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.