ARTIST IN RESIDENCE ] At home with Diego Castillo, musician

Diego Castillo is guitarist of the band Sandwich. Photographs Jerome Gomez

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FUCK MONEY ] Khavn dela Cruz is feeling generous

"What do you do with several years’ worth of music written for films that have been screened, distributed and released around the world? You create a netlabel for the stuff and re-release it to a whole new audience, and then you invite other people to contribute to the effort, and then you create a community of like-minded individuals who believe in the output. And suddenly, KamiasRoad. To be perfectly honest, the name has been used for a domain and another website, but now it is also a netlabel which will release free audio products on the web for your amusement and sonic bliss.

"KamiasRoad will primarily focus on music classifiable as avant-pop, experimental pop, plop, genre-defying pop, and umbilicuspop, (which we just made up for fun to see if people start using the term at all).

"KamiasRoad is the netlabel arm of the Khavn digital media empire, and is the brainchild of umbilicuspop star, director, poet and artist Khavn.

"Goodbye multimillion dollar record industry. Long live netlabels!"


Above, the first three albums from KamiasRoad. For a truly pop Khavn, the umbilicuspop star, listen to Jolina Magdangal's Gusto.

FOR YOUR LISTENING PLESHYUR ] The pre-brandy-soaked Ate Guy

Image from SUPERSTARstruck: The Nora Aunor Fanatics Blog

We're guessing, of course, but La Aunor sounds at her most sober when she recorded the collection of songs in the three-disc compilation called Nora Aunor Superstar from Vicor. Her troubled, tragic days still ahead of her, there is none of the heavy, torchy boulders that weigh her '80s performances down. Consisting of covers and originals from three to five albums that included Lady Guy (which she produced) and Nora and Christopher In Love, Super G effortlessly allows her distinct vocals to carry the tunes and, well, the power of love to lift her up. Because that's how she registers, floating in the clouds, with only a man called Boyet as her upper of choice. Originally recorded around 1974 and 1975, the songs indeed sound born from a gentler, sweeter era. Our favorites: "Who Broke Your Heart and Made You Write that Song?" "Take Away The Sunshine" and one must pause and shut the rest of the world to hear her sing "I Got Caught Dancing Again." The occassional faulty deekshen is part of its loveliness. "I feel a sheever run up my spine," she sings in "Laughter in the Rain;" and in "Sweet Memories," "My world is like a reever, as dark as it is deep." The song choices on the first disc are topnotch, but on disc 2, it's an entirely different trip altogether: the Atsay star plays kolehiyala and sings Taglish. She worries about the "sermon ng mommy ko sa'kin" in a song called "Puppy Love," and in the Sunny Ilacad-Spanky Rigor composition "High School Ring," she sings about a gift, a "symbol ng pag-ibig ko." The P350 we coughed up for this thoroughly trippy compilation is the symbol of ours.

SABADO NIGHT ] I don't know how to love it

Photo by Dahl Bennett

The CCP's Ed Cabagnot was getting carried away about it on Facebook today (posting links to versions of the Yvonne Elliman classic; did you know Sinead has a version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" on youtube?), but I already had my Jesus Christ Superstar fix last night at Taumbayan, this corner eatery/bar/performance place which really looks like a sari-sari store from your cab window. I have been craving for some JCS gig since two weeks ago, and listening to the movie with beer on hand just wasn't cutting it (will somebody lend me a movie soundtrack?). The '70s Bistro in Anonas used to hold a JCS show yearly, putting together a cast that have included Cookie Chua, Noel Cabangon (as JC), Jett Pangan, Indio I and other names from the rock scene. I've been to three and it was always jampacked and so much fun and the performances amazing.

