Written by Faye Allego Picture this: You’re twelve years old, your parents run an internet cafe down the street and you borrow your Kuya’s PSP 3000 to play The Sims 2. Your best friends come by to play the bartender game on Y8.com while Kuya is on an extreme DOTA battle. You’re not too keen on the fact that it’s the first day of school when you wake up but at least you’re having the time of your life now and who knows, maybe your mom might pack you Yan Yans or an extra bottle of Yakult for lunch tomorrow. You didn’t think of it then, but amidst all of the popular mid-aughts games, excitements, and leisures, “no one knows where they’re really going.” That lyric from Ruru’s new single titled “Liminal” transcends me into this portal of, well, liminal spaces. Spaces I had never thought would be so empty, yet full of life in retrospect. The song is upbeat, it does not contain the subtle mood of tragedy commonly heard in wistful chord progressions and melodies, however, the lyrics say otherwise. The song’s lyrics as well as perhaps the lack of strings, share key elements seen in the Hauntology genre; in the sense that something “lost” from the song’s features is haunting. Aside from channeling how the song feels sonically, this song looked like a kaleidoscope of every single one of those dreamcore, corecore, weirdcore, and vaporwave aesthetics I’ve seen across social media. Any lyric can be used to caption a liminal space photograph and evoke the feelings of longing for something you didn’t realize you’ll never get back as an everyday, mundane feeling. The worst part is that “something” can be everything from the past. In Ruru’s words, “We’re just way too in our heads/ Passing on acquaintances/ Some days I’m not quite myself / Yet I’m on my bed…” Liminal is also one of those unique tracks where you don’t need to actually feel a certain emotion when listening to it despite the existentialist lyrics. It’s a song that could pass as an Animal Crossing tune on a Nintendo DS. It can be your go-to shower song, or the absolute final song you choose to go on your Instagram story when posting to a monthly wrap-up collage template. I’d love to hear this track be a part of an album that explores the genre of Hauntology or even avant-garde electronic music that we don’t typically see in OPM. Additionally, the cover art for this track could pass for an album cover itself! It looks like Ruru’s self-portrait is taken from a driver’s license, exemplifying adulthood or the oversaturation that can suggest the technicolor that life brings in the mundane. Or maybe she just looks really good and so does her music. That’s what I think. Cheers to more Ruru! Support the art & the artist:
Tag: art pop
TRACK REVIEW: fuzzy headcoat – Czai
Written by Elijah P. Eastern Metro Manila has become cloudier and more ethereal than ever before. The solo bedroom project fuzzy headcoat delves into the ethereal wave, exploring the indie/alternative genres with its almost repetitive distorted guitar work, xylophones, and the gentle twee vocals of their vocalist. Drawing inspiration from the enigmatic “world music” netlabel and incorporating hints of Reed-isms in their vocal work, fuzzy headcoat partly satisfies expectations while balancing it with charming instrumentals. Although the track may feel hollow at points and repetitive for its own good, “Czai” embraces its transient nature, appearing fleeting and almost structureless yet meandering in its separate listens. This is an impressive take on jangle pop songwriting because it functions as a song and doesn’t delve too deeply into abstraction. fuzzy headcoat shows potential, but they still have a long way to go. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: Jade Fake – isa kang PUTA
Written by Louis Pelingen Within just two extensive verses and a set of devastating refrains under a clattering, shambling production is enough foundation for Jade Fake to burst up all of her provocative confrontations towards men and all of their borderline pathetic sexual fixation. There is a genuine sense of rage that Jade Fake indulges in, her exasperated delivery and lyricism spilling out scathing whiplashes as the Arca-esque inspired production stiffens and shrivels around her—creating more discomfort as it goes along. The peak of this intensity slowly unravels as the production becomes the center point of all of this, covering up Jade Fake’s voice with its shaky, bleeping textures and its unorthodox melody progressing through with a stomping beat, eventually leading to this track embracing harsher electronics that gives an overstimulating unease and ending with the shrill noise taking control of the atmosphere of the song. It’s clearly an inflammatory pursuit that is portrayed well by Jade Fake in both her production and melodies, taking her lyrical flips to take the spotlight with a potent amount of disgust carried by her performance just before her production steals the entire show, complementing that sense of discomfort and elevating it to the point that it manages to execute its intended message exceedingly well, pricking everybody’s ear who have listened to the song for a single or even repeated listens. Pulling aside subtlety for an in-your-face approach might create some lopsided results, but when the anger toward the insufferable obsession with reckless sex is palpable, the harsher edge may as well permanently disrupt the climax point. Support the art & the artist:
MIXTAPE REVIEW: Cat Boy Jeepney Driver – DIARY NG POGI
