My mother, the late Suparna Chakraborty, my uncle Ajoy Chakraborty, and my guru Pt Swapan Siva
AB:  My father Shri Swapan Kumar Bhattacharya, Pt Buddhadev Dasgupta and Ustad Vilayat Khan

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Mark Chattaway rocks the bass and the hat with Kampot Playboys for a Khmer new year gig at The Seahorse in Kampot, 13 April 2024

 

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 18 April 2024

** 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:

By Weekly Wrap