I heard a little news this morning from my friend Mestizo, that this month of November, the Gas Lamp Killer will be heading here to Manila.

Danny Sallida

Dany Sallida is a performance artist , musician and painter from Mindanao.
He is also a contributing writer for Manila Bulletin.




"At the core of all sublime masterpieces lies a looming shadow of creative scuffles between darkness and light. Behind all those forms, colors, songs or verses, is an inexplicable melancholy, which is invariably distant and aloof, that only a creator succumbs to and traverses amid its indefinable presence." -Danny Sillada, Despair, Suicide & Aesthetics

Four Seasons Cuisine

Hidden inside the small streets and lucious heritage of Chinatown lies this gem of authentic Chinese - Filipino cuisine. And for the price points ranging from 40 pesos for the entree and 40 pesos for rice, you can't go wrong with the budgeting. They say, you know a chinese restaurant is good if chinese people eat in it. And there was no lack of chinese people in this place. The staff and service was friendly and fast respectively.This is also the place where I first tried Soup number 5. What can I say? ugh... It was interesting? You must go on an adventure and eat in this place!

One Man Army

Sharon Cuneta approves them as she featured them in her show. Saying that they are bringing our nation's name and holding it high in the beatboxing world. Sharon is almost the oprah of our country... and also, even in her big light of celebrity, she has yet to see the days of stones to be thrown at her...meaning her mind may be open to more things rather than just mayonnaise and showbiz, making her a more like-able icon. So, if Sharon Cuneta, the mother of the masses gives them a stamp of approval therefore, they must be good.

Pilipinas beatbox is a group of beatboxers comprised of Josef Amarra, Picoy Cruz and Carlo David, they are a group of individuals dedicated to the art of beatboxing. who hail from different walks of life but all commune and come in the this country of the Phillipines. Every time I listen to these people jam I break my neck. And when I say this, I mean you do not understand what I meant until you have actually seen them live. They are another one of the culture pushers in our country . Young as they are, they have found their calling and they supplement our thriving city in an audio - visual experience that is infectious. Hence, the breaking of the neck. Look into their eyes as they play, and you will see the zone they are in. A zone we will never understand. But it is a zone where everyone is welcome to join and tap into.

Love Will Tear You Apart. The Art Of Sarah Gaugler

WYD EP 4 – SARAH GAUGLER, TATTOO ARTIST from WYD1 on Vimeo.

Browsing through the net, I discovered this awesome and ethereal artist, Sarah Gaugler. I was impressed on both her source of inspiration and her style as a tattoo artist. I am a fan of tattooing myself, and I appreciate the fact that she pursued her dreams and created her own style out of the hardships she endured. That is what you call grace people.

Her style screams out her subconscious and though psychological, it is still something people can relate to. The strongest aesthetic to her style is the dream like illustrations that you see before your eyes. Her works make me feel as though they are reactions to things that have affected her life; be it her environment or social interaction. Life has given her a box of crayons, and she has been using it to the fullest extent. Though the memory in which these come from may be negative or positive, It's still subconscious and cerebral but is expressed in a minimal way seeping out of passion from emotion. Can love will tear you apart? Literally.

See her works here

Paint Music

Paint Music a Black Book Design x Milkriddles Mixtape Click here to download

A new month has arrived and another month towards the end of the year. This is the second mixtape in the running of the Blackbook Mixtape project. In this edition, I collaborated with Milkriddles and he compiled this mixtape based on the theme Paint Music. Once again I had designed the jacket. This mixtape starts with "Impending Doom" a track collaborated ob by the prolific Daedalus and one of my favorite emcees MF Doom. It slows down around the semi-soulful "Tree Leaf Dancers" by Flying Lotus and speeds up again as you'll hear some dub beats and it ends rightfully so with a track called "Eat White Paint" by Cornelius who is a japanese DJ.

This mix is not only for those who paint but also for those who want to keep their minds moving all in the name of creation and inspiration. Enjoy!

Vintage Customs

I love vintage. I love old things. I love the concept of a certain object decaying through time as it is a reflection of how everything is in life. Nothing lasts forever. But the sentiment of keeping things dear to you , old or new just shows how you appreciate things. And that's a beautiful thing.

I was walking around Greenhills and I saw pictures of old manila, some from the 1940s. Photos of old malate and university belt caught my eye as I imagined how beautiful it would have been to live inside these black in white pictures. The fact that everything was hand made before (especially the signage) has been something that was endearing to me. Something handmade, makes it custom in it's purest form. Something hand-made just adds that much character.

For the love of all vintage, this 1960 mini cooper will be the next black book design project. Keep posted to for how it turns out.

Got An Issue? Here's A Tissue

My friend Leanne dropped by today and gave me the "most fun gift" ever. She said she found them around 168 mall in Divsoria. Design wise and conceptually it's the wittiest thing i've ever seen. It looked like something that popped out of Andy Warhol's ass as he turned Japanese. . Christmas time is coming folks, this Nissin Cup Noodles toilet tissue holder and sushi looking towels might be keepers. Or if you have a friend that has issues, I reckon this will fix things up. Wipe his teary ass with noodles and a smile.


And then I stumbled upon these on the net ; sushi shaped cookies.

