Bombo Pluto Ova

Whereas Tiger Pussy owes their sound to punk, their labelmates in Bombo Pluto Ova are more indebted to guitar-based experimental music that recalls early Sonic Youth, Shit and Shine, and Skullflower, to name but a few. With three albums as well under their collective belt, Bombo Pluto Ova is out to prove that there’s more to the local music scene than just your typical underground band whose sound is often too condensed and easily digestible. In fact, listening to Bombo Pluto Ova requires lots of patience as they tend to stretch their free-form jams to as long as more than 30 minutes just like the appropriately titled “Epic of Gilgamesh” from their most recent album “Oeuvre”. And as if that wasn’t enough, Bombo Pluto Ova guitarist John Caing even self-released a 12-hour composition that’s sure to test even the most dedicated local music fan who would happen to come across it. Good thing that didn’t stop Mike Watt – legendary bassist for 80’s hardcore punk band Minutemen who then went on to form several other projects with a more experimental bent – from finding out about Bombo Pluto Ova and playing them in his Watt from Pedro podcast . It’s just a bit unfortunate that the Manila-centric music scene has yet to fully catch on with Bombo Pluto Ova despite having performed at an annual experimental music showcase very recently as the band’s defiance of musical conventions is what makes them an exciting listen.

Cebu’s own music scene obviously has a lot more to offer than Tiger Pussy and Bombo Pluto Ova, which is why all those regional music scenes in the country shouldn’t be outright ignored. Who knows, your next favorite band might just be outside of Manila after all.

Phantom (2012)

Aorta Gun (2014)

Filioque (2014)

The Trembling Robot (Circuits Transform Into Veins) (2014)

Oeuvre (2015)

Tiger Pussy

I fondly remember being a huge fan of Nashville band Be Your Own Pet sometime in the late 2000’s and wishing that they had a counterpart in the local music scene. Come 2013, my wish came true when I heard about Tiger Pussy. 

Seamlessly blending intensity, speed, and sass, Tiger Pussy has been storming the local music scene with three albums to their name. Too bad though that their first album from 2009 called “All the Way” still isn’t widely available for some reason that this (highlighted link directly links you to the source) is the only information I’ve gathered about it. I have no idea at all what “All the Way” actually sounds like, but I would have to assume that they were still developing their sound at the time which then became fuller and meaner with “People You Hate”, their sophomore album from 2013. It was by that time that the Manila-centric music scene heard about “People You Hate”, and its timing couldn’t have been better as the local variant of dance-punk was already nearing its demise as some bands who flirted with the style and the crowd they subsequently attracted started treating it as a passing fad. 

What got the Manila crowd drawn to Tiger Pussy was that the band brought back the punk in dance-punk to the point where even some admittedly tough guys in the local hardcore scene who are more used to chugging guitar breakdowns were suddenly dancing to their songs, which can be a rather interesting sight to look at. What’s more interesting is that Tiger Pussy even got airplay in New Jersey freeform radio station WFMU’s Bodega Pop program via their song “9 to 5”, a huge feat in itself. But an even larger feat happened four years later as Tiger Pussy finally came out with their third album “Residuals” wherein they are hellbent on proving that dance-punk is here to stay for a long, long time.

TIGER PUSSY - PEOPLE YOU HATE (2013)

TIGER PUSSY - RESIDUALS (2017)

OJ River

OJ River is a Makati-based emcee and producer. For a while, he’s been releasing banger after banger in his SoundCloud account. OJ has worked with many other emcees in the game in the last couple years, rappers like Bugoy Ni Koykoy, Ives Presko, Ankhten Brown, and Eyedress have jumped in a track with him. And he’s also one of the core members of the MKT-based supergroup, “Bawal Clan”.

I first fell in love with OJ around mid-2015, his soundcloud account was, I can call, the most colorful sets of tracks I’ve ever heard in a SoundCloud. Each track varies different styles that OJ has embodied for the past couple years (Tracks like ‘Blood on My Apes’, ‘#WA’, and ‘nevergonfade’). Before I became a music writer, I was one of those kids where I listened to local rappers on the internet. OJ River was the guy that introduced me to a whole different dimension of hip-hop at the time and it reinvigorated that sense where I don’t need a tv show VJ or a radio show to introduce me artists locally.

