December 2008 Archives

By Clarence Yu AEROSMITH’S Joe Perry pays homage to his idol Chuck Berry with his own recording of "Run Rudolph Run," and it’s about time. According to Aerosmith’s official fan website, AeroForceOne, "Joe has always loved Chuck Berry’s and Keith Richards’ version of this song and has wanted to record it for years now. He also wants to share it with all the fans right here at AF1." A diverse list of artists who have covered the song include Bryan Adams, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Grateful Dead and Billy Idol, a testament to the long lasting recognition of the song first made popular by Chuck Berry in 1958. Perry is reputed to be an ardent admirer of Berry, and it shows in his previous guitar work on songs like "My Girl" off Aerosmith’s Pump (1990) and the axeman often employs Berry’s trademark double-stop licks on his own guitar solos. The recording, available for free download at AeroForceOne, follows the tradition of a swinging, rockabilly beat as previously recorded by Keith Richards. Perry’s voice is ice cool in its lack of emotion, and it is obvious that the recording was engineered to sound like a classic ‘50’s rock and roll song: high on the reverb, with a lot of bar chords, heavy on the crash drum cymbal, with bits of piano flourishes. Perry adds his own mark on the song with his signature buzz sounding solos throughout the song. An accompanying video recorded for the song can be viewed at YouTube. While the song may only be of interest to die-hard Perry and Aerosmith fans, much can be said about Perry’s gesture of making the song free for download. The legendary guitarist has nothing more to prove, and in making this his gift to his fans, it shows a tender side of Perry that he rarely reveals in the rock arena. It can be viewed then as a simple gift from a human being using his God-given talent. Which is, in essence, part of the true spirit of Christmas. Download it now.

By Anna Valmero Inquirer.net TWO music babes—one a classy singer, the other a rock chic—performed at a benefit concert at the Mall of Asia. Sitti and Kitchie Nadal joined the benefit concert “No Limits” in support of the expansion project of the Alabang New Life Christian Center. The concert, held at the Music Hall in Mall of Asia, aimed to reach out to the youth and inspire them to make a difference at a young age. When she entered the music scene in 2006, Sitti had a mission: to revive the interest of Filipinos for bossa nova, which is considered a niche market locally. Her bold undertaking produced five albums and earned her the title “Queen of Bossa Nova” in the country. In October, Sitti released her album “Ngayong Pasko” which she said achieved gold within the same month. Sitti said they tried to experiment with the music of bossa and included a bossa song with swing vibe. “Bossa nova is a classic music that will always have a place in the hearts of Filipino music lovers,” said Sitti in an interview with Inquirer.net. “Since its introduction over 50 years ago, it has always been part of the local music scene and the strong boom two years ago can attest to that.” She said her future albums will try to experiment with bossa nova, so it always gives new flavor to the audience. Sitti revealed plans to enroll in dance classes and so she could also dance in future performances. Meanwhile, Kitchie played Christian-inspired songs with her indie band. Earlier, Kitchie was lead vocalist for local band Mojofly before she went as solo musician. Right now, she and her indie band is promoting their album although there is not much commercialism involved. “We do not want to come out too strong since the songs are spiritual,” she said in a separate interview. She said, with the album they want to go wherever the music takes them. She said music, in her case singing, “is a way to show worship The One Above.” “The music and the songs I sing now reflect the season of my spiritual journey,” said Kitchie. She added that at the time she was writing the album, it was only the Bible that she read. When asked if Filipinos are ready to enjoy mainstream Christian music, she said the Filipinos are ready for Christianity. Indie bands Southwind, Lovecore and Jericho Rosales with his band also performed in the benefit concert.

