Greetings:

Plenty of gigs are scheduled this weekend, every month it seems there’s another new venue or an old one trying it out.  Next weekend Halloween apparently will last from Friday to Monday with some great line-ups of triple act bills, and there’s an extravaganza in Siem Reap on Wednesday at The Harbour – see below.  All the more reason to keep in touch with the scene via LengPleng.com.

Thursday in Phnom Penh starts early with Amok Soul at Plantation, Antonio El Chico at Botanico and Mary & Takeshi at Little Susie, while The Extraordinary Chambers are late at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Siem Reap, find Rod Tolentino at Fellini, Sokunthea Duk & Alexey Ilin at Villa D and Andy Luna at Pasta La Vista. In Kampot, Art Gilbert is at Golden Time.

Friday night in Phnom Penh has on offer Clay & Greg at Botanico@Odom Garden, Intan Andriana & Gaby Courroux at Le Vin, and The Broken Cymbal at Craft, Hugo at La Petanque and Austin at Cloud.  It’s a double set of songwriters Ariane Parkes plus Scott Bywater at The Box Office, while Ng Elnarra & Phil are at Mayazon, Esther & Herve are at Central Café, and Havana Nice are at Perch.  Srey Ka & K’n’E take it late at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Siem Reap, find Mikayla at Antonio’s Villa Hotel, Giuliano Turello at Pasta La Vista and Jam-Cha at AMBAR, while the Kampot Playboys are at Monkey Republic in Kampot.

Saturday in Phnom Penh gets underway with The Busking Kings at Villa Grange. Then Miss Sarawan is at Craft, Gareth Bawden & Pervez Gulzar are at Seekers Spirits,  and Cloud host a hip hop night with Vanocean & WDB Group. Sunset Boulevard kicks off a Bebop Highlights series with Vol. 1 featuring Sharon Lui, Metta Legita, Gaby Courroux and Daisuke Yasukochi, while at the other end of town The Blue Souls return to Oscar’s on the Corner with Srey Ka & K’n’E to follow.  In Siem Reap, The White Band play Laundry and Mr Zee & Pete Foerster are at Villa D.   In the south, Alli G is at Kep Natural.

Looking forward into next week, The Harbour in Siem Reap is throwing a party for the second anniversary of punksters The Wildmen featuring Those Handsome Devils, Giuliano Turello Trio, Scapegoat Candy, Electric Soup, Son Sabor Latin Trio, Jam-Cha and, of course, The Wildmen themselves.  Grab your Angkor pass and go check out some jumping bands.

Coming next month, 18 – 20 November, is the 19th International Music Festival Phnom Penh, three days of concerts at Raffles Le Royal, on the theme of Discovery featuring a range of local and visiting international performers.

Cambodian Vintage Music Archive has been busy creating digital releases of newly restored Golden Era music for selected major platforms; this month we have already seen a new compilation album of songs by Ros Sereysothea a couple of singles by Sinn Sisamouth and Pen Ron.  If by chance you haven’t properly listened to the Cambodian music of the 1960s and early 1970s you may be surprised.

Also recently released (in fact recorded this week) is a new song by Ernie Buck, Evryn1te, now available on Bandcamp, Spotify, TikTok, Twitch, etc.  Says Ernie:  “I was going for Prince-sings-Nilsson, but it may have ended up more Biz Markie-sings-Wesley Willis. You decide… I’m happy either way. I hope you are, too.”

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Parker.  Currently with The Visa Runners, who host the Sam’s open mic on Wednesdays, and previously with Winsum Losesum and Dieu A Quitte, Gary is also a go-to guitar technician based in Boeung Trabek.

Do you have a pet musical hate?
I don’t hate any music in particular. I like a whole lot of music across the genres, and I like genres that other people might not like. So I think you have to accept that if there’s something you hate other people are going to love it, and vice versa.  Anything is valid.

A private musical indulgence:
1980s Brit Funk – post-disco funk with lots of slap bass and grooves.  Some people might think it’s a little bit cheesy, but I think it’s really cool.

The year you first came to Cambodia
2015.

An early music memory:
I remember listening to Simple Minds’ Don’t You Forget About Me in the back of my stepdad’s Ford Escort RS Turbo, he’d crank it up.  He was into 80s power ballads, Eurythmics and things like that.

The last thing you had to eat:
A shwarma kebab plate from Taste of the Middle East 2.

A country you want to visit:
Iceland.  I’ve been to all the other Nordic countries, but I’ve never been to Iceland because I never had a reason to visit – you’ve got to make a specific trip to get there.  I think it would be interesting, the volcanic landscape and things like that.

A book or movie you keep going back to:
The Godfather, Part I.  It’s iconic.  And you can turn it on at any moment and just watch five mins of it – all the performances are so powerful, and all the scenes so memorable, and there’s so many quotes in it.

