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.
Showing posts with label Mekong Pirates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mekong Pirates. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
‘I do like Mondays...’ - 21 June 2010
Guest report from Laurence W. Talbot on the Memphis Fete de la Musique ... thanks and more please!
Monday night in Memphis (Phnom Penh not Tennessee!), and a packed house of sweaty patrons swayed, rocked, rolled and jigged to the musical feast for the ears and eyes that was ‘Fete de la Musique’ Memphis 2010. Hosts Bona and Mel were rushing around, ensuring that all the acts had a great sound and that all, audience and performers alike, were kept well refreshed for the evening’s entertainment. We even got to sing a raucous version of ‘happy birthday’ to Mel to help her celebrate being another year older as midnight rolled us into the next day…. But first let’s go back in time just a few hours….
First to grace the fantastic new stage in Memphis was ‘The Minstrel from Russia’. Introduced in effusive style by Rosanna, our compere for the evening. Sergey eased the eager crowd into the nights festivities with a set of immaculately fingerpicked guitar tunes, showcasing his consummate skills on the fretboard. He was followed by Skip, former frontman with UK 80’s new wave band Radio City, who clearly hasn’t lost any of his punk energy as he powered through a short sharp blast of a solo set of his own compositions that threatened to raise the roof clean off the bar. The musical mood changed with the arrival of Kheltica and their engaging hybrid of Celtic influences, but the energy levels remained the same and outbreaks of jigging and reeling greeted their spirited renditions of traditional Celtic folk tunes. After a short break to draw breath, the stage was then boarded by a shipful of Mekong Pirates, who sent the audience into happy delirium with their unique blend of Mekong-flavored funky snaky rhythms. Memphis main man Bona stepped up to add some tasty licks to several numbers, including a driving version of Cambodian rock classic Cyclo. Compere Rosanna showed her eclectic side with a rap number leading into an accapella version of Amazing Grace during the band changeover, then Section 5 maintained the energy levels with a set of classic rock covers matched by a great visual presence that kept the floor moving . They were followed by Srey Nuch and band – they struck me as being a Cambodian version of early Blondie, an authentic 60’s based girl group sound with a raw edge and a very formidable front person in the striking Srey Nuch… very impressive indeed. Memphis’ very own Rock Xpress took to the stage in the early hours to bring the evening to a rousing climax, Dani leading the charge with a selection of songs by Pink Floyd and Deep Purple, then Bona calling Skip back to the stage for some powerhouse blues a la Plant and Page and ending with a screamingly hard version of Born to be Wild that set the seal on another wonderful night of music in the Penh. Go to the Memphis Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143658111966&v=photos&ref=ts) to see Ramona’s cool photos of Monday night in Memphis.
Laurence W. Talbot
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, May 31, 2010
FTA back on the beat ... 28 - 29 May
Friday night was a mixture of the new and the old. The Velkommen Inn hosted Bayon Blues, with the acoustic blues fireworks of Little Duke, the sensational Kristin on vocals, and the everywhere-at-once Bong Thom squeezing and bending away on the harmonica. Good old traditional blues, played damn well - a nice clean crisp sound. You can be forgiven for wondering if you're in Phnom Penh at all. Then it was a short step up the river to the Chinese House where the Mekong Pirates juggernaut were making their presence felt. A huge crowd helped set the night alight, but it turns out I missed some serious wildness at the end of the night by succumbing to the need to sleep and heading home early.
On Saturday night Chinese House again the venue of choice. The Bong Thom dot Com tenth anniversary party featured four bands: Bayon Blues, the Hellhounds, the Cambodian Space Project and the debut of Espresso Thmei (technically just the CSP pocket-size edition, showcasing Srey Thy's vocals with acoustic guitar and a little harmonica). The Hounds stuck to the straight and narrow with guest Canadian Dave on bass, and the CSP continued to refine its post-electric sound, with Bong Sak on a smaller but no less effective drumkit, and encouraging to the front the clarinet of Bun Hong.
So here's the call, people: please send in gig reports, let us all know where it's happening and who's doing it. It was great to see writeups from new contributors at the end of last month, keep them coming. See you next weekend somewhere.