By Clarence Yu AC/DC is like comfort music to me. With their latest release, Black Ice, these seemingly unstoppable and stubborn rockers just refuse to quit. Why should they? The music they’ve created over the past 35 years seems timeless and you can always be sure of satisfaction. And they know it. Produced by Brendan O’ Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen), Black Ice is also a return to the sound reminiscent of the band’s previous studio efforts, Highway To Hell (1979) and Back In Black (1980), with renowned producer Robert “Mutt” Lange (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain). Whether this is a conscious effort or not, the results are decidedly for the better. The various producers the band have chosen over their previous releases either gave this signature sound a slightly more commercial feel (the late Bruce Fairbairn with 1990's The Razor’s Edge), or a less radio friendly, harder edged twist (Rick Rubin, with 1995's Ballbreaker). Of course, the challenge with each producer is to try to capture the legendary bands' sound as they envision it, so credit is due to Brendan O’ Brien, who rises above the pack. Black Ice is also a classic example of an album that doesn’t really need titles to make its point. The sequencing of the songs makes the album sound seamless: each track segues into the other without much ado, and this is an album you can listen to over and over without having an epiphany of any kind. The lead single off the album, "Rock And Roll Train," also demonstrates the band’s great songwriting skill. Take the intro of the Rolling Stones’ "Start Me Up," and add a bit of distortion to it, or take the verses from "Highway to Hell," and mix it in with the chorus from "You Shook Me All Night Long," and you’ve got a new, fresh sounding song. The album contains all the elements of classic AC/DC themes: war ("War Machine" with its signature chants reminiscent of "TNT"), sex ("She Likes Rock and Roll") and rock (four songs on the album have the word "rock" in the title, so it's quite obvious). Outstanding cuts include the funky "Decibel," "Rocking All The Way" with some low-octave, bluesy singing from vocalist Brian Johnson, and the closest thing they’ve done to a ballad in a while, "Anything Goes," which sounds like a cross between Def Leppard’s "Hysteria" and their own "Touch Too Much" off Highway to Hell. The band also teaches a thing a two about dynamics. Throughout the album, the only thing that constantly breaks the monotony of the basic 4/4 pounding by drummer Phil Rudd is the tempo, and whatever tempo changes that occur are always augmented by the intricate yet deceivingly simple guitar interplay between the Young brothers Angus and Malcolm. Bassist Cliff Williams knows when to play and more importantly, when not to. AC/DC has, if anything, proven with Black Ice that there doesn’t need to be much thinking in rock n’ roll. It’s also enough to quiet all the “too old to rock” pundits who started criticizing bands of AC/DC’s stature long since grunge reigned for a time. Labels such as "metal" and "headbanging" have always been applied to describe the band's music, but much harder sounding bands have come since their inception in 1973. Basically, it’s just no fuss and no frills -- a welcome respite from today’s contemporary rock. And surely, a message that rock is definitely here to stay for good.

THEY formed around the time the Eraserheads disbanded. Thus, they christened themselves after one of Ely's female characters. Ang Bandang Shirley, however, is no E-Heads tribute band. They were brought together by a common love for Canadian indie supergroup Broken Social Scene. But they do love Ely, Marcus, Buddy and Raimund. In MySpace, they likened themselves to BSS "if they listened to the E-Heads, a happier Jeff Buckley with Dong Abay's street smarts, Sugarfree's heart inside the baby of Radiohead and Feist." They do channel that BSS spirit and vibe. Fortunately for us, though, not all eight of them came to our acoustic session or else we would have been scratching our heads figuring out how to fit them in our tiny studio. Here's Owel, Selena, Ean and Joe singing a few songs from their recently-released album "Themesongs" Check out more stuff about the band (including Ean jamming with +/- (Plus/Minus)) on their Multiply page. Also, here's the video for the first single off the album "Themesong".

By Marjorie Gorospe “Friendship is the secret why we’ve come up with good music,” Filipino rock band BOK76 says. Calling each other “bok,” which means “brother,” the band’s members have been together for at least nine years – all in the name of music. Also known as “Bonded on Kinship,” this Filipino band is composed of Erwin Bautista (vocals), Donini Montealegre (guitars/vocals), Jay Castelo (drums/percussion), Owee Nicolas Paz (bass) and Elwynn Dayrit (guitars). Bautista and Montealegre have been together since grade school. The two had been “rivals” in many competitions but eventually they became friends. According to Bautista, the band's music reveals each member’s experiences. Montealegre composes most of the songs while the rest of group adds other elements to complete the music. “Don is the band genius. His ideas inspire the group,” Bautista says. The band has released its album “Revelations,” which is composed of 12 tracks, including the band’s latest singles “Last Kiss” and “Traydor.” “Nagpapasalamat kami sa mga traydor [We’re thankful to all traitors],” Montealegre jokingly says. This song was among the most requested songs in gigs in local bars. “Traydor” has also been the band’s ticket to local radios. As I listened to their other songs, the band’s lyrics are often sad portrayals of life. Most of their singles tackle bitterness. BOK76, however, have happier music. Their influences vary from new wave, rock, blues, metal and Japanese, says Bautista. “We just want to reveal that BOK76 is here and we exist,” Bautista says. BOK76 is set to release a music video of a new single “Sa Panaginip,” which is due this December.

JUST like Charice Pempengco and Arnel Pineda, Filipino indie band Workshop is making waves on YouTube, a popular online video sharing website. Apparently, American rock band Firehouse -- yup, that 80s rock group that popularized songs like "I Live My Life For You" and "Love of a Lifetime" -- has noticed a Workshop cover of their song "I Live my Life for You" on YouTube. In this video interview with INQUIRER.net executive editor Leo Magno, Workshop recalls the story of how Firehouse discovered and even acknowledged their performance, as the American rock band decided to embed their video on their official Firehouse MySpace page.

