Hi there...

Anyone with Tokyo recommendations also have some recommendations for south east Asia by chance? I am currently spending ten weeks in Phnom Penh, and outside of the very interesting local buddhist music emanating from the temples at five in the morning, I've found nothing but pirated versions of top 40. Anyone know of any good shops in Bangkok, etc?

I happen to be living in Bangkok - and unfortunately, it is much the same as Phnom Penh. (In the latter you are in fact more likely to find the interes- ting stuff! Also as far as pirate DVDs are concerned. Here, however, it is paradise for pirated computer soft- ware...) If you are lucky, though, you can accidentally find the odd 2nd hand shop that has a pretty good selection of vinyl! There used to be a fantas- tic record shop in the Central Wold Plaza (formerly World Trade Center), but very expensive, and they've been out of biz for a few months now. In Bangkok you wont find any really interesting venues for live music. The best-known places (Saxophone Bar, The Brown Sugar and The Witch's Tavern) usually have very mediocre bands on. If you can get into Thai Pop though - there are some great live bands catering to that taste. (And I can wholeheartedly re- commend going to such a place just to witness how much the Thais can enjoy themselves!) patRice http://silverknuckle.com http://tattoo-source.com np: The Lounge Lizards, The Lounge Lizards nr: Danzig Baldaev, Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia