Under cover

FRI & SAT 2 & 3 | Unofficial music lore puts responsibility for tribute bands on Australia. A million miles from nowhere, the great outback was too remote to attract big British or American acts, so she was forced to make her own copies.

Aussiebands.com lists no fewer than 70 tribute groups, from the suicidally awful Bjorn Again (ABBA) to the expected ACCA/DACCA (AC/DC) to the suicidally awful, The Absolute Kylie show (Kylie Minogue). But the real history of the genre begins elsewhere. If any band can lay claim, that’s The Beatles, whose tribute act The Buggs released their first (and only) album, The Beetle Beat, in 1964. Then sometime around the turn of the century, tribute bands evolved into a viable genre of their own.

For Las Vegas native Kace King, a punk-rocker in his youth and now the lead singer for The Knockouts, a Social Distortion tribute band, the transition was driven by necessity. “Fast forward from my punk rock band days to trying to make money, because local bands don’t usually make money,” King recalls of his days in Pimp and Never Was, both successful Las Vegas punk acts. In Las Vegas at least, the answer was clear, if not entirely satisfying. “You jump into the casinos, but you can’t play your own music, because people don’t want to hear it… this was the start of the tribute band movement that you see in Vegas every single day. It’s just tribute band fuckin’ fever… I always wanted to put together a tribute band to Social D because I just love the band. And I didn’t care if I made money or not, so that’s what I did on the side to have fun.”

That was 12 years ago, and in fits and starts, The Knockouts have been playing together ever since. Two of the original members – including King – are currently killing time in Cambodia, backed by the terrifyingly talented power drummer Marcus Tudehope.

WHO: The Knockouts
WHAT: Social Distortion tribute band
WHERE: Sharky Bar, Street 130 (Aug 2) and The FCC, Sisowath Quay (Aug 3)
WHEN: 9pm August 2 (Sharky’s) and 3 (The FCC)
WHY: It’s all about the tributes, baby

Fish-eye view

As the name almost suggests, Aquarium Cafe on Street 288 feels like the restaurant your fish-tank obsessed neighbour might open, if he lived in Japan. Half-a-dozen sturdy aluminum-and-wood tables sit snugly next to twice as many fish tanks, each populated with a different kind of tiny aquarium fish, or, in at least one case, a turtle (which you should not suggest eating, by the way, not even as a joke). The cafe menu, which reads back-to-front, Japanese style, stretches several pages long and includes a mix of Thai, Khmer, Western and Japanese dishes. Burgers ($5) come with a free beer and the drink list includes an avocado smoothie ($2.50). The house specialty is udon noodles, priced from $4-$7, which can be topped with a list of standards such as kimchi, fish paste and eggplant.

Aquarium Cafe Renature, #35 Street 288.

Anyone for foie gras poele avec navat?

Two items on Orkun Cha’s menu immediately caught my eye – Staustced Frog Thigh and Cevic with Kos Kong – but I settled for the seafood. This mysterious dish proffered its own brand of adventure, promising a rainbow mélange of ‘pepers’:  green peper, red peper and green sweet peper. I was excited to see exactly how many types of ‘pepers’ would appear alongside the seafood and settled in to wait while my companions made their way past the Purrspring Rolled and Deep Fry Chicken Ving – one ordering duck breast with joice honey sauce, one selecting the filet de loup de mer (sea bass) and the other opting for the safer lok lak beef.

At Okun Cha Gourmet Bar, the spotlight isn’t on the meal; it’s on the menu. It’s also on the neighbourhood because it’s located smack bang in the middle of Street 136 (aka Girlie Street, to the uninitiated), with a goldfish-bowl view of ladyboys preening at Candybar on one corner and bargirls fluttering around Mr Butterfly on the other.

Inside, the friendly staff – all attractive young Cambodian women in tight jeans who work the floor to an iTunes playlist of Backstreet Boys, Lady Gaga and moody techno pop – deliver dishes to patrons lounging in padded booths amid blue velvet curtains and kaleidoscopic neon lights, all observing the street show from behind the floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s like the minnows watching the sharks.

The restaurant was recommended by our neighbours who waxed lyrical about their coulant de chocolat (a wonderfully decadent slab of chocolate soufflé filled with warm molten chocolate) and I have to say it’s worth the trip down the walk of shame for this luscious morsel.

While I wouldn’t describe the cuisine as first-rate, I’d give it three stars out of five. Service is a tad on the slow side and the lengthy menu features no less than 63 items (and 13 desserts), including French, Khmer, Thai, Italian and Chinese selections.

For meat eaters, there’s roasted lamb ($18.50), T-bone ($18.50) and entrecote ($14.50) and, for pescatores, sea bream ($7.50), grouper with garlic pastis sauce ($7.50) and grilled tiger prawns ($11.50) which, although a bit squishy in texture, are tasty and well seasoned . There’s also a selection of pizzas and pasta dishes (from $5.50 to $8.50) as well as salads, soups and Cambodian plates.

