1969

1969 was such a great year for music regardless of the historic Woodstock which took place at the outskirts of New York state.  1969′s music glory owes itself to the culture surrounding it at that time. The restlessness of Vietnam protests.  The counter-culture youth in face with the highly conservative and blindly patriotic generation that had lived through the traumatic World War II.  1969 was the height of hallucinogenic substances which inspired new ways of recognizing the world.  It was also a time of repression and therefore resistance.

1969 also inspired indie.  That music celebrates loving the street musician or playing the record on mono.  Indie was also about Bob Dylan rejecting to play at Woodstock.  Indie was making music for the sake of music. Or music to save lives. And that there was something hateful about record companies, especially after what they have done to The Beatles.  And speaking of The Beatles, 1969 was the last time The Beatles were seen in live performance at the rooftop of Apple Records.  It was also the year when John Lennon performs as a solo artist and cries, “Give Peace a Chance”.  There was something so distinctly resounding about those words at that time, which now is just a song that we happen to know and have heard on the radio before.

1969 was when Bob Marley and the Wailers emerged from obscurity and began to popularize Reggae.  It was also Elvis Presley’s most monumental and critically-acclaimed comeback.  Simon and Garfunkel and Jackson 5 debuts –  a mark of the beginning of another era in music which is the 70′s folk or pop ballad.

When I close my eyes and think about the alternative lifestyles and the music and the pleasures so prolific in 1969, I kind of wish I lived at least a day in that year and just have a look-see of what was going on.  Just as though the Times they are a ‘changin. Just to feel that sense of wonder as one watches the first man land on the moon.

The MTV Video Music Awards 2009 is probably the weirdest to date.  Supposedly, the highlight of the show was the much-awaited tribute to the late Micheal Jackson by his sister Janet and the queen Madonna herself.  But there have been numerous scores that really eclipsed the opening number in memory of Jackson. For one, you get a very interesting medieval rendering from Lady GaGa which shocked audiences (as usual) and then another asshole stunt from (the guy who I thought was scratched off the guest list after the last fiasco), Kanye West took place. Again, acting like a complete hillbilly, he grabs the mic from Taylor Swift as the 19-year-old accepts her Best Female video award to tell audiences that Beyonce’s video was the best of that year. Of course, Beyonce looks shellshocked by this unexpected turn of events and West is booed off the stage, the works.

Kanye the douche

Way to crush a teenager’s self-esteem. West was reportedly scolded by Swift’s mother to which he later apologized on his blog.

In other  news, the US Open semifinals concluded with an ugly unsportsmanlike display from Serena Williams, a disruption that caused her a crucial point to the game.

Here’s the report that ran on Yahoo Sports news:

Defending champion Serena Williams was charged with a point penalty on match point after yelling at a line judge for a calling a foot fault on her previous serve. The ruling gave Kim Clijsters a 6-4, 7-5 victory in their semifinal match, which had been delayed 32 hours because of rain.

After the line judge called the foot fault with Serena, the youngest Williams sister intimidatingly stared her down before screaming at the official with a jabbed finger. After a few seconds, Serena turned back around to serve, thought better of it and resumed the badgering. The chair umpire then called over the line judge to ask what Serena had said, rules officials were summoned, a brief summit occurred at the net and it was determined that Serena would be assessed a point penalty for a conduct violation. The point gave Clijsters the match.  Williams was quoted saying, “I’m going to shove this ball down your fucking throat”.

It got worse from there. There were multiple profanities, more threats and a lot of pointing. Serena was soon defending herself against accusations that she had threatened to kill the lines judge. Even John McEnroe said it was a bit much.

Even if the foot fault was a wrong call from the line judge, it should not have been enough excuse for the outburst.

Oh well, cheers for my namesake for bagging the US Open grandslam!  Clijsters is indeed the queen of come back.

Kim Clijsters with her daughter enjoying the award ceremony of the US Open

Eric Calilan on his mobile electronic sound factory. Photo by Andi Baldonado.

All of music comes from sound.  Music has no place without it.

Chi’s brainchild is a stark illumination of noise and sound.  With the exhibition of “Golden Noises” last Saturday, sound was marvelously deconstructed by several electronic gadgets and makeshift instruments.

