DIY SPIRIT LIVES ON WITH HOT NEW RELEASES
THE local indie music scene gets a big boast this month with these exciting new recordings.
Red-I and King Spade release Kings Music EP
Last November 9-10 saw the release of Kings Music from local dub artists Red-I and King Spade.
The Quezon City-based dub master Red-I and Cebu’s King Space collaborated on the fourtrack Kings Music (released under Japanese independent label Oto Records).
After Red-I independently released the full-length album "Jahdgement Day" in April of 2012, it helped re-start the local vinyl release craze. That 15-track record had this progressive feel to dub music that is an off-shoot of reggae music.
It did take Red-I six years before he followed up "Jahdgement Day" with 2018’s the "Natty Dread I Beat", a seven-inch extended play record. However, the Quezon City-based dub artist has been rather prolific this 2019.
In March of 2019, he put out the Mystic Revelation EP. After Kings Music, he has this double album scheduled for late this November or early December. In between, Red-I also found time to perform in the One Love Festival from late August to early September in England.
The two top tracks from Kings Music are “Soundsystem” and “Jah Light”.
“The local dub scene is getting bigger and is attracting more attention,” said Red-I before his trip to England. “We recently saw British dub musician Vibronics perform here among many others. And now, our local productions are getting noticed overseas.”
For his part, Kings Spade hopes that this release will give Cebu-based reggae and dub artists some attention. Most of the known reggae bands are based in
Manila. There are some who are based in the provinces who have gained a measure of popularity such as Cebu’s Junior Kilat that first came into a national consciousness when they were included in the 2004 compilation album, "Island Riddims." Since then, Junior Kilat has released three albums. Olongapo has its share of reggae artists in the late Blackdyak and Herb Culture.
Kings Music is a limited edition pressing with only 300 copies (priced at P1,200) made available to fans. It is available on Red-I’s Facebook page, his bandcamp site, and at Treskul Records in Mandaluyong City.
Still Ill releases new Veils and Pilipinas Hardcore EPs
Sunday, November 10 saw hardworking underground hardcore label Still Ill release two new offerings. Fated that evening at Mow’s in Teacher’s Village, Quezon City was hardcore band Veils who launched their second extended play single, Wellwisher’s Tongue.
Bands like Sandy Good, Hex, Value Lasts, Killratio, No One Wins, Surrogate Prey, Repetition, and Collect opened the party for Veils.
Also available was the seveninch test pressing of Pilipinas Hardcore II.
Wellwisher’s Tongue, the 33rd offering from Still Ill, follows Veils’ late 2016 self-titled debut, and renews their brutal assault of metallic hardcore against the ills of Philippine society. The new EP features six tracks with the lead off songs, “Havl,” “Swarm,” and “Embrace” of which fans were given a sneak preview in a cassette release last April.
Also included in the new EP is a cover of American punk band
Circle jerks’ “Beat Me Senseless.”
Veils’ debut EP prophesied the national turmoil today. Wellwisher’s Tongue isn’t simply a “I told you so,” but more of like an angry diatribe into where we are today.
Although a test press – with its regular release a few months away - the much-awaited Pilipinas Hardcore II follows the successful Pilipinas Hardcore compilation from March of 2018. The sequel features bands like Realidad, Repetition,
Collect, Alas, and Indifference.
The first Pilipinas Hardcore compilation featured bands such as Veils, Barred, Badmouth, and XFortressX. Barred’s first fulllength record, "Bloodstained Existence" is also on the way and should be on sale for local fans in a month or so.
Check out Still Ill’s Facebook and Bandcamp pages for information on how to get physical and digital copies of their brand of pummeling hardcore.
LOSE You To Love Me by Selena Gomez. That thing about riding on extremely public digital speeds to exact revenge on your ex-lover couldn’t be more real when it comes to pop artists releasing singles about a previous relationship. Just ask Taylor Swift or Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber. Speaking of the Biebs, Selena Gomez served Lose You To Love Me, a close-to-spoken word, monotonous vocal exercise about letting go. In the song, Gomez sings the obvious Bieber reference in the verse, “In two months, you replaced us / Like it was easy” and recall that Bieber proposed to now-wife Hailey Baldwin three months after his split with Gomez.
Gomez starts this “hugot” single with, “You promised the world and I fell for it / I put you first and you adored it / Set fires to my forest / And you let it burn,” before moving to pre-chorus without much acceleration, “We’d always go into it blindly / I needed to lose you to find me / This dancing was killing me softly / I needed to hate you to love me, yeah.”
Melody-wise, “Snooze,” err, “Lose You To Love Me” paces your listening experience like those calming, sleeping apps but it’s probably meant that way so you can savor Gomez’s more mature vocals alongside the harsh but definitely real lyrics.
It’s not like the usual empowering pop moving-on anthems of Britney Spears (“Stronger”), Kelly Clarkson (“Since U Been Gone”), Gotye (“Somebody I Used To Know”) or even Regine Velasquez (“You’ve Made Me Stronger”). “Lose You To Love Me” is that state of figuring it all out and realizing that you are at that point where it’s time to let go and you’re about to make sense of the breakup. This song will be in the earlier part of your getting-over-you playlist.
The strength of this track is grounded on Gomez’s transparency and that happens to mirror the plight of anyone who’s had to live through the devastation of getting burned over broken promises. Gomez herself described the song under its official video to be, “inspired by many things that have happened in my life since releasing my last album; I want people to feel hope and to know you will come out the other side stronger and a better version of yourself.”
"Into The Summer" by Incubus. Thank you, Incubus. And we can almost hear the band reply, “You’re welcome, you suckers for ’80s music!” “Into The Summer” reminds you of an old guilty pleasure, only it’s a late 2019 gift from Inclubus.
