If the news of some
recent venue closures, as mentioned in last week's wrap, prompted any
chin-stroking ruminations on the state of the Phnom Penh music
scene... stop stroking immediately! The rest of the world is still
determined to get involved with the singularly awesome musical
melting pot happening right now in Cambodia. Let us look over a few
highlights from Timothy's glorious bag of weekly wonders:
Karen Keziah
is a fantastic
singer-songwriter hailing
from Manila, Phillipines.
She plays a special one-off show tonight at Equinox.
Head down there to hear an
independent spirit delivering soulful,
melodious pop tunes with a folk edge. Check out the video below.
While watching a gig in
Phnom Penh last week, I was puzzled to see a young lady setting her
smartphone down on the stage in front of the band. I first assumed
that she was attempting to shoot a video of the band's performance
from a very artistic angle. I then realised that she was committing a
'dancefloor selfie' – recording herself and her friend as they
cavorted around. If anyone decides to do that at one of my gigs I
will grab the smartphone and put a stop to it immediately... and if I
catch sight of a 'selfie stick' at a gig I will not be held
responsible for my actions. Phnom Penh gig-goers have the chance to
be a part of a real movie this Friday night at Sharky Bar,
when French punk-rocker
Didier Wampas will be
filming his show for DVD release. Pogo-ing
and 'moshpit'
action is encouraged.
Ian Griffiths
is a gifted accordion player from Canada, currently
enjoying a short musical teaching and performance expedition in
Cambodia. In a moment of weakness and
against his better judgement, Ian began
to answer my calls last week. I managed
to persuade him to join
myself and rockabilly
reprobates The Jumping Jacks
for a special gig at FCC
– The Mansion on
Saturday night. I
am picturing a country music hoe-down, situated somewhere around the
Mexican border. Joe
Wrigley & The Jumping Jacks
also play Slur
Bar
on Friday night.
Space Four Zero hosts a five-year retrospective of Cambodian Space Project photography, opening 6pm Thursday (also lead singer Channty's birthday!). This party will be a prelude to an amazing CSP 5th anniversary musical adventure tour from Phnom Penh to Kampot. "It gives us a good excuse to throw a big soiree for Channthy and celebrate five amazing years of CSP" says Poulson's business partner Tony Lefferts. “We will have drinks, tunes and some killer snacks.”
Friday night also starts at Space Four Zero from 6pm-9pm and then continues at a secret riverside location with a flash mob concert from 10pm to midnight. Cambodian Space Project co-founder Julien Poulson plans the grand opening of their latest venture — The Kampot Arts and Music Association (KAMA) - this Saturday night with a concert in front of the venue at 8pm. The idea behind KAMA is to encourage representation, presentation and promotion of Cambodian talents and arts to an international market. The CSP tour will end with a grand finale at The Barn at Otres Market on Sunday night. Read a personal account of the impact of CSP in this great article written for Leng Pleng by Susan Fletcher Haythorpe, 'Moving to the Music'.
A
very groovy event will take
place on Sunday afternoon
when Lewis Pragasam
will host an informal 'drum jam' at the all-new Starworks
music
academy, based on the same site as the Lyla
Center
in Boeng
Trabek, Phnom Penh. Lewis is an international drumming and percussion
master and the founder of Starworks,
which promises to be a world-class music education and performance
facility.
The Starworks project is still very much in the early stages but you
can drop by on Sunday for a glimpse of things to come (bring
some percussion).
The
distinguished line of international bands visiting Phnom Penh is
extended
this week with the debut of The
Sleeves
at Oscar Bar (Street 104).
This band of guys from the UK are based in Hong Kong, first emerging
'from a seedy Mongkok tenement block rehearsal room in 2007'. Along
the way, the experienced indie-rockers have supported such luminaries
as Gary Numan
and Peaches.
Sleeves mainman Keith
Goodman
promises the Oscar gig to be a raucous and rocking warm-up for their
shows next
weekend at
Led Zephyr, Bodhi
Villa and
Sharky Bar.
Read more from Keith in the LengPleng Q&A.
To
round the week off in style, Gabi
Faja
returns to Doors
Phnom Penh
on Wednesday with his GTS
Jazz
trio (Gabi, Toma Willen, Seb Adnot). This awesome group of musicians
will perform 'renditions
of Jazz standards with in a classical cross-over style'. As a bonus,
the Aymen Ghali
Quintet
will also perform a Cuban-inspired set. This promises to be a really
top-drawer night of jazz.
California-based
Dengue Fever have an
excellent new album out
entitled The Deepest
Lake.
The LP has been ringing out here at Leng
Pleng Towers
all week. Check
out the video below for single 'No Sudden Moves' and, as always,
watch this space
for
an
exclusive interview and news
of the band's next trip to Cambodia.
Whatever you're up to over the next few days, stay safe out there and... see you around the traps!
CLICK HERE FOR LATEST GIGS
JOE WRIGLEY
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