NEO ANGONO ARTIST COLLECTIVE'S SOUNDTRAP SUMMIT & THE FEAST OF SAN CLEMENTE, WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH

This coming November 22, Monday will be the start of Angono's HIGANTES FESTIVAL in honor of San Clemente.

The tradition began last century, when Angono was a Spanish hacienda. The hacienda owners concerned about costs prohibited all celebrations except for one annual fiesta. The townspeople concerned about enjoyment decided to make the best of a bad situation. Using an art form brought from Mexico by Spanish priests, they created larger-than-life caricatures of their Spanish landlords. In typical Filipino fashion, the fiesta become in equal parts, a stunning spectacle and a tricky inside joke.

There too was a story that a French man happened to pass by this coastal town of Laguna de Bay as he cruised from Manila Bay. Captivated by the town being divided by a river, he predicted that someday giants would come out and become famous. True to his words, Angono can show off of two giants, national artists - Carlos "Botong" Francisco in the field of visual arts and Professor Lucio D. San Pedro in the field of music.

On Monday two worlds will collide in the field of music and visual art as the gigantic sons and daughters of Angono - The Neo Angono Art Collective will host a music summit in honor of their hometown (this will be their 7th year of doing this musical event). Featuring the local ska heroes Neighbors with guest bands from punk rock to indie to experimental and ska. Featured on this summit will be renowned punk rock veteran and established art painter Bobby Balingit of the Wuds under the guise of Juan Isip. And also on the bill will be the experimental noise band Elemento, political punk rockers Einstein Chakras and from the ashes of Tologuez Death Squad Distrungka, trad ska band The Strayguns and ska punk band PinkCow and many more.

If you wanna see the Higantes march the streets or browse some exhibits from the local galleries (the place happens to be the capital of the Philippines for all things art related) and catch the bands play please do carry with you some protective gear like an umbrella, an extra clothing in hand and some waterproof protection for your cameras and of course lets not forget your tolerance because as tradition goes there will be a splash fest ala San Juan Town Fiesta without the free for all water fight during the course of the celebration.





Professor Lucio D. San Pedro and Levi Celerio's well known composition Sa Ugoy ng Duyan performed by Calasiao Children's Chorus. (Above)

Carlos Francisco's apprentice Salvador Juban talking about the artist known as Botong (Below)

WAG KALIMUTAN ANG INGAY

Grab Throw's Wag Kalimutan ang Ingay EP today!. You can download the digital files by logging on at Facebook and search Throw's page for the link. They will then in turn give away limited copies on CD via their gigs in the near future so keep your eyes peeled and your ears wide open.

RESPECT

Last Rude Maynila Sessions according to my friends came out quite good but unfortunately the line up was not properly coordinated due to the fact that i was so fucked up drunk that day. I started drinking last Friday night it was not planned at all i was at home when suddenly my phone rang and i heard a familiar voice, It was Bimboi San Pedro guitarist of Bulacan's finest hardcore band the T.S.A. he was here in Manila and was due to go home to Singapore on Saturday and he asked me if i would like to go and watch The Jerks at 70's Bistro so i immediately said yes to his request. After watching The Jerks rocked the stage we proceed to go to Malabon to attend to Al Dimalanta's mom Dr. Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta's wake. Then after that i drank some more at home and at Monkey Man a shop run by Ompong drinking with The New Trends.

That faithful day i lost touch of whats going on during The Rude Maynila Sessions I tuned in, turned on and dropped out, all i could remember was that most of the personnel at Sazi's Bar were all new except for the guy i gave the ticket sales too. Before the show started I've notice one of the new personnel hanged a sign that says 300 pesos corkage. When i saw that i began asking them politely not to hang that sign for the reason that a potential customer might mistakenly thought that the 300 pesos would be Bisikleta Productions door charge, which on our case we never go beyond 60 bucks.

And if they think that the 300 pesos is our door charge they might shy away eventually a potential customer will be lost. So one guy from the bar told me if they ever saw one with a food and a liquor in hand not bought at the bar they will charge the person that carries it with the said corkage and i told them that they should really charge them that because i for one don't like people carrying liquor and food not bought inside the bar, but that wont be my job instead they should be the ones looking out for people whom they suspect as policy breakers since they worked there.

After that discussion I told Nani of The Exsenadors to take charge of the door (while i zoned in to slumberland) and frisk the crowd coming in to see if they are carrying any items that are deemed for corkage. And i sent SMS messages to people who i personally knew carrying their own food and liquor and asked them not to carry it inside and requested them to consume the goods not bought at the bar outside the bars premises.

