Long Live the King of Pop

I can write a list of my 100 inspirational or influential musicians and it will be an inventory of bands or individual artists who were in a band or people proficient with his chosen instrument.

But I will top them all with Michael Jackson. Yes, you read it right, the King of Pop, the legendary song-and-dance performer.


I don’t know why but I am naturally attached to his music since I was a child who is still unconscious with music. When the Studio 23 channel started sometime in the 90’s, they initially only have MTV on the air, and coincidentally MTV then had a special daily tribute show for Jackson called MJTV. It was my first direct exposure to his music and performances which made me realize that subconsciously, I was already digging his music for a long time; I just did not know that it was his. 

Every new song played, my reaction was either “Oh! That song was MJ’s? I like that song!” or “I remember hearing that song somewhere and I know I enjoyed it!” So it was like MTV introduced me to a soulmate who I already have a bond without knowing it.

What even made me attach to him is his fondness of technology (I took up computer engineering so I think you have an idea how much I like technology). He had this short film which, if I remember right, is composed of three music videos in one (including Smooth Criminal). In the film, MJ is an alien being who befriended three kids (the kids outside the bar in the Smooth Criminal video). At the end of the video, MJ and the kids were trapped in a warehouse by a gang and when they started shooting at them, MJ suddenly transformed to a metallic creature, slowly transforming into a rocket ship. How cool is that!

Also, most of his modern concerts include a show of him strapping on a jetpack and hovering above the audiences. So not only his music, but also his video and concert performances, kept me in awe.

When MJTV finished, I still kept watching MTV hoping that they will bring it back but to no avail. So, being a kid in a poor family who cannot afford to buy his own cassette tapes (pirated CD’s or MP3’s are not that common then), I just gave up and thought that I will just wait for some random station to play his songs.

Years passed by and I met my college bestfriend, Arkel Asis who I was with in a group and in a hobby band so we were sharing rock music then. Pirated CD’s and MP3’s are now very common and sharing music had never been much easier.

One day, I was digging through his collection of CD’s and VCD’s when I stumbled upon MJ’s double-disc HIStory album! I was so excited I was juggling between memory flashbacks and asking my friend about his MJ experience.

From then on, MJ was one of the major things that we really agree upon. I still remember spending a large amount of time watching a video of his concert on a small television in some store; or when he bought new DVD’s of his and I will go his place to watch it. He was a big part of our friendship that I remember giving him special release CD+VCD release of MJ’s Thriller album last May 2009 as a birthday present. (Which makes me think now, did I have a premonition that something will happen to MJ which prompted me to recall him with my bestfriend?)

Until now, I feel like, to quote a Facebook status, “it was just a bad dream”. Since MJ became inactive, I never thought that he already wrapped up his career. I just felt that he is just there resting and recovering from all the issues he faced and will have an explosive comeback.

He did make a comeback, but I never thought it will be like this, as a news item announcing his death. What makes it sadder is that he did not die as a shining star, he just slowly faded.

Michael, thank you very much for the memories and may you rest in peace.

Long live the King!

Optimus Prime just kicked The Fallen’s Ass!

One good thing about having a working schedule of 2pm to 11pm is that I can watch movies on weekday mornings when people are fewer. I can also watch movies on their opening days like what I did for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen!

The movie is almost 2.5 hours long, which is a lot longer than the first one. I was not able to really appreciate it the first time (yes, I watched it again the day after because of a treat?) because I was busy tracking who the new robot characters are, figuring out what will happen next, and thinking how the sound system sucked (sadly, it was not Dolby or THX or whatever technology it is that gives the movie surround sound with powerful bass).

Fortunately, I had the chance to see it again and I enjoyed it better. So let me give some of my views regarding this movie.

I was so amazed with the first movie’s special effects and CGI animation that I got really excited with this one and was hoping for a lot more of robotic action and I was not disappointed! If it is extended action for more robots that you want, then that is what you will get.

Here are some of the most memorable action scenes for me:

• Humans fighting side-by-side with the Autobots.
• Bumblebee dishing out better fighting moves while kicking the ass of a much bigger robot (a Constructicon).
• Optimus Prime showing than he can move with flexibility even if he is a big lumbering robot like when he jumped over a gigantic Constructicon and while he was fighting three robots on his own.
• The Twins, who look like dumb-ass robots, giving the huge Devastator a hard time.

But unfortunately, the movie is not without blemish. The movie gave more time to some scenes that I think are unnecessary and somehow lost focus on the much more important ones.

One specific lengthy scene which is not needed is the “funny mom” scene. Here, Sam Witwicky’s parents accompanied him to his first day at the university where his mom, unknowingly ate some marijuana that was offered to her by “environmentalists” calling it a “natural Hawaiian green”. So Sam’s mom got high and proceeded to do some crazy stunts around the campus.