The ‘fried seafood’ is a tasty assortment of shrimp, fish and other swimming things, with fresh Kampot pepper sprinkled liberally throughout the dish – a great deal for only $5. My companion declared the lok lak average, saying it probably came from an athletic cow, and the succulent portion of sea bass ($7.50) with a delightfully crispy skin was declared the best dish on the table.

The grand finale, of course, has to be the chocolate dessert, but be warned: patrons are cautioned it takes “12 minutes to prepare” so you may want to plan ahead. At least 12 minutes. Or, if you don’t want to wait, order the banana sleb.

Okun Cha, #28 Street 136; 023 224532.

Ties that bind

FRIDAY 2 | ‘To Marshall Kim Il Sung / I do honour / With all that’s in my heart / His Excellency / entertains me with brotherly kindness / his words are so inspiring / long live the marshall.’ These lyrics, penned almost four decades ago and released in 2011 in a digital archive by Australia’s Monash University, are testament to the extraordinary ties that once bound Cambodia and Korea (in this case, the North). Composed during the 1970s by Norodom Sihanouk, they hint at the intimate connection that existed between the two leaders, who shared a love of the arts (Il Sung placed an entire North Korean film crew at Sihanouk’s disposal during his flirtation with movie-making in the 1960s). Cambodia’s relations with the South may fall slightly short of the aforementioned bromance, but they are nonetheless warm – a fact celebrated with this evening’s Cambodia-Korea Friendship Concert. Hosted by the Music For One Foundation and the Royal University of Fine Arts, the night will showcase emerging orchestral talent from both countries. Reservations essential (call 089 429068 or 089 340530).

WHO: Emerging orchestral talent
WHAT: Cambodia-Korea Friendship Concert
WHERE: Cambodia-Korea Cooperation Centre, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Russian Boulevard
WHEN: 7pm August 2
WHY: “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy” – Ludwig van Beethoven

Barbarian beats

THURSDAY 1 | Before they fell to the conquering forces of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, vast swathes of central Europe – including what are now France, Switzerland and Austria – were ruled by Celtic speakers. They were by all accounts a raucous bunch: classical writers describe them as fighting ‘like wild beasts’ (and occasionally naked); they were accomplished head-hunters and, according to first century Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, Celtic men openly preferred male lovers.

The term Celt itself is a perversion of the word keltoi, used by the ancient Greeks to refer to certain ‘barbarian’ tribes (eternal snobs, they considered languages other than their own to be little more than childish babble, hence the term ‘barbarous’). Little is known about the ancient ancestors of these Gaels, Gauls and Galatians. The only written histories are those compiled by the Greeks and Romans, both sworn enemies of the Celts. As Standingstone.com artfully puts it, “It’s a bit like trying to reconstruct Lakota culture from the diaries of General Custer.”

Fast-forward through more than 2,000 years of turbulent history and Celtic-speaking peoples are today found only in the British Isles and western France. And now, rather less snobbishly than during the first millennium, the word Celtic is used to describe not only this branch of the Indo-European languages, but also an extraordinary musical legacy. Enter Kheltica, who offer an “entente chordial of musical traditions from France and the British Isles”.

Their eclectic mix of songs and dances from Brittany blended with traditional Irish and Scottish folk music is rivalled only by that of the band’s make-up: a singer and a mandolin player from Scotland; a British piper; French drummer; Russian guitarist; South African bass player; Malaysian violinist and French flautist. It gets crazier: for these sessions, the bass guitarist will be playing guitar, the drummer will be playing bass and a pianist will be playing violin.

WHO: Kheltica
WHAT: “An entente chordial of musical traditions from France and the British Isles”
WHERE: Slur Bar, Street 172 (Aug 1) and Le Deli, Street 178 (Aug 2)
WHEN: 9pm August 1 (Slur) and 7:30pm August 2 (Le Deli)
WHY: For a musical maelstrom and swift-footed circle dancing

Stewards of sustainable motion

Tucked near a large, yellow building that houses an accounting college off  Mao Tse Tung Boulevard  is a modest white house encircled by a blue corrugated-aluminum gate. On the second floor is the Central School of Ballet Phnom Penh. Being a few moments early, I set to task watching the community surrounding the school: it moved with smooth survival, like ants that feel a thunderstorm and take deliberate precautions. An adolescent boy with a solid face fluently manoeuvred a cart full of scrap metal; he had the firm gaze and gait of a man much older. A woman moved fresh laundry inside; her hands snapped the sun-dried sheets like an old soldier retiring a weary standard as the gaps in the clouds above began to fill in slightly.

My consideration of the ritual was broken by my hosts Stephen Bimson, Ballet Rambert alumnus and co-founder/artistic director of the school, and Devi Vanhon, business director, moving on the staircase. They unlocked the door and warmly invited me in. My eyes wandered beyond the reception area to the studio outfitted in shiny chrome railings with sturdy, hard-rubber feet edging the tongue-and-groove floor, the colour of freshly sanded pinewood. A tall ceiling was held up by the stately load-bearing pillar in the middle of the room.