The reason why i am writing this is to let you all readers know about RESPECT. As you may well knew that i always tell people to take care of the bar because they supported the scene too in so many ways the bar provided a venue to express ourselves through our music. To me Skarlet's Ten 02 Bar and Resto and Sazi's Bar is my home. Ten 02 Bar and Resto is a place where i held so many important events, special events that are memorable the last one was Keb Darge This is a place that holds dearly to me. The second one was Sazi's Bar to tell you the truth its been hard to stage a regular monthly gig at this famous place getting one is no easy task. But i eventually bagged one thanks to the help of Bing Austria but sad to say after the last Rude Maynila Sessions it seems that we are walking the thin line from getting another one to loosing our slot. Due to the fact that some of us still do not view Sazi's Bar as their home.

I got an SMS message from Bing he forwarded to me Sazi's message stating that we went out of line this time. People came in with a liquor and food in hand. I don't know why that some of us are still doing that sort of thing for a mere fact that the beer over there is dirt cheap even the food are reasonably priced. We all knew that all establishments charge corkage every time you bring in goods that are not purchased within its walls. But why the fucking hell are you still doing it? Its cool for me for you guys to bring along your choice of liquor as long as you drink it outside of the bar but bringing it inside is totally uncool.

Right now we are fixing this incident but if things did not go well as planned we might as well move out and look for a new home. If we did get a new home for The Rude Maynila Sessions please be responsible for your own actions and be responsible to the person you're with. Respect bar policies. Do not shit on your own backyard. Please do not let these things ever happen again i urge you to support the bar by buying beer from them not from 711 because they are supporting us, they are giving us a chance to propagate our community.

TOMORROW NIGHT @ SAZI'S BAR

FUNK SOUL BROTHER

It was early 90's when i first listened and fell in love with jazz, latin boogaloo and funk. The first time i heard funk was when I was as a child watching Sesame Street, (remember the pinball count animation with The Pointer Sisters singing?) The Electric Company and some Pinoy action and spy flicks. Then during my teen years i forgot about the funk i was introduced to punk rock via Howlin' Dave's RJAM and hip hop by my b boy friends in the mid 80's (Grand Master Flash was the bomb!). As years progressed i started to listen to different kinds of music from hardcore to metal, to new wave to no wave, to ska and reggae.

Then the mid 90s came and there was grunge, death metal, and alternative music what caught my ear was these three bands that meld metal, ska and funk into one cohesive music and that was Fish Bone, 24 7 Spyz and The Red Hot Chili Peppers they were different from the rest. Those three bands brought me back to soul train via heavy metal and after hearing them I began to wonder who had influenced these bands to play their brand of funk besides the obvious sabbath and zep rock linkage. And during my search I also rediscovered funk through hip hop samples done by Dr. Dre (N.W.A.'s Express Your Self has a sample of Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band) these further wet my appetite to find out what had been lost in my subconscious mind.

First thing that I did was to read a lot and research for bands and artist that had a link to funk. I listened to a bunch of artist on a UK label called Acid Jazz owned by a mod named Eddie Piller with bands like The James Taylor Quartet, Jamiroquai, The Brand New Heavies, Snowboy with his latin jazz dance groove and other great bands showing their funk influences proudly on their sleeves. Back then i never knew who Idris Muhammad, Roy Ayers and the godfather of soul Mr James Brown was until this record label introduced me to these magnificent artist.

But as time progressed i began to dig deeper and slowly learned that there's more to funk than just James Brown, Sly Stone and George Clinton. I had barely just scratch the surface. I learned that there are unknown artist that can give these distinguished men a run for their money the likes of Arthur Monday, Lee Fields and many more, this is deep funk at its finest. DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist re introduced me to the real hip hop via their Brainfreeze mixed CD a heavy heavy funk turntable antics done strictly with funk 45s, through this i learned about a hip hop label called Stones Throw records that had put out a compilation of independently run record labels with unknown artist from the 60s. The compilation was called The Funky 16 Corners and then through DJ Shadow i learned about Keb Darge with their Legendary Deep Funk compilations.

Keb Darge is a critically acclaimed northern soul and funk DJ and when it comes to funk he is king. He is influential to the so called new funk scene. Producing One Note Brown for The New Mastersounds a record that now fetches for some serious money. The new funk scene had brought life to old forgotten artist the likes of Sharon Jones and Lee Fields and birthed new bands like the Dap Kings, El MIchels Affair, Poets of Rhythm and so much more. The scene started out in the UK had slowly spread across Europe is more keen on the raw and dirty funk sound rather than the polished acid jazz funk sound in the 90s.