OJ River’s style has this raspy delivery: accompanying gritty production helps him in executing his lines. Effortless you can say but his voice has so much personality in the majority of his tracks.

What I observed in OJ’s music is his representation of the Makati street culture; A scene where kids skate around the PNR stations, graffiti artists spraying walls somewhere around the Guijo area, and rappers gathering around the Bagtikan corner/Malugay area for a freestyle session. OJ River showed the other side of Makati like no one else did in their entire careers. Right now, he’s been working with the “Bawal Clan” and other of their collaborative efforts, I wish great luck in this dude’s wonderful career. He definitely needs to be archived not only for the contemporary hip-hop scene but for being a part of Makati’s street culture as well.  

OJ RIVER - BLOOD ON MY BAPES

OJ RIVER - BAWAL BUSINESS

OJ RIVER X RH XANDERS - DIE $LOW

OJ RIVER FT. IVES PRESKO - GUSTO KO PA

OJ RIVER - O T P (PEST COAST)

OJ RIVER - #WA

Are U Aaliyah - DZ SVG, OJ RIVER & Krissy Cakes feat. Just Hush

Robotballoons

This entry captivated me from the band's history to their posthumous release. Following their breakup, i so happen to copy-paste the band's history through their "About" Page in their facebook account. Had to change a few details just to clarify more of their history as a band.   

"   Formed in 1995, Robotballoons were a alternative rock band based in Cebu. The band was the brainchild of then drummer Blair Kabahar, vocalist/rhythm guitaress Xiomara Glindmeyer(nee Demeterio), and lead guitarist Jonathan Tejano as a vehicle for Demeterio to start playing guitar, having fronted Xiomara and the Superheroes three years prior. Robotballoons was only meant to be a side project for the members who already had primary bands; Kabahar was with Sheila and the Insects, Tejano was with Mother F, and Muana was with Worry-Free TV. Robotballoons' original singer was Zairex Gantuangco.

Eventually Robotballoons became a female fronted band as there weren't lot of the like around that time except for Elizabeth's Distress and Hard Candy, fronted by Kay Tradio (nee Luna) and Kate Torralba who were also good friends of the band.

Robotballoons first played at the first alterna bar called Morrissey off of Mango Avenue together with newly renamed band Sheila and the Insects. Playing covers by new wave artists that the band was heavily influenced by, they gathered a loyal following. Morrissey, in spite of its niche and elite patronage, closed its doors only after a very brief period of business and the band was offered a regular spot at Artist Dais, another bar that opened shortly after Morrissey.

Robotballoons were able to record 8 tracks for the album that never was, tentatively titled Fabulous Half-Myths an ode to Demeterio's surreal storytelling. The album was recorded at the fledgling Backyard Studios which was back then located off of Don Ramon Aboitiz St. The sessions were under the supervision of Junx Muana and mixed by Gilbert Neri. Xiomara's cousin and Superhero band mate Kerryl "Mikmik" Demeterio, provided the bass tracks to most of the songs during Muana's hiatus from the band, The Sheikh which appeared on Sheila and the Insects album, Manipulator being one of them. He also eventually put the finishing touches to the tracks that never saw the light of day except for Before the 30th that enjoyed regular airtime on NU107.

Robotballoons demise was ushered by Demeterio leaving for the USA but the legacy lives on for the fans that still reminisce and talk fondly about how once upon a time there was an album that never was and the band that could've been.   "

The band's one and only recorded material are made available for streaming in Soundcloud. Devoted followers of the fans saved the recording for future generations to hear and see. Hoping that this current generation listens to their music. I definitely recommend this type of music for all y'all nostalgia enthusiasts and basically 90's music fans out there. The album artwork down below will direct you to their soundcloud account.

FABULOUS HALF-MYTHS (YEAR OF RELEASE: 1995??)