Michael Bay is known for inserting his movies with comedy and I really dig it if it was done cleverly and subtly. So his classic dashes of “jokes” made me appreciate his old movies like Bad Boys and Bad Boys 2 and, of course, Transformers. But with Revenge of the Fallen, I can’t help but think that he is trying too hard to be funny.Sam and Mikhaela also had some extended “mushy” moments (including their little quarrel in the library) which I am thinking twice if should have been there or not because honestly, it makes me stare more at Megan Fox rather than focus on the movie! Haha!

With these extended scenes, some significant ones are left with just a few minutes. Here are the scenes that I think should have been given more focus:

• The sacrifice of Jetfire by giving his body parts to Optimus to revive him and make him stronger to fight The Fallen. Jetfire is a former Decepticon who converted to being an Autobot and that in itself is already a great sacrifice.
• Optimus’s fight with The Fallen and Megatron. It was the highlight of the movie! Why did it ended so quickly?
• The robots’ identities. In the first movie, if I remember correctly, each robot had a sort of introduction; the Autobots when introducing themselves to Sam and the Decepticons with their little dialogue subtitles.

To conclude, Revenge of The Fallen is still a good movie to watch in the big screen, if just for more action and more robots but artistically, Transformers is still better.

"Fat Dela Metal"

Why is it that more and more musicians in the rock scene today are getting fatter and fatter?

I do not mean to insult anyone (heck, I am fat myself but is still very far from obese) but since I started to become an active member of the band scene, I had been observing about this trend. I was still in doubt if it is a good generalization or I am just witnessing a product of coincidences.

However, attending the Fete Dela Musique last Saturday proved that what I was pondering has a lot of truth in it.

I got interested with this because as I know, rockers, especially heavy metalheads, in general, are those who experienced or is experiencing the worst in life and are writing songs about it without giving a f*ck about what other thinks.

Rockers favored the simplicity of power chords and pentatonic scales in expressing their anger because complicated musical discipline is beyond their financial reach. With this logic, we can say jazz and classical musicians are those that are generally well-fed, therefore seeing fat people in these genres are not new.

But then again, why in modern times this scenario seems to be in the opposite? I think this “phenomenon” can be attributed to one word: Economy.

Whatever it is that is happening in the economy, if it is going good or bad, more rockers are being spawned by well-fed families and they are getting “heavier” (pun slightly not intended :)).

What do you think?

Fete Dela Musique 2009 Rock/Metal Bands

I spent my whole time in the rock/metal stage when I attended the Fete Dela Musique last Saturday so I would like to share my impressions.

Since I was not able to witness the beginning and the end of the show, I did not saw all the bands but anyways, here some of my comments regarding the bands whose performance I can still recall:

SIN (4.5 of 5 stars)

Sin was one the major reasons I went to the Fete. I’ve been digging their most famous song Amorphosis for quite some time now and it was my first time to see them live. They certainly kicked ass and I was not disappointed but of course, I still saw a little point for improvement.

The sound of the lead guitar when soloing was very warm which I think lacks some edge or sharpness or bite. When combined with their angry guitar riffs, I can’t help but visualize something like an angry man roaring while the other is responding with a mild-mannered speech.

COG (3 of 5 stars)

COG was heavy and they rumble…and they have a saxophone.

Okay so now that is a unique head-turning feature but somehow it obstructs the band from attaining ultimate “heaviness”. The sound of the saxophone is so clean I can compare it a clean-tone guitar trying to mix in a heavy metal riff. I would suggest giving it a distorted effect so that it can mix well with the guitars and not stand out like a sore thumb.

OREMUZ (3 of 5 stars)

It was my first time to hear the gothic metal band Oremuz and I was quite impressed with their over-all musically so I tuned in up to their last song, which is a gothic metal cover of Losing My Religion by R.E.M.

They have two female vocalists (one for singing clean gothic voice, one for growling), two guitarists, a bassist, a keyboardist, and a drummer. With this big line-up, you would think they have a full sound; but sadly, no. The guitars were drowned by the keyboard, the bass is barely heard, and the growls are sometimes ill-timed and lacks sustain. Little improvements in these areas can make a big difference.

INTOLERANT (4.5 of 5 stars)

When I first heard of Intolerant, I felt that I can relate more to their sound than to any other modern heavy metal bands. Later on, I realized that it was due to their thrash metal foundation.

They are one of the main bands I came to watch and I can say they made a great performance. My only comment is that the bassist can’t be heard, even when he had a little tapping solo. The lead guitarist also has great chops so longer guitar solos should be considered.

STILTH (1 of 5 stars)

Stilth is still a very young band which I think are not yet fit to perform at the Fete. Plus, they (or at least their vocalist) have a bad case of unoriginality.

Which band gets imitated? I won’t be saying names but here’s a clue: a 2008 Muziklaban finalist which were really close to winning the competition. ;)

FINAL VOW (3 of 5 stars)

I was not able to watch the whole Final Vow set but their vocalist just had me remember a favorite singer of mine: the vocalist of a wolf band that turned to villains. ;)

BADBURN (4 of 5 stars)

Badburn’s main style of riffs is what I and my bandmates call “breakdown-an” riffs which are characterized by heavy pounding on the guitar strings followed by a quick mute. It’s a common riff style but Badburn made their signature by approaching this style in a unique way.