GOOD old rock music served differently. Six years since last churning out an album (2001's Black Mantra), Basti Artadi and the boys find themselves waking up to a digital age. Hence, their sixth installment rocking its way into mobile phones. All ten songs in Villains (not at all related to the hit TV show Heroes, Basti says) will be available for download via Smart's Music Store. The album is released independently via Semenelin Music put up by the band itself, obviously referencing their 1996 major-label debut album. Three tracks off Villains have been released almost simultaneously: "Ibrahim," "John of the Cross," and "Novus Is Burning," the last one written for online game RF Online. Months before the official release, Basti has been dropping hints about the new album on Friendster and other social networking sites. In today' press launch, he was the most outspoken -- well relative to guitarist Manuel Legarda and bassist Mon Legaspi. All three admitted to jetlag, arriving in time for the album launch. By Basti's own account, the road to a new Wolfgang album started last year when the band reunited for the Alive 2007 concert. Their set then included a new song "Death Squad," now included in Villains. Since then, the boys have learned to embrace digital, swapping tracks off the Internet before recording a proper album. So by their own account, the album was recorded in three cities: Basti was holed up in San Francisco with his own band, Mon doing gigs in Hong Kong and Manuel staying behind, occasionally seen jamming with Razorback. The obvious question is: is Wolfgang ever the same without drummer Wolf Gemora? Wolf was last seen with California-based Lokomotiv but wasn't in the launch. So it looks like Francis Aquino is doing drumming duties from hereon.

IT was all rock music in the Marikina Sports Complex last Saturday as the annual rock fest and tournament Red Horse Muziklaban celebrated its 10th year anniversary. The event is also the biggest so far as it played host to over a dozen of the country's best rock bands. Budding rock bands also competed for a million pesos in cash prize and a chance to become the next product endorser for Red Horse. Ten finalists from different parts of the country smashed their way to prove who among them will become the up and coming "rakista". This year’s winner is the band EVEN from Baguio City. They will get one million pesos and a recording contract. Muziklaban 2008 also presented for the first time the world's most popular death metal and thrash metal band, Sepultura from Brazil. Growling and churning out face-melting riffs, shreds and bass for two hours amid a flood of screaming fans, Sepultura gave local Filipinos a taste of Brazilian metal amid a threatening downpour that night. Being the last band to play, Sepultura never disappointed their fans as they sang over a dozen songs. Among those songs they played included "Warriors of Death," "Troops of Doom," "Ostia," "Territory," among others. The new Sepultura is composed of Derrick Green (vocals), Andreas Kisser (lead guitar), Paulo Jr (bass) and Jean Dolabella (drums). Green who hails from Cleveland, Ohio was the one who requested to remove the huge mosquito net protecting the bands from rowdy fans. "Now I can see you better. Are you still with us?!" and fans screamed even louder. The ear-popping screams, the chainsaw-like shreds, and the loud, thumping bass drums can be heard from over a kilometer away from the stage. Even those who were not able to get in were screaming. It'll be a huge challenge for the organizers of Muziklaban to make an even grander Muziklaban 2009. Who's next? Metallica?

By Clarence Yu APPARENTLY, gaming company Activision’s collaboration with rock legends Aerosmith has paid off handsomely for both parties. As reported on the Gamasutra website, the sales to date of the game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, has netted the band more revenue than any one of its album releases. In my opinion, the success of the Guitar Hero franchise is dependent on two things: artist name association and the technology employed to make the game highly entertaining to gamers. I am a big Aerosmith fan, but not into gaming myself -- thus, I was never attracted that much to consider buying the game. Of course, there are many exceptions to my theory. I’m pretty sure that a lot of gamers who weren’t familiar with Aerosmith bought the game: some were probably intrigued, some had nothing better to do with their money and most were probably challenged by the game. Good for them. They get to enjoy themselves, while learning the music of one of the best rock bands of all time. How does this bode for the music industry in general? For one thing, I’m pretty sure that most big name bands will start to fall in line for their share of the revenue pie. Van Halen and Metallica are examples of the next bands to be featured on the franchise. Big money is in store for both the bands and Activision. But to boast of Guitar Hero's "music selling power" is a bit of a stretch; by reversing the logic, you can say that Aerosmith enabled Activision's "video game selling power." While it can be argued that the artists involved may not need the money and just want to pass on their musical legacy to a new generation of potential fans, CD/music sales are also a big factor. Reportedly, Aerosmith’s CD/music sales had a “several folds boost.” Now is that just a coincidence, or a result of a lot of focus group discussions? For the struggling garage band out there, I don’t think it will make any difference -- perhaps marginally, in terms of inspiration. But inspiration is a totally different animal from business. Many bands out there with talent have never made it and many more will never. It’s just a fact in the recording industry. You still have to make it the old fashioned way -- through gigging, recording, and touring -- before you can be featured on a game like Guitar Hero. And with games exactly like Guitar Hero in the market taking away the attention span of potential new fans of these struggling artists, what will become of them? It just gets harder and harder. So, while Activision may be on to something here for quite a long and profitable run, dare I say that without the big name artists, the Guitar Hero franchise is worthless? Imagine Guitar Hero: Anonymous, and see if the product sells.