With
Khmer New Year hitting the music scene this weekend,
the annual
exodus of city-dwellers will
mean that many Phnom
Penh venues will
close. There will,
however, be a great selection of gigs happening on the south coast as
well as business as
usual at a few of Jack's more
familiar Phnom
Penh haunts.
![]() |
Ian Anderson - Photo: Steve Goodman |
Sharky
Bar
sees
the
return of Ian
'Screamin'
Delta'
Anderson
with two special
gigs on Friday and Saturday nights.
Sharky's
eloquently
describe the brace of shows as 'One
night punk, one night drunk...
Ian Rowlett
Anderson returns to Phnom Penh to play classic
70's punk
with The Stiff Little Punks and reunite with his old band The Lazy
Drunks to play rock
and blues
covers'.
Ian is a legendary figure among Phnom Penh expats and one of the
initiators of the expat music scene. You can read a lot more about
the background of 'Ian the Punk' in Julien
Poulson's 'Unauthorised Account' written for Leng
Pleng.
Also check out Scott
Bywater's
first-hand account of his
times with the
Crazyhead and
Swamp Delta
lead singer in part one of An Interview with Scott Bywater.
The perennially-great Bob
Passion
and his band The
Lop Lops
will provide support to
The Stiff Little Punks
at Sharky's
on Friday – followed by the reformed Lazy
Drunks
performance on Saturday night.
![]() |
Oscar - https://www.facebook.com/oscar.cambodia?fref=ts |
The
Khmer New Year party celebrations start early on Saturday afternoon
at Showbox with Psychesonica
playing a special gig in the beer garden. This new band is a
collaboration between music scene aficionados Jet
Odrerir,
RJ Marshall,
Brentrix
and Boom Baar.
The guys are going for a tripped-out, psychedelic rock sound - which
should go down well with some cold beer and sunshine at the very cool
arts and music hub that is Showbox.
Later
on at Oscar 51,
Joe
Wrigley,
Chris
Hilleary
and, the main man himself,
Oscar
host a Music
Jam
Party.
Oscar will be celebrating both Khmer New Year and his triumph in
keeping the live music venue open despite a few recent setbacks
(flooding, exploding equipment etc). Rumoured special guests at the
party include Kristen
Rasmussen,
the spectacularly-voiced lead singer of Mekong
Blues Messengers.
![]() |
Phil Javelle - www.kenedgar.com |
Phillipe Javelle
and Lewis Pragasam
are keeping the
music
smooth on Sunday night with another Velvet
session
at Riverhouse
Asian Bistro.
These exemplary musicians go together like hand in glove. Phil's left
hand does all the work of a bass-guitarist – on a funky little bass
synth – while his right hand creates exquisite chords and melody on
the piano. He also sings at the same time. Meanwhile, the
drum sticks of his
partner Lewis fly
around
the entire
kit.
The
master
of
percussion switches effortlessly
between different rhythms and cues, from bar to bar and beat to beat,
always grinning with enjoyment and providing
constant driving musical momentum. These guys can make more great
music as a duo than most groups can manage as a three, four or
five-piece. They are joined on Sunday by the beautiful SufiahNoor –
jazz and soul diva, model and 'Malaysian Idol' TV show finalist.
![]() |
Sufiah Noor |
Those
heading to the coast this holiday season are well-advised to make the
journey to The Barn at Otres
Market in Sihanoukville on
Tuesday evening. An excellent line-up of bands includes The Kampot Playboys,
Woody Dares and The Western Toners
and Sinville
Roadshow.
The Playboys are a truly innovative Khmer-rock fusion band making
their first appearance in the port-city this year. Woody has an
excellent rockabilly punk vibe, while Sinville
Roadshow
boast Sihanoukville's best-kept secret – Tiffany
X.
The Californian rock and soul singer has the kind of voice that stops
traffic and conversations and
will
bring
anyone within earshot running toward the stage. Tickets
for Tuesday's show are available for $3 in advance at Wish You Were Here
on Otres Beach, $5 on the door at The Barn.
Before
Jack once
again jumps
on his 50cc Honda and goes boldly forth around the traps of Phnom
Penh, it
is
time to have a look at a couple of videos featuring this week's
returning musical legend, Ian
'Screamin'
Delta'
Anderson.
Firstly,
the latest release from his current band Swamp
Delta,
'Cut Loose'. Viewers
may find some scenes disturbing. Just in case you were thinking 'wow,
Ian Anderson has really let himself go...' – be assured that the
star of the video is in fact 'The Oldest Rocker in LA', 'Johnno'...
...and
finally a quick reminder of The
Lazy Drunks
in action at Sharky's.
Wherever you spend Khmer New Year,
enjoy yourself and see you around the traps.
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