Catching up: 6 - 24 October 2010

Your correspondent has been in some kind of sabbatical mood for a couple of weeks, but just wants to note a few exciting developments and events that have taken place recently.

The first is the sudden appearance (at Setsara Sessions just before Pchum Ben) of the cool gypsy jazz duo Balgass (Seb and Deb), who walked out of the night and into the open mic and were quickly snapped up by clever bar managers all over the city.  They have since played Equinox, Chinese House and Paddy Rice, making a particular impact at Equinox on Thursday nights providing live music for swing dancing; they also picked up a bass player along the way.  They are only here for a limited time so catch them if you can.

Also on the list are the Eastern Jazz Brigade - a crowd of faces familiar to PP music fans -- who have been pumping out some inspired post-bop jazz at places like Gasolina, Equinox and Le Jardin, and soon at Chinese House.

I also want to note the return of the Mekong Pirates after a four-month absence (some of which has been taken up working on a CD - check out http://mprecordingsessions.blogspot.com for a technically dense but humorous and rewarding story of the difficulties encountered in trying to overcome Cambodian recording conditions).  They played Chinese House last weekend and rocked.  I  particularly enjoyed the new cohesion in the guitar section, with some great wah-wah noise sneaking its way into the sonic mosaic. 

The Cambodian Space Project has continued to be involved in some interesting gigs, notably two gigs at the Chinese House, first as part of the Kon Khmer Kuon Khmer Golden Era of Cinema weekend, and then a mighty night to launch our 45 rpm vinyl single, Knyom Mon Sok Jet Te.  We were able to invite some of the great musicians of the vinyl era who put on a wonderful performance.  Some of the excitement was captured by Andy Brouwer.   The CSP was also involved in the Cambodian International Film Festival, surviving some spectacularly poor organisation by the events company involved to play briefly at the opening on Wednesday night and then after the closing on Sunday night outside Chaktomuk Theatre.   

See you soon.

Open mic to open mic: 15 - 22 September 2010

Way back in the middle of last week .... began the Setsara-based Phnom Penh Acoustic Sessions.  The popular Thai restaurant on Golden Street next to Equinox is catching the open-mic virus (I haven't made it to any of the others yet) and the opening night on Wednesday 15th created a great vibe from the beginning.  The proceedings were hosted, and indeed opened, by CSP leader-and-founder Julien Poulson who played a great half hour set, followed by TJ, and myself, and Expresso Thmei, and after that everything gets a bit hazy ... The Swedish Ambassador and Grizzly Adam and Bong Thom all chimed in with some accompanying guitar, bongos and harmonica, and there were different pairings and groupings throughout.  There was very quickly really nice feel and the audience were neither deafened nor deafening - the balance was good.  A special portion of the evening was Srey Thy singing accompanied only by herself on a hand-drum, which brought all the tuk-tuk drivers creeping out from the shadows to listen. 

Thursday night I had the pleasure of taking part in a theatre performance at Chenla Theatre put on by the Kok Thlok Association of Artists, whose shadow artwork currently graces the walls of Equinox.   This musical moral fable about life in contemporary Phnom Penh was part of the Lakhaon festival of Khmer theatre supported by Centre Culturel Francaise.  I joined the house band on drums for an extended nightclub scene, surrounded by musicians far superior to myself, and with whom it was a joy to work.  Look out for anything with Kok Thlok involved - you will not be disappointed.

Then Friday night the Cambodian Space Project crammed into the Alley Cat for their re-opening event, featuring some welcome renovations and a new Dallas mural, as a warm up for our official welcome home show at Equinox on Saturday night, which was an all-exploding, all-freewheeling take-no-prisoners carnival that featured drumkit damage, string breakage, vocal submersion, impromptu jamming, not enough dancing but lots of sweaty, enthusiastic punters, and a long series of encores.  Sweet exhaustion.

And now we're back to Wednesday 22nd, the second of the Setsara Acoustic Sessions, with the same cast but more - some solo from Bong Thom, the welcome appearance of Melanie, my first listens to Claire, and Scott from the Teaner Terners, and the night sealed with Julien pulling out Rocking in the free world with Melanie and Ken.   Can't wait for the next one.  And also I'm off to check out the Paddy Rice open mic tonight.

See you about. 

Last check before takeoff/Khmer assault on France: 30 - 31 July 2010

As I may have mentioned before, I just love playing for children. The Cambodian Space Project was lucky enough to be invited to play at the PSE school at Stung Meanchey again on Friday, this time for the last day of school. Two thousand singing, dancing children is about as good an audience as you're ever going to get, particularly when they know all the songs (better than we do, indeed). Srey Thy was inspired to call up Arrapiya and that got the whole crowd doing the whirlpool move, and singing louder than the band. Kids approached the stage and put paper garlands around Thy's neck.  A young brave fellow got up on stage and danced with her.  Another utterly exhilarating forty-five minutes in the life of the CSP.

