Category: Night & Day

FRIDAY 23 | Born in Barbados to English parents and having spent her formative years in Kenya before graduating from London’s much-admired Central St Martins University of the Arts, this elegant chanteuse cuts quite the dash on the runway. But it’s what’s underneath – namely, her vocal chords – that really quickens the pulse. “Music in Barbados is a big deal,” says Rhiannon Johnson. “In the Caribbean, it’s a huge part of their culture. Once a year, we’d have this big festival to celebrate the end of the crops and sugar cane; it’s called Crop Over. Listening to the radio and singing was always a huge part of my life, but it wasn’t until I got to school in Kenya that I got the chance to focus on it. It felt great: it was me coming out of myself. I’d only ever sung by myself in the shower.” From singing in the shower to fronting Cambodia’s rowdiest funk band, tonight she takes centre stage at The Groove, conjuring jazz and soul with the help of Barry Spiers (keys) and Ritchy Boisson (drums).

WHO: Rhiannon Johnson Trio
WHAT: Jazz and soul
WHERE: The Groove, Terrazza, #1c Street 282
WHEN: 9pm August 23 & 28
WHY: One of the city’s most silken crooners

SATURDAY 24 | He’s been nominated for nine Grammys; shared Newark Festival’s stage with the Rolling Stones’ Mick Taylor; is signed by legendary bass player Andy Fraser of Free fame – and, in his native UK, he’s barely old enough to vote. Tobi Earnshaw, just 18 and already being critically compared to rock monoliths John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton, is rather more boy-next-door than such accolades might imply. Until, that is, his fingertips meet the strings of a guitar. The only artist handpicked by Fraser for his label Mctrax international, Tobi is poised to release his second album while he’s in Phnom Penh this week for his first tour of Asia. Cornered recently by The Advisor to talk man-crushes, the strange bathroom habits of the man responsible for 1970 hit All Right Now, and being called by dmme.net the ‘British answer to Justin Bieber’, Tobi had this to say: “As a musician I’m really critical, so if I was asked to define myself I don’t know; I just sort of sing a melody and try to stay in tune! There are pop magazines who say: ‘We won’t take you because you’re too blues for us.’ Then there are blues magazines that say: ‘We won’t take you because you’re not blues enough.’ I’ve had interviews with MOBO… and there’s something else I was going to say but I’ve completely forgotten what. I’m having a senior moment and I’m only 18! I’ve been doing radio interviews all week and this keeps happening; it’s ridiculous!” Bless.

WHO: Tobi
WHAT: “Likened to John Mayer and Robin Thicke, TOBI is actually right in the middle of the two, with a smooth sound enriched by perfect guitar sweeps.” – Music-News.com
WHERE: Memphis Pub, Street 118 & Sisowath Quay
WHEN: 10pm August 24
WHY: “Having Tobi not only on the Grammy eligibility list but in multiple categories is confirmation of my initial instincts that here is a new, young artist to be reckoned with” – Andy Fraser

SUNDAY 25 | More than 2,000 years ago, in 121 BC, Emperor Wu of China’s Han dynasty was devastated by the untimely death of one of his favourite concubines. ‘The sound of her silk skirt has stopped,’ the emperor, an accomplished poet, wrote of Li Fu-ren. ‘On the marble pavement dust grows. Her empty room is cold and still. Fallen leaves are piled against the doors. How can I bring my aching heart to rest?’ Grief-stricken, the emperor implored his court officials to bring his lover back to life. Legend has it that, inspired by the lively shadows cast by children playing with dolls inside the court, one of Wu’s aides crafted a perfect replica of the concubine out of leather. Holding the figure in front of an oil lamp, he gently manipulated its limbs to make it ‘dance’. The emperor was delighted – and shadow puppetry was born. “Shadow puppetry is powerful and mysterious in its immateriality, capturing the imagination of people for thousands of years,” says Master Shadow Puppeteer Mann Kosal, one of a new generation of guardians. “Even within the structured storylines, every performance leaves room for improvisation. This allows the art form to remain a relevant, living part of the culture of the time, able to respond to the contemporary needs of the population.” Known as sbaek in Khmer, the puppets are chiselled by hand out of tanned cow hide using traditional methods. Plays are performed as homage to Buddha, the Hindu gods and the ancestral spirits they depict, and as a vehicle for communication with them – the point being to elevate both performers and the audience to ‘a higher level’. Screenings of The Battle To Rebuild Sbaek Thom and Puppets Beyond Borders explore this ancient art.