The song captures that golden music era you could almost smell hairspray on your teased hair. The moment "Into The Summer" opens with a flock of birds sound before moving forward with that riff followed by heavy drum beat that sets it all up for a killer bassline and then you hear Brandon Boyd impeccably sing, “Shouldn’t have let you go / Into the summer alone / Pretty and built to spill / A cup ready to overflow,” you’ll find yourself pressing your back against the chair and crossing your foot one on top of the other.
As you reach the chorus: “I remember the way that it was / It’s been calling out to me forever,” you’re transported to an actual memory, whether or not you’re familiar with ’80s music. It’s also that kind of song that you can play in the background to keep that mood on the upswing.
And if you haven’t seen the official music video of “Into The Summer,” stream away. It’s a whole new guilty pleasure in itself.
The author is a former entertainment reporter and editor before shifting to corporate PR. Follow @kayevillagomez on Instagram and Twitter for more updates.
Do you have a kid in your life who loves a good baking session? Who really wants to use your chef’s knife? Who is addicted to the Tv show
masterChef Junior, and who uses words like “umami” in regular conversation?
There are many terrific gifts to encourage the fledgling cooks in our lives.
COOKING KITS
An all-inclusive cooking kit (besides the ingredients) is often a great catalyst for getting kids into the kitchen.
Handstand Kitchen makes a slew of them, including a Rainbows and Unicorns Ultimate Baking set, with cookies cutters, unicorn-shaped cupcake tray, spatula, frosting bag with three tips, and a recipe leaflet and sticker sheet. Other offerings here include the Out of This World spacethemed baking kit; a 17-piece Intro to Baking kit; and several matching adult and child apron sets.
Curious Chef’s kits include a 17-piece prep set with bowls, measuring cups and spoons, and a timer. Made for Me has kits for particular foods, such as a Beginner’s Pasta and Pizza Making Set for Kids, as well as a macaron set, sushi set and pancake party set.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
HeRe’S a gift that leaves something to look forward to after the holidays are over. Options include:
Raddish (think Rad Dish) each month, a new kit arrives at your door filled with recipes, tools and activities that incorporate science, math, geography, language arts, nutrition and more. Comida Argentina and Family Date night are two sample themes. The kits are designed by teachers and chefs for kids ages four to 14, and each includes three illustrated recipe guides, a cooking tool (such as a garlic mincer or kitchen timer), and other materials.
Young Chef’s Club From the folks at America’s Test Kitchen, these monthly kits are also thematic. Kids ages five and up receive a box filled with family-friendly recipes, hands-on activities, and extras ranging from board games to tortilla warmers to special sprinkles.
Culinary Adventure Society For kids who already know their way around a kitchen and are craving new ingredients and flavors to play with. Up to four times a year, Zingerman’s specialty food store in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will send a big box of eight to 10 interesting and on-trend food surprises. A box might contain maffe, a peanut simmer sauce from West Africa; Lisbon lemon marmalade; or a tamarind date sauce inspired by Somali cuisine, for example. A collection of writing on the foods’ history and culture is included.
EQUIPMENT
A neW smart kitchen tool is exciting, even empowering. examples:
Immersion blender For a slightly older kid, it can be used to blend things like soups and sauces right in the pot. That saves you from having to transfer hot liquids into a regular blender or food processor, so it can be a safer way to puree things. Breville makes an All in One Immersion Blender that also transforms into a food processor, so kids can take on different levels of chopping as they get more skilled.
Ice-cream maker Just plain fun. Cuisinart makes one in a variety of colors, with a 1 1/2-quart capacity and the ability to get to a frozen treat in less than half an hour. Get creative on flavors. Maybe enhance this gift with some sprinkles/jimmies.
Indoor garden Kits include the Smart Garden, which allows you to grow herbs, tomatoes and salad greens. AeroGarden makes indoor gardens as well, as does Back to the Roots , including a mushroom-growing kit.
Cutting boards Giving kids their own cutting board makes them feel as though they’ve arrived. You can support Unicef.com by ordering one of many hand-carved boards, such as the teakwood Daily Grain from Guatemala, or the Beautiful Meal board from Thailand. Or memorialize a family recipe for a child on a cutting board: Carver’s Ridge lets you send in a recipe, choose a font and board size, and have your recipe engraved into a fully functional work board.
KID-FRIENDLY KNIVES
One of the coolest things you can get a budding chef is a knife that’s safe for little fingers and that they can call their own. My son had one during the under-10 years that made him feel like a pro.
Curious Chef makes nylon, serrated knifes with ergonomic handles for small hands and a very blunt tip. Kuhn Rikon’s Kinderkitchen essential Set contains two knives, one serrated, one not, and a pair of scissors for cutting herbs and vegetables. everything is child-friendly, designed in cute animal shapes, and made of stainless steel. Made for Me makes a beginner’s knife designed like a traditional chef’s knife, with hollow edge depressions and a sheath for storage.
BOOKS
LOtS of kid-friendly cookbooks and food books out there, for all ages. A few to check out this holiday season:
From America’s Test Kitchen, The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs and The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs. All recipes are kid-tested. The little chef hat symbols let you know how much experience is needed for each recipe.
Notes from a Young Black Chef (Knopf, 2019): Award-winning, 29-year-old executive chef Kwame Onwuachi was raised in new York City, nigeria and Louisiana. He started cooking at a young age under his mother’s direction, and tells an intense story of moving up through kitchens both gritty and elite. This memoir centers on the experience of being a minority in the culinary world, and finding a place in the sphere of fine dining.
The Best American Food Writing 2019 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019): For more advanced readers, a collection of work from 25 writers, edited by cook, teacher and author Samin nosrat (“Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat”). topics range from the queer history of tapas, a day in the life of a restaurant inspector, and a deep dive into beans.