Eric Calilan fuses electronic vibrations and crude midi to give his sound set some serious teeth.  He severs conventional music bars and devices new time signatures.  It’s remarkable what a few twists and buttons can create and express.  His renderings are neither crude nor delicate.  It is purely alien.

The set was followed by Chuck Fournier’s more melodious but playful sonic renderings.  It is truly a sound trip that blows the mind when one follows its unpredictable current and abrupt punctuations.  The beat he utilizes toward the end was misleading.  There is no rhythm but your heartbeat.  Sound has no rhythmic base only fluidity.

Lastly, Toshiyuki Seido has a very direct message.  His is an upfront barbaric display.  He strikes me as a very sadistic artist, forcing his audiences to painful noise.  The volume explodes and reverberates beyond one’s noise threshold.  It escalates the body to a shock so great it is only escapable with silence.  My interpretation is that he uses his instrument as a torture device, piercing you in strategic points while you are threatened with the knowledge that you can no longer escape.  If you stayed and listened, you are secretly a masochist.  To some, masochism is a legitimate form of pleasure.  And that is probably why I walked out.

Truly, every bit of sound is striking and exhilarating.  The concert was both an artistic and emotional exploration.

Roddick gives his all and falls for the ball

I know, I know, this was supposed to be the beginning of an all-music blog, but while I haven’t got a place to dump all the other fancies in my head, I will always try to come up with a way to squeeze music into the equation.

In the form of a soundtrack.

On a warm sunny spring afternoon at the Wimbledon center court, two heroic figures meet at the finals of the most classic tennis tournament. For either players, it would be a historic bout. One is vying to break Pete Sampras’ record by winning his 15th grand slam victory while the other is a man who used to be the world number one, disappeared into obscurity and decided to get back in shape to reclaim his glory by orchestrating one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. Federer and Roddick had a lot at stake.

They play each other until the 5th and final set, on what seemed at first to be an almost impenetrable gameplay from both sides. Roddick serves splendidly and is stunning his opponent with uncharacteristic volleys. Federer on the other hand holds out even though he appears exhausted, giving it his all when Roddick finally show some cracks at 15-15. I was rooting for Federer at first but seeing Roddick’s spirited and utterly jaw-dropping performance, I wanted him to win in the end.

But like any sport, someone has to win and the other lose.

I am dedicating this post’s song to the courageous fight put up by the American, Andy Roddick.  Roddick, I’m sure you’ll remain in the conversation on the next grand slam. We’ll be watching you.

Birdbrain – Youth of America [Download] [Lyrics]

(L-R) Me, Jett Pangan, JB Leonor, Kenneth Ilagan (Truefaith), Ricci Gurango (Hungry Young Poets, Mojofly)

New wave has got to be my unconscious genre.  I was born in the late eighties, so most of the music I remember from my earliest living memory is a combination of new wave radio hits and clumsily spurned grunge.

Growing up, I never knew The Dawn but when I did my homework prior to my interview I immediately recognised their songs.  Most probably, the only reason I would ever get the chance to hear their music is if someone older than myself had been picking the tunes on the radio and I just happened to be in the same room at that time.  The night before the interview, I sent everyone on my phonebook ages 30 up to see if any of them knew the band.  I get an urgent reply from my lawyer, our veterenarian, an engineer, so on.  People of considerable stature.  This is the generation the band sung to.  And so as someone who was barely born at the cusp of their prime, my Filipino music history was enriched and had a brush up last friday with The Dawn.

Unfortunately, my record of the said interview was of such poor quality I wouldn’t dare upload it to grate your ears. Instead, I wrote a transcript of the higlights of the interview that fans might appreciate.  Viola.

I see we have a couple of powerhouse sessionists that’s Kenneth of True Faith and Ricci of Mojofly. How come Buddy and Francis couldn’t make it?

(Jett) It’s really a coincidence because Buddy’s wife is having her graduation from her Masters today and Francis is taking a leave from the band.  Really busy guy.

You’ve been a band for more than 20 years.  Five of those years you spent in hiatus, did you ever think at that point when you first disbanded that hey, this is it?