On Saturday night Chinese House again the venue of choice. The Bong Thom dot Com tenth anniversary party featured four bands: Bayon Blues, the Hellhounds, the Cambodian Space Project and the debut of Espresso Thmei (technically just the CSP pocket-size edition, showcasing Srey Thy's vocals with acoustic guitar and a little harmonica). The Hounds stuck to the straight and narrow with guest Canadian Dave on bass, and the CSP continued to refine its post-electric sound, with Bong Sak on a smaller but no less effective drumkit, and encouraging to the front the clarinet of Bun Hong.
So here's the call, people: please send in gig reports, let us all know where it's happening and who's doing it. It was great to see writeups from new contributors at the end of last month, keep them coming. See you next weekend somewhere.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Geckos and then Kep: 2 - 3 April
This quieter weekend began as late as Friday night, with the return to the stage of D'Sco: The Geckos of Love. We've been spending a lot of time as a mercenary rhythm section for several Phnom Penh bands all over the place, and it was time to get our Gecko on. Chinese House was the location, the crowd was belatedly good, and if my guitar had played ball and not got all noisy on me it would have been just completely swell. As it was we ripped through most of our old favourites, even including a special tribute to Lou Reed who almost played the Velkommen Inn the previous evening. Shame about that aircraft overbooking. And only one broken string! It was a fun night.
On Saturday night the Mekong Pirates stormed the Kukuluku bastille for a benefit for the Kep Ecole de Francaise, and put on a fine show with lots of dancing (well, eventually) with the depleted horn section being balanced by the augmented guitar line up - for one tune they even had 3 guitars at once, a veritable CSP manoeuver. I know it's my personal preference, but in the midst of all that reggae there's a very fine funk band struggling to get some oxygen. A couple of good sweaty sets were topped off with up to eight people pushing on with an extended group percussion jam.
Let's hope the music drought breaks with the New Year and the rains ....
On Saturday night the Mekong Pirates stormed the Kukuluku bastille for a benefit for the Kep Ecole de Francaise, and put on a fine show with lots of dancing (well, eventually) with the depleted horn section being balanced by the augmented guitar line up - for one tune they even had 3 guitars at once, a veritable CSP manoeuver. I know it's my personal preference, but in the midst of all that reggae there's a very fine funk band struggling to get some oxygen. A couple of good sweaty sets were topped off with up to eight people pushing on with an extended group percussion jam.
Let's hope the music drought breaks with the New Year and the rains ....
Monday, February 15, 2010
Happy New Year of the Tiger: 11 - 14 February
The long long weekend began with The Hellhounds on Thursday night at Sharky Bar. Another in a series of incremental changes to the sound, as the rhythm section gets to know the material and begins to take liberties, funking things up a bit and getting a bit of wildfire tearing through the list. We had a most vociferous and indulging crowd along, encouraging us to put that extra bit in (and I'm not just talking about the bluecheese and bacon burgers).
On Friday night the Lazy Jazz Drunks returned to the stage -- the first gig since the gunshot -- playing a birthday party at the Pickled Parrot. With the assistance of a prepared-beforehand setlist, and despite the insane new year traffic and the lack of a guitar strap for Tall Tom, and with the Swedish Ambassador on bass rather than keyboard, we burst into action with a good sound (applause at the soundcheck!) and a dancing crowd for a couple of decent sets until the PA speakers unexpectedly gave up about 20 minutes too early. Still, it was fun while it lasted.
But then things got really serious -- I hopped on a moto down to Tamarind on 240 Street, where the Mekong Pirates were crammed into a tiny space for a special send-off concert for Marion and Dom. Even unamplified the size of the group means the sound is big. They'd been playing for a while by the time I got there, and the place was rocking. Dancers were shaking and swaying in the narrow space between the band and the wall, drinkers were sneaking inbetween the dancers and the band to get to the bar, the crowd spilled out into the street. Funky Phnom Penh indeed!
Then the Cambodian Space Project hit the road on Saturday for the Lunar New Year, heading south down into Takeo Province to a small village to play a ricefield special. A huge wedding PA was brought in for the occasion, food and beer laid on and we were generally treated royally. Srey Thy was not so well, but soldiered on for a long set that in the absence of our usual three-strong guitar army found me playing six-string, and I proceeded to pull out some Chic-like funky rhythms over the dub reggaeish grooves. And in a new first, we added The Breton Bandit on piano accordion, and even had Godfather L, carried away by the excitement and the anonymity, making an unexpected return to the stage after 20 years of avoidance. But what happens in the ricefield stays in the ricefield.