I always thought only rock people could do this musical justice. And so I also came to see Basti Artadi play JC several years ago in the rave-scene-paparazzi-era version by Atlantis Productions. So when my friend Eric Cabahug texted me about the Taumbayan gig fifteen minutes before the performance began, I left my bag of expectations at home (its big and heavy and comes with a stroller) and thought one or two beers could probably turn this one into something mildly fun. The players were showbiz-theater people: Bituin Escalante (Judas), Aiza Seguerra (Mary Magdalene), Agot Isidro (JC), Ricci Chan (Herod). On the organ and singing Pontius Pilate's numbers was Vince de Jesus of Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah fame. Joel Lamangan was in the audience (singing along as if he were part of Norman Jewison's taumbayan), and so were Tony Mabesa, lighting designer Monino Duque, writers Emman dela Cruz, Mario Hernando, and the Medina brood: Pen, Ping and a brother whose attention was exclusively dedicated to his phone. It was PETA here, Dulaang UP there, and Teatro Pilipino everywhere else.

How was the performance? After a couple of Pales, I was happily singing along, and by the time "Simon Zealotes" came in, I was more forgiving of the missed lyrics, and was dancing in my tight little space. Aiza gave a heartbreaking rendition of "I Don't Know How To Love Him," and Bituin is always fabulous except she repeated some of the lines once in a while. That's okay I guess, I'm sure there were no rehearsals involved and eveyrthing seemed last minute (I love it when a group of people come in all white and think that's automatically a chic costume). The real performance of the night, though, was my friend Emman's who stood beside me. When the final song Superstar started, we all got excited and joked around that Nora Aunor might just be coming down from the stairs. Then Emman began singing his own impromptu version of Superstar, this time about Ate Guy's return from the dead. "Ayan na siya! Ang nag-iisa!"

All in all, it wasn't a complete waste of time. My friend bought a shirt from Neil Ryan Sese who brought with him a bag of Bangkok stuff. The black shirt was splattered with numerous rock band names my friend would never listen to, but it looked so cool I almost bought one. What I ended up buying is a bracelet of black wooden beads from a bag sitting on Gino Gonzales's lap. I've never worn something like it in years and it was just a hundred bucks. When one of the owners, Joel Saracho saw all these buying and selling happening, he stopped for a moment to ask: "What did Christ do when the people turned the temple into a marketplace?" As soon as we settled our last bill, we were outtathere.

THE THREE-HANKY READ* ] 10 heartbreaking blog posts on The Final Set

Photographs by Idris Miraflor

1
"With Ely healthy again, take two of the concert was scheduled. The day before the show the band’s friend and guest star Francis Magalona died of leukemia. Farewells piled on farewells; if the reunion were a work of fiction it would be rejected for lack of plausibility. But this isn’t just their story anymore. The Eheads have written themselves into our story, and really, who cares about plausibility at a time like this? The gates are open. It’s time for your last goodbye.--The End, jessicarulestheuniverse.com

2
"The crowd was sometimes silent because everyone was listening as if it was a dream hearing the 4 boys play their songs live again. Although we were watching in the big screen most of the time, it was worth it because just the feeling of being in that concert was phenomenal, it was stellar and dream-like.—The Final Set?, Extreme Symphony, flipbizkit

3
"So, whenever the guys played at Club Dredd or Mayric’s or some school fair, they did not need to put on a show. Their songs did it for them. These tunes played themselves in your head and you were drawn back into your life. Their songs became your songs. The boys conveniently snuck themselves in the background, amidst the din of the rock joint and your own drunken stupor.

"The following Sunday, Buddy sent out this text message to some of us:
'The experience was overwhelmingly magical for us too. Wishing everyone a safe weekend. And thanks for making it happen!'

"I told him: 'It was an awesome show. Beyond words…We hope that sometime, somehow, you guys get to play again. And we get to scream our hearts out once more.'
We will never be over them.-–The Eheads and Why We Can’t Get enough of Them, The Dark Side Jake Yrastorza




4
"It probably was meant to be just that… a momentary glimpse into the legend, like the ghost of a loved one flashing by from time to time. It’s not enough yet it’s enough."--The Eraserheads Reunion, The Ricelander’s Blog