BEAST JESUS

Beast Jesus is a four-piece chaotic hardcore / progressive metal / punk-rock / shoegaze /alternative rock /internet-core band hailing from the Philippines. They were formed in early-2016 by Francis Maria (guitarist/front man), Raphael Pulgar (guitarist), Enzo Zulueta (Bassist), and Josh Crae (Drummer). These meme digging, cat loving, genre-bending band members are from other bands like Disquiet Apartment, Joop, Game Theory, Ang Bandang Shirley, and Caitlyn Bailey. Maria, Raphael, and Josh of Caitlyn Bailey then added one more member (that is Enzo) for their new band , Beast Jesus. Imagine a shark drowning in a whirlpool while an orchestra of M16’s, Jets, and Hacksaws plunging right in the whirlpool. That whirlpool becomes this bowl of gory, brutal, dark material spreading in a sea of local music.

Growing up, I began listening to tons of black metal and sludge metal (very heavy music in general) in middle school; these albums include Liturgy, Behemoth, Dopethrone, and Deafheaven. Those entry level records eventually led me to rant and rave about the band that is Beast Jesus. I loved black metal for how extreme and heavy they were. I mean, who in their right minds can combine several genres in one track? Well, the answer to that question is their challenging and almost alienating material have been marked as one of those bands that are hard even to categorize or that doesn’t need a label to be called in a particular type of genre. With or without the typical ‘indie’ or ‘alternative’ tropes/banner that are waved around them.

Beast Jesus is the type of band that shouldn’t be called “innovative” or “new” by listeners who are laying at the surface of local ‘indie’ music or being called “fresh” by their peers. I would rather say that this band coupled themselves with formidable struts of sound and noise with other norms of music in general; which will result in getting their audience alienated for that matter. But these guys don’t care if someone says that they ‘defy’ the laws of physics in their music. There are still some good arrangements that can be found in their material.

Their debut EP, “In Various States of Disassembly” (2016), is an EP that needed to be discussed by the way it was structured. Insert the words ‘extreme’ and ‘heavy,' the EP switches from hardcore punk to chaotic metal to noise-rock to shoegaze to alternative rock. I can go and on and on and on talking about their first release. It gets crazy by the minute when listening to their headbanging masterpiece that is their ‘Disassembly.'

The band’s lyrical content is their bread and butter. With lyrics that lament about loss, grief, and hopelessness. There is subtlety when talking about this band’s material. The music you hear is getting its parts being split by machetes that are coming out of the sound monitor. And the next thing you know, this band becomes a high adrenaline thrill ride in a blink.

I can compare their second EP titled Eros Obfuscate (2016) to a nuclear blast. The EP didn’t feel like an EP at all. It had only one song on it, but the length of it is right around 17-minutes. And those 17-minutes were unforgiving and full of hel… pure destruction. I cannot explain this much context to Eros Obfuscate’s material that much. So please don’t kill me if I am not able to provide that much background information and points to why Eros Obfuscate isn’t an EP for everyone but it can be appreciated for how impressive it was. I still find their first EP to be a classic regarding crafting the sound to perfection.  

Beast Jesus can do whatever they want; they have the complete freedom to recreate whatever output they wish to create. Letting it fly while carrying a hodgepodge of music elements that come in each of their member's different backgrounds. Therefore, you get this product of music that was executed very well albeit disparate musical influences. In the current point of this band’s career, they’ve shown so much memorability in their music, and savagery through their Facebook page (we all thought that this was a meme page). Beast Jesus is an amalgamation of genres that succeeded in the past 20 years. Thank God for the Best Jesus.

I heard that their latest record would be different. Classic Beast Jesus always ready to surprise us. Hope you guys check out their other material!!  

IN VARIOUS STATES OF DISASSEMBLY (2016)

EROS OBFUSCATE (2016)

Moscow Olympics

Here they are, the forerunners of the indie scene in the late 00’s are here! You guys don’t know how much I've been waiting to archive this band for a long time. Moscow Olympics is special, and they cut the world for their incredible music and talent! This entry got some requests even before the Kitchen came to fruition. Because of the requests, it’s no sweat that we will summarize this band’s entire discography, but the endless amount of praise this band will get is innumerable.

