Still Ill

The long wait is over! Finally got my hands on the Still Ill combo package. The package includes two full lengths (Bystorm and Unforce), a copy of Bystorm's raw recordings from various shows last year, and a band shirt.  

STILL ILL

BYSTORM

"Sumalangitnawa" (SLN)

August 2012

Having released two awesome split CDs with well-established bands such as Sauna from Batangas City and Pulling Teeth from Baltimore, MD, USA, Bystorm presents their latest offering: a twelve track record of bone crushing metallic hardcore in the vein of early Catharsis crossed with "The Promise" era of Ringworm, including a cover song from Boston's SSD. Fucking heavy and the long wait was fucking worth it.

BYSTORM

"Lungsod ng mga Patay na Buhay"

Summer 2011

This summer release disc is a blockbuster as well. The rough and raw recordings from the band's various performances last year is still a hit. Aggressive crunchy guitars, gut-wrenching vocals, twisted bass lines, killer percussion? Yes, it's all in the record. This live record is quite refreshing. Not too rough, not too loud, just hits the spot. 

UNFORCE

"Time for Change"

LOCAL-FAST-PACED-IN-YOUR-FACE-STRAIGHT-EDGE-KILLING-MACHINE. Nuff said.

BYSTORM - Sumalangitnawa shirt

What you're seeing in the television is shit, and maybe that's why you think that the local underground music scene is dead or shitty. Come on down to where the hoodlums go and you'll be surprised on what the country has to offer. You're in for a treat sonny. Support your local scene and local artists. Fuck MTV and MYX!

Pearls Before Swines

Finally got to update the blog for the longest time. Got so fucking tied down to the academic side of life and totally forgot to give some time for this blog. Well, the bastard is back with a few shots from hell. Just got back from Hong-Kong after a 6-day vacation with the family. Lost the Memory card that contains all the shots I took from the trip. Sucks big time. I know. Well, this is all I have for the moment. Enjoy peeping the loot I got from the trip.

Thanks to Star Crossed Tattoos tattoo shop, H.K.I.T. skate shop, Double Park, Loading..., Typo, BAPE, and the MNWKA pop-up shop in Granville for hooking me up with these awesome treats.

A Bathing Ape pouch and clutch bag.

One of Hong-Kong's hardest, King Ly Chee - "Time Will Prove" 

MNWKA Coffee Mug

MNWKA HK limited prints

Rebel-8 huge ass sticker pack and print

Rebel-8

The Ramones presidential seal print on canvas

All of these stuff were picked up during the last day / pick-all-the-shit-that-you-want-up-with-your-remaining-money-day. And no, I didn't look for all these shops. Just happened to bump into them from time to time.

Overall, the trip was really fun. Experienced a culture that's tightly knit to the bloodline, a culture that's always up and about during the night time, experienced a place where the lights are very much alive and amusing, a place where the street culture is very much alive in and out of the city, where the food is always on top of the line when it comes to flavor and presentation, a place where the ancient and cultural spirit reigns supreme, and a place where the Dragon still lives.

Yessur King-Kong Hong-Kong Kowloon Loot city hits! 

Rosebud

After viewing the revolutionary film entitled "Citizen Kane" by Orson Welles, I realized that a lot of the things that I admire and consider to be pretty normal or mediocre in the contemporary field of cinematography and photography are deeply rooted in this film. So a lot of firsts in the film and photo industry actually took place within the conception of this film and hence, the tremendous influence among other film makers.

The setting, the characters, the cinematography, it all falls into place pretty well. I don't consider myself to be a die-hard fan of old films, but man, this film is just remarkable.

There are some desirable traits that I see within the character of Charles Foster Kane and I consider these traits as strengths. The strong build up of Mr. Kane's character emphasizes a man who is made up of discipline, responsibility, power and at the same time, he is also a man who longs for attention and love. Being an independent, self-made person who's always pushing the pace, building and burning bridges whenever necessary with the people surrounding him, I can see a clear picture of a man with a heart of a Lion.

Albeit his head is always held up high, not afraid to step forward into the great abyss of life, he is still leveled out with his ability to look back in to the past with a patched out heart who is always longing for affection from the realm outside of his own. There's this broken man that lies underneath the tough exterior. It takes a lot of courage to pull these things off one head a time, and for that, I admire him.

With all of the flowery words that I've mentioned above, I am not totally endeared with the entirety of Mr.Kane's character. Through the look in his face and  through the glare in his eyes, I see a man filled with rage and discontent manifest as the film unfolds. His pure and good intentions overlap with one another and results to something that is not quite desirable.

It isn't really a rare occasion that we see these kinds of things happen from time to time, especially in our modern period. I think that the world of politics is an example that stands out for this kind of situation. A lot of politicians started out carrying little pouches of hope and big body bags filled with plans for improving the welfare of the whole country, but eventually, they failed to deliver. They all get consumed and get pretty well spent along the treacherous road to success. With the fault lines of selfishness getting wider and the detours of corruption seemingly overwhelming them along the way, they get stuck with their unhealthy habits of tricking people out on what they truly deserve.