Sitting on red plastic stools, Stephen passionately and vigorously began to speak about all things dance, with Devi interjecting with understated and gracious precision. They both spoke of artistic interpretation, the stewardship of a craft, to the point one could see the love they have for this small school and its possibilities. One possibility is Dance Made In Cambodia, a month-long series of free weekend workshops in which at-risk youth between the ages of nine and 15 will explore the concept of community dance. Egalitarian by design, the focus is not on perfecting formal dances but strengthening communities through shared creations.

“DMIC is the community dance division of our school,” says Devi. “It offers opportunities to underprivileged Cambodian children to experience dance at a professional level. The aim of these workshops is to introduce as wide a possible section of young people to contemporary and creative dance; expose participants to the practices and ideals of a professional dance environment and to begin to generate a community of individuals and organisations who wish to participate in our future projects and performances.”

Dance Made In Cambodia provides all who seek it a haven to discover – through dance – infinite ways to comprehend the locomotive grammar of living. Whether we are at-risk youth, diplobrats or 30-somethings with bad ADD, writer’s block and a phone that won’t be quiet, dance provides balance, not just of the body but of the brain.

Good vibrations

When Italians chat, they do so as much with their hands as with their mouths. Gesticulating is a vital part of communication in the country, where roughly 250 gestures are used regularly and studied by scientists and philosophers. When he gestures, diminutive Italian pianist Gabri Faja, whose sheer force of presence dwarves his physical size, does so nimbly, posing questions with open palms.

In a 4am flash of inspiration, this Italian scholar of the UK’s Royal College of Music (who also directs The Piano Shop; Soundskool Music Solutions and is the new events manager at Doors) says by email: “Phnom Penh is a volcano powered by creative magma – everything is possible, all dreams can come true – and it hasn’t even started smoking yet. You simply cannot organise a festival in two weeks and get away with it. Really, this is ridiculous and it can only happen here. The wealth of talent is astounding for a city this size, from writers to poets, jammers to drummers, painters to sprayers and other species in between. I. LOVE. IT.”

As well he should. Some 50-plus of the capital’s finest musicians are assembling because of him for Vibe, a ten-day music festival this month that will feature upwards of 17 bands – and a 3D mapper, fellow Italian VJ/DJ Roberto, whose dreadlocks must weigh almost as much as the man himself. “Basically, I put you on a blackout wall there and shoot onto you only and I can change your face; I can make your hair blonde; it’s unreal!” says Gabi. “I can make you walk out of yourself! Not me, but Roberto does this. He’s a mega, mega guy.”

Fittingly, the festival is carved up into three ‘vibes’: Dancing & Bouncing (August 16, 17, 18 & 23), Cooling & Chilling (18, 19, 20, 21, 22 & 25) and Quiet Listening (24), the only night for which there’s a cover charge ($3, available in advance at Doors on Street 84 & 47 and The Piano Shop on Street 13 & 178). The central message, says Gabi, is one of friendship.
“Phnom Penh is a village and it always will be, with people checking in and passing by; new-found friends leaving for good and waving goodbye. It is a mixture of emotions held together by this strange, gravitational anomaly that propels me forward; it’s like being on the moon, bouncing around and waiving my arms like a little kid. The never-ending conversations about what to play, where to eat, who to shag, what to write and where shall we meet? And if this is all too much, home alone does it just fine, knowing that outside it’s there for me, five minutes away.”

VIBE: THE HIGHLIGHTS

9pm August 16: Dub Addiction & Roberto

“Arguably Cambodia’s tightest and most professional band in their last gig before their European tour, with new faces and tunes. Roberto provides snippets of latest-technology 3D video-mapping and visuals” – Gabi Faja

Dub Addiction features a veritable Who’s Who of the local reggae scene, but the main ragamuffin toasters are MC Curly and DJ Khla, the latter someone German music producer Professor Kinski compares to Cutty Ranks, Sizla and Anthony B. Sights and sounds familiar to Phnom Penh long-termers ooze through the mixer to create a distinctly Cambodian soundscape. A high point – if you’ll pardon the pun – is The Mighty Plan, on which “the voice of LSD guru Terence McKenna is lecturing about mankind’s first contact with aliens over an ultra-massive slow shuffle dub groove of Lee Perry”. “We intend to conquer the universe,” a disembodied voice declares as one track drives its mega-phat electro dub juggernaut into your sternum. Accompanying the wobble bass and distorted e-guitar solos will be a 3D visual feast by VJ/DJ Roberto. Psychedelics not essential.