D'Sco: The Geckos of Love, with bonus guest drummer Bong Sak, then tore up the night with a prolonged bluesrock bashing interspersed with growling sweetnesses to the general bewilderment of the crowd, the Swedish Ambassador pumping out some hot licks and tasty wah-wah.
On Sunday we stayed on the road, heading out to Chroy Chongvar to play a great big extravagant birthday party. A timely visit to the doctor had Srey Thy raring to go, even pushing the tempos along aggressively. Tired but rejuvenated by an enthusiastic and audience (there was even some very brave interpretive dance going on during Whisky Cambodia, good to see) we played long and hard and … actually, we just had a bloody good time. We dispersed into the night in three tuktuks, with The Breton Bandit squeezebox-serenading us across the Japanese Bridge, and the PA truck loaded to the sky with well-travelled gear, and came to land at a little place on 172 Street where I eventually left the crew to their own devices. Unfortunately, some of us have day jobs.
Here's looking forward to the Space Mission to Kep next weekend, and the return of The Lovely Irene.
Happy new year of the Tiger, let it be a bold and courageous one.
On Friday night the Lazy Jazz Drunks returned to the stage -- the first gig since the gunshot -- playing a birthday party at the Pickled Parrot. With the assistance of a prepared-beforehand setlist, and despite the insane new year traffic and the lack of a guitar strap for Tall Tom, and with the Swedish Ambassador on bass rather than keyboard, we burst into action with a good sound (applause at the soundcheck!) and a dancing crowd for a couple of decent sets until the PA speakers unexpectedly gave up about 20 minutes too early. Still, it was fun while it lasted.
But then things got really serious -- I hopped on a moto down to Tamarind on 240 Street, where the Mekong Pirates were crammed into a tiny space for a special send-off concert for Marion and Dom. Even unamplified the size of the group means the sound is big. They'd been playing for a while by the time I got there, and the place was rocking. Dancers were shaking and swaying in the narrow space between the band and the wall, drinkers were sneaking inbetween the dancers and the band to get to the bar, the crowd spilled out into the street. Funky Phnom Penh indeed!
Then the Cambodian Space Project hit the road on Saturday for the Lunar New Year, heading south down into Takeo Province to a small village to play a ricefield special. A huge wedding PA was brought in for the occasion, food and beer laid on and we were generally treated royally. Srey Thy was not so well, but soldiered on for a long set that in the absence of our usual three-strong guitar army found me playing six-string, and I proceeded to pull out some Chic-like funky rhythms over the dub reggaeish grooves. And in a new first, we added The Breton Bandit on piano accordion, and even had Godfather L, carried away by the excitement and the anonymity, making an unexpected return to the stage after 20 years of avoidance. But what happens in the ricefield stays in the ricefield.
D'Sco: The Geckos of Love, with bonus guest drummer Bong Sak, then tore up the night with a prolonged bluesrock bashing interspersed with growling sweetnesses to the general bewilderment of the crowd, the Swedish Ambassador pumping out some hot licks and tasty wah-wah.
On Sunday we stayed on the road, heading out to Chroy Chongvar to play a great big extravagant birthday party. A timely visit to the doctor had Srey Thy raring to go, even pushing the tempos along aggressively. Tired but rejuvenated by an enthusiastic and audience (there was even some very brave interpretive dance going on during Whisky Cambodia, good to see) we played long and hard and … actually, we just had a bloody good time. We dispersed into the night in three tuktuks, with The Breton Bandit squeezebox-serenading us across the Japanese Bridge, and the PA truck loaded to the sky with well-travelled gear, and came to land at a little place on 172 Street where I eventually left the crew to their own devices. Unfortunately, some of us have day jobs.
Here's looking forward to the Space Mission to Kep next weekend, and the return of The Lovely Irene.
Happy new year of the Tiger, let it be a bold and courageous one.
Monday, January 18, 2010
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.
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.
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