(Jett) I really did think that that was it for us.  We were just fatigued and picked up on the new trends where we really didn’t fit.

All of you did several side projects during that time and we’re doing well on your own, how did it occur to you to have a reunion?

(JB) I just wanted to play the drums again.  And I thought why should I be playing with anyone else when we had these guys here?  I called Jett, Caloy, Kiko and even Atsushi.  I just wanted to play music again, and you know it was a good thing to have a breather to have dealt with all the clutter we’ve accumulated, because after that it was just about the music.

I want to talk about your newest album The later half  of the day and noticed a number of new wave covers.  Some of your old songs have been “jazzed up”, I would say, to a point they are distinctively mellowed from the originals.  How did you come up with that?

(JB) We wanted to do something rock bands never do, at least in the Philippines.  Because normally, we want our music loud.  But we agreed to push through with the concept anyway, did a series of shows in Makati, in Greenbelt to be exact, and they proved very successful.  I thought people were going to thrash it. (Laughs) But people flocked it, they actually loved it.  We did five or six more shows and then we decided, it made sense to make an album out of it.  Surprisingly it was selling very well.  Basically putting old songs in a new way, that’s what new wave’s all about.

What was the idea behind the movie based on your band called Tulad ng dati?  Did Mike just approach you one day?

(Jett) Oh yes, definitely.  He’s a big fan of the band.  He worked for us shooting another video, but he wasn’t directing.  He was like just watching there.  Really anticipating the chance to talk us because he had this idea for a long time to come up with a film about our band.  One day, we borrowed a video camera and did it.  It was just refreshing working with Mike because he’s very passionate about film and the story.  He had been developing it for years, made us read the script and we talked about it, and we put in our input.  By the way, the film won Best Film in Cinemalaya 2008 and that was just an utter surprise.  Then it was a flurry of opportunities for the band.  We even had a musical based on our songs.

I posted a notice online to see if any of your fans would chime in with their questions for you.  I have one here that is a bit peculiar, it’s from Mickeyboy:  If you were stuck in an island, how did you get there?

(Laughs) (JB) That’s a really profound existential question! An island, huh.  It depends how I got there.  What’s my favorite mode of transportation?

(Jett) I know what’s your favorite mode…

(Laughs) (JB) Well, really I’m trying to come up with a wholesome image here.  Say, I got there on my imaginary yatch packed with hot chicks!  But there you go.

I have another one here from a fan named Cheska, she asks:  Do you guys have any openings?

(JB) Are we talking about a physiological opening? (Laughs)

But more to the point, I understand that you wanted a female vocals initially.  JB, you were there with Ted Diaz when you formed the band.  I know about this story but I want to hear it from you.

(JB) Actually, it was Ted’s idea to get a female vocalist, whereas I, you know, I’m good with anything.  And so this guy (points at Jett) shows up with a girl who he was helping out and she had a hard time singing.  So he was demonstratively helping her out and when he sung on the mic he just blew away the place into high heavens!  You Jett, you really broke those speakers.

(Jett) Which reminds me, I haven’t paid for their damaged goods. (Laughs)

I have here a question from Ria, how did you guys manage to stay together for a long time?

(Jett) Wow. It’s all about the music.  We never imagined getting this far.  Plus, we’re all in a way educated enough not to get in to physically hurting each other when we fight. Basta, music is always number one.

My friend Blogie wants to ask you guys, how did you get the strength to move on after Teddy passed away?

(Jett) That’s a very good question, because at that time, we felt there was no band without Teddy.  And so we were like, let’s not talk about it, let’s bury our friend first and talk about the band later.  We wanted time to mourn because we didn’t just lose a bandmate, we also lost a friend.

(JB) So we asked ourselves, if Teddy could speak to us now what would he say? Were we just going to let up? He’ll probably say, “You wimps!” if we didn’t let the band go on.

You said earlier that you’re currently recording a new album.  Tell us what’s new with The Dawn.

(Jett) We have a new one coming up this June or July, it’s a lot louder than the album we released in 2008.  We also have a new video that will be showing on MYX.  It’s called Love will set us free.

