I got featured in the latest issue of Pulp magazine

Filipino post-rock band Tide/Edit launches new album; hits Southeast Asia gig circuit for the first time.

Filipino post-rock band Tide/Edit launches new album; hits Southeast Asia gig circuit for the first time.

by rick olivares

Going through life with no expectations can sometimes be all right. You don’t get disappointed. But when it’s good, it brings more than a smile to one’s face. The sacrifices and hardships, they are all worth it.

“There were only pre-sales of 17 cds,” said the Thai promoter to Filipino instrumental rock band, Tide/Edit not soon after they touched down at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. “So don’t expect much.”

The four members of the band looked at each other. “No matter,” the members thought to themselves. “We’re going still going to perform all out.”

Privately, the band wondered if they’d have the energy to perform. The previous night, was the launch of their latest album, All My Friends, at Route 196 along Katipunan Avenue. Tide/Edit didn’t expect a lot of people, but… Route 196 was packed. And it was great.

The show ended late leaving the band enough time to pack their clothes and gear before heading for the airport. They were to play their first ever overseas gig in Bangkok, Thailand. It wasn’t that they were nervous. They were just bone tired. The preparations for the album launch, the show itself, the never-ending and patience-testing metro traffic, the not-so-long-but-seemingly-long-flight to Thailand, and the sound check and performance.

Just like Route 196 the night before, De Commune, the venue of their show in Bangkok, had a lot of people. “Certainly not 17 people,” noted drummer Jaw Pagaduan. “There were a lot.”

While some of the members of the band grabbed some much-needed shuteye, guitarist Clarence Garcia stayed up to watch the opening acts. By show time, he immediately regret not getting any rest. Yet like the rest of his bandmates, he still gave it his all. At some point, his legs began to give way and his bandmates had to prop him up. The band played on. But Garcia didn’t have the energy for an encore.

The crowd understood and yet post-show, still mobbed the band and shared their thoughts about the music and the show. One Thai music fan told Garcia after the show, “I was very happy seeing you guys have fun on the stage. I didn’t know the songs and I don’t know the band, but seeing you have fun, I had fun too.”

Welcome to the life of Tide/Edit. The anti-heroes of the alternative rock set. “We make happy music,” their Facebook page proclaims. And true enough, their music is exhilarating and joyous. To borrow a song title from the new album, it’s like going to the zoo. Be prepared for wonder.

Despite being a lauded and acclaimed outfit, Tide/Edit prefer to stay anonymous. Their album covers are all abstract or feature landscape shots. No band pictures. They want it to be about the music. Nothing more, nothing less.

Tide/Edit has been around since 2011. They initially were a duo intent on simply jamming, fulfilling a boyhood fantasy about being in a band. Then came the complex rhythms and they became a full band – guitarist Nelson Villamayor and bassist Noe Rubio round out the crew – to perform their songs.

During their first ever gig as a four-piece at the Amos Bar in Quezon City, it was a fairly-good sized crowd composed of the performing bands and some friends. “The reception on the other hand, was better than good,” noted Rubio whose classmates also came to watch the show, but mostly hangout and have some beers.

Cut forward to the launch of All My Friends, there was a different ambiance to the crowd. “This time – you can sense the anticipation,” described Garcia.

Why not? The fourth album’s title – All My Friends -- is after all, for their fans.

“If you go to our shows, you are our friend. And every chance we get, we strive to get to know those who attend,” bared Garcia. “It is always good to have that connection with people who take the time to buy your cds and go to the shows.”

“It’s hard to call these people fans,” chimed in Pagaduan. “Let that come from themselves. Parang pretentious if we say, ‘we’re with our fans.’ I’d rather say, ‘we’re with our friends.’”

And for Tide/Edit, that circle of friends is going to grow once more. They are once more out of the country to perform in Malaysia and then Singapore.

Are they expecting anything?

“No,” closed Garcia. “Wala kaming illusions about making money. If we do, good. If we don’t, basta hindi kami lugi. We all have day jobs anyway. We started this band for the love of music. That’s all there is – the music.”

Now playing... Movements' most excellent Feel Something

I know this came in two colors. I am happy I got the pink one.

For the "pink cloud summer."

Mike Hanopol releases new album after 13 years

Mike Hanopol releases new album after 13 years

by rick olivares

Thirteen years after Mike Hanopol released Lagablab, his fourth album, the Pinoy Rock legend is back with a new release titled, Mike Hanopology: Ang Sekreto.

Released independently under James Records & Arts, a dealer of vintage records, compact discs, cassettes, and amplifiers based in Kamias, Hanopology: Ang Sekreto is actually one of those recordings from the vaults.

The music features 12 tracks all recorded live in the studio. Now, here’s the rub. All the 12 tracks were recorded back in the mid-1990s after Hanopol returned from his lengthy stay in the United States. The songs have for years languished in the vaults, unreleased, until a conversation with Jesse James Poot of James Records & Arts. “Mike has all these songs, old and new,” related Poot. “He has songs that he wrote just recently, and meron din mga luma na wala pa nakakarinig. He is recording a new album with new songs. So eksakto, good time to get some old material out.”

And with many of them recorded on cassette, the quality has dipped over the last few decades. Hence, varying differences in sound quality. Nevertheless, as a fan, you can still enjoy it even if it does sound dated. It’s good material while waiting for Mike to record his new songs.