La la la la ........

The evening saw a direct contrast in both directions - Green Night at Metahouse featured a poetry reading with a young American poet Aida with an atmospheric improvised backing from the Phnom Penh Hot Strings Jazz Club, and Khmer duo Srey Peu and Sinat performing some traditional material, Srey Peu singing and reading, and Sinat playing a series of the most extraordinary Khmer stringed instruments. The old blending with the new.  The Hot Strings were down to a 4-piece, sans batterie, but still made a very appealing noise. 

Then Saturday night saw the Cambodian Space Project burn down the barn at Equinox in our last gig before heading for France for 3 ½ weeks. We started early, in an attempt to get more of a Khmer crowd in … and it worked. The dance floor was full for most of the first set, complete with shrieking and laughing. The second set was quieter, leading off with a few Srey Thy showcases, then getting louder, as we are wont to do. Bong Sak took to the electronic drumkit and made it sing.  Bun Hong was in scalding hot form.  Gildas McSwashbuckle was bouncing, the Breton Bandit smoking.  Bong Ken made a late but dramatic entrance and blew us away for the last set.  And it was string-breaking night: by the time the third set was over, around 11 pm, I was down to a 4-string guitar. A great energy in the room; it was like a Dickens novel, with supporters from many different times and places coming along for the send-off.  Photos coming ......

Stay tuned to tales from the road, Following the Applause in France!

Mekong Space Poporks and more: 9 - 11 July 2010

It was as bit of a weekend for mixing it up and making it up. What with half the expat musical population out of town it was a matter of dragging together what we could. Friday night at Lotus Blanc featured two bands, in addition to the traditional Khmer music that played downstairs. The night kicked off with a stripped down jazz-heavy Los Poporks performing as a quartet, including Mr Dom on cornet. Very tasty. They then took off up to Chinese House to back harmonica player Doc Spann - any reports? Then followed the Cambodian Space Project featuring a special appearance from Davis Zunk on drums - he was there at the beginning of the CSP, and it was great to have his funky Nawlins thing rumbling away underneath. We were lucky to have a strongly Khmer audience, who got the dancing going, and kept it up enthusiastically.


Saturday night gave us one of those special happy events that happen from time to time just through wishing them up. A farewell party with some music at Equinox collided a birthday party at the same location, beginning with Phnom Penh newcomer TJ taking us through some propulsive Americana, followed by a set by Expresso Thmei, and then some unrehearsed but keen tunes sung and strummed by farewellee Adam with Mr Pink on the drums and TJ on harp. A few calls during the week had drawn together a collection of musicians from the for a jam, a band that during the afternoon was dubbed Los Cambodian Space Pirates (but was probably more accurately the Mekong Space Poporks) laying down some very cool grooves, a bit of funk here, a bit of fusion there, some blues and a couple of vocals. The only train wreck of the night was my overconfident leading of the band through The Long Division, which they had never heard, after a request from the floor. Still, we overcame that and played on until the inevitable noise reduction requests. A most successful experiment and a great crowd to watch it.

The Cambodian Space Project - sans accordion this time - was the pre-game entertainment for the World Cup final on Sunday night at La Croisette. We may or may not have delighted a group of Korean businessmen with our 60s Khmer pop, along with a collection of tourists, expats, interns and regular fans. The 10 pm start caused a bit of a hiccup, what with it being past bedtime for the Khmer band members, but before long we were bounding along at our usual gait playing songs about looking or not looking, talking or not talking, monkeys, whiskey and dancing. And another late, late night.

See you near a stage somewhere.

p.s. what was Doc Spann like? Anyone?

As the northern summer starts to bite into the local scene ... 23 - 26 June 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen, a new contender for best expat band in Cambodia ... but first a quick chroniciling of the week's CSP adventures.

Wednesday night at La Croisette, either side of 2 simultaneous football matches, the Cambodian Space Project did its thing, starting with a duo hampered by broken strings and including a flight across town for supplies, growing into a 5-piece Khmer rock'n'roll machine, that by 11.45, after a blistering second set, finally pulled to a close.  Special thanks to those who attended the first, wandered off for the football, but then returned for the second.  Such as new big fan Andy.

It was a quieter, more sedate Thursday night - Expresso Thmei at the opening of The 252, a new upmarket guesthouse on Street 252, where we played in front of a large swimming pool (which proved too tempting for one invitee) and a rather different than usual audience.  And no broken strings.  And also Andy. 