(JB) I want to talk about the video briefly, the director’s cut that is.  It’s set in a museum, and there is this statue in the middle of it of two beautiful women, naked, and are embraced.  As the video progresses, the mold on the statue gradually washes away.  And at the end of it, they walk away from the Museum. Love will set us free.

(Jett) We’re still getting it through MTRCB.  So it’s uncertain yet that it will actually be shown on public television.  They are seriously contemplating on giving it an X-rating!  I mean, can you imagine our band being x-rated?

(JB) Good luck to that.

Late March and early April was by far an interesting time for get togethers of writers, artists and musicians.  The Young Davao Writers guild spearheaded a new version of their four month old poetry readings by infusing other artistic elements.  It has brought awareness for the need to confer with each other, as the young literary world faces a crisis of the seemingly lack of creative movement.

Litorgy is the movement of the young: the first of a series of multimedia renderings by different young Davao artists: musicians, visual artists and writers.  It was likewise guested by luminaries of the Davao art scene: Macario Tiu, Maria Morales and Chuch Fournier to name a few.

Plans of launching the next soiree are on the works and is believed to be called, Literotika.

Dear (omit: fellow) graduates,

How do you make a graduation march look cinematic?  That long arduous function that ushers in a new generation through a new threshold of social expectations.  What an irreplacable joy it is to have the discipline and diligence indeed to have come this far! Congratulations to all my friends whose paths I’ve crossed and are now crossing a path still ahead of me.  Bid your farewells to the academe, by all means do so, you truly deserve that goodbye!  I commend your determination and above all your courage.  If anything, the university life is but a riddle to the Life that often eludes our temporal meander in this world.  And let me tell you something about the world: it is teeming with opportunities, strife, crooks, unemployment, interesting colleagues, friends, traitors, money, happiness, struggles, creativity(!), companies, countries, dinner parties, society, love, hate, poverty(!), TAXES, obligations, governance, subordination, family, documentation, promotions, post-graduate, independence, boredom, youth, etcetera etcetera etcetera…  Take it from someone who took on the world before taking on herself.  We all have our answers to own one day with a strong heart and mind, charateristics of heroes and heorines.  And that my friends, is truly cinematic.

My deepest gratitude to all my teachers who showed no tolerance for my indolence and for that, evicted me from across disciplines to teach me a more important lesson.  I may not be your most studious student but I have learned indeed!  Thank you to the tertiary institution for its stubborness and legitimization of my rebellion, and having such a dry sense of humor: it has the last laugh, for now.  Thank you to my parents for worrying (sometimes, needlessly) for my future.  Mothers and fathers wish their children to grow up strong for they have the wisdom of the damage caused by powerlessness.  It may seem like an obvious choice, but we must learn to accept strength instead of weakness.  And tread our own path with fearlessness and zeal!

To those who are left behind, such as myself I have something to say to you: What now?  NOW, that we have the upperhand.  They just don’t know it!  All the choices we’ve made and the mistakes many people have said we’ve made, to them we say: So what!  I know, I know.  But know that there is no reason to feel defeatist when we’re really the ubermench!  This simply means that we are not easily defined by society instead we let society be defined by us.  We are a huge chunk on the neighborhood which gives us the leverage of the minority.  History has taught us that the minorities are the activists and the activists are the agents of change.  As most people proceed through life comfortably and are unaware of the dangers, we have already become masters of our own discomfort and have skillfully laid out our options.  We are the troubleshooters with a unique point of view.

Finally, thank you to the universe!  I have graduated from that social and psychological torture called a “god” and I thank the masters Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beuvoir, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Ayn Rand, Robert Green Ingersoll, Bertrand Russell, Jean Meslier, Michel Onfray, the Zeitgeist and many other freethinkers I have met in this young life and have inspired my post-christian secularity.  To take care of humanity is a soulful task yet an immense responsibility that we do entirely alone.  No earth, no heavenly consultation, no tradition is the sole basis of our personal, ethical, biological, artistic, intellectual evolution.  Borrowing the thought of this important adage, the Captain of my ship, master of my soul: is The “I“.

