“In space, race doesn’t matter, nationality doesn’t matter. In space, you see the world as a globe and you don’t see the boundaries.”
…..
You could say the same thing about music, and Cambodian Space Project are certainly a band seeing beyond nationalities and boundaries. After a chance meeting with renowned White Stripes producer Jim Diamond in Detroit last year, they decided to bring him on board for this new album, and the change has had tangible results. Electric Blue Boogaloo is a rock ‘n’ roll rollercoaster from start to finish. It’s difficult to give you a track-by-track review because the current titles are working ones only and may change by the time the album comes out in October. But Diamond’s influence rings out on every tune. Recorded in France, the album combines Diamond’s Detroit background with experiences from the band’s travels through Mexico, Europe, the US and Cambodia.
As always, there’s a distinctive ‘60s feel throughout, from those Manzarek-style keyboards to guitar that one minute evokes Link Wray, the next minute Glen Pragnell (Groovy Uncle) and, on more than one track, the amazing Stacy Sutherland. And the 13th Floor Elevators reference doesn’t end there. Two tracks, on which lead singer Kak Chanthy takes a back seat on vocals (working titles: Dirty Filthy Mud and Get On This Plane), transport you back to seedy bars in mid-‘60s Texas. You could almost be listening to that very first psychedelic band. But the mainstay of CSP has always been Chanthy’s soaring Khmer vocals and they again stand out throughout in a mix of Detroit, Phnom Penh and San Francisco. In Crunchy Khmer, the singer’s sense of humour shines through and you know this was as much fun to make as it is to listen to.
Il Sai Troppo Langa is pure Country & Western and you half expect John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd to appear, brandishing bullwhips and screaming ‘Rawhide!’ He’s Not There signals Thy’s return to lead vocals in a melodic flashback to 1960s Phnom Penh. Close your eyes and she’s grooving on stage in a psychedelic flower-power dress.
Demon Lover is more down-tempo and emotional. Translated, I wonder, will Chanthy’s lyrics match the way my mind interprets her words? Those Manzarek keyboards are at play again, a sound that sends shivers down my spine every time; the album’s ‘lighter-in-the-air’ moment, perhaps? This album is CSP’s best work to date and my review copy has been on repeat for weeks. With the band confirmed for Womad and Glastonbury 2015, I can’t be wrong.
Their next project, however, could go either way. I’ve never been a fan of rock operas (the one exception: Tommy), but that’s exactly the destination for Hanuman Spaceman, an ambitious piece of multimedia music theatre. It’s the tale of a space monkey that finds Soviet-era space junk in Cambodia and begins a quest to be the first monkey on the moon. The concept also reflects Chanthy’s personal journey, and draws both on ancient texts and modern pop culture.
Seize a rare local opportunity to catch CSP live on the second night of the Dara Puspita exhibition at Space Four Zero, which opens 6pm September 18. The Indonesian forerunner of Pussy Riot, Dara Puspita (‘Flower Girls’) were an all-girl group in the 1960s considered so shocking that then-President Sukarno labelled them “mentally deranged”, “Western imperialists”. Forced into exile in Europe, they were signed to Decca by a former Beatles manager; the first Southeast Asian band to crack the continent.
WHO: Cambodian Space Project
WHAT: Electric Blue Boogaloo
WHERE: Space Four Zero, #40 Street 118
WHEN: 8pm September 19
WHY: There are no boundaries in space