(If there is more than Moscow Olympics’ usual discography; like unreleased material, unearthed songs that were not noticed on the internet, you can always add more stuff to this entry. Thank you. )

Moscow Olympics is a four-piece dream pop/indie rock band based in Valenzuela City, Philippines, that formed around 2006. Their music blends fuzz-heavy guitars, smooth songwriting, faint vocals, and the hazy atmosphere that surrounds their records. Combine everything, and you’ll get a recipe for endless bliss and astounding piece of music. In result, they’ve gained the attention of not only dream pop/shoegaze fans here but overseas as well. The band opened for Radio Dept. back in 2011 at the Hard Rock Cafe Manila

A few footnotes of influences have left me wandering around my mind when listening to Moscow Olympics; the melodic bass lines of Joy Division, the dreamy wall of sound of Radio Dept (wink! wink!), and the musical, rose-colored sky production of DIIV.

A music blog back in 2007 described their music as a "Blueboy leaping from the clouds and snogging The Wake in the sunset while drifting down over the Oresund bridge." Whatever that means, it sounded like the perfect description of the band’s sound.  

Their only album “Cut the World,” which was released in 2008 is a modern classic. One of the greatest shoegaze/dream pop albums of the decade or possibly of all time. Every track on that album featured easy and catchy tracks like “No Winter, No Autumn,” “Second Trace,” “Carolyn,” “Cut the World”, and their iconic dream pop anthem, “Still.” Their guitar scales compliment the wall of a sound this album embodies. Not to mention, the technical drumming in every track matches the mood of Moscow Olympics’ weather forecast.

This band helped shape the sound of indie music in the Philippines. Their album “Cut the World” is evidence on how to correctly craft dream pop music. Their limited edition material, which was released under a French record label featured additional songs in the post-Cut The World era that also includes a remix of their track, “Keep the Avenues Open.”

Moscow Olympics aren’t the only ones who are in the shoegaze/dream pop scene here in the country: Bands like Sodajerk, Outerhope, Sonnet LVIII, and Candyaudioline are the great founders of the flourishing indie scene of the early 00’s. Most of the mentioned bands above are either inactive or still running but have a different lineup of members. The question though remains, when will Moscow Olympics come back?

Since they began, many local music fans are going crazy seeing them live. The band is known to perform in gigs in rare occasions. It was a treat for indie pop scene kids who were able to catch them live in shows. They eventually stopped playing shows around 2011-2012(??). It’s present day 2017, and longtime fans and colleagues in the indie music scene have been praying for another one night only performance of this band. Moscow Olympics are the missing link the indie scene, and the indie scene needs Moscow Olympics.

The impact of Moscow Olympics has spawned a large number of bands like Beast Jesus (preferably their track Double Tuck), Atomic Sushi, Identikit, Na Mo, sleepersecond, no rome, just to name a few. Not only they kept the presence of dream pop active, but they strengthened it for future generations that inspired many. 

Click the image for all y'all guys to be automatically directed to the albums/tracks!!

Still (7" Single)

Author's note: The "Still" image link doesn't work. Go here instead: https://soundcloud.com/jeromevelasco/moscow-olympics-still

Cut The World (2008)

Youtube Full Album Stream Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYeT6FP_J6w&t=105s

Reprise 

+ Keep the Avenues Open (Magnus Wahlström Remix)

Alphonsine

Irrevocable

Irrevocable is a five-piece midwest twinkly / emo / alt-rock band from all parts of Metro Manila. Each of their members is also in bands such as The Oemons, Neverdie, Nyctinasty, Beast Jesus, Disquiet Apartment, and Browse In Bridge. If you’re a fan of the organic sound of “The Emo Revival” in the States, this band has got you covered.

What I can come up with describing their sound is a mix of Cap N’ Jazz’s energetic and almost haphazard instrumentation, and Algernon Cadwallader’s reckless tone and dynamics. Irrevocable will make you channel your inner teenage self that used to hang out on the balcony and let out the frustration to the world by screaming on the top of your lungs.