On Friday afternoon, the PSE school at Stung Meanchey had an end of year musical celebration that featured some great (and also some admittedly not so great, but heartwarmings) singing and dancing by kids of all ages.  The Cambodian Space Project was invited to headline, and it was one of the best experiences we have had, with 2,500 children dancing and singing along.  An absolutely exhilarating time, electric energy, and a chance to do those rockstar things that you are always a little embarassed to do in front of a grownup crowd.  The kids were both inspired and inspiring, and as my mate Ken said, a great view of the future of the nation. 

And now - Saturday night.   Los Poporks.  Equinox.  Fab. 

I haven't seen these guys since they opened for the CSP back in January, but they've morphed into something really special.  They played as a ten-piece - with two guitars, bass, drums, percussion, three singers, two trumpets, a flute, a keyboard, an occasional harmonica ... rambling across open fields of African beats, some deep soupy funk, some double-time French jazz, dipping into reggae and then jazz fusion ... and as a highpoint in the middle of the second set, a scandalous segue from the swinging-like-a-(expletive deleted) Take Five into a massive Whole Lotta Love without breaking stride.  Just outstanding.  The crowd stayed thick and bouncing through to the end, including two encores.  The sad part is I understand they're breaking down into something smaller for the European summer - just when they had proved themselves necessary!  Don't miss these guys the next time you have a chance. 

Also, on a non-musical note, make a point to check out Cambodian painter Dina Chhan's new exhibition (also, unrelatedly, at Equinox). 

See you around the traps. 

Photos from Java/Pirates at Equinox ...

Fabulous! 

Almost as good as being there.

Fete de la Musique dans Phnom Penh: 16 June 2010

The Centre Culturel Francais hosted a great night last night to celebrate Fete de la Musique.  Unfortunately I arrived too late to see the Khmer performers, but I managed to catch most of the set by PP favourites the Mekong Pirates (but more of them later).

The headline band, Java, played a fascinating blend of hip hop, rock, traditional French ... and a taste of most other things you could think of.  The lead singer prowled around the stage looking like a gallic Brian Johnson of AC/DC, crooning, bellowing, spluttering out rap, inciting the crowd to dance, to run to the left and to the right, to sit down ... and even went crowd surfing.  All this backed by drums, bass ... and accordion.  And it rocked.  It reminded me how important energy is in performance, and how audiences respond in kind. 

We were twisted and turned by the light show, by the shifts both stylistic and dynamic, made all the more powerful by the fact that it was drums, bass ... and accordion.  And this point was made with greatest subtlety during the evening:  "Accordion!  Sexy!  Accordion!  Sexy!"  Even the English speakers, who understood little else, got that one.  Speaking of which - I was also reminded how much better music can sound when you don't know what the words are.  The most banal and mediocre lyrics just don't matter when heard in another language. 

Java came back from an encore dressed up - the singer in some kind of papal MC outfit, and the band in long red robes that made them look distinctly like judges of the ECCC.  Just with different hair.  But that was only the beginning.  Both bands decamped to Equinox (newly fitted out with upstairs stage and sound system and noise baffling structures) where the Pirates set sail with what they do best:  tight, cramped, fighting out of the corner under power of a reggaefunkshuffle with spiky horns popping and braying, the sole vocal mic passing from hand to hand to horn to horn.  It was after midnight when Java took to the stage, launching into some progrock type funk that morphed into a rap, that morphed into ... well, you really had to be there.  It was quite a night.  Viva la musique. 

Seems to be mostly about endings: 18 - 20 March

Another blistering performance of The Hellhounds was witnessed by a select crowd at Sharky Bar last Thursday, complete with wandering/wondering wayfarer Johnny Pilgrim standing in.  A boisterous couple of sets with some new material, including a bounding Who do you love and a cheeky Women are smarter which morphed juicily into a half-remembered Iko Iko.   This effort was followed up by a surprising number of the same songs (WDYL and Folsom Prison Blues, for example) when the very same stage was taken up by some of the very same personnel in my farewell performance with the Lazy Jazz Drunks.  Ian the Punk and Tall Tom were in fine form as we jukeboxed (as noted by Mythical Dude and his compadre) our way through three sweaty sets, sometimes being a bit more jazzy than previously considered possible:  we even stumbled through an impromptu Fly me to the moon.   Helping out on a few tunes was Song, a drummer of great technical skill and demolition techniques. I slowed the tempo in the later stages to perform a short tribute to the late Alex Chilton, whose death I had heard of only that afternoon, then we ramped it up again for a big finish, drumsticks and sweat flying in all directions. 

And finally, in a weekend of endings, Saturday night saw the final Phnom Penh performance of the current line up of the Cambodian Space Project, with the Space Commander taking off for Europe for a few months.  We packed ourselves into one side of the bar at Equinox and made merry with a percussion heavy couple of hours that managed to evade the attention of the Too Loud police, although also somehow evaded the Sound Quality police as well.  Technical knowhow had established a really good sound check sound that somehow evapourated in a prolonged screech of wireless microphones, a tangle of cables and a reliance on sonic bravado so well known to the long-suffering fans and members of the CSP.  We look forward to future efforts with a greater concentration on PA mechanics and better selection of PA hiring firms.  p.s. the sound was marginally better at the final performance of the weekend, at Tassilo's wedding at the Himawari, but the curfew was even earlier. 

And so the Cambodian Space Project heads north east to the surreal island of Hong Kong ... from whence reports will emanate next week.  Which is a good time to renew my call for reviews of the shows I don't get to, or even alternate reviews of the shows that I do.  This blog oughtn't be restricted to just one view, please share your thoughts. 

Seeya when I'm back in PP.

Photo update:

Crazy headgear and funky eyewear:  Check.

Gene Kupra meets Daelim school of drumming: Check

Too-cool-for-words rhythm guitar:   Check

Guitar hero wearing orange, with bonus clarinet: Check

Self hiding from camera behind guitar hero:  Check

Glamorous lead singer:  Check

Crowd going wild:  Check

Documentary proof of the Cambodian Space Project blasting off at Equinox 4th Birthday party, 15 January. 

Photographs courtesy of Bruno "The Baron" Laurant - many thanks dude. 

From burger-fuelled hounds to a cake for a pachyderm, via piracy: 14 - 17 January

Another big weekend kicked off with the continuation of the Hellhounds' January Blue Cheese and Bacon Burger Thursdays Tour of Sharky Bar that continues to bring blues to the blue and troubles to the troubled. Canadian Dave once again sat in for the Swedish Ambassador, who was a little jet lagged and assigned to bar-propping-up duties, but did take over the drums for a few numbers in the second set. As usual the adrenalin-pumping relentless machine that is the Hellhounds chalked up a few wins and a few losses, but ended on a high, such that the Mythical Dude, he of the sweet notes and deep deep bass, was left begging for more tunes. I'm told he returned to Sharkys the next night to let his guitar gently weep and wail some more, in the presence of Lost Highway.

On Friday night Equinox held its fourth birthday party, kicking off the show with a singer/guitarist whose name I didn't catch, followed by the debut of a brand new band (some familiar faces, and some new) Cacash and Los Poporks: bass, drums and percussion, keyboard, trumpet, flute, guitar and Satchmo-meets-Serge Gainsbourg vocals. They gave us a kind of jazz/funk stew that ranged from French-ish Django-ish standards at high speed to a very funky reading of a Herbie Hancock tune, the title of which escaped me then and continues to elude me.

Hot on the heels of Los Poporks came the Cambodian Space Project. Unfortunately we started without soundchecking, and encountered the familiar problem of getting the vocal to soar above the psychedelia. Our in-house carney-barker, Aussie Ken, kept the patter up while we twiddled knobs, switched cables, spluttered and swore. Once we solved the volume issue (unfortunately shedding some cosmonauts along the way), however, the rocket took off with resounding force, and the crowd -- which was substantial, and had been blocking tuktuk passage along Golden Street for a few hours already -- only seemed to get larger and louder. Charlie Wat Phnom pushed the groove along , The Lovely Irene made her electric debut with a blue guitar with go-faster white stripes, and Srey Thy charmed the assembled throng once again.

The crowd -- and the band -- was even larger and even louder the following night when the Mekong Pirates played FCC, their final gig with this line-up as guitarist Marion is returning to France. Once again pushing physical boundaries of the stage, the Pirates kept playing and playing until half the audience was dancing. I love the swing and sway of the Phnom Penh Horns, the rhythmic interplay of the drums and percussion, the bouncing of Gildas McSwashbuckle, the Apsaric sway of Mom … we were also treated to a brass invasion of the dance floor, and some thumping funk headed by guest The Fabulous Ms Esther.

But still the weekend was not over. Sambo the elephant turned 50, and a party was held at Wat Phnom, somewhat to her bewilderment I expect. Even more to her bewilderment was the appearance of a six-piece acoustic version of the Cambodian Space Project, leading the singing of Happy Birthday before launching into a last-minute rewrite in the form of I'm 50 (and boy is it hard to sing "haksep chnam" twice fast without spitting). After the cake cutting, the CSP reassembled for some more tunes, surrounded by a crowd of mostly Khmer onlookers.

So now I've finally achieved one of my childhood dreams: to play drums for Khmer tunes at an elephant's birthday party wearing a pink t-shirt.

See you soon -- watch out for Cambodian Space Project special Australia Day show at Snowy's over the river.