Up Dharma Down's UDD album on vinyl

Up Dharma Down (or UDD as they are known by nowadays)... and their fourth album. Their second on vinyl. 

Fortunate to have all their albums in every iteration. 

Marcus Adoro pens, records pandemic-themed album

Marcus Adoro pens, records pandemic-themed album

By Rick Olivares

 

“Throughout the lockdown, it’s just me and my pet cat.”

 

Marcus Adoro sauntered down looking like Tom Hanks did in the film Castaway. 

 

ZZ Top beard. Check.

 

Long hair. Well, he has won his hair long for a while now. Nevertheless, check.

 

Full protection mode? He does look like he’s garbed up for desert heat so check.

 

The first local album written, recorded, and released during the lockdown? In all likelihood, he owns it. Check.

 

Welcome to his new solo album, Mr. Kubido.

 

Recorded in 10 days from the solace of his bedroom, Mr. Kubido – a pun on “Mr. Kupido -- is a 12-track pandemic themed album released on YouTube by Adoro. The recording was also a paean to his guitar hero John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers whose third solo album To Record Only Water In 10 Days that he recorded at his home using a four-track recorder and boom box (contrary to the album title, it took close to three months to finish the album).

 

It has been 93 days since Marcus Adoro stepped out of his apartment unit. From the start of the lockdown to the 11^th day of the GCQ, Adoro has stayed indoors.

 

“I am pretty much an introvert so there are few things that changed for me (during the lockdown) except for access to some basic goods and mobility,” he bared. “Other than that, I made good use of this time in lockdown to reflect on a lot of things and to be creative once more.”

 

Adoro painted, re-wrote the final draft of a screenplay, and recorded Mr. Kubido. “There is a method to my madness and not being a loon,” he quipped. Plus, he took the time to do a Maria Kondo on his belongings and his life. 

 

“I was listening to a lot of songs on YouTube – which is why I decided to release Mr. Kubido on YouTube – and at that time, I was sharing that to film people I was working with and one of them suggested writing a ‘kwela’ song. I said, ‘Why not?’ I had not picked up my guitar in a year and I looked around for an impetus that can be transformed into a song and I saw an ant.”

 

“Ang Langgam” -- a humorous and whimsical look at the world pre-global lockdown with anti-fascist rallies taking place everywhere. “My hyper-active mind constructed a funny scene where it was ants wearing facemasks, bearing flags, and out on the streets. I made a beat out of that image with breaks and pauses like on (Eraserheads’ song) “Trip to Jerusalem.” It isn’t my comment on those protesting, but more of me indulging my imagination.”

 

Adoro’s trademark sense of humor has been a staple of Eraserheads albums to his own solo work with Markus Highway. And the lockdown was a perfect and mischievous way to return to music after a long hiatus.

 

“Gitara” is probably a result of those long nights with Adoro, a guitar, and some alcohol. Adoro laughed, “I am a guitarist and naturally, an ode to the guitar is in order,” he laughed of this blues-inflected ditty. 

 

Mr. Kubido was recorded with Adoro playing the acoustic guitar. “No bass guitar was used in the making,” he deadpanned despite him wondering if he really wanted a bass guitar in “Gitara.”

 

“If you’re looking for those zany interludes such as his famous “Punk Zappa” in the album, Circus, you’ll find the insane, “Pandemic Yaya” where it is nothing more than Adoro washing his hand or doing the laundry while humming. 

 

It isn’t all a whimsical or satirical look for Adoro on his new album. On “High Horse” he wonders about those who get their kicks mercilessly shaming or putting down people on social media. “What is it that drives people to decide on the fate of other people by shaming or ganging up on them online,” Adoro asked himself when writing the song. “Is it trial by publicity? It has ruined many lives. A friend told me that the bad things that people say about one is a reflection of who they are. It is a mirror of themselves.”

 

As added inspiration for Marcus, he thought back to when he still had his social media and would go on a lengthy rant while under the influence of alcohol. When he sobered up, he deleted what he posted. Noted Adoro, “I looked up at what others were doing during this lockdown and it was worse than anything I tweeted. It must be the side effect of the lockdown!”

 

“Langaw” follows “High Horse” and is breather of sorts. It reminds me of British Two-Tone ska band, Bad Manners’ “Lorraine” where one thinks it is a love song but is instead about getting revenge. “Langaw” is a trope of a Breaking Bad episode that was dedicated to a fly. In this song, Adoro is hunting a fly that has feasted on his supply of mangoes!

 

“Payong” sounds like some country and western song and is a “sunnier” look at the people who went out during the quarantine to buy food and during a two-day storm that hit the National Capital Region.” 

 

Of the 12 tracks of Mr. Kubido posted on YouTube, it is only “Sunsets” that has any form of artwork. The rest all have the words, “album art in progress” on them. Adoro intends to place his lockdown paintings as videos.

 

“With every musician losing a significant amount of income due the lockdown, I have been doing paintings that I hope will appeal to music fans. I hope they do sell (inquiries about the art may be made through his Instagram account marcusadoro2020),” he summed up. “It is what I am doing to support myself.”

 

And if a picture or a painting does indeed equate to a thousand words, then so do they in song. And Marcus Adoro’s new solo album, Mr. Kubido, is no different. Behind the dark humor, there is a lot that he wants to say.

Completed the signatures of the members of the Eraserheads on my LP!

Finally... have all signatures of the members of the Eraserheads on my vinyl. Am probably the first to complete this.

Playing Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited

"Like A Rolling Stone" was the first Bob Dylan song that I ever heard. It was on the radio and I was immediately drawn to it. The emotion, the lyrics, and the melody that made me feel like I was out on a highway to nowhere and somewhere at the same time.

Then I head "Precious Angel." I have to admit that hearing Mark Knopfler's guitar was a huge come on for me in the song, but I had become a Dylan fan. I purchased his Slow Train Coming then backtracked to get this record.

Been a fan since.

Pinoy Rock 70s classic now available on vinyl

Pinoy Rock 70s classic now available on vinyl

By Rick Olivares

 

A long lost DZRJ classic, “In Love With You” by Phase Two – a staple on their FM radio station rotation – has finally seen the vinyl treatment 44 years later.

 

The song was written by Johnny Alegre who since those halcyon days of the 1970s made a name for himself as a jazz and world music musician. Among his bandmates then was noted guitarist Joey Puyat. Along with Sam Sen on bass, Uly Avante on drums, and Colby Calzada on keyboards, they recorded the song as Phase Two.

 

As Alegre tells it, “In late 1975 or early 1976, I auditioned a handful of songs to my bandmate, Joey Puyat, who was fishing for ideas to record.  Joey chose ‘In Love With You’ as the right vehicle.”

 

The song was recorded in the now defunct Cinema Audio recording studio in a matter of days and Alegre trooped over to DZRJ then located in Sta. Mesa and handed over the cassette recording to legendary disc jockey, Howling Dave. 

 

“Suffice to say, that the song was on heavy rotation simply because it blended with the spirit of the times,” explained Alegre of the breezy early staple of Pinoy Rock. 

 

The band endeavored to get signed by a local record company but were ignored. The song on the other hand, has taken a life of its own even decades later. “Many people to this day come up to me saying that “In Love With You” was their theme song leading up to their raising a family. The thought of that is its own reward,” shared Alegre.

 

Alegre with his old cohort, Puyat, and occasional conspirator Kris Gorra-Dancel (of Fatal Posporos, Cambio, and Humanfolk) on vocals, Dennis Mabanta on bass and Paolo Manuel on drums, re-recorded the song as “#Hourglass” to breathe new life into the classic. The result is like an indie pop rock gem down to the DIY spirit.

 

“In Love With You” is restructured, brought sonically forward to the new millennium with the best resources we could muster. I was not uncomfortable playing it again,” summed up Alegre.

 

The re-recording was undertaken right before the Covid-19 pandemic with the vinyl copies making it into the hands of Alegre right before the lockdown last March 11. 

 

This marks the first time that the song is available in any format whether physical (vinyl, cassette) or digital. 

 

The new version is on Side A of this seven-inch record release while the classic version is on Side B. Only 100 copies of this – on red vinyl to boot -- were pressed (in England) and are available for sale at P950. 

 

Ben&Ben’s new song, “Lifetime”, inspired by a fan’s heartbreaking story

Ben&Ben’s new song, “Lifetime”, inspired by a fan’s heartbreaking story

By Rick Olivares

Songs usually inspire listeners in a myriad of ways. On other occasions, it can be the emotions of the listener that can inspire the artist.

Award-winning neo-folk collective Ben&Ben’s new song, “Lifetime” -- that will be released this Thursday at midnight this coming June 4 on all digital platforms by Sony Music --

was inspired by a fan’s comment on their video of the song “Pagtingin” on YouTube.

The fan, who signed off her name as “Anne Jou” shared her story of regretting not being able to express her feelings because she was afraid to lose the friendship.

“Instead of telling him what I actually felt, I hid and buried my feelings,” commented Anne Jou. “And you know what happens to feelings that are buried? They grow. The like I felt for him became love. I wrote poems, songs. After 8 years, I attended his wedding [last] January. And guess what? The world is really overly-cruel. Before his wedding, he thanked me for being his best friend and told me that before he met the girl he got married to, he loved me first. For 5 years. But he was also scared of losing me so he just decided to keep it. I was shocked and I slightly had anger towards the world. We didn't know that if only one of us dared to make a move, a lifetime was waiting for us. So people, while you can, please express how you really feel so that in the end you won't regret anything.”

“She knows we are doing a song. Like everybody else. Nobody has heard the song yet. So excited kami sana magustuhan niya,” said Miguel Guico, one half of the brother tandem (Paolo is the other sibling) both sing and play acoustic guitar. 

“Lifetime” is an emotionally affecting song that leaves us wondering, “what could have happened if we only mustered the courage to admit our feelings to the person we’re pining 

for, regardless of the outcome?” 

Ben&Ben recorded the song during the lockdown separately and while using an applications and platforms that allowed for file sharing.

Expounded percussionist Andrew de Pano, “One of the bigger challenges was finding the right infrastructure and methods to do it. It is a blessing for most of us that a lot of us were doing some kind of music work prior to this (lockdown). So a lot of us already had equipment for basic home studio or basic set-up. The hardest part was finding away na magbato ng ideas and comment on arrangement. When we found the right platform to do that, it became easier.”

Challenges aside, the lockdown that had everyone at home saw the entire band focused at the task at hand since there was work stoppage. Ben&Ben recorded “Lifetime” in a few days. 

Like their previous song, “Limasawa Street” that was produced by the world-renowned Steve Lillywhite who has famously worked on many of Irish rock band U2’s albums.

For “Lifetime”, Ben&Ben tapped the services of Australian Leon Zervos (INXS, Aerosmith, Pink, Iron Maiden, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Beastie Boys, and Willie Nelson to name but a few) as well as veteran sound engineer JP Verona who mixed the song. 

Miguel Guico also stated that this could be the start of more collaborations with fans and that “Lifetime” could be the first salvo in a planned new album.

Zoom meeting with Ben&Ben

Hip hop duo Kartel releases incendiary album Kontrapunto

Hip hop duo Kartel releases incendiary album Kontrapunto

By Rick Olivares

Hip hop duo Kartel has dropped their first ever album, Kontrapunto (Uprising Records) just this past May.

This is Uprising Records’ first online album launch given they were unable to have physical copies pressed via compact disc during the lockdown. 

Kartel previously collaborated with Lion and the Scouts on a beautiful meld of rap and reggae with the song “Pag-asa, Pag-ibig, Paglaya” back in 2014 (that came out in the excellent and independently released Pagsibol album). 

Six years later and a whole lot of beef and social issues to rap about, Kartel has given us much for thought in this time of pandemic with Kontrapunto.

It is exactly that – a counterpoint. Kartel asks you to look take a long and hard look at the traditional systems from the government to the educational system to even organized religion that they believe hold people bondage. That people are so stuck in this cycle that they cannot break out and while some may do well; others don’t and are trapped in the rat race and are forever down there.

That is… unless they open their eyes and free themselves.

As we review Kartel’s Kontrapunto, it comes at a telling time when there are massive and dangerous riots that followed in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and people are questioning the injustices of existing systems.

And Kartel’s point of view can be incendiary.

The album starts off with the brooding “Anino” where Ilaya and Tala (the two dudes who comprise Kartel) rap about one’s self- doubts and breaking out of that mindset.

Now freed from those self-doubts and shadow boxing with one’s conscience that keeps one on hold, they unleash their zingers across the album.

Kartel offs a change of pace with the jazzier “Pera Pera” without sacrificing on the pointed barbs towards those who would use politics and religion to make money.

“Bilanggo” steps up the attack on organized religion and how the educational system makes slaves of those unable to cope

“Alamat” has this old-style flamenco/kundiman guitar to open perhaps the angriest song on the album. They wonder about the efforts and blood sacrifices made by our ancestors and if they have been for naught. And maybe, it is time to rise up and change these systems. 

On “Sa Likod ng Lapis” Kartel brings on board DJ Nicko whose turntable scratches add an edge to Kartel’s questioning the failed promises of the electoral vote.

The themes recur throughout the 10 other tracks of the album as Kartel gets by with a little help from some friends up and down Uprising Records’ roster (Supreme Fist, DJ Antsdru, Apoc, Diday, Octo Del, KJah, Sayyad, DJ Arthug, Kregga, Bigote, and Kemikal Ali).

With so much happening on the domestic front and all over the world, albums like Kartel’s Kontrapunto -- angry and pointed – are proof positive that people are clamoring for real and the good kind of change. 

Note: Fans may purchase Kartel’s Kontrapunto on their Bandcamp page.