March, you graduates.  I offer you a line from the song written by a great man by the name of John Lennon.  The last song he ever recorded moments before he was gunned down is a very apt anthem of  a struggle for existential pinnacle.  And thus, the master spoke:

Walking on thin ice,
I’m paying the price
For throwing the dice in the air.
Why must we learn it the hard way
And play the game of life with your heart?

Cheers and good luck to you all.

Yoko Ono feat. Spiritualized – Walking on thin ice [Download] [Lyrics]

What’s the point in talking about a year that isn’t already?  I really have no point in all of this but I try to make it a habbit to have “closure” with every year that passed.  And I must admit that the only closure I had this year is coming to terms with my own arteur intellectual inclination.  But who cares about that?

You would care to know that 2008 was so memorable to me because:

The Eraserheads played a reunion concert and Ely Buendia had a heart attack!

Heath Ledger died.

The Beijing Olympics was so moving.

Did you know that Lav Diaz, a native of Mindanao, won the prestigious Orizzonti Prize Film Award from the Venice Film Festival? (Who cares, right?)

Gay Marriage was legalized in California AND illegalized through Proposition 8. (What irony!)

Gaza conflict erupted.

Barack Obama wins the US Presidential race.

Okay, it’s not a big deal.  My point is, new things are so much more interesting.  This year included.

And so was I.

You can’t blame me for loving the month of July. This month has been packed with so many things I hardly have time to go online and type one of ‘em posts for the birthday of this brainchild.  Anyway, brief history:  Southisms used to be and was supposed to be (exclusively) a music blog.  The rise of the niche blogging hype had called this space for that purpose initially.  However, the writer has transformed over time from the booze-guzzling musicionado to the tube-whirring, film-powered “student” of life, the universe and everything.  So now this must be a blog about the universe and everything, as far as my media brain cell is concerned.  But can’t help drifting back to music-related events since it’s still pretty much part of my nature.

Say for instance, I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about the upcoming Muzika del Sur Music Awards 2008 for August.  Unfortunately I had an ear infection so I wasn’t able to cover their preliminary events. 

I’ve heard the nominations have closed and that’s where the fun usually starts.

In my experience working for the Research Team before, the awards features a range of categories namely: Best Music Video, Rock, Ragga, Metal, Pop, Hip-Hop, and The Mindanawon Award.  Each band in the final roster goes through a nomination process and goes through an extensive review by a panel of jurors.  Last year, we incorporated an SMS system which allowed fans to vote for their favorite artists to be awarded the People’s Choice.  Unfortunately, the process was inevitably problematic and faced a slight amount of controversy when misinformation about the texting information was proliferated.  Thankfully, the bands were such sports about it.

This year’s music awards event had also its own set of problems this year such as the controversy surrounding an Idol Grill (Davao) gig.  My friend Shieka, who was part of the production of the said event had this to rant on the Friendster bulletins:

IMAGINE IF THIS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU:

** YOU HAVE THIS EVENT THAT YOU PREPARED FOR ALMOST A MONTH PROMOTING AND DOING ALL THE STUFF JUST TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

YOU INVITED LOCAL ARTISTS FROM CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY ( GASULINA) AND TAGUM CITY(KEYK) TO PERFORM JUST TO PRESENT UNITY AMONG MINDANAO ARTISTS, NOT TO MENTION SOME LOCAL DAVAO BANDS WHO ALSO EAGERLY PARTICIPATED JUST TO SHOW SUPPORT ON THE VISION OF MUZIKA DEL SUR.

** MOST OF THE LOCAL ARTIST ORGANIZATONS FLOCKED DURING THE EVENT JUST TO SHOW SUPPORT ON THE DRIVE OF PROMOTING THE MUSIC SCENE OF MINDANAO.

**FRIENDS,FAMILIES,TRI-MEDIA WENT TO WITNESS THE FIRST PRE-EVENT ACTIVITY OF THE UPCOMING MUSIC AWARDS 2008. THEN HERE COMES OUR HERO!

