Leng Pleng - Live Music and DJ Gig Guide of Cambodia: Weekly Wrap

Weekly Wrap - Commencing Thursday the 23rd June 2016

Another week and yet another small-but-perfectly-formed collection of superb shows beckons to live gig goers in Phnom Penh and Cambodia. Read on to discover some of the highlights.

Hepi is a cool cat. pic: David Flack

Hepi Starr is an unassuming musician of astounding ability, thus far flying 'under the radar' within the small expat scene of Phnom Penh. Hepi sings and plays classic 1960's and 1970's pop with incredible accuracy. If you have ever sat down at the piano or with a guitar and tried to figure out a Beatles song, you will know how hard it can be to get all the details right – the unusual chord voicings, melodies and harmonies that are so often overlooked by cover song merchants. This is because Paul McCartney is a genius songwriter with the ability to distil complex ideas into a small and simple form – anybody can sing a Beatles song, but it can be very hard to cover a Beatles song accurately. You can hear Hepi Starr do it 'the right way' at The Alley Cat Cafe this Friday night.

Voting to Remain within the E.U. (Electrick Universe) on Friday

James Speck, Nico Mesterharm and Tim King will be stepping 'through the looking glass' on Friday as they take their band Electrick Universe on a journey to another dimension. Sounds crazy? - it is! The experimental electronic music trio will be playing a show at Meta House while their 'avatar' alter egos are simultaneously streamed into a specially-created 'virtual nightclub' via 3rdrockgrid.com. Anyone can make an avatar account at the website and log-in to hop://grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002/King/170/65/15 on Friday night to check out the show. Gig-goers at the actual, real-life Meta House will witness all of this transpiring and will also be able to take part in the show's third dimension: an on-site web-cam connected to a real-time animation sequence will transpose your face into one of the Electrick Universe robot characters!

3D animation guru and former Ukes of Hazard frontman James Speck contacted Leng Pleng to explain all the details, set-up and concepts that will make the Electrick Universe Meta House show something very new and unique in Cambodia. Due to the very limited brain capacity of this correspondent, the process did take some considerable time and we are still not 100% sure of the exact workings of the show (entitled and themed Rain – after the recent period of drought during which the concept was conceived). However, we are sure that Rain at Meta House on Friday will be something very cool, original and fun.

Cool Dudes: (l-r) Scoddy, Chuck and Adrien – pic: Jim Heston

Rush Pub is a bijou backstreet bar on Street 282 in Phnom Penh. While it is not known for scheduled gigs, the venue is a popular after-hours hangout for musicians and artists and has been the scene of many an impromptu jam session. This Saturday night, Rush celebrates it's first anniversary, and the bar is likely to be very packed and very happening. In good ol' Phnom Penh style, Scott Bywater will be joined by his musical partners Chuck Villar and Adrien Gayraud for a concert of original songs, after which... anything could happen!

Cambodian Space Project band leader Julien Poulson contacted Leng Pleng this week to share a very cool videograph from their recent recording sessions at 60 Road Studios in Siem Reap. Click the link below to watch what happened when the whole studio got involved in a lively cover of 'Proud Mary'. Watch this Leng Pleng space to hear more exciting Space Project news next week – concerning Kosmic Kows, secret locations and brand new music videos.