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.

On Kid British, Downtimes, and Matinees

Hello kiddies. It is April Fool's Day but I kid you not (Did I just say that? Uh-oh.) when I tell you that Kid British is our musical programmer's current pet. Just who is Kid British? You are presently hearing one of this vibrant young band's songs on our player, Sunny Days.

Also have to tell you that there is another matinee gig coming up. This one is produced once again by A Happy Face Productions and will be held on Saturday afternoon of April 4 at Center for Arts, Timog Ave., Quezon City. Should be great: take a look at the poster at our siderail and marvel at the excellent line-up.

We may have been absent for quite awhile, downtime you might say. But, hey, the music is still alive. See you guys around, as always.

March 15 Sunday Afternoon Extravaganza Cancelled

Just to let you know. The March 15 Vaudeville Sunday Afternoon Extraganza to be held at the Mayflower Night Club has been cancelled, reportedly due to liquor licensing problems. Pity.

But again I say, let's have more Sunday matinee gigs.

Why I Love Matinees, Plus Photos from March 1 Sunday PM Extravaganza

I love matinee gigs. It is not too often, though, to find matinee gigs being held here in Metro Manila. We may perhaps take a cue from the now defunct CBCG which gave a good number of bands (e.g. Gorilla Biscuits, Sick Of It All) a venue via Sunday matinees. Even Cebu has been doing matinees for years.

Why do I love matinees? Unless you have kids (then again, you can bring them to the gigs, yes?), there's nothing much going on during Sunday afternoon. By lunchtime you would have probably been done with domestic and personal obligations. Besides, watching the bands perform onstage while the sun is high up gives a very very surreal feeling. If matinee is a new experience for you, you've got to try seeing 'em matinee gigs.

We should hold matinee gigs more often.

Last March 1 (a Sunday), A Happy Face Productions ran its first installment of Vaudeville at Ten02. The gig featured, in order of appearance, Bad Omen, Against Man, Pink Cow, Dead Sperm, Utter Dismay, Beatdown Boombox, and Tame The Tikbalang. Very commendable effort. I had a good time, especially so at the homestretch (around 8pm), though it would have been better to stick to the schedule. At any rate, I certainly want more of these in the near future.

Sayang, the second installment of the Vaudeville (Sunday Afternoon Extravaganza) has been cancelled (see succeeding post). But do check out the photos from the March 1 gig. And see you around...on any given Sunday afternoon.

Bad Omen


Against Man


Pink Cow


Dead Sperm


Utter Dismay


Beatdown Boombox


Tame The Tikbalang

(Above photo: Paulo of Pink Cow)

Blood Donors Wanted

Dennis Maniego, bassist for Throw, The GoSignals, and Betrayed, will be undergoing a triple bypass heart surgery on Tuesday, March 17, 2009. He needs blood donors, as this procedure will entail blood transfusion. You may get in touch with his brother Mel Maniego at meljm888[at]yahoo[dot]com or at trashradiomanila[at]gmail[dot]com.

Throw is likewise calling for your support for Dennis, read about it here.

Hey You Guys!

Does anybody remember The Electric Company?

(Yes yes, I am giving away my age there.)

The Electric Company is a syndicated children's television program produced by the same folks that gave us Sesame Street. Thought of as a show catering to more mature kids (ergo, kids with minds more sophisticated and, well, with greater tendency towards perversion), The Electric Company is best known for its screechy catch-phrase popularised by the diminutive Rita Moreno: HEY, YOU GUYS!

Ah, yes. Quite the sentiment of our music programmer here, hehehe. And see, I can take a hint (/me getting up from bed and typing this post).

OK. Playlist now.

1. This Rainy Decade - CLEANERS FROM VENUS

This comes straight out of the catalogue of L'Agence Des Refusés, reportedly a 1980s cassette only Belgian label which is attracting some kind of interest within the snooty "hard-to-find titles" clique. Perhaps our European radar (who also happens to be Belgian) can shed more light on this.

2. I've Got a Crush on You - LUSCIOUS JACKSON

From the compilation "Red Hot + Rhapsody: The Gershwin Groove" comes this quirky, delightful cover.