Low End Theory

Capturing an era and capturing a frame of mind is what makes creation a true art form. Making that certain form of art and showing it to the world and getting nods for it is a different battle, it's a revolution in itself. Be it sound , visual or conceptual it is how you encapsulate an idea and express , a fragment of imagination that makes it strong and appealing. The true beauty of it's aesthetic is that you don't even have to like it. It's just there.

I remember when KST painted in Manila Design Week, I watched DJ Red-I play for the first time, and I heard a sound that blew me away. If I were a comic strip at that time, my thought bubble would have said, "Why don't they ever play shit like this in the clubs?".

The answer would most probably be that the clubs now are like governments, there is a formula that they follow. Because this music is not commercially accepted. This music is not trendy. This type of music is not appreciated by the masses. Therefore , this music is taboo or does not even considered in the club scenes here in the Philippines. What makes our scenes now? It's made up of formulas and saturated by commercial capitalism and makes the growth of cultural awareness controlled by people. Which is all well and good because I have my own ears and I can listen to whoever the hell I damn want. I know of artists here who share the same sentiments like , Red-I , Caliph8 and Pasta Groove who are in the forefront of this type of movement locally. I'm just saying that I wish there would be more venues or at least one that mainly plays music that are unheard of to most, resulting in a eye - opening , mind blowing experience.
But here's an event that champions this movement in the Philippines.



The low-end theory is a club that features champions of the independent music era, who were influenced by the arcade revolution and who's lexicons will forever be tied with the Capcom fighting games and it's soundtracks. Guys like , Daedelus , Flying Lotus , Gas Lamp Killer champion the scene fusing all sorts of samples , beats and sounds to create their own styles. The club also features , artists to paint with musicians in an organic manner. It's style wars once again and I smell a revolution of awareness - a - coming and I hope it spreads in the islands. I'm not much of a music man to talk about it so I asked my friend Milkriddles to speak on the matter of the low-end theory:

"The amalgamation of the different scenes is a faculty of sight we have yet to see in this country. Just like how the Romantic Movement started the intermixture of art, literature and music in the early 18th century, the “Low end theory” a club from Los Angeles conjures up its own carpool towards the end of the rainbow but of course it isn’t just gold at the end of it all, there’s more. Imagine watching your favorite band rocking out to one of the street’s meanest graffiti writer painting a mural behind the performer, while some of the craziest dj’s in town melt your brain with beats that are nearly as orgasmic as a good session of the old in-out, in-out. It’s amazing how one establishment can be a host to these kinds of activities without causing uproar between the different scenes. It’s Hip-hop alongside certain electronic notions right after you get to see your favorite bands and it doesn't end there because you have the craziest visual artists to sanctify the whole experience. Think about it, this may be what our country lacks a venue of unity where everyone can just share the same vision. We all are heading for the same artistic destination might as well work our way there with conjoined forces."

OBEY

No comment.

Time Capsule

Honeycomb is a vintage store in Cubao x with a different feel. A different vibe. A place where you can buy pieces you would never be able to find, and you can buy them in affordable prices. From the moment you step on the second floor space there is a feeling that you just tore yourself out of the modern membrane and into a store that was open during the 60s - 70s in Haight Ashbury. By the collection he possesses and sells, the owner has outstanding taste in fashion, design and music. The music he plays in store, most, I have never heard of before a mix of both of classic underground and modern underground music (ranging from rock to dub to jazz). This in turn influenced my experience in the Honeycomb store. His brand selection and styles range from the 60s era to the 70s, holding brands like Levi's 501 originals to Penguin's classic polo shirts and vintage ray ban frames. To keep the retro aesthetic alive you will find some bell bottoms if you look well enough. It was all a bit of mod, hippie, and punk rock. All in all, Honeycomb is an extension of himself (the owner) and a definite expression of what he believes is beautiful. I find that fact, most intriguing of all. That sentiment was most pure and something you could feel and take a piece of. Honeycomb was more than a store, it was also an exhibit of collected things through time.

Wu Tang Meets The Indie Community

From Volume 2 Of Wu-Tang Clan Meets The Indie Community

I recently stumbled upon this album ( Wu Tang Meets The Indie Community) thanks in part to my man Mestizo (Click on his name to listen to his music.) , who's a serious MC from California and a creative director of Freshjive. He twitted about the 2nd volume of Wu Tang meets the indie community and how it was all dubbed out. I got excited but couldn't found a torrent for it. But I did find Volume 1 - which would be enough until I find Volume 2. If you know where I can download the Volume 2 album please let me know!

For those who don't know, Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Community is an album that was released in 2005. It was a collaborative effort between Wu Tang, it's friends and affiliates and underground emcees. And since I have been in a collaborative mood I deemed this most relative to blog.

Wu - Tang clan is the legendary hip hop group that came out in 1993 with nine emcees. Who envisioned the hip hop crew as the main weapon to impact the hip hop world and making their music, a partial or supplementary element to their succes.

"The vision of the Wu-Tang Clan is undoubtedly due to the musical skills of RZA. Under his direction, the group - through its own efforts and the solo projects, all of which he produced or co-produced - created a hazy, surreal, and menacing soundscape out of hardcore beats, eerie piano riffs, and minimal samples. Over these surrealistic backing tracks, the MCs rapped hard, updating the old-school attack with vicious violence, martial arts imagery, and a welcome warped humor. By 1995, the sound was one of the most instantly recognizable in hip-hop." - Wu Tang - Corp .com