5
"Ely threw his Levi’s Denim jacket towards our direction and guess what? The 6 of us were literally holding on to the jacket. This is how we literally fought over Ely’s jacket. I wasn’t on the picture because I was dragged on the ground. Haha. The bouncer (without the cap) was already saying that the jacket should be given to the girls (i.e. MINE and the other girl!). Of course, the men wouldn’t allow it because their hands grabbed it also. And so this bouncer (with the cap) confiscated the jacket. The 6 of us were worried that he might not give it back to us. He came back to us after the first set and was asking for a bribe (pang-merienda lang daw). WOW. Of course we didn’t give in to his demands (ano ito, ransom???) and so the 6 of us decided to just divide the jacket among us just to compromise. We might be reprimanded with unruly behavior (and the concert might be stopped because of us) that’s why just to get over it, we decided to cut the jacket into parts after the concert since scissors were not allowed in the venue. The jacket became a ’sacred object’, you know in the religious sense? It was so immature of me but what the hell, this would be the last time that i’ll be doing this. Haha.

"They were finally able to sing the final song “Ang Huling El Bimbo”. To tell you honestly, I cried in the middle of the song. I didn’t anticipate the tears but it just fell down my cheeks. I think Buddy saw me crying. It’s really unexplainable. I know that I have already moved on. Maybe I cried because I finally saw that Ely is back. All throughout the show, he was enjoying himself and didn’t seem to be forced on doing something that he didn’t like. This was the Eraserheads that I saw way back when they were still together: joking around, didn’t care if they made a mistake on a certain part, etc. If i will be comparing it to the first, I like this one better because I know they were all enjoying."—-This is The Last El Bimbo-My Eraserheads Final Set Experience, Slip Inside the Eye of My Mind, Sharlyne Ang

6
"I GOT RAIMUND MARASIGAN's drumstick!!!!!!, when he threw it on the last encore songs, he threw it on my far left and i ddnt have hope of getting it, and for some reason, it bounced and fell on my foot. YAHOOO!! i grabbed it and held it infront of me, and paused for a good 5 seconds. thanking the gods of rock. amen."-–Eraserheads Final Set Experience: 03.07.2009, Chasing Lights, zarathrustralf



7
"Presently, the car parks in a special area. It is easy to find my slot. It’s got my name in front of it. Some lady herds my crew and me to my own tent. There’s food. And booze. And it’s got A/C too. Damn, we never had it this good before.
And this gets me thinking. Were we ever this big? Were we even close to it when we released Circus? Or Cutterpillow? Or Sticker Happy? Or right after our Asian and U.S. tours?

"Hell no. We’re way bigger now that the band’s dead than it ever was when it was still alive.

"To this day, I am asked why we ended all this. A fan once said how she felt orphaned, that she wished her “parents” would get back in each other’s arms. I don’t know. I think we were a group with an expiration date. I guess we weren’t meant to live our lives gigging together forever. Did we write songs designed to stay longer than we did? Of course not. But we’re all glad, maybe even lucky, it’s turning out that way.

"And then Ely sets his piano in flames. What the…I somehow had a sense that he’d do that but to actually witness it on stage is a totally different story. I mean, this is THE Sticker Happy piano. Sure, it no longer works but it’s always been pretty symbolic for the band. Soon after, Ely kicks it over and stomps on it. Now, that’s a symbol.

"If memory serves me right, that’s probably the most theatrical thing Ely ever did at a gig. I mean, this is one guy who knows he is a rock god but refuses to acknowledge it. Have you ever seen him at interviews? He’s got the “Let’s-get-this-over-with” and “I-don’t-give-a-damn” look. And it’s not put on. It’s because he just doesn’t give a damn. He just wants to make music. I think. And how. There’s the deft turn of phrase, the word play, and an ear for simply what sounds right. Most of the songs he wrote are autobiographical but when you hear them, you believe that he really wrote about you and your world. Yet you never knew a girl who answered to the name, “Julie Tearjerky.”--If I Were an Eraserhead, The Dark Side, Jake Yrastorza

8
"Closure can't get sweeter than this."—Another One of Those Eraserheads: The Final Set Blog Entries, Multiply Mo Mukha Mo!, iampugeda

9
"it was bittersweet. to hear your youth played like that and to share it with 100,000people. i'm guessing a lot of us are in our thirties by now and are COMPLETELY different from the people we were when we heard those songs for the first time, and also in a way exactly the same...

fuck people, we're ancient.

it's 3pm in the afternoon on a sunday and all i want right now is a vodka double on the rocks.

not that any of you will ever read my blog, but right now i am compelled to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. for overcoming whatever shit you guys have between you for one night. for playing for more or less 3 hours. for looking like, at least for a few minutes, you actually enjoyed playing together. for making it through the night without ely needing another open heart surgery. for dressing up for the part. for playing even the stupid songs. for giving a shout out to francis m. for saying a proper goodbye. for writing all of that kick ass music.