9pm August 17: Vibratone & Bluesabelle

“Making a big splash in their second time out, this much-needed addition to the upbeat reggae scene is a great new band featuring the insanely talented Luis ‘El Brazilero’ and will be followed by just about the best jazz DJ in Asia” – Gabi Faja

Named in honour of Fender’s Leslie speaker, designed for use with electric guitars, Vibratone are a new all-original reggae band. Following them is Lady Bluesabelle, originally from Australia and now resident at Sofitel. She’s been host DJ for the Brooklyn International Film Festival; crowned the Philippines’ Nova Lounge Queen on Asia MTV; played fine jazz for the launch of Ministry of Sound Radio’s chill-out sessions in London and was the first female DJ in Goa, India. Along the way, she’s worked alongside everyone from Al Green to Herbie Hankock. Expect a selection from Caribbean and funk to electro swing and Afro beat.

7:30pm August 18: Kin & Swing Kings

“The capital’s awesome jazz band returns after three months for a night of bop and swing dancing and original arrangements, featuring a grand piano and Euan Gray on tenor sax” – Gabi Faja

What happens when three of the capital’s jazz pioneers adopt their very own saxophonist? Kin – not just by name, but by nature. Gabi Faja (piano), Sebastien Adnot (double bass) and Toma Willen (drums), known in their own right as the GTS Jazz Trio, recently joined creative forces with Euan Gray, front man of Australia’s The Rooftops and now a permanent Phnom Penh resident. New forays include pop, rhythm and soul, but all bundled into a jazz aficionado-friendly package. Expect “funky stuff,” Sebastien, one of two Frenchmen in the band along with Toma, says, like Stevie Wonder. “We are all from very different backgrounds,” says Gabi. “Classical, gypsy, jazz, reggae. In fact, our music is a hybrid of all.” Fitting accompaniment to it all are fleet-footed lindyhoppers the Swing Kings.

7:30pm August 19: Cambostomp

“An awesome Cambodian drum show by scary good, grooving local artists” – Gabi Faja

For centuries, the sound of the skor (‘drum’) has been at the very core of Cambodia’s musical traditions, seen as a way of emulating the sound of thunder; an important way of connecting to the natural world. In the instrument’s absence, Cambodians will convert almost anything to create the necessary rhythms, from striking pots and plates with cutlery to banging on the bottom of an upturned stool. The country boasts more than 10 main types of drum, most made of wood – often the jackfruit tree – and covered with animal skin. Historically, their purposes have been many, from ‘female’ and ‘male’ drums representing the bride and groom at a wedding, to the skor chey (‘soldier drum’) used to transmit military information in secret. Tonight, rousing traditional beats from the Pin Peat Orchestra at Sovanna Phum lend a distinctly tribal feel to the evening, from the percussive rumana to the giant, barrel-shaped skor thom.

8pm August 20: Wash

“The man responsible for riveting acts of original music-making in town lets out his acoustic-based read-out-loud originals in this musical poetry project” – Gabi Faja

Fronted by Scott ‘kind of a music guy; writes a bit’ Bywater, Wash brings together some of the city’s most inventive souls. There’s DJ/VJ Warren Daly; electronic musician Alex Leonard, one of the original Grass Snake Union line-up, and ‘English production guy’ Hal FX whose recent performance at Le Jardin was his first public gig in years. Here, exotic soundscapes meet stunning visuals and dreamy spoken word in a collaborative effort that stimulates several senses at once. “We’re working on brand new pieces, which we are increasingly excited about,” says Scott. “The text is poems that I’ve been writing this year and we’re now more confident about what it is we’re putting together. The music is a bit more written this time. It’s like having learned how to drive the vehicle, we’ve thrown away the manual and now we’re converting it into something amphibious.” Listen out for beats, loops, bass lines and sound effects courtesy of two laptops plus a midi guitar and a midi keyboard fed through a laptop. Cripes.

8:30pm August 21: Joe Wrigley and the Jumping Jacks

“The only thing that was missing in town was Mr Wrigley. Now completing the Penh’s surreal music scene, Joe and friends bring you an evening of awesome songs from the West Side” – Gabi Faja

British-born country singer/songwriter Joe Wrigley meets the Cambodian Space Project’s Scott Bywater (vocals) and Adrien (bass) in what was originally intended to be a Buddy Holly tribute band but has since evolved into a “vampire rockabilly” trio. “We’re going for the Sun Records/Gene Vincent kind of sound,” says Joe. “We’re all into our ’50s stuff, so it will be authentic in terms of the rockabilly spirit and there will be originals in the set list too, with some Khmer vocals from Melea. It’s the awesome era of guitar sound in between jazz and rock music, so players like Cliff Gallup and Scotty Moore were playing big archtops and gretsches very loud with lots of echo and it sounds like they’re just making up rock ‘n’ roll on the spot. You have that energy combined with the wild exuberance of early Elvis and Gene Vincent and it’s just wild, wild. It’s experimental and primitive and rough and sounds like it was written and recorded in two takes: that’s the energy that I want to happen onstage. I have a jacket being worked on at the tailors. Just wish I still had my quiff!”