3. Modern Girl - CAMERA OBSCURA

Camera Obscura, the band from Glasgow, Scotland, has been around since 1996. The song "Modern Girl" comes from arguably their most popular work to date, Let's get Out of This Country, released some ten years later. A new album, My Maudlin Career, is due for release on April 2009.

4. Only Happy When It Rains - RICHARD CHEESE and LOUNGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

I like Shirley Manson a lot and this is one of my favorite songs by Garbage. This track in the playlist is a wicked remake by the irreverent Richard Cheese.

5. Straight to Hell - LILY ALLEN (from the War Child Heroes Compilation)

Lily Allen does this cover with no less than The Clash's Mick Jones. Read about the War Child heroes Compilation here.

6. Army of Me - BJORK

And oh, who does not know Bjork?

So there. Capping off this post is this clip from what was once a part of my perverted childhood. Enjoy folks.

Scene Report: Sound Off!, February 20, 9 Mile

For our first "guest" article, here is a report of last Friday's gig courtesy of Jan of Shuffle Union. She also provided us with some photographs. Hana has tipped us off with her own set of pictures which she uploaded in her Multiply account; two of these pics appear in this post. Also, do check out Hana's album of pictures of the Louie Louie gig here. Thanks to Jan and Hana for their inputs.

Aside from articles, you may also contribute mixtapes and playlists, too. Just send them in mp3 format to trashradiomanila[at]gmail[dot]com or hand over a cd copy. Snail mail will do, too: P.O. Box 2999, Quezon City, Philippines. Ok, I'm done, you people now read on.

SOUND OFF!
by Jan Bautista
Photos courtesy of Jan and Hana

The night was inexplicably hot and humid, and with the season being indistinct of late, it was a sure sign that summer has finally arrived. Still, this did not stop people from trooping over to 9mile Bar in Kalayaan Avenue last Friday for SOUND OFF. Featuring bands from the ClubSka Manila scene of old, “Sound Off” was an effort to simply gather bands, play music, and have fun. This explains why, once inside, we noticed that most of the people and the bands themselves knew each other. Inside, a small crowd has gathered, chugging beers and mopping off sweat by the bucketful. It was the usual mixture of casuals, skinheads, and rudies as well as a few brave souls who dared go out that night.

First up was Rocket Punch who did a fantastic set of skinhead reggae covers. From being a 3rd wave ska act, these guys have undergone transformations and line-up changes, eventually settling into the heavier groove of early reggae. As always, this reviewer enjoyed their bass-heavy set.

Next up, delivering something from the other end of the skinhead musical spectrum was The Mighty Contras, promising to bring back the attitude that has brought them some degree of fame or infamy, depending on who you are talking to. Despite the line-up change, the in-your-face attitude has remained, as they played a blistering set of covers and originals.

Touted as the next best band to have come out of the local ska scene, the lads of SteadyMovinBeat next took to the stage dishing out 2Tone gems. Don’t let their boyish demeanor trick you into thinking they cannot play well because they are technically good. Their first attempt on an original demo was quite decent. In fact, I look forward to more original songs from these guys.

Last but not least, Shuffle Union played their set of covers and originals, with their “crowd sing-a-long” version of “Dance With Me” ending the night with heavily sweating (and heavily drunk?) attendees, enjoying music and the company of friends.

Frozen moment: Rocket Punch, Steady Movin' Beat, Contras, Shuffle Union

Come, Tell Us What You Have To Say: Trash Radio Manila Now Accepts Articles!

To be persistent is good, but being consistent is better. It has always been our goal to keep this blog teeming with fresh inputs and ideas that are, well, off the beaten path so to speak. But, as history will prove over and over, one brilliant mind is not enough, while a marriage of minds can make all the difference.

Oh, to heck with lame metaphors. We would like to invite you, yes you, to contribute your articles to Trash Radio Manila. Your pieces may cover events, album reviews, and just about anything about your scene, either in or out of Manila. You may send your articles, preferably with photos, to trashradiomanila[at]gmail[dot]com.

