The Cambodian Space Project – is landing in Australia for the first time in 5 years and is going fully cinematic sci-fi with a suite of exciting new works coming up, not least The Rat Catcher of Angkor Wat!? Straight outta the Kingdom of Wonder, it’s the CSP groove machine, Bun Sophea, Julien Poulson, and Bong Sak bringing you a whole swag of spaced-out goodness.
Presented by A Blanck Canvas and The Cambodian Space Project – It’s 2222. A group of futuristic overlords use robotic rats to keep citizens of earth in line. With a dying planet to keep alive, the only hope for our hapless heroes is a saviour who looks decidedly feline… This is The Rat Catcher of Angkor Wat, a groundbreaking outdoor musical theatre and puppetry development from A Blanck Canvas and world-famous psych-rockers The Cambodian Space Project. Using unique creature design and the funkiest soundtrack you’ve heard in 200 years, this rock opera is a collaboration like no other.
For the first time in 5 years the CSP returns to the live circuit with no less than a brand new rock opera The Rat Catcher of Angkor Wat making its premiere at Oz Asia Festival 2022. It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s a? Well, close your eyes and imagine a pulsating, durian-shaped, organic space orb crash landing upon planet earth. It’s the year 2222, where a cosmic feline superhero must deal with a problematic rat infestation. Through the use of her cosmic powers Space Cat used radio waves, echoes, and harmonics… and tunes chaos into harmony. It’s in this picture where you’ll find The Cambodian Space Project 2022 – a live band returning to the stage with all the dials set to funk! The Rat Catcher is a spectacular collaboration between the CSP and Australia’s famous creature design/puppeteer company A Blanck Canvas. This is ground-breaking post-COVID theatre premiering for the first time at Oz Asia Festival, playing out through a tripped-out storyline somewhere between sci-fi comic books, The Pied Piper, Camus’s La Peste, Khmer mythology, and Sixties classic Barbarella. The whole shebang! Underscored by an original soundtrack by The Cambodian Space Project – “The Golden Phoenix/Sovanna Hong” – inspired by vintage Cambodian cinema and the Kung Fu soundtracks of Bruce Lee movies.
Touching down in Melbourne for one show only, The Cambodian Space Project goes totally cinematic at The Brunswick Ballroom to perform an imagined soundtrack for “Golden Phoenix” alongside the brilliant brass arrangements of Jack Howard (Hunters & Collectors, Epic Brass, Midnight Oil) leading the mighty Epic Brass horn section. Melbourne’s own songstress of soul Julitha Ryan kicks off the show with her band performing her brilliant songs from her two solo albums. As co-producer of new CSP recordings, Julitha promises to stay on stage and get down with the band, bringing a good dose of vintage Farfisa into the picture.
Jack Howard:
“Fresh from touring the country with Hunters & Collectors and on the eve of his own record launch, Jack Howard brings his mighty Epic Brass horn section to the BB to join the sensational Cambodian Space Project on Sun Oct 23. Featuring Jack on trumpet and two of Melbourne’s finest horn players, Paul Williamson on sax and Dave Palmer on trombone, this really will be an epic night.”
Julitha Ryan
“Priestess of a spiritual rave, dream mezzosoprano in a cramped underground cabaret, queen of the barrelhouse, at the end of the last song collapsing helplessly on her piano, Julitha Ryan is that and much more.” Interstellar Magazine
The Cambodian Space Project plays the kind of music that makes you feel like you’re in a movie…a Tarantino soundtrack, a Golden Harvest Bruce Lee movie… whatever it is, it’s the thing that has made CSP Cambodia’s most famous international music export. With 5 albums notched up, including the classic Detroit Sessions with Motown legend Dennis Coffey, The Cambodian Space Project has been at the forefront of an astonishing cultural revival and led a wave of great new music out of South East Asia. Hot’n’spicy indeed, CSP is featured in film and has toured the planet since founding members Julien Poulson and Khmer diva Kak Channthy first met in a Phnom Penh bar and jammed out a set of songs from Cambodia’s lost rock’n’roll of the 1960s. Now 2022, CSP returns to the stage in a spectacular fashion with funky rock opera The Rat Catcher of Angkor Wat making its world premiere at Oz Asia Festival in Adelaide, on October 28,29,20 and stopping for just one show only at Melbourne’s The Brunswick Ballroom 23/10/22 for a special launch party to preview tracks from “The Golden Phoenix” performed against a live screening of Cambodian psychedelic cinema classics.
With a rock opera, live shows, and new releases, The Cambodian Space Project 2022 is set to funk! The Golden Phoenix represents The Cambodian Space Project’s 6th album and first new album since 2017’s Spaced-Out In Wonderland. It’s pure, unadulterated, 1970’s funk! Just like the fictional Intrepid-class starship Voyager of the television series Star Trek, 2022 sees The Cambodian Space Project moving at warp speed into exciting places, a new galaxy of funky-psychedelic-sci-fi-bliss.
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aka Sovanna Hong, a tribute to vintage Cambodian cinema, at The Brunswick Ballroom
Melbourne
Friday, Oct 21
– A Blanck Canvas and The Cambodian Space Project present a special preview studio performance of The Rat Catcher of Angkor Wat. By invite only. 7:30pm Show Start: LOCATION A Blanck Canvas – The Playground @ Seaworks Shed 8 / 82 Nelson Place Williamstown VIC 3016 Enter via rear of Ann Street . For more info or to RSVP please contact admin@ablanckcanvas.com
Sunday, Oct 23 –
The Cambodian Space Project and Jack Howard’s Epic Brass Horn – One Show Only – performs the soundtrack to The Golden Phoenix – with support by Julitha Ryan and her band. Doors open 7pm Brunswick Ballroom
Adelaide:
October 28, 29,30 –
The Rat Catcher of Angkor Wat – A Blanck Canvas and The Cambodian Space Project funk opera! World Premiere @ Oz Asia Festival
Fri 28 Oct – 6:30pm Festival Plaza / 8:30pm Lucky Dumpling Stage
Sat 29 Oct- 6:30pm Festival Plaza / 8:30pm Lucky Dumpling Stage
Sun 30 Oct- 2pm Festival Plaza / 5:30pm Lucky Dumping Stage
It’s 2222. A group of futuristic overlords use robotic rats to keep citizens of earth in line. With a dying planet to keep alive, the only hope for our hapless heroes is a saviour who looks decidedly feline…
This is The Rat Catcher of Angkor Wat, a groundbreaking outdoor musical theatre and puppetry development from A Blanck Canvas and world-famous psych-rockers The Cambodian Space Project. Using unique creature design and the funkiest soundtrack you’ve heard in 200 years, this rock opera is a collaboration like no other.
With several sessions across two spectacular outdoor venues, The Rat Catcher of Angkor Wat is the perfect addition to your evening at OzAsia Festival.
For more information visit https://www.ozasiafestival.com.au/events/the-rat-catcher-of-angkor-wat/