7pm August 22: Khemera, Akhia & Amanda Bloom

“Sam’s rebellious-yet-understated pop vocals from Khemera; 15-year-old sensation Akhia and the beautiful, seductive and all-original voice of Miss Bloom all make for an evening never offered before. Watch out for a guitar, a grand piano, a spotlight and a mic, because that’s all they need” – Gabi Faja

Doubling as frontwoman for post-hardcore band No Forever, 22-year-old Sam tonight goes unplugged, along with her guitarist Tim, in acoustic act Khemera. And it’s all about love, apparently. “The name Khemera means we are Khmer youth and Khmer people,” she says of the 14-month-old pop, rock and, well, pop-rock duo. “We love making music. We want to show that Khmer young people have the ability to do so. We can do it. We love it and we do what we can and what we love. We love to bring people together with the music and joy.” Watch out also for Akhia, a self-taught guitarist from the Philippines who will be channelling Chrissy Constanza, Alex Goot and Boyce Avenue. Amanda Bloom, meanwhile, arrives fresh from recording her second album, Atlas, which features Australian saxophonist Euan Gray and Malaysian Asia Beat drummer Lewis Pragasam. “The album draws its inspiration from my experiences living in Cambodia for the last two years and is a melting pot of world, classical and piano-driven melodic pop music,” says Amanda. She is perhaps best known for a song by the name of Rosetta, from her first album – so called in honour of the Rosetta Stone, which famously unlocked the secrets of Ancient Egypt. The track contains the line: ‘An idea does not gain truth as it gains followers’ which, when the album was released in 2010, was immediately seized upon by freethinkers the world over. They’ve since been immortalised on everything from websites and radio shows to t-shirts and at least one tattoo.

9pm August 23: Jahzad & Lady Bluesabelle

“Sebastian Adnot’s latest mega-successful band, ska sensation Jahzad kill you with their unstoppable bouncing groove. Party time is here! DJ set by Bluesabelle to chill your spirits while keeping you going” – Gabi Faja

Mixing the danceable rhythms of The Skatalites with popular jazz are some of Phnom Penh’s most talented musicians, among them Sebastien Adnot (bass), Greg Lavender (drums) and Alexandre Scarpati (trombone). Afterwards, expect from Lady Bluesabelle everything from Caribbean and funk to electro swing and Afro beat.

7:30pm August 24: Master Kong Nay & Krom & VJ Roberto  

“Possibly the most important musician from the Kingdom, Master Kong Nay is one of the world’s finest chapei players. He has played in packed halls from Asia to New York and tonight makes an extremely rare live appearance. He will be followed by the magical beauty of Krom, who deliver moving, sensual vocals with understated acoustic accompaniment. In combination with VJ Roberto on projectors, this evening provides a theatre for the meaningful and silent listener” – Gabi Faja

Silence is indeed the only way to greet certain works by Krom. She’s 7 Years Old (Her Body Sold), from the band’s forthcoming second album, Krom – Neon Dark, is perhaps the single most disturbing item on the Vibe menu. It recounts the true story of a Cambodian child sold into sexual slavery, and was described by BBC broadcaster Mark Coles as “Harrowing; a very disturbing, powerful song.” Songwriter Christopher Minko wrote the lyrics after reading a news report in the local press that described the rescue of a girl from sex traders on the Thai-Cambodia border. The photo showed her chained to a bed, “a horrendous mix of fear and utter bewilderment shown within the eyes of the enslaved young girl”, says Minko, noting that the song “is meant to make the listener feel uncomfortable, very uncomfortable”. On an ever-so-slightly lighter note, Krom will also perform material from their first album, Songs From The Noir, featuring the ethereal vocals of sisters Sopheak and Sophea Chamroeun, for which the band is famed. Even more famous is master musician Kong Nay, one of the few to survive the Khmer Rouge and known respectfully as ‘the Ray Charles of Cambodia’.

8pm August 25: Charlie Corrie, Euan Gray & Friends

“The festival finale involves the finest songwriters and solo acts in town, a fitting end bringing all of our friends together. Euan Gray goes all-original for the first time, after which a jam session is highly likely” – Gabi Faja

Drawing on the sounds of Smokey Robinson and Sam Cook, with just a dash of James Morrison and Gavin Degraw, self-taught pianist/guitarist Charlie Corrie will perform a selection of covers and his own work. “I’m writing new songs now which I hope to turn into an EP,” he says (proceeds will go to help Cambodian singer/songwriters record their own original music through Euan Gray’s Songkites project at Ragamuffin House. Euan, frontman of Brisbane-based band The Rooftops, has promised his first all-original solo in Phnom Penh: “It will be some Rooftops stuff, some non-Rooftops stuff and possibly some new stuff. This could be my long-awaited push to finish some new songs I’ve been dreaming up. I have half a chorus for a new song, called Paper Lexus. Last Chinese New Year, I saw people burning paper, factory made Lexuses along with fake money. All things will pass. Amazing symbolism: ironic and hopeful at the same time. I have another one that no one has heard yet called We Live Amongst The Tigers, about how ex-Khmer Rouge are everyday folk, driving our tuk tuks, planting rice, doing business; all trying to move on. ‘Working hard at moving on, working just as hard as anyone…’”