You may ask, what will you get out of this? First, let me say that we at Trash Radio Manila do not have money perpetually flowing out of our wallets, so don't count on it. However, I would like to believe that this site is slowly shaping into a community bulletin board. Trash Radio Manila has had more than 10,000 unique page views since its inception according to Sitemeter, which means that our site has so far been gaining readership from practically all around the world. We definitely want to know what you, and the rest of the 10,000 or so readers have to say and share to the community, and for sure you would like to know what others have in mind as well.

So, to the brazen ones, hop right in and join us in our roller coaster ride.

Captured by PowerShot: Jon Fishbone of Bad Omen

Ditch The Roses, Sweety. I Want My Balaw-Balaw

If romance to you means balaw balaw, minaluto, and itik, then I think I've got something for you. Angono ska specialists Neighbors (yes, they're back) will be playing on THE V-Day at Hajime along Angono Highway. Unplugged, that is. If you think that sounds romantic (or erotic, since I heard that balaw balaw makes a good aphrodisiac), then head to the east tomorrow and catch them live.

Also, do check out our siderail for some gig announcements, which are constantly being updated. Stay tuned, and have an interesting Valentine's Day.

Cum Give Me MORE Luv...

Here's more luv from the Louie Louie gig. On our player right now are t.R.A.'s Caveman and Throw's version of Dead Ends' (Ano Ba Ang) Kalayaan. These are some of the songs that you should have heard if you attended the said event. Intense you say? You bet. You sure missed a lot. Pero di bale. Is there any chance that a full-length release of the Louie Louie session will be forthcoming? Keep your ears clean, hunnies.

Special thanks to Monopond Studios and Long Island Dub Studios for the tweaks. Shall I say, Happy Valentines Day? w000t!

Eto Naaaa! Louie Louie Photos Up

So what if it took me some time to put up the pics? Haha! There are more than 35 photographs showing how fun it has been during the Louie Louie gig over at Mogwai at Cubao X last January 17, 2009. If you weren't present, pity, but this collection of images is probably the closest thing to being there.

Again, again, our profound gratitude to everyone who lent a hand or two (or three or four more) in making this event a success: bands, supporters, venue, equipment, promo. All the bands, t.R.A., Tether, Steady Movin' Beat, Throw, Against man, End Of Sanity, Juan Isip, Nu Militants, Beatdown Boombox, The GoSignals, Wayfarers, Shuffle Union, and Coffee Break Island (who gave impromptu performance a whole new meaning), were fantastic. Twice The Panic and Soundblasters played some great music in the middle of the gig.

For me, the most scintillating performance of the night happens to be that of Juan Isip (aka Bobby Balingit of The WUDS). His music, transcending borders, never fails to entrance me, and it left the same effect on the audience, who stood and listened the whole time. No flash, no show-off profanities, and definitely no rock star posturing. Bobby's music has withstood the test of time, evolving into a beautiful artform that escapes further description. Amazing.

I also thought that Tether gave a superb performance, and End of Sanity was likewise good. Just hope the latter will eventually write original songs because the boys seem to be promising. Shuffle Union claim to having done their acoustic set for the first time, but they did sound sparklingly fresh. Of course, we got electric sets from the reliables like Throw and Pink Cow. Bunek (of Nekbu) sang with the rest of The GoSignals a song which is Weslu's, and probably everyone's, favorite love ditty: Madness' It Must Be Love. Sweet.

Music front's Arnold Morales sang a couple of songs with the Nu Militants.

The smashing sound system was courtesy of Romel and the boys of PMX. Sa uulitin po.

Lastly, two thumbs up for Mogwai's Squash soup (nyum!), Lyle Sacris, and the friendly staff. Thanks too for the cool heads in the audience, who kept signs of unruliness under considerable control. Mabuhay kayo.

So there. It has been a great send-off for our friend Louie. Til the next gig folks.

t.R.A.

Tether

Steady Movin' Beat

Throw

Against Man

End Of Sanity

Pink Cow

Juan Isip

Twice The Panic vs Soundblasters

Nu Militants

Beatdown Boombox

The GoSignals

With Bunek (of Nekbu)

The Wayfarers

Shuffle Union

Coffee Break Island

The crowd

More photos here