Some Catching Up With Bad Omen, Pink Cow, Ryan Of Go Jimmy Go, JPD, And Then Some

Going to Ten02 Bar last Tuesday, April 21, I felt like I have just come out of my bomb shelter after living in it for more than 20 years. It felt a little different, even though I saw that traffic was as gnarly as it has usually been, people were having some drinks like they have always done, and Juan Pablo dream was playing onstage as how I remember them doing every Tuesday night at Ten02.

I saw that the world continues to move, and that life goes on in spite of myself. So I did a little catching up.

For a change, though, Juan Pablo Dream was joined that night by Bad Omen. The enduring punk outfit came in fresh from their successful Singapore/Malaysia stint that weekend. I have incorporated a couple of photos taken at the gig, but you can find more pictures in their MySpace site. Their latest album, God Is Everywhere, is out, and do expect some cuts to be featured here soon.

Pink Cow was also there, complete with a horn section. At one point they were joined by Ryan, trombone player for the Hawaiian ska sensation Go Jimmy Go, who is presently in town. Like Bad Omen, Pink Cow also has an album and I will be writing about it soon, as well.

(errr, this is NOT the Ryan I was talking about...)

And of course, Juan Pablo Dream did their staple northern soul/funk/mod set. It should be mentioned that The Bing Austria Show, produced by Bisikleta Productions, is up and coming. You guys can catch Bing and his crew, as well as mod stalwarts The GoSignals and a host of other bands on May 9 at Sazi's Restobar (the place once called Mayric's, yes) as early as 4pm.

As for me, my personal catching up involved some chit-chat with friends and acquaintances whom I have not seen for quite sometime. Thanks to all of you as always. I know I looked stoic for the most part, but you know, though my facial expression may not show it, I am somehow glad to be at Ten02 that Tuesday night.

Life does go on, in spite of. Life is good, life is bad. As the modfather Paul Weller puts it, "Bullshit is bullshit, it just goes by different names ... succumb to the beat surrender." Hell, yeah.

On Unfinished Businesses, The Resurrection, and Serendipity: At Long Last, A Playlist!

It is but serendipitous that the ninth day of novena for the late Je Bautista fell on an Easter Sunday. Personally, this is a very comforting sign, in more ways than one, and those who have been around and have cared for Je may probably look at this coincidence the same way, regardless of religious belief.

When Je was in the ICU, he was very restless. He was raring to get out and be transferred to a regular room where there is cable TV so that he can watch Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Food. He missed going online terribly: his laptop was on his bed but he could not catch a signal inside his cubicle. (His unspoken motto: No internet, no life.) So Je was stuck with Buy and Sell, bland hospital food (he was on a low-fat, low-salt diet), and a signal-less computer. His boredom was a bit alleviated when I brought him, upon his request, Pat Gilbert's book on The Clash, Passion Is A Fashion.

One of the fruits of Je's boredom is this rather "unfinished" playlist. (Beethoven would be probably squirming in his grave in reaction to this horrid pun.) Unfinished, because Je was not done with the mixing when he suddenly dropped on that fateful day (while still in the ICU) and passed away. Je was assuring me a couple of times that he was doing a playlist for me, which speaks tomes about his own kind of passion.

A few days after Je's interment, I found this list, which I completed mixing (yes, I do have many tricks up my sleeve too), and am now sharing with you. Oh, there are a few more of those "unfinished" playlists coming up soon.

This playlist is kind of long, but I opted not to trim down nor exclude any song. As you may have probably noticed, Flogging Molly and The King Blues are some of our favorites, but Je recently stumbled upon this artist named Adrianne, a lady who can play compelling acoustic-based songs. A must-check, if I may say so. Do take a look at the titles.

1. FLOGGING MOLLY - Requiem For A Dying Song
2. FLOGGING MOLLY - Wrong Company
3. FLOGGING MOLLY - Don't Let Me Die Still Wondering
4. THE KING BLUES - Hold On (Acoustic)
5. BILLIE HOLIDAY - Me, Myself, And I
6. ADRIANNE - New Kind Of Cool
7. BUNNY WAILER - Get Up Stand Up

I hope you enjoy this playlist. After all, it was Je who handpicked the songs. For me, Je had one of the most sophisticated pair of ears in the business. As such, his death is not just a personal loss, but a loss of the local music scene as well.

And for this reason, among countless others, Je Bautista is and will be truly, sorely missed.

(Frozen moment: Photo of Adrianne from her website. Photo of Je taken during the first matinee gig by A Happy Face Productions at Ten02 last March 1.)

Playlists. Yes, There Are.

There are, actually, some unfinished playlists. I am not even talking about the loads of material now in my hands.

I will start uploading playlists this week. Like I say, patience please. These playlists consist of an interesting list of songs that I myself could not stand listening for a prolonged period of time because, for lack of a better term, the songs are very revealing.

By the way, and this bears repeating. I am truly overwhelmed, and humbled, by your words of encouragement to go on. I never thought that this blogsite can reach out to a considerable number of people. I mean, I do employ sitemaps and and sitemeters, but actually hearing from you convinced me that the figures I see are not just statistics. Thank you so much for keeping the faith.

I'll see you soon, friends.

Where To, Now?

My dear friends and readers of Trash Radio Manila.


I sit here in the pantry in the company of paper plates, plastic utensils, and boxes of Zesto juice, trying to complete a post which I am finding too difficult to finish. It is a post that I need to write: to not write this piece is an acknowledgment that nothing of consequence had transpired, which is decisively far from the truth.

And yet, at this moment, caught up in emotional chaos and mental turmoil, I certainly risk getting too personal, and, God forbid, self-serving. Well. Eff it.

As you know by now, Je Bautista, my musical programmer here at Trash Radio Manila, succumbed to cardiac arrest last Saturday, April 4, at the Makati Medical Center. I was with Je the whole time, saw everything that transpired from diagnosis to demise, and I no longer desire to talk about circumstances. Je is more than just vital to the existence of TRM: he is virtually its soul, and I am but an instrument, a little more than a clerk.

Where to now, Trash Radio Manila?

How tempting it is to take the easy way out. I can easily hit the "Delete blog" button, burn all bridges behind, and return to work full-time on my vocation. So easy to just neglect this site, leave it unupdated on purpose. So many cop-out possibilities. But.

For now, I am putting a probational status on Trash Radio Manila. The blog remains alive, but I must say that maintaining this blog is going to be a very hard task for me now. Je has surely left a pair of big shoes to fill up....

...so expect indescribable but palpable changes in the days to come. In the first place, Trash Radio Manila is borne out of passion for music above everything else. You've kept us company for more than a year, and we were all too happy to give you playlists, promote gigs, relay scene reports, and provide a venue for communication. This time, there is just me, only me (and nobody else with me, so far) maintaining this blog. So I ask that you bear with me just a bit. Let us take this musical journey together and enjoy, while we can.

And please, tell me (when you feel like it of course), that you enjoy traveling with me, so I'd know if I should go on.


All the best. Marika.