Hanopology features three classics – “Balong Malalim,” “Beep Beep,” and “Sa Bayan Ni Juan” – and nine unheard songs. At times, the songs sound dated with the long and screeching guitar solos. But you have to listen to the album as a whole. There’s an edge to the songs not found in Mike’s efforts from the 1970s. As if he has cut loose. I’d expect this from his former Juan Dela Cruz Bandmate Wally Gonzalez, but Mike… it looks like his time driving a cab in New York has made him dangerous. In a good sense you must understand.

Even if the songs are old ones, I enjoyed them more than any of his previous solo efforts.

Having said that, I am told that these songs were recorded with a back-up band including the JDC numbers.

Listening to the album, I cannot but help wonder what is the “secret” that the venerable rocker is referring to. If you take into consideration the era of the 1990s when this was first recorded – Hanopol could have referred to his staying power. In the new millennium with his popularity having waned, it is good to know that Hanopol has this desire to record.

During his 1970s heydays, Mike was so prolific that he released three records in the space of 18 months. Three full length albums – Awiting Pilipino, Buhay Musikero, and Buksan – all come out in 1977 and 1978. Immediately, after that, he busied himself writing songs for Hagibis then recorded one last album with the Juan Dela Cruz band before moving Stateside.

With the songs he recorded for Hanopology: Ang Sekreto, Hanopol shows he is no 70s dinosaur. For the arrangement of the classic gas guzzling rocker “Beep Beep,” Hanopol employs a saxophone that adds another texture to the song.

There’s the incredible “Maghihintay” with Hannah Romawac on back-up vocals and her soaring voice adds an urgency and poignancy to the song. Although this song was featured on Lagablab and it really works with the selection of tracks.

When we interviewed Hanopol before a big concert last year, he spoke of a desire to release a new album. Said the legend, “I have a lot of songs that I have recorded that need to see the light of day.”

Well, we now have Hanopology: Ang Sekreto. Now, the secret is out. Mike Hanopol has always been more than the JDC. He was after all, their chief songwriter. And this new old album shows he’s got a lot more. And the added treat is, he will have another album out shortly.

We are all so lucky.

New Pinoy punk album, The Fourth Order, is out from Twisted Red Cross

New Pinoy punk album, The Fourth Order, is out from Twisted Red Cross

by rick olivares

Twenty-nine years after its last release, there is a new product from Twisted Red Cross… Rescue Ladders and Human Barricade: The Fourth Order (TRC-18).

The new album was spearheaded by Renmin Nadela, Wendy Villanueva, and Al Dimalanta of Jam 88.3’s The Punk Connection.

Rescue Ladders and Human Barricade: The Fourth Order is available on compact disc and features 14 tracks from modern Filipino punk bands such as Throw, T.S.A., Against Man, the Go Signals, the Republicats, Isidro Project, Absolute Play, Vagabonds, Santelmo, Dead Sperm, Red Corps, and Minority Bollocks. Plus, there are old warriors Eddie Siojo and also G.I. and the Idiots.

During its heyday in the 1980s, Twisted Red Cross (TRC) put out 17 cassette albums featuring bands from the country’s nascent punk rock scene. The first was titled Rescue Ladders and Human Barricades (TRC-01) and featured many of Philippine punk rock pioneers such as the Urban Bandits, Wuds, Betrayed, Dead Beat, and Private Stock to name a few.

Cover-wise, that album was inspired by the Clash’s self-titled and ground breaking debut. Rescue Ladders and Human Barricades was no less different. Although Ocean Zoo can be said to be the first ever Do It Yourself release, TRC had the moxie to consistently put out original releases that the mainstream record labels didn’t touch. And they changed the local music scene.

The last of the cassette albums the original TRC put out was Philippines: Where Do We Go From Year? that came out in 1989. And today, those original cassettes are a collector’s dream and are very difficult to find. Many titles have seen bootlegged cassette releases while other titles have been officially reissued on vinyl. However, they were not re-mastered for vinyl so the sound quality isn’t very good. But for fans who simply wish to have copies, just having them is not so bad.

Today, the local underground punk rock scene has flourished with bands constantly putting out product whether via vinyl, cassette, or compact disc.

Rescue Ladders and Human Barricade: The Fourth Order is available at local distro Mutilated Noise (check them out on Facebook) and during The Punk Connection show on Jam 88.3 every Saturday.

Kagatan 28 haul: the Strokes, Ramones, and 45 singles

When the Strokes' Is This It came out, I purchased the cd with this cover. Not knowing this was going to be changed because the cover shot was deemed to risque. So I have the cd with the original cover that was used for Europe and Asia and the US version that is tame. And now, I was able to get the vinyl of this European first press. 

Another great buy for me. I used to have this and have been trying to get a copy after I lost it all those years ago. The other week, I had a chance to get this from a seller in Makati. But for some reason, he cannot find the record. Misplaced! How can you misplace a record?

Obviously, he sold it to someone else who must have offered it at a higher price. What else can it be? Bleeping liar.

I was really disappointed. But a few days later, I was able to get one at Kagatan. And at a cheaper price.

Happy to get this single of the Ramones.

This is for my dad... Teri De Sario's second album.

And all these singles! Including songs from the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack.