SCENES FROM AN AXE CONCLAVE

From It Might Get Loud. One of my fave docus.

THE EDGE: The tech of guitar is spiritual
Step into my effects room 







JACK WHITE: Rock is a war is a fight against ease of use
Raconteurism is good for the soul






JIMMY PAGE: The perils and privileges of rock `n' roll decadence. 
And I can do some funky some mandolin, too

GOD AND THE CORPORATE SIGIL

We're pretty proud of this one. Soon to hit all major Philippine bookstores nationwide.

David Duchovny ain't got nothing on our hot Brazilian nun.

Gautama will bless you more if you give him more gold in those there durned Black Hills.

WHEN I PUT ON MY SPIRITUAL ARMOR

And now for something more brutal. Black metal from Taiwan! Currently listening to their Mirror of Retribution. You have to give ti to the black metallists, they certainly know how to parlay production values. I mean, just look at this vid. 

From their Wiki entry:

Chthonic (sometimes typeset ChthoniC or ChThoniC) is a Taiwanese black metal band, formed in 1995 in Taipei. The group incorporates influences from traditional Taiwanese music including the classical Chinese instrument erhu (which is called a hena in their native Taiwanese). They are supportive of Taiwan independence and democracy, as well as self-determination movements in Tibet and Xinjiang.

Since their formation, Chthonic has released five studio albums. . .

While some songs have their lyrics partly or entirely written in Taiwanese, Japanese, English, or Taiwanese aboriginal languages, most of the band's songs have their lyrics written entirely in classical Chinese (with Mandarin pronunciation), which is rarely seen in contemporary Chinese music. Taking advantage of classical Chinese's feature of being a monosyllabic language, many songs, especially those in earlier albums, used parallel sentences in their lyrics.

The themes mostly surround the defiant spirit of early Taiwanese colonizers, fictional wars between aborigine's gods with Han's gods, Taiwanese folklore and mythology, and the historical event known as the Wushe Incident, which was a rebellion against the Japanese governor by the Seediq people.

*   *   *

Also, their bassist, Doris "Thunder Tears" Yeh, sure reminds me of La Sexorcisto-era Sean Yseult. It'll try not to make it obvious I got a huge crush on her. 

On FHM Taiwan. Yeah, hot stuff, huh?

All masked up for battle.

And without make-up. Oh how cute : D

Yet another reason to get an ESP/LTD

SOME WITCHERY

Just found out about UK neo-goth trio ESBEN AND THE WITCH from the pages of SPIN.

There's lots of 4AD in there mixed with The Cure and  loads of shoegaze, garnished with Joy Div and slacker pop and some entirely electronic  noodling that actually reminds me of a reigned in Primal Scream. -- and about 70 percent of the whole Projekt Records catalog The reverb-saturated girl vocals are a direct line to the swirly aerials of Elizabeth Fraser.

Always good. Now if I can only find a working torrent of their Violet Cries LP. Meantime, am loving the new single "Marching Song." The video is smart, brooding and obviously endeavored to be elegantly unpretentious (okay, and minimalist -- or maybe they really just had a limited budget). Never falls into mere gloomy arthouse posturing. And that's saying a lot because there's a lot of literary references and mythopoeic alluding going on here to keep even the most OC hipster digging through Wiki entries for a week. If that doesn't make them discover Joseph Campbell then we might as well let the machines take over now.

Talk about the effects of sonic injury.

CHAOS, IT'S ON MY "TO DO" LIST

It's not all blood and rough sex. Mass mayhem takes some doing, you know. So cut us some slack when we leave out some details. Anarchists are busy people, too.

ADVANCED HABERDAY, KURT

Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994). In memoriam. 

"The worst crime is faking it"

CATHOLICS, BEWARE! KHRISTIANISM IS COMING! (And Gonzo Army supports the praxis seizure)

Wasak kung wazek! 

Join the kult of Ianmadrigal Aka-Mardigrass at the upcoming KHRISTIANISM exhibit on FEBRUARY 26, 2011 at the PROSE GALLERY, MAKATI and get a free, name embroidered towel in your color of choice (neon green, not available)!

Or simply participate in the pentecostal exorcism as Gonzo Army speaks in your fave drop-tuned tongues. It's definitely not fun for the whole family! Offer good while supplies last. Best before your mother finds out. 

Remember, kids: Khristianism is the patented antidote to the  virulent app addiction of Mapple dictator  for life Steve Mobbs and a proven repellant against the evil, alien gods of Scientology  

One of the featured paintings. Station to station we release our woes. 

 Here's the map to the gallery, peeps. 

TRAIN WRECK

Christ. I could hardly believe what the FX driver told me yesterday. Walang ganyan sa States, boi. Good thing nobody was in those boxcars.

Probe on LRT train collision starts; retrieval disrupts EDSA traffic

Even as it allayed fears of a collision involving trains with passengers, the Light Rail Transit Administration started Saturday an investigation into the collision of two of its coaches in Quezon City.

LRTA spokesman Hernando Cabrera said they will have to retrieve the “black box" data recorders of the two trains that collided at the reversing track on Friday.

“Each of the trains in Friday’s mishap has a black box that recorded the systems data at the time of the incident. We have to download the information once the coaches are brought to the yard at our Baclaran depot," Cabrera said in Filipino in an interview on dzRH radio.

He said cranes had already been deployed to the site of the incident, but had disrupted traffic along the southbound part of Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA).

Cabrera advised motorists to avoid the southbound lane for now and take alternate routes.

Friday’s incident occurred at the reversing track near the LRT’s Roosevelt station, forcing the LRTA to cut operations between Roosevelt and Monumento.

In an interview on dzBB radio Friday, Cabrera said the LRT operations between Monumento and Baclaran would continue.

 

Probe on LRT train collision starts; retrieval disrupts EDSA traffic - Nation - GMA News Online - The go-to site for Filipinos everywhere - Latest Philippine News

IN SYNC EXHIBIT

Helping out a friend with her fashion exhibit. Lifestyle, beauty and fashion editors/writers, you might wanna check this one out.

Happens tomorrow, Feb 15 at Georgetown Coffee Club, Malate. Digs?

NOTS REVIEW IN THE PHILS GRAPHIC. FEB 21 2011 ISSUE AVAILABLE NOW

Thanks again to Chief Editor JOEL SALUD of the Philippines Graphic for the review and their support of Pinoy literature.


Take a shine of this.

 "Only the awesome and spectacularly 

gothic live here. . ."

In the Phils Graphic. February 21, 2011 issue

FEARLESS

Or the night DEFTONES gave us whiplash and made us shove it (shove it, shove it, shove it -- haha) on their Diamond Eyes Tour. Chino Moreno was fearless, diving into the crowd, climbing barricades and generally stirring us into beautiful fury. He had certainly cut down and lost a lot of weight.

At the WTC. Love for the vatos, girl

Managed to touch the hem of his shirt as he rushed by. Hallelujah, ese, I have been saved! Loved the set, especially on "Back to School / Mini-Maggit." We went to chill out at the Scout area later.

Stephen Carpenter, you were big, hairy and awesome. So, um, how about one of those seven string ESPs ey? 

NOTS REVIEWED IN THE PHILS GRAPHIC

Thanks to Chief Editor JOEL SALUD for this review. Please do grab a copy of the Philippines Graphic, available at all National Bookstore outlets by next week.

Here's an excerpt from the review:

De MESA'S NEWS OF THE SHAMAN 

“He shrugged, puzzled, opened the door and found he was overlooking a mosh pit working itself into frenzy. The sound of thumping bass, drums and guitars got louder.”

In Karl R. de Mesa’s News of the Shaman, literary moshing and bodyslam are taken to the next level of the imagination. Jazzy and frenetic as only de Mesa can pen it (who is probably a tad spunkier than beat era fictionist Jack Kerouac), this collection of stories delve into worlds where quiet tours into the human condition are not found; only the awesome and spectacularly gothic live here, where one’s sense of being is most strangely linked with the rough feel of sizzle in the grass, the scent of blood-red cumulus from a distance, and the slow rumbling of unpronounced verbs from a drum. Definitely working itself into frenzy.

It’s one of those books that most poignantly show freshness and originality, but not the way most readers understand the terms. The book’s freshness has nothing of daffodils in it. Originality for de Mesa apparently breaks the rigors of tradition if only to spur the public into a winding spell, or a perennial state of transience, bravely straddling worlds and words, consciences and hallways, doors, floors, time and grime—and the quintessential washroom—places no sunrise would dare touch:

“Before he can open his pants, however, he coughs, and the cough quickly turns into a deep, growling phlegm fit. He directs his mouth over the urinal just in time to point the green and yellow vomit that comes out of his lips. At first it’s just a dribble, timid and slow, then it promptly turns into a forceful surge that reminds me of the way water from a fireman’s hose is so powerfully expelled when the hydrant if first turned on. By this time he’s bent nearly double over the urinal and the small sink that is only built to catch piss is overflowing with the wretched, half-digested remains of his dinner, lunch and breakfast. Complete with clues.”

No, it’s not an attempt to uselessly shock and awe, to grab the reader in a vice-grip of stunningly crafted images, or the things we’d rather not read about. Apparently, the nature and tone of his stories demand the grotesque in everyday life, the bizarre and grossly misshapen cogs that wheel us into literary sleeplessness, or flurry. News of the Shaman gives one a peek into worlds thick with seraphs and lovers, wizards, bishops, nuno and duendes, and corporate disciples with even less moral bearing than an imaginary Hitler after solvent rehab. De Mesa was even kind enough to give stocky elfins a face and Florsheims. . .

CONTINUED. For the rest of the review please click HERE.

YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES BUT THE DEATH IS ROMANTIC

Opting out in the face of corruption charges. Doesn't seem very heroic to me. And this must be the most dishonorable way for a soldier, let alone a leader of soldiers, to exit. Nevertheless I hope the General finds the peace he craved that so eluded him in the last days of his life.

The General shot himself over the grave of his mom. Mind the blood spatter.

Ex-AFP chief commits suicide, police confirm
By Katherine Evangelista
Agence France-Presse, INQUIRER.net
First Posted 08:53:00 02/08/2011

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 6) “Sorry.”

That was the last word that former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Angelo Tomas Reyes apparently uttered as his sons and aides frantically carried him and rushed him to the hospital on Tuesday.

Doctors at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City tried to revive him for 45 minutes but failed.

Reyes, 65, who had also served as defense secretary and in other Cabinet-level posts, died from a single bullet fired into his chest, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said.

Eastern Police's District chief Superintendent Francisco Manalo said investigation showed that the gunshot wound Reyes sustained was “self-inflicted.”

Ona said the wound on the left side of the chest near the heart was the cause of death. "He was dead on arrival (at hospital). They were not able to revive him,” he told reporters.

Reyes, together with his two children and a bodyguard, was visiting his mother’s grave at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City Tuesday morning, Feliciano Recorba, a cemetery maintenance staff, told Radyo Inquirer.

"He asked his children and bodyguard to go ahead and wait for him in the car,” Recorba said. A few moments later, a gunshot rung out, he said.

“Sorry” was the last word Reyes uttered as his shocked children rushed to the scene and found him lying on the ground holding a gun, Recorba said.

“Ang narinig ko po na sinabi niya ay ‘sorry’, palagay ko po ay para sa anak [I heard him say ‘sorry’, perhaps to his son],” he said.

Reyes, who loved his mother very much, had told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a previous interview that he would never do anything that would besmirch the name of “my good mother.”

Read the rest of the Inquirer story HERE.

Here's a  vid for you, Gen Reyes. It's by Filter.

You fought and you were right, but they were just too strong.

TZADDI ON SOUNDCLOUD

Please do send your heavy, atmopsheric, post-rocking tracks and music to my drop box on soundcloud. Just click the box below.

Send me
your sounds

VAMPIRES. . .IN SPACE!

What's worse than rampaging blood-suckers? Demonically-possessed vampires who want intergalactic domination! This looks awesome though.I just love the crucifix shurikens. Originally a Tokyo Pop title.

KNIVES OUT

Grab a copy of The Philippines Free Press (which turned a venerable 100 years old this year -- congrats FP!) February 2011 issue and check out my essay "My Transcendental Knife."

Thanks to literary editor Joel Toledo for releasing this. Incidentally, Joel's going to Italy soon for a (drum roll) literary fellowship. Wasakaderci baiao!

KEEP TURNING LEFT

Sometimes finding the center isn't enough. After Borges and Eco. Am having this phase with navigationally-challenging architecture for some reason.

LABYRINTH, RECONNAISSANCE OF by tzaddi salazar