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROGRAM OUR IDOL COMMAND AND HIS JUSTICE LEAGUE DECIDED TO PULL OUT OUR EVENT BACK DROP STREAMER BECAUSE HIS IDOL LOGO WILL NOT BE SEEN (A. BY THE CAMERA, B. BY THE PEOPLE, C. BY HIS EMPLOYEES, D. BY HIS DRINKING BUDDIES, OR E. ALL OF THE ABOVE). AND WHEN WE ASKED HIS HIGHNESS TO JUST RECONSIDER OUR EVENT BECAUSE SOMEHOW WE PAID HIM TO HAVE OUR EVENT IN HIS KINGDOM… WHOOOOSHHHHHH!!!! OUR IDOL WITH ALL HIS MIGHT POINTED HIS MAGIC WAND TO HIS “CLOWNS” AND ORDERED ONCE AGAIN LADIES AND GENTLEMEN …ONCE AGAIN WITH(DRUM ROLL PLEASE..) ” I COMMAND YOU TO STOP YOUR EVENT! BY THE POWER OF MY MAGIC WAND MAGSITIGIL KAYOO MGA MAHADERA!! KEVERRR KUNG SINO PA YANG MGA MEDIA AT SPONSORS AT BISITA AT BANDANG NANDIYAN, WIZH KO EL! MAGDUSA KAYO MGA BRUHA! ” SO WITH ALL THE SHAME AND DEGRADATION WE PACK OUR THINGS,OUR PRIDE,OURSELVES, AND OUR HATRED HOME.

WE SOUGHT OUR REFUGE AT THE DURIAN BAR (THANKS PAOLO).

Being a musician and part of the media myself, that is NOT an ethical way to treat people from the media and music industry.  The fact that the event organizers have already paid for the place secures their discretion to manage the setting and materials to be used for the event.  Moreover, once the place is paid for, the event organizer and the outlet comes into an agreement that cannot be revoked under any circumstance.  The adage the show must go on is a practical truth because it’s too expensive to flush out the production when it is happening and it insults the professional integrity of all people involved in the production just because one person had a little problem.

Moreover Idol Grill never apologized to the production team and the bands for this horrible treatment.  Publicly or otherwise.

Anyways, I hate how there should always be politics in these events. Why can’t people be fun-loving and just listen to some friggin music?

Photo courtesy of http://morofilm.blogspot.com

My friend Jun Macarambon, who co-wrote “A step for my dream” had their film officially selected in this year’s Cinemalaya, inevitably the most prestigious film festival in the Philippines. I haven’t seen the film myself, but the fact that it made it to the festival should keep everyone’s heads up. It was directed by Monalayn Labado, also a Mindanawon. Hopefully, their producer Teng Mangansakan II, also a documentary filmmaker from Mindanao, would allow to screen the said film for this upcoming Mindanao Film Festival for everyone to see. Lately, the influx of critical Mindanao filmmakers shaking the national and international scene have grown since, perhaps, Lav Diaz. Other films to watchout for that are made by a Mindanao filmmaker include Sherad Anthony Sanchez‘s film (director of Huling Balyan ng Buhi) “Imburnal”, which was recently shot in some parts of Bankerohan and Dumalag. It is an entry for this year’s Cinema One Originals. Also, an advocacy film was recently made entitled, “Hunghong sa yuta” which has already run on local cinemas. Noticeably, most of our fresh breed of filmmakers have done stories on Mindanao, treating these stories with a fair sense of what Mindanao truly feels like.

In an interview, Mangansakan mentioned a trend in the past of outsiders making stories about us with an unnerving sort of unfamiliarity, even dettachment. I once watched a 1980 Eddie Romero epic (three and half hours long) film entitled, “Aguila” starring Fernando Poe Jr., Christopher de Leon, Eddie Garcia among other star studs, and the film had vague images of Mindanao as the backdrop of where Fernando Poe eventually disappeared to. It portrays Mindanao as somewhat the ideal place to get lost in, a place ridden with rebels. Although, the rather unbalanced portrayal of Mindanao is for the overall cinematic effect or part of how it was written but that’s precisely how it’s just not enough for non-Mindanawons to describe what Mindanao is like. Even National Media makes me cringe at all the news they run about the region. Whereas that is my advocacy, all strifes of artistic forms or self-determining movements in Mindanao have been hampered by the fact that there isn’t ENOUGH support from the locale, or at least not too many are aware that it needs support. I hope you will show yours.