Their frontwoman Lenian Gaspar (from the band Browse in Bridge) contributes to a more ‘angsty’ element once joined in Tani Carińo’s (Neverdie, Small Hands, Lindenwood, and much more) moody guitar riffs and Josh Cræ’s (Beast Jesus, Disquiet Apartment) high-speed drumming. We’ve seen our favorite emo/post-hardcore bands come and go, but this one fits right in the bill of the revival, and Irrevocable still manages to pay respect to their punk roots; especially when the emo music we know and love are rising once again and has a change of pace stylistically.

Their only single that was released online titled “Night Shift” has that “Midwest” flavor as it progresses into this noodly mess of a masterpiece. I saw this band in The There’s No “I” in Tim Benefit Gig two months ago. From the moment they blasted their twinkly guitars, I was stunned by how a local band can quickly capture the sound of Midwestern Emo music in the United States. I will likely get to see this band live for the second time in Turnover Live at the GT-Toyota Asian Center in UP Diliman. They’ll be opening for the Virginia-based band along with other bands like Beast Jesus, Luncheon, Outerhope, and much more. I can’t wait for the commercial and more surface leveled kids to know what Irrevocable has in store. 

Irrevocable - Night Shifts

Irrevocable - Where is Home

Irrevocable - Come Out of Your Room

Ourselves The Elves

Ourselves the Elves is an indie-alternative rock/ folk-rock band that formed in 2011 which consists of lead singer/guitarist Alyana Cabral, rhythm guitarist/backing vocals Akira Medina, Bassist Paula Castillo, and Drummer Ponch Salvador. Most of the band’s members met in a college dorm around the University of the Philippines Diliman, and ever since, they’ve been making music for the loved, departed, and forgotten. Ourselves the Elves are known for their surf rock type vibe in their music, they are most considerable for sharing influences from the rise of other twee pop/jangle rock music in the early 2010’s with bands like Best Coast, Wavves, and earlier Slow Hollow material.

Most fans know the band’s music when they released their sophomore EP titled Geography Lessons back in 2015. The EP also acted as a collaboration and soundtrack for a short film titled “Lisyun Qng Geografia, Directed by Petersen Vargas. The film has garnered critical acclaim from critics for its cool soundtrack and themes like the exploration of young love in the province.

Geography Lessons was in my opinion, a slow burner of an EP. I wasn’t a fan of the subtle, skeletal guitar riffs in the project. But I was astonished in some parts of the EP where most of the songs are moving slowly but gradually building into a relief of powerful ballads and heart pounding -- almost -- atmospheric production.

Learning more about the band when I was in my adolescent stage (Yes, that’s how young the writer of this entry was), I thought this second EP of theirs is refreshing. It was a matter of time for this quality of music to be produced in the region. I then followed listening to their debut EP titled “It’ll Be Alright” released back in September of 2013. I liked their debut more than their sophomore EP; the production in that EP is rougher than you would expect from the band’s debut material but I can’t get enough of its straightforward songwriting and its raw recording. I was mostly moved by Aly’s wonderfully written hooks and choruses. And I would strongly suggest longtime fans to appreciate “It’ll Be Alright” for the merit it stands on. The EP is filled with catchy tracks and has that folky-like fun when you’re down for a Sunday drive at the park. Tracks like “Shelter (Oh No),” “Not Me Not You,” and “I Wouldn’t Mind” are all single material or better off to be individual tracks.

Recently, the band has been taking quite a while to release new material, but in December of 2016, they released a single titled “Wounds.” It still has that Geography Lessons quality to it, but I could hear traces of their old materials, as well as developmental traits the band has learned for a couple of years. (for example, the guitar being more space-y than their second EP and the drums being added a little more minimal fee). There are influences from bedroom pop musicians like Frankie Cosmos and most other TheLazyLazyMe tracks in YouTube. It’s what you would expect in a Ourselves the Elves track; open, hollow, and being downright subtle until you notice that the pieces of your heart are missing. I was somewhat iffy in their supposed new direction in this track. But I would love to see where they go.