What languages do you have?
East Yorkshire English, French – I lived in France for three years – and rusty Spanish as well.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:
I got my first guitar when I was 13, and I’ve played it on and off ever since then, never truly mastering it.  I know some people will sit down for four hours every day and just play and play, but I don’t have the discipline to do that – the people who get really good are the ones who get lost in it, and time just flies by.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:

I studied Electrical Engineering, but after that I also did an Associate Degree in Law.  I thought about being a lawyer for a moment, but after I finished and understood more about law I realised it’s not the profession for me.

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
I have two. First, Led Zeppelin  at the beginning in 1969. It must have been mindblowing, the raw creativity of it, John Bonham’s drums, Jimmy Page going nuts and using a bow on his guitar, Robert Plant and his wailing, soaring vocals.  I don’t think anyone saw anything like that until they arrived on the scene.
The second one would be to see my dad play.  In the early 70s my dad was in a band called Apple, who used to tour around the UK.  One time they played on a bill with Black Sabbath in a place called Bridlington Spa.  Black Sabbath were so impressed by the homemade speaker cabinets that my dad and my grandad built, which were bigger and louder than the gear they were touring with, that they asked my dad to use their cabinets.  My dad on bass had four 4×12 cabinets, so 16 speakers, plus two other speakers with 15 inch speakers, six cabinets altogether.  The guitar player had four 4×12 cabinets, and the singer had four 4x12s.  They were loud.  So I’d love to see my dad play followed by Black Sabbath.  They also played a few gigs with Free – when they played with Black Sabbath they played some Free covers, and when they played for Free they played some Black Sabbath covers.

A question from the last participant: what was the best live concert that you ever saw?
I have three answers for this one.  I saw Prince at the O2 arena in London when he did 21 gigs in a row in 2007.  It was epic, he was running around a circular stage with his dancers.  He had a piano set up where he played one note and it was the start of one of his songs, like Kiss, and then he played another note and it was the start of another song, like Raspberry Beret.  Then he got up from the piano and kicked the stool back and shouted “I’ve got too many hits, I’ve got too many hits!”
Another memorable one was a performance of Verdi’s Requiem, in Romsey Abbey.  Particularly the second part, Dies Irae e Tuba Mirum – hearing it in a church, with the choir, it just sounds massive.
Third is Doors Alive, who take the term cover band to another level.  Obviously they’re playing The Doors, but then they dress like The Doors, and they all have  period correct instruments as well.  And in between the songs the Scottish singer was speaking just like Jim Morrison.  They kept the act going for two hours.

Steve Porte Photo of the Week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently spotted keeping Siem Reap weird – Max Jones appears at The Harbour open mic, 12 October 2022

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See you around the traps.
your correspondent,

 

 

Guillermo Wheremount
LengPleng.com
gigs@lengpleng.com (mailto:gigs@lengpleng.com)

Weekly Gig Guide – week commencing Thursday 20 October 2022

** 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*

  • Khmer music night with Pha and Theng, 6.30 pm, Botanico
  • Asian pop night with Pristine & Vixal, 6.30 pm, Elephant Bar
  • Chor Yee Trio, 7 pm, Bouchon Wine Bar
  • (TBA), 7 pm, Craft
  • Joe Wrigley & Marianna Hensley, 7 pm, The Vine **
  • Diego Dimarques, 7 pm, Villa D (Siem Reap) **
  • Andy Luna, 7 pm, Nicky’s (Siem Reap)
  • Kevin Sysyn, 7.30 pm, The Big Easy
  • Sam’s open mic hosted by Max Pires and house band Visa Runners, 7.30 pm, Sam’s **
  • Acoustic open mic, 8 pm, 308 Electric Kitchen **
  • House band, 8 pm, Secrets **
  • Hyperion, 8 pm, Rokku **
  • Second anniversary party for The Wildmen featuring Those Handsome Devils, Giuliano Turello Trio, Scapegoat Candy, Electric Soup, Son Sabor Latin Trio, Jam-Cha and The Wildmen, 8 pm, The Harbour (Siem Reap)
  • blender, 10 pm, Oscar’s on the Corner  **

Coming soon:

  • The Blue Souls, 7 pm, 28 October, Craft
  • Khmer Magic Music Bus, 7 pm, 28 October, Craft
  • Halloween metal show with As The Heart Betrays, Nightmare A.D. and Doch Chkae, 8 pm, 28 October, Cloud
  • The Hook, 9 pm, 28 October, Duplex
  • Frisco Tony & the Gangstas of Love, 8.30 pm, 29 October, Meta House
  • Spiked Gravy, Psykic Elektric & Soselo Summer, 8 pm, 29 October, The Deck
  • Alli G & The Quilas, 10 pm, 29 October, Oscar’s on the Corner
  • Those Handsome Devils, 9 pm, 29 October, The Harbour (Siem Reap)
  • Nico Thomas, 7 pm, 29 October, Kep Natural (Kep)
  • Mimi & the Merrymakers, 4 pm, 30 October, Farm To Table

 

By Weekly Wrap