WHO: Shadow puppets
WHAT: The Battle To Rebuild Sbaek Thom and Puppets Beyond Borders screening
WHERE: Meta House, #37 Sothearos Blvd.
WHEN: 7pm August 25
WHY: Khmer entertainment from the ‘Golden Era’

TUESDAY 27 | Arizona survivor Tommy Dean “upgraded” to Australia 20 years ago and has since become one of Down Under’s most cherished stand-ups. He’s been described by the Sydney Morning Herald as having ‘more spin’ than cricket legend Shane Warne and has rubbed professional shoulders with comedy doyens Tim Alan and Rosie O’Donnell. “Not your stereotypical Yank, this is an American who eats Vegemite and understands cricket,” says fellow comic Jonathan Atherton, who helped launch the Comedy Club Cambodia. “His comedy is intelligent, insightful and as sharp as a tack.” Jetting in from the US to join Dean is Bob Kuboka, a journalism student-turned-stand-up from Arizona whose sly take on his own ethnicity is one of the most popular features of his act. Warming up the crowds for these international names are local comics Scotty Muldoon (UK), Laura J Snook (UK) and Sam Thomas (US). Bring your humeris.

WHO: Tommy Dean (AU) and Bob Kuboka (US) plus Scotty Muldoon (UK), Laura J Snook (UK) and Sam Thomas (US)
WHAT: Comedy Club
WHERE: Pontoon, Street 172
WHEN: 8:30pm August 27
WHY: Funny people doing what they do best

WEDNESDAY 28 | Forty per cent of Cambodian Space Project go their own way in the form of Espresso Thmei tonight to offer a fresh spin on a familiar sound.

WHO: Scott Bywater and Srey Thy
WHAT: Espresso Thmei
WHERE: Equinox, Street 278
WHEN: 9pm August 28
WHY: A fresh spin on the Cambodian Space Project sound

SUNDAY 18 | High-art demigod, consummate businessman or something else altogether? Andy Warhol, commercial illustrator turned controversial soup-can painter, was the greatest artist of the late 20th century – at least that’s the proposition filmmaker Ric Burns examines in his four-hour critical biography of the godfather of pop art. The documentary is peppered with eloquent observations by the likes of Laurie Anderson, Salvador Dali, Jeff Koons and Dennis Hopper. After the screening, just as Warhol woiuld have turned 85, DJ Nico will play the very best of The Velvet Underground, which Warhol managed in the mid-’60s.

WHO: Andy Warhol
WHAT: Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film screening
WHERE: Meta House, #37 Sothearos Blvd.
WHEN: 7pm August 18
WHY: “Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?” – Andy Warhol

SATURDAY 16 | The loudest bands in the country go toe-to-toe tonight in this sonic clash of the post-hardcore titans. Sliten6ix, Cambodia’s first and only deathcore group, take on prog-metalheads Splitter. Ear defenders not included.

WHO: Sliten6ix and Splitter
WHAT: Deathcore and prog-metal
WHERE: Show Box, #11 Street 330
WHEN: 8pm August 17
WHY: Cambodia’s loudest bands go toe-to-toe

FRIDAY 16 | Dengue Fever, the Los Angeles-based sextet who take ’60s Cambodian psyche rock and stuff it through a blender, is chiefly responsible for introducing global audiences to a lesser-known Cambodia; the Cambodia long obscured from international eyes by the pall of murderous Maoists. As Mark Jenkins writes in The Washington Post: “Imagine relaxing in a dive in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, circa 1965, brushing elbows with off-duty soldiers, local gangsters and Western diplomats as a hip band plays a mix of rock, soul, jazz, surf music, traditional Cambodian tunes and Henry Mancini and John Barry spy movie motifs.” Powerful stuff, not just on the global stage but where it all began – as evidenced in the documentary Sleepwalking Through The Mekong, which charts Dengue Fever’s first visit to Cambodia as a band back in 2005. During one sequence, filmed in The White Building where the band jammed with residents, a music teacher turns to the camera and says in Khmer: “When I saw them performing with my students I was just in awe. Nothing could compare to it. I knew they were foreigners, but when they played all these Khmer songs there was no class difference. We were all equal.”

WHO: Dengue Fever
WHAT: Sleepwalking Through The Mekong screening
WHERE: Meta House, #37 Sothearos Blvd.
WHEN: 4pm August 16
WHY: “Underground people are getting hip to world music, and the world music side is getting hip to how you don’t have to have a dreadlock wig and Guatemalan pants to be cool” – Senon Williams (bass), Dengue Fever

FRI & SAT 16 & 17 | He’s been nominated for nine Grammys; shared Newark Festival’s stage with the Rolling Stones’ Mick Taylor; is signed by legendary bass player Andy Fraser – and, in his native UK, he’s barely old enough to vote. Tobi Earnshaw, just 18 years old and already being critically compared to rock monoliths John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton, is rather more boy-next-door than such accolades might imply. Until, that is, his fingertips meet the strings of a guitar. The only artist handpicked by Andy Fraser, of Free fame, for his label Mctrax international, Tobi is poised to release his second album as he arrives in Phnom Penh this week for his first tour of Asia. Cornered recently by The Advisor to talk man-crushes, the strange bathroom habits of the man responsible for 1970 hit All Right Now, and being called by dmme.net the ‘British answer to Justin Bieber’, Tobi had this to say: “As a musician I’m really critical, so if I was asked to define myself I don’t know; I just sort of sing a melody and try to stay in tune! There are pop magazines who say: ‘We won’t take you because you’re too blues for us.’ Then there are blues magazines that say: ‘We won’t take you because you’re not blues enough.’ I’ve had interviews with MOBO… and there’s something else I was going to say but I’ve completely forgotten what. I’m having a senior moment and I’m only 18! I’ve been doing radio interviews all week and this keeps happening; it’s ridiculous!” Bless.

WHO: Tobi
WHAT: “Likened to John Mayer and Robin Thicke, TOBI is actually right in the middle of the two, with a smooth sound enriched by perfect guitar sweeps.” – Music-News.com
WHERE: Latin Quarter, Street 178 (August 16); The Village, #1 Street 360 (August 17)
WHEN: 9pm August 16 (Latin Quarter), 8:30pm August 17 (The Village)
WHY: “Having Tobi not only on the Grammy eligibility list but in multiple categories is confirmation of my initial instincts that here is a new, young artist to be reckoned with” – Andy Fraser

FRIDAY 16 | In 1886, French composer César Franck composed his famous Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano, considered one of the finest ever written. “Franck is a bit of an anomaly in the history of music,” says Anton Isselhardt, director of the Art Plus Foundation, who has summoned two Norwegian musicians for this evening’s recital. Biographer Léon Vallas puts it like this: “The overpowering climaxes to which he builds are never a frenzy of emotion; they are superbly calm and exalted. The structure of his music is strangely inorganic. His material does not develop. He adds phrase upon phrase, detail upon detail, with astonishing power to knit and weave closely what comes with what went before. It is this strange absence of genuinely dramatic and sensuous elements from Franck’s music which gives it its quite peculiar stamp, the quality which appeals to us as a sort of poetry of religion. It is a music which is apart from life, spiritual and exalted. It does not reflect the life of the body, nor that of the sovereign mind, but the life of the spirit.”

WHO: Hartini Van Rijssel (violin) and Mark Lippe (piano)
WHAT: César Franck’s Sonata in A Major and Franz Schubert’s Sonatinas
WHERE: Meta House, #37 Sothearos Blvd.
WHEN: 8pm August 16
WHY: “It is a music which is apart from life, spiritual and exalted” – Léon Vallas