VIBE: THE HIGHLIGHTS

9pm August 16: Dub Addiction & Roberto

“Arguably Cambodia’s tightest and most professional band in their last gig before their European tour, with new faces and tunes. Roberto provides snippets of latest-technology 3D video-mapping and visuals” – Gabi Faja

Dub Addiction features a veritable Who’s Who of the local reggae scene, but the main ragamuffin toasters are MC Curly and DJ Khla, the latter someone German music producer Professor Kinski compares to Cutty Ranks, Sizla and Anthony B. Sights and sounds familiar to Phnom Penh long-termers ooze through the mixer to create a distinctly Cambodian soundscape. A high point – if you’ll pardon the pun – is The Mighty Plan, on which “the voice of LSD guru Terence McKenna is lecturing about mankind’s first contact with aliens over an ultra-massive slow shuffle dub groove of Lee Perry”. “We intend to conquer the universe,” a disembodied voice declares as one track drives its mega-phat electro dub juggernaut into your sternum. Accompanying the wobble bass and distorted e-guitar solos will be a 3D visual feast by VJ/DJ Roberto. Psychedelics not essential.

9pm August 17: Vibratone & Bluesabelle

“Making a big splash in their second time out, this much-needed addition to the upbeat reggae scene is a great new band featuring the insanely talented Luis ‘El Brazilero’ and will be followed by just about the best jazz DJ in Asia” – Gabi Faja

Named in honour of Fender’s Leslie speaker, designed for use with electric guitars, Vibratone are a new all-original reggae band. Following them is Lady Bluesabelle, originally from Australia and now resident at Sofitel. She’s been host DJ for the Brooklyn International Film Festival; crowned the Philippines’ Nova Lounge Queen on Asia MTV; played fine jazz for the launch of Ministry of Sound Radio’s chill-out sessions in London and was the first female DJ in Goa, India. Along the way, she’s worked alongside everyone from Al Green to Herbie Hankock. Expect a selection from Caribbean and funk to electro swing and Afro beat.

7:30pm August 18: Kin & Swing Kings

“The capital’s awesome jazz band returns after three months for a night of bop and swing dancing and original arrangements, featuring a grand piano and Euan Gray on tenor sax” – Gabi Faja

What happens when three of the capital’s jazz pioneers adopt their very own saxophonist? Kin – not just by name, but by nature. Gabi Faja (piano), Sebastien Adnot (double bass) and Toma Willen (drums), known in their own right as the GTS Jazz Trio, recently joined creative forces with Euan Gray, front man of Australia’s The Rooftops and now a permanent Phnom Penh resident. New forays include pop, rhythm and soul, but all bundled into a jazz aficionado-friendly package. Expect “funky stuff,” Sebastien, one of two Frenchmen in the band along with Toma, says, like Stevie Wonder. “We are all from very different backgrounds,” says Gabi. “Classical, gypsy, jazz, reggae. In fact, our music is a hybrid of all.” Fitting accompaniment to it all are fleet-footed lindyhoppers the Swing Kings.

7:30pm August 19: Cambostomp

“An awesome Cambodian drum show by scary good, grooving local artists” – Gabi Faja

For centuries, the sound of the skor (‘drum’) has been at the very core of Cambodia’s musical traditions, seen as a way of emulating the sound of thunder; an important way of connecting to the natural world. In the instrument’s absence, Cambodians will convert almost anything to create the necessary rhythms, from striking pots and plates with cutlery to banging on the bottom of an upturned stool. The country boasts more than 10 main types of drum, most made of wood – often the jackfruit tree – and covered with animal skin. Historically, their purposes have been many, from ‘female’ and ‘male’ drums representing the bride and groom at a wedding, to the skor chey (‘soldier drum’) used to transmit military information in secret. Tonight, rousing traditional beats from the Pin Peat Orchestra at Sovanna Phum lend a distinctly tribal feel to the evening, from the percussive rumana to the giant, barrel-shaped skor thom.

8pm August 20: Wash

“The man responsible for riveting acts of original music-making in town lets out his acoustic-based read-out-loud originals in this musical poetry project” – Gabi Faja

Fronted by Scott ‘kind of a music guy; writes a bit’ Bywater, Wash brings together some of the city’s most inventive souls. There’s DJ/VJ Warren Daly; electronic musician Alex Leonard, one of the original Grass Snake Union line-up, and ‘English production guy’ Hal FX whose recent performance at Le Jardin was his first public gig in years. Here, exotic soundscapes meet stunning visuals and dreamy spoken word in a collaborative effort that stimulates several senses at once. “We’re working on brand new pieces, which we are increasingly excited about,” says Scott. “The text is poems that I’ve been writing this year and we’re now more confident about what it is we’re putting together. The music is a bit more written this time. It’s like having learned how to drive the vehicle, we’ve thrown away the manual and now we’re converting it into something amphibious.” Listen out for beats, loops, bass lines and sound effects courtesy of two laptops plus a midi guitar and a midi keyboard fed through a laptop. Cripes.

8:30pm August 21: Joe Wrigley and the Jumping Jacks

“The only thing that was missing in town was Mr Wrigley. Now completing the Penh’s surreal music scene, Joe and friends bring you an evening of awesome songs from the West Side” – Gabi Faja

British-born country singer/songwriter Joe Wrigley meets the Cambodian Space Project’s Scott Bywater (vocals) and Adrien (bass) in what was originally intended to be a Buddy Holly tribute band but has since evolved into a “vampire rockabilly” trio. “We’re going for the Sun Records/Gene Vincent kind of sound,” says Joe. “We’re all into our ’50s stuff, so it will be authentic in terms of the rockabilly spirit and there will be originals in the set list too, with some Khmer vocals from Melea. It’s the awesome era of guitar sound in between jazz and rock music, so players like Cliff Gallup and Scotty Moore were playing big archtops and gretsches very loud with lots of echo and it sounds like they’re just making up rock ‘n’ roll on the spot. You have that energy combined with the wild exuberance of early Elvis and Gene Vincent and it’s just wild, wild. It’s experimental and primitive and rough and sounds like it was written and recorded in two takes: that’s the energy that I want to happen onstage. I have a jacket being worked on at the tailors. Just wish I still had my quiff!”

7pm August 22: Khemera, Akhia & Amanda Bloom

“Sam’s rebellious-yet-understated pop vocals from Khemera; 15-year-old sensation Akhia and the beautiful, seductive and all-original voice of Miss Bloom all make for an evening never offered before. Watch out for a guitar, a grand piano, a spotlight and a mic, because that’s all they need” – Gabi Faja

Doubling as frontwoman for post-hardcore band No Forever, 22-year-old Sam tonight goes unplugged, along with her guitarist Tim, in acoustic act Khemera. And it’s all about love, apparently. “The name Khemera means we are Khmer youth and Khmer people,” she says of the 14-month-old pop, rock and, well, pop-rock duo. “We love making music. We want to show that Khmer young people have the ability to do so. We can do it. We love it and we do what we can and what we love. We love to bring people together with the music and joy.” Watch out also for Akhia, a self-taught guitarist from the Philippines who will be channelling Chrissy Constanza, Alex Goot and Boyce Avenue. Amanda Bloom, meanwhile, arrives fresh from recording her second album, Atlas, which features Australian saxophonist Euan Gray and Malaysian Asia Beat drummer Lewis Pragasam. “The album draws its inspiration from my experiences living in Cambodia for the last two years and is a melting pot of world, classical and piano-driven melodic pop music,” says Amanda. She is perhaps best known for a song by the name of Rosetta, from her first album – so called in honour of the Rosetta Stone, which famously unlocked the secrets of Ancient Egypt. The track contains the line: ‘An idea does not gain truth as it gains followers’ which, when the album was released in 2010, was immediately seized upon by freethinkers the world over. They’ve since been immortalised on everything from websites and radio shows to t-shirts and at least one tattoo.

9pm August 23: Jahzad & Lady Bluesabelle

“Sebastian Adnot’s latest mega-successful band, ska sensation Jahzad kill you with their unstoppable bouncing groove. Party time is here! DJ set by Bluesabelle to chill your spirits while keeping you going” – Gabi Faja

Mixing the danceable rhythms of The Skatalites with popular jazz are some of Phnom Penh’s most talented musicians, among them Sebastien Adnot (bass), Greg Lavender (drums) and Alexandre Scarpati (trombone). Afterwards, expect from Lady Bluesabelle everything from Caribbean and funk to electro swing and Afro beat.

7:30pm August 24: Master Kong Nay & Krom & VJ Roberto

“Possibly the most important musician from the Kingdom, Master Kong Nay is one of the world’s finest chapei players. He has played in packed halls from Asia to New York and tonight makes an extremely rare live appearance. He will be followed by the magical beauty of Krom, who deliver moving, sensual vocals with understated acoustic accompaniment. In combination with VJ Roberto on projectors, this evening provides a theatre for the meaningful and silent listener” – Gabi Faja

Silence is indeed the only way to greet certain works by Krom. She’s 7 Years Old (Her Body Sold), from the band’s forthcoming second album, Krom – Neon Dark, is perhaps the single most disturbing item on the Vibe menu. It recounts the true story of a Cambodian child sold into sexual slavery, and was described by BBC broadcaster Mark Coles as “Harrowing; a very disturbing, powerful song.” Songwriter Christopher Minko wrote the lyrics after reading a news report in the local press that described the rescue of a girl from sex traders on the Thai-Cambodia border. The photo showed her chained to a bed, “a horrendous mix of fear and utter bewilderment shown within the eyes of the enslaved young girl”, says Minko, noting that the song “is meant to make the listener feel uncomfortable, very uncomfortable”. On an ever-so-slightly lighter note, Krom will also perform material from their first album, Songs From The Noir, featuring the ethereal vocals of sisters Sopheak and Sophea Chamroeun, for which the band is famed. Even more famous is master musician Kong Nay, one of the few to survive the Khmer Rouge and known respectfully as ‘the Ray Charles of Cambodia’.