WOUNDS

GEOGRAPHY LESSONS (2015)

Ourselves the Elves live sessions

It'll Be Alright

Mocksmile (fka Ωmega)

Mocksmile (fka Ωmega) is a bedroom musician, slash hip-hop producer from the internet and one of the founding members of the infamous cloudrap/gloomcore producer collective NoFace Records, where he does most of the visuals and makes album covers for each and every member of that collective. Based somewhere in Manila, He’s been making rounds lately on his mysterious alias and his body of work in the local beat scene (he clarified in his personal account that he just started producing music for over a year, and that is fucking amazing). He covers a broad range of styles that incorporate cloud rap, trap music, TEAMSE$H type beats and even boom bap in different occasions. He made beats for rappers in Writer’s Block, contributed production credits for Space Impakto, knife, and frequent collaborator and fellow NoFace founder, skinxbones.

I chose to archive Ωmega for many reasons: One, he is one of the hardest working visual artists we have today, and people don’t check out his more “music related” stuff that often.

Two, he improves more and more in his releases. Take “Prima Facie” for example, his style in that project are miles different from what I heard from his older stuff like “some obscure title” from his beat diary, “Songs From a Sinking Ship”. And it's evident that we get to see a bedroom musician evolve so quickly and substantially as we should. Let alone that seeing an internet musician grow in the age of SoundCloud is important.  

Three, He drifts his sample-based roots in another degree. Adding more layers into his works that are lush & minimal, and he has a stylish take on each release. That production style of his is what I can appreciate completely regarding being versatile. But don’t let that “producer” banner fool you, he raps too!

That takes us to the fourth reason why Ωmega needs to be archived; he also gives his rapping chops in separate releases. Seeing him live at the Taliwas event in Mow’s QC around October of last year made me want to see more of his live performances. Even if it takes an emotional grip to feel what he’s saying, Ωmega can pull off one hell of a performance in just a ten-minute set. His songs that have him rapping baths with emo (that was before ”emorap” was a thing in the age of SoundCloud) He regularly gets featured in tracks that show his dark side (Listen to Ωmega x skinxbones - Self Help Mixtape). And if ‘nothing nowhere’ and Greaf made a baby, then you get Ωmega.

I’m sure a lot of people will find his releases and other of NoFace’s releases intriguing. Enjoy!

Ωmega - PRIMA FACIE

Ninais (ft. Ωmega) - Counting Days

NOFACE RECORDS - DEAD INSIDE VIBE MIXTAPE (2017)

Ωmega - CRA$H MONEY

NOFACE RECORDS - $OUTH$IDE$QUAD666

Ωmega - Songs From a Shinking Ship

Ωmega x skinxbones - Self-Help Mixtape

Ωmega x skinxbones - Self-Help, The Checkup

The Gory Orgies

The lack of accurate information about The Gory Orgies can be a bit disconcerting at first to the average young scenester who usually likes to follow (or maybe “stalk” is the right word I’m looking for?) the activities of certain indie bands on their social media platform of choice. For starters, each of the band members’ chosen profane stage names as well as the story as to how the band came to be are so downright ludicrous that any attempt to extract from them even just a tiny bit of incontrovertible fact can lead to absolutely nowhere.

What we do know though is that The Gory Orgies are a garage punk band formed back in 2014 who had released a couple of EPs and called it quits last year but have surprisingly gotten themselves back in the gigging circuit as of late.

While The Gory Orgies’ sophomore EP called Gonzo Blitz has a slightly more polished sound that I would recommend for the total novice who has yet to get into the band’s music, their debut Cockadoodle EP bears a lot more appeal for someone like me who digs a lot of stuff put out by In the Red and Goner Records as its brash, lo-fi sound feels a lot more confrontational and is more representative of their mostly rowdy live sets (which prominently feature an electric percussion kit aside from the usual drums) that are very much what I honestly think the local indie music scene needs more of.

HAZARDVERTISING 5-WAY SPLIT 

GONZO BLITZ EP

COCKADOODLE EP

CHRISTMAS IN OUR CARTS

THANK GOD, IT'S DOOMSDAY