= Live Music 
= DJs 
= Open Mic 
= Live Music & DJ * = International
Until very recently, I
thought that 'E.D.M.' was an acronym for some kind of shady
sado-masochistic sexual pursuit. Now, apparently, 'Electronic Dance
Music' is the term used to describe what I used to know as simply
'Dance Music' – or what a friend of mine from a different
generation still calls 'Disco'. I was born just two or three years
too late to be involved in the first rush of warehouse parties,
outdoor events and club nights that swept through the UK in the late
1980's and early 1990's – driven by DJ's spinning new, hard-edged,
electronically-produced music that could definitely not be found in
the Top 40 Chart Hits section of the local record store. Youth
culture changed radically in a short space of time. The British
Establishment became scared, laws were passed, the new youth culture
was attacked relentlessly by mainstream media. Eventually dance music
was absorbed by the global music industry, which repackaged it in a
shiny box and sold it back to the masses.
In the late 1990's I
spent my entire student loan on vinyl records. Mainly hip-hop, soul
and break-beat. It was hard to mix records on my dodgy pair of
belt-drive turntables and I never really learned how to 'scratch'. My
DJ career did not take off. Since then my proverbial finger has
become further and further removed from the proverbial pulse. I grasp
clumsily at the names of dance music sub-genres like a drunken barang
attempting to order a meal in a Khmer-speaking restaurant:
electro-clash, dub-step, dark psy-trance? I pretend to know what I'm
talking about, but it's painfully obvious to everyone around me that
I don't have a clue. That is pretty much where I'm at with EDM. But I
do like this mix from DJ Simon C Vent of Drop Dead
Disco:
Simon
will be joining DJ
Sequence and
the guys from Phnom
Penh Underground for a
big party at Code Red
this Saturday night. Unlike me, this cabal of disc
jockeys know their stuff. Check out their website. Expect a cracking
atmosphere and some huge
dance-floor tunes.
 |
| Dakta Dub - pic courtesy of artist |
Wat a Gwaan and
Yatra Productions
continue to blaze a
trail for international artists coming to tour Cambodia for
the first time. Following
successful recent gigs for Tippa Irie
and Reggae Rajahs,
this week the team bring the
self-proclaimed 'Reggae Ambassador of Indonesia' - Ras
Muhamad – to
the Kingdom. Ras is a superb
roots-reggae singer and MC
with five studio albums
under his belt. He is joined
at Slur Bar on
Friday by dub-reggae
DJ
Dakta Dub of
Hyderabad, India. The
pair travel to Kampot for a gig at Naga
House
on Saturday night, followed by a trip to Otres Beach, Sihanoukville
for a Tuesday gig at The
Barn.
Each
show should be a
great event. Check out the video below for Ras Muhamad's track 'Lion
Roar':
Another interesting party
is in store at The Rock on
Friday night when excellent
live roots-reggae band Vibratone
join fellow Phnom Penh-based
artists Sinville Roadshow,
Dirty Jacks and
Kosal Khiev for
the event Wazobia.
Headlining singers Walexy
and ConCCoins are
visiting from Australia while Trap God RFM Nation
hail from Nigeria. The night is billed as 'a night of music, comedy
and talent show'. I'm not
sure exactly what to expect from this party ('The Voice'-style
talent show?) and the live
music line-up seems
like a random selection of different styles... but I sure as hell
want to go and find out.
 |
| Vibratone - pic courtesy of artist |
Miss Sarawan
rounds off the week with an
appearance at Doors Phnom
Penh
on Wednesday. Miss
Sarawan Band is
an expanded iteration of the group featuring celebrated Cambodian
saxophonist Cheak
Bunhong together
with acoustic guitar, bass and percussion. The band perform
understated versions of classic Cambodian
'Golden Era' tunes of the 1960's and 1970's, sung
by twin
sisters Lay Mealea
and Mealai.
Whatever you're
up to over the next few days, stay safe out there and... see you around the
traps!
JOE WRIGLEY