Its kinda fascinating that the British folks are more attentive to American black music rather than the Americans themselves, with exceptions to some bands like The Breakestra, Coney Price and the Keystones and The Dap Kings. The Brits studied the music with all their heart and then spits it out to the American buying public. If you take a look a close look at it The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones copied American Rhythm and Blues tweaked it a bit and presto! America loved it. And now The Brits are doing it again this time with FUNK. And now you could hear it all again the funk is alive and well a good example of that is a band called The Aggrolites you could hear some serious funk in their music amidst those reggae beats.

If you thought that this music is retro think again renowned UK deep funk band The New Mastersounds is doing a feature film documentary called Coals to Newcastle - The New Mastersounds: From Leeds To New Orleans, considered by many as the birthplace of funk and home of the Meters, Eddie Bo and Lee Dorsey. The film was shot during the post-Katrina New Orleans Jazzfest in 2007. The documentary gives a compelling portrait of New Orleans' struggle to retain its culture in the face of the hurricane's devastation.

Here is the trailer:

THE RUDE MAYNILA SESSIONS THIS NOVEMBER

Its time once again boys and girls to be rude and reckless.....

I'M NOT LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE

I remember my early childhood days that my Dad had instilled in me to dress and look sharp. I remember him taking me to his local barber for a haircut then to his exclusive tailor in Escolta and he will asked his favorite tailor to do me a bespoke trousers and button down shirts to accompany my Luciano custom made shoes.

At first i thought that it was an ordinary routine for me and my dad to do this kind of thing. But as time progress I've noticed that he has an affinity for good clothes and he wanted me to do the same which is to look good. I used to see him wearing tailor made trousers a dozen pair of Levis jeans bunch of different Adidas rubber shoes and some Italian leather shoes but what caught my eye was his plimsolls and his shirt with a big embroidered laurel leaves. And i can't help to ask my dad what it was and he told me that the laurel leaves on the shoe and shirt was a symbol of achievement and he told me that the brand was Fred Perry Back then looking dapper was not on my list of priorities little did i knew then that later on in my 39 years of existence that the father and son bond and his shirt will have a profound impact in my life And now i am teaching my kids how to dress properly and even bought my youngest one a white with pink twin tipped shirt last christmas.

The famous shirt came into fruition when Tibby Wegner an Austrian footballer approached Fred Perry to design a shirt with form and function which is durable, looked great and very comfortable. They introduced the M12 polo shirt, known as the first shirt to carry a collar tipping to the sporting world. Its popularity with football fans saw West Ham fans request their own custom colorway in maroon and blue.

Unwittingly, the company had also produced the perfect accompaniment to the fledgling Mod movement, whose members were quick to pick up on the shirt’s suitability for their nocturnal activities. It was bloody stylish and could be worn under a suit, cardigan or jumper and durable enough to wear all-night and still look good when the sun came up the next morning. From there, Fred Perry made its way into subcultures such as Northern Soul in ’63 and Punk in 1976.

The shirt instantly changed from sportswear to street wear it became one of the most iconic brands to be embraced by mods to skinheads, punks to soul boys, indie kids and almost everyone in between. It started one of the longest relationships between British youth culture, steadily spreading out across Europe and the rest of the world.

And now to celebrate the unique street and music relationship. The most beloved brand in the world is launching a campaign called TELL US YOUR STORY showcasing the brand’s heritage and link with various music subcultures these past 50 years. if you have photos or videos of any images that illustrate the brand’s unique relationship with music and street culture. then submit a video of yourself wearing the iconic shirt add a short story about your own memories of a true fashion classic. Log on to www.fredperrytellusyourstory.com. for more details.

FIVE THINGS ABOUT FRED:

1. Before Perry's first semi-final appearance at Wimbledon in 1931, he was hounded by a practical joker who stole his clothes, organised phantom photoshoots and even started buying a house in Perry's name. He never found out who the culprit was.

2.Perry had a screen test for the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie Top Hat. That was as close as he got to a Hollywood career.

3. Perry never voted in an election, despite his father being a highly regarded MP. He blamed his mother's death on the pressure of electioneering and vowed never to cast a vote.

4. Perry was married four times in 17 years - to an actress, a model, an alcoholic socialite, and the daughter of a Surrey stockbroker - although he kept the first three quiet in later life. He also dated Marlene Dietrich, above, teaching her tennis "with rapid kissing between flying balls".

5. The Fred Perry logo was nearly a pipe rather than a laurel wreath. The inveterate smoker's business partner talked him out of it on the grounds that "the girls" wouldn't like it.