"because my life as a movie is better with your songs in the soundtrack."--Ito Na Ang Huling El Bimbo, anonymous



10
“guys, pag lettermen na ang eraserheads at maisipan nilang ituloy ang concert, manunuod pa rin tayong magkakasama ha…”-Some kind of fairytale, cecille


*If you're an Eraserheads fan. Compiled by Cristina Gomez-Verano who missed the show because she was seven months pregnant. Her story on the first set here. 211 more photos from The Final Set here. ...Read more

THE PLAYLIST ] No cover charge, just covers*

Page design JR Agra

When The Rage Band quit playing their '80s gigs, I lost my occassional '80s live band fix. And then I found The Ronnies. While Rage was all grim and determined about it, Juan Miguel Salvador jumping to stand on his seat, Marissa Bunag singing "We Will Rock You" like her life depended on it (if you used to be a rock band and are relegated to singing revivals of songs that aren't yours, maybe it did), The Ronnies seemed a little more tongue-in-cheek, a little cooler, just a group of friends having a blast playing Sheena Easton's "Telephone" and Laura Branigan's "Self Control" on a slow Saturday night.

Which is close to how it all began, really. "We started out outside Big Sky Mind one evening, nag-iinuman, nagkakalokohan, natuluyan," says Ene, the vocalist. "As most things in life happen--at a bar, having drinks. Buti na lang naalala namin lahat in the morning."

On the eve of their 3rd anniversary show at Club Dredd, Ene gives Swank a little hitback, hitback, hitback! Ten '80s tracks and their accompanying memories:

Left of Center (Suzanne Vega) Science class. Sharing a table with four other people. I remember my hairstyle (which i will not reveal) and my classmate Diday veneracion singing this. Just an Illusion (Imagination) William Martinez. I think he was just a dancer when this song came out. I can see the dance steps and the white costume they used for this. Clouds Across The Moon (The Rah Band) Vicor Dancers Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics) Oddly enough I have two memories for this song: how I was awed by this man/woman with orange hair, and later on hearing a group of gay guys in college sing it in harmony. Needless to say those four and I became good good friends. When Doves Cry (Prince) When Prince was still just "Prince," my batchmate Sidney ventura submitted the lyrics to this song as a composition in English class and got a grade of 1.0. Two Rivers (The Adventures) If I'm not mistaken this was the "theme song" of Tina Panganiban and Michael Saenz (Swank has no idea who they are, The Adventures, Tina and Michael). Freeze Frame (The J. Geils Band) The cliquers (Rida, Tracy, Trixie, Mabeth, Marcia, Joy, Mireille) dancing to this song at the multi-purpose hall, shades and sinaunang layering (read:bagets). You To Me Are Everything (The Real Thing) Winnie Roque. The only one who could sing this song from beginning to end from memory. Break my Stride (Matthew Wilder) Okay, no real big memory attached to this shttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifong but i love how the lyrics relate his dream: "I sailed away to china/in a little old boat to find ya/and you said you had to get your laundry cleaned..." Video Killed The Radio Star (The Buggles) Credited as the first video aired on MTV.

The Ronnies are Ronnie Dizon, Ene Lagunzad, Andy Estalilla, Justin de Belen and Astrojon Padilla. Former members include Kessenth Cheng, Nix Puno, Abe Billano , Jason Caballa, Nelson Gonzales, Archie Simangan and Kenway Barcelona. "We like to remember everyone that was a Ronnie come anniversary time. Once a Ronnie, always a Ronnie."

*"No cover charge, just covers" is the tagline of The Ronnies 3rd anniv gig I Don't Want To But I Does. Ene Lagunzad photograph by Rossy Yabut. The Ronnies photo by Ardie Lopez. Click on orange words for the videos.

...Read more