At times we succumb and make believe that we can buy happiness with the money we have, with the expensive earthly possessions we see lying within arms length away, that we can dictate the lives of other people with the thrust and the power we are granted into our pedestals, but the truth is, we all long for something simple, for something immaterial, we all long for genuine happiness. All we really want is a pair of interesting ears ready to listen to whatever we have to say and a set of open arms always there for us through the hard times. We may have differing interests with one another and sometimes it even leads us to burn bridges, even with our loved ones, but we all carry on with the weight of the world up on our shoulders and the prize of a heavy heart is cursed upon us with our good intentions. 

The experiences we surpass, the struggles that we overcome, that defines our existence. We are sometimes obliged to turn a blind eye for the past. We all have to move on.

Pretty Good Year (11 of 11)

The year 2011 was a pretty good year for me. Was able to build strong bridges with the good company, met a lot of new friends along the way, and I also got the chance to fuck things up and burn bridges with the godforsaken traitors.

11) After a lot of scavenging trips to various book stores and magazine stalls along the streets of Avenida and elsewhere, I finally completed the Juxtapoz Arts & Culture Magazine 2011 series. Also repleted my dresser with a lot of art books to satisfy my occasional visual appetite. These set of visuals helped me a lot in understanding the different disciplines observed in the classical up to the contemporary period in art.

10) Hoarded around 30+ caps this year, and it doesn't necessarily mean that i'm a god awful materialistic person. I just feel ( I know it sounds pretty silly ) like my tiny brain is exposed to some evil mind reading rays from the Aliens if I don't have these things on. Caps make me feel secure, these are the little things that make my world go round, that's all.

9) Proved myself that I can make time and give time for what I really want to do. Despite the busy schedule in the academe, I still managed to burn and destroy around 28 hideous graffiti pieces across the Metro while exhausting around 128 cans of aerosol. Nothing compares to the feeling when you're taking it out to the streets.

8) The shit load of stickers that make up my humble collection is still building up and the year 2011 is certainly of no exception in making the numbers roll up high. With the help of some friends, especially Gasm / Spawn, Brain, Vermonyo, and Ghost, the size of my collection almost doubled within the 'Ver' months alone. Drool on these bad boys if you're a sticker junkie just like me!

7) Scavenged and bought around 70+ local and foreign records from Fully Booked, Jetpirate Records, Punk / Hardcore shows and some other record joints out on the Metro this year. Support the local and international music industry and start buying ( doesn't really matter if they are old or new ) original compact discs or digital records. Fuck piracy and those fucking torrents in the internet.

6) Last summer, I bought my first new old Japan bike. I repainted the bike Matte Black through and through and named it Raven. I named her Raven because the feeling I get whenever I'm pedaling and riding out on the streets at night is as close to the comparison of birds taking flight. Not always riding fast, but with this bike I can see a different and not so desirable side of Mother Manila at night.

5) New friendships with these Posi-Kids made me realize the value of keeping the edge and having a clean lifestyle. Definitely fused by our like mindedness when it comes to our undying passions in the differing avenues in visual arts and in music, we get along quite well. Always up for a good conversation and a good catch of laughs with these boys.

4) Started the year kinda sketchy out on the streets, but in the long run, "WE", the break away group, stood tall and rose above the "OTHER" group. When dedication meets discipline, and brotherhood meets passion, you'll probably stand your ground with that group for life. I'm proud of what we've started. I'm proud to be a part of the KMD family.

3) After 3 years running and running in college, never have I felt so welcome in a group until I became an official member of the Malate Literary Folio ( the official arts and literature publication in school ). We're the misfits rounded up in school. We're the ones who choose to stray from mediocrity. We're the ones who beg the answer to have another question. We're the company that your mother and father warned you about. The Malate Literary Folio is My Little Family inside and outside the university premises.

2) She's smart, she's witty, she's funny and she's pretty, but after a run of 12 months, things seemed to be a re-occurring dream. At first, I guess it felt like magic, then it felt kinda strange. With the year unfolding month after month, it was starting to be tragic, then it all boiled down to a cage. Through her eyes I realized my worth, and through those same eyes I realized that there's no love left for me in this big black city.

1) Even if I'm not that close to my family, I still fucking love them and I would still kill an army or two for them. Through the bright sunny afternoons, to the darkest mornings before the dawn, I will stand proud and spit out the last name passed on to me by my father.

It was one heck of a year blacking out and regaining consciousness again and again. Had a handful of loss and rolled a number of new relationships, it was still a good year. This coming year I will try not to think too much, I will try to stand up straight, I will try not to drink so much and I will try to listen to myself more often. Now I have 100 resolutions and I don't really have a clear set of solutions but I know this coming year will be my year for sure.