Another good thing I would like to point out is that their vocalist can still give a great showmanship, considering his age and size.

An improvement that I can suggest is actually one I heard from kid in the crowd: “Mag-Tagalog ka naman! (Speak in Tagalog!)” I cannot help but agree. Badburn’s vocalist communicates with the crowd but remember, this event is for free so expect that the most of the crowd are not used in communicating in English.

HILERA (2 of 5 stars)

Hilera’s sound is just something I can’t quite get. Yeah, they that rock attitude in their sound, but still I think they are musically…lazy.

THE AMBASSADORS (3 of 5 stars)

The Ambassadors tries to do a lot of things in a single song, even trying to have it contain multiple genres. They sound “cool”, maybe “cooler” in record, but in a live setting like that, it was irritating.

Imagine starting from a punk sound followed by a metal breakdown then later on, reggae. Okay they have those metal riffs, but I think they still do not cut it to be called a metal band. I believe their sound will be much more appreciated if performed in the alternative rock stage.

APRIL MORNING SKIES (3.5 of 5 stars)

April Morning Skies (ASM) is a band that I had big expectations because I have not yet heard their music but I already heard a lot about how good they are. And they did not let me down.

ASM is heavy and energetic like other metal bands but they were able to add their own uniqueness that makes them stand out. I really like their uniformly colored guitars and how the samples were injected in their songs with taste.

What they need to improve on is their songs length. Yeah they are energetic and you can get carried away with it, but if you keep hearing a similar sound for a long time, it tends to get boring.

VALLEY OF CHROME (4 of 5 stars)

I read from an article in PULP Magazine that some bands consider VOC as “sellout”, but I think they are just insecure with Valley of Chrome’s (VOC) popularity.

How popular? Well, VOC is undeniably the crowd’s favorite; when they started setting up, the people just went closer to the stage and just went away after their set. When VOC performed, the audience went wild.

What can they improve on? Their looks. They look very young giving the impression of immaturity.

o0o

What do you think of them? Leave a comment or send it to riccaliolio@gmail.com.

More information:
http://www.rakista.com/viewtopic.php?f=981&t=36105
http://www.myspace.com/sincavite
http://www.myspace.com/cog
http://www.myspace.com/oremuz
http://www.myspace.com/intolerantmetal
http://www.myspace.com/stilth
http://www.myspace.com/finalvow
http://www.myspace.com/badburnmusic
http://www.myspace.com/hilera
http://www.myspace.com/theambassadors
http://www.myspace.com/aprilmorningskies
http://www.myspace.com/valleyofchrome

A Hundred Bands in One Night!

Last Saturday, PULP Magazine once again held the annual Fete Dela Musique and for this year, it was Metrowalk’s turn to experience the festival of more than a hundred musicians.

The event is held annually but this was my first time to attend and I almost attended the show on my own but thanks to the band Sin for being there, my guitarist bandmate got interested and came along. We went there at around 6pm to avoid the afternoon heat (the show was scheduled to start at 1pm) and went home at about past 12am after hearing the bands we came for.

Being metalheads, we spent the whole time at the rock/metal stage which was located at the parking lot and with bands like Sin, INTOLERANT, BADBURN, VALLEY OF CHROME, OREMUZ, APRIL MORNING SKIES, and other TOWER OF DOOM bands, I was more than willing to pay an entrance fee but since it was a festival, the event was 100% free, which made the experience a lot sweeter. Too bad I was not able to hear all the bands in the roster.

I planned to take pictures but I was enjoying every musical moment, so I did not bother myself anymore and decided to focus on the performances.

What I did not expect from an event this big is that they have a little bit sloppy sound engineering/production:
• The bass guitar was buried. At first, I thought that the kick drum was overpowering it but when Intolerant’s bassist had a small bass tapping solo, I realized that it really lacks volume.
• The sound engineer (if there is one) did not do anything to fix this and other audio production issues. Oremuz’s guitars and bass were drowned by the keyboard all the way.
• April Morning Skies and Badburn had technical issues before starting their set which delayed their performance, especially Badburn.

But to say the least, the experience had me resolved not to miss another episode of this musical fest. I even hope my band can perform there next year! \m/

I would be posting some comments and “points for improvement” for the bands I think are worth mentioning so watch out for it!

o0o

Do you have a Fete Dela Musique experience worth sharing? Leave a comment or send it to riccaliolio@gmail.com.

More information:
http://www.rakista.com/viewtopic.php?f=981&t=36105
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fête_de_la_Musique

Welcome aboard!

My life can be compared to a traveling train.

Like a train, my life has been through a lot of stations where I meet people that ride along, some for a short while some for a longer one.

While traveling, the train cannot avoid experiencing the world while the world experiences him; much like the way I have been living which is a cycle of give and take that gives me my own unique characteristics while I leave my impression to the world.

And now, this Train will be shared to the world via the cyberspace.

Without further adieu, welcome aboard Bullet’s Train.

http://bulletstrain.blogspot.com/