8pm August 25: Charlie Corrie, Euan Gray & Friends

“The festival finale involves the finest songwriters and solo acts in town, a fitting end bringing all of our friends together. Euan Gray goes all-original for the first time, after which a jam session is highly likely” – Gabi Faja
Drawing on the sounds of Smokey Robinson and Sam Cook, with just a dash of James Morrison and Gavin Degraw, self-taught pianist/guitarist Charlie Corrie will perform a selection of covers and his own work. “I’m writing new songs now which I hope to turn into an EP,” he says (proceeds will go to help Cambodian singer/songwriters record their own original music through Euan Gray’s Songkites project at Ragamuffin House. Euan, frontman of Brisbane-based band The Rooftops, has promised his first all-original solo in Phnom Penh: “It will be some Rooftops stuff, some non-Rooftops stuff and possibly some new stuff. This could be my long-awaited push to finish some new songs I’ve been dreaming up. I have half a chorus for a new song, called Paper Lexus. Last Chinese New Year, I saw people burning paper, factory made Lexuses along with fake money. All things will pass. Amazing symbolism: ironic and hopeful at the same time. I have another one that no one has heard yet called We Live Amongst The Tigers, about how ex-Khmer Rouge are everyday folk, driving our tuk tuks, planting rice, doing business; all trying to move on. ‘Working hard at moving on, working just as hard as anyone…’”

Three Bs

WEDNESDAY 31 | Germany has produced numerous composers, but perhaps the greatest in music history are the ‘Three Bs’, a phrase coined by 19th century conductor Hans von Bülow to signify the combined brilliance of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Representing the baroque, classical and romantic periods respectively, the trio’s finest works will tonight be channelled by award-winning German pianist Gerd Isselhardt, a one-time private pupil of Professor Siegbert Panzer who has been studying Instrumental-Music-Pedagogy at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory of Music in Mainz/Germany since 1999.

WHO: Gerd Isselhardt (piano)
WHAT: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms piano recital
WHERE: Meta House, Sothearos Blvd.
WHEN: 8pm July 31
WHY: The three Bs may be gone, but their music lives on

My brother’s killer

TUESDAY 30 | The end, when it finally came, was as unforeseeable as it was barbaric.

Foxy Lady, a 28ft traditional Malaysian perahu bedar, was just a few months into what was meant to be the trip of a lifetime. From Darwin harbour on Australia’s rugged northern coast, the tiny yacht had nosed her way through the crystalline waters of the Pacific Ocean, past Timor and Flores, then on to Bali and Singapore, before heading up the Straits of Malacca and around the tip of the Malaysian peninsula. On board, a trio of tanned young adventurers passed for captain and crew.

Kerry Hamill was 27 when he wrote his last journal entry from Foxy Lady in August 1978. The eldest son of a tight-knit New Zealand family, he – along with fellow travellers Stuart Glass, a Canadian, and John Dewhirst from England – would within weeks join the handful of foreigners executed by the Khmer Rouge. At the time, few people outside Cambodia knew of the atrocities being committed within. Before Foxy Lady’s course was forever altered, Kerry had sent countless letters back home, regaling his family with breathless tales. Suddenly, the letters stopped.

The silence was deafening. It would be a further 18 months before the Hamills finally discovered what awful fate had befallen their son. Thirty-one years later, on the same day Kerry’s yacht had first strayed into Cambodian waters, his little brother Rob – an Olympic and Trans-Atlantic rowing champion – arrived in Phnom Penh to confront Kerry’s killers at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. At the same time, he agreed to the filming of Brother Number One, an award-winning documentary by Annie Goldson, James Bellamy and Peter Gilbert that follows Rob as he retraces Kerry’s final steps.

Along the way he visits Tuol Sleng, where his brother was tortured; meets three S-21 survivors, and penetrates a Khmer Rouge stronghold to find the Navy officer in charge when Kerry’s yacht was attacked.

The resulting film is “the story of an innocent man brought to his knees and killed in the prime of his life, and the impact his death had on just one family”.

WHO: Rob Hamill
WHAT: Brother Number One screening
WHERE: Meta House, Sothearos Blvd
WHEN: 7pm July 30
WHY: The ghost of the Khmer Rouge confronted