Written by Louis Pelingen The artistic bond that Neytan and Areli have made ever since ‘FAR’ has flourished into something ecstatic beyond compare. When they first put that song out in the spotlight, their musical chemistry gels in an instant as their melodies echo their sonic influences such as Brockhampton and No Rome, and the ruffled yet effectively tuneful production has enough to captivate not just the listener but perhaps even themselves. This pairing of their interlocking interests and styles eventually paves the way for this duo to make their own boyband under the delightful name: Cat Boy Jeepney Drivers. Under their long-awaited debut mixtape, DIARY NG POGI, there is something in the presentation alone that speaks about the duo and the interests that made them click together. Their fascination and appreciation for the 2010s mainstream and local pop culture, the intrinsically silly Pinoy references and exuberant experiences that they carry along through their songwriting and performances, and even their sense of musical wonder that is not just creative, but in a way does reminisce on how homespun a lot of the local music scene that was popping over in youtube back in the early 2010s. Where despite the limitations that those acts have to face, they still manage to push past that as they insert as much charm into their songs whenever possible. Of course, these inspired characteristics do plop over to the musical side as well, where both Neytan and Areli chain together their respective knack for sampling and melodic composition to create a delightful blend of incredibly enjoyable pop and R&B songs within this mixtape. The joyous bounce of “LOSER” just puts an instant grin from ear to ear due to the swiveling samples and rumbling grooves swirling around the effortless vocal melodies, “UNSINT A MESSAGE” that’s comprised of manipulated samples and shuffling beat carries the layers of vocal harmonies to soar and allow the cheeky yet sincere sentiments to succeed, “MARSHMALLOW HATDOG” with its near 4-minute runtime full of harmonic layers picks up more melodic swells alongside pileups of strings and distorted percussions that closes the mixtape to a grand finale, and their cover of Justin Bieber’s “BOYFRIEND” adds upon a certain menace on the track’s sense of cool through the hammering percussion and blown out vocal pickups that lets the song to become instantaneously glorious as a result. Even if the breakbeat samples on “POP CULTURE” and especially ”MAYBE MITSKI” didn’t have the same creative treatment as the other songs, the vocal melodic runs placed upon the quicker pace of these songs are still sharp enough to work within the structure of the mixtape. Defined by their past local and international sonic influences alongside their own experiences that mold the silly yet sincere moments in these cuts, Cat Boy Jeepney Drivers are willing to not just take notes on past glories but appreciate them by embracing a sense of wonder and charm into their song-crafting process. As a result of their adventurous brand of pop, DIARY NG POGI unleashes multitudes of ecstatic, creative, and excellent set of pop songs from a duo that lives and breathes pop culture. Overall creating a colorful and charming diary that definitely needs a next installment, for there is so much greatness on display. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: raccoon eyed ronan – kailan(cover)_05♥01♥23
Written by Louis Pelingen & Elijah P. In the Philippines, the 2000s is a decade filled with early technological booms with the Nokia phones and the internet; y2k fashion smacked on the pop glinting magazines, commercials, and internet forums; the trends that keep the 2000s kids enlightened from the likes of watching anime, playing pogs with their friends outside, or even blowing air in Gameboy cartridges and hoping they work once they’re inserted to the game device. The prominent acoustic folk-pop and pop rock that took its upward swing in the 2000s may find its stems rooted tightly in that decade, but those growing up in that era as I do, may not remember the hits and the classics that folks born in the 90s have more resonance growing up. Perhaps, this is a normal occurrence as not everyone will find themselves immediately enraptured in the standouts that culminated in the decade they’re born in. But with time comes the appreciation of the past as people have their own way of preserving those cultural moments, sampling those songs into new mixes, covering them with a different kind of sonic and stylistic flair, or even just finding more discussions of those old projects in varying forms of internet shareability. There’s nostalgia for causes like promoting a product that evokes the feeling of the past and there’s nostalgia that would act as an open window to potential futures. Fast forward to the now. Through Pikunin sampling Up Dharma Down’s Tadhana spliced into a low-key affectionate Jersey club track, Showtime Official Club’s mixes that intertwine the 2000s & 2010s local mainstream & homespun cuts into new dimensions of colorful dance tracks, and local music pages showcasing Kitchie Nadal on their charts which lead to me listening to other adjacent acts like Imago or Itchyworms. It’s safe to say that even if I may not remember what was going on much with local opm music in the 2000s, it still finds its way decades later for people who missed out to find a different kind of resonance while at the same time broadening possibilities of influence for the next generation to come. To extend further, raccoon eyed ronan appraises and tweaks his own cover of MYMP’s “Kailan.” In MYMP’s original source, you can hear the spare grace of Chin Alcantara’s acoustic guitar and the soothing silk presence of Juris Fernandez. It’s a song filled with a shy push-and-pull, restrained towards the romance at bay, like a slow-burn romantic telenovela premiering in the 2000s. But raccoon eyed ronan is one that never seems to step into that restraint, in fact, he’s willing to at least push a little further but just enough to not break away the quaintness of the song. His crooning voice imbues a solemn tone, stirring the lyrics with a heap of smoke; the instrumentation, limiting itself to echoing feedback, raw guitar recordings, and spare drum machines lend a simmering atmosphere to the song as they shamble apart on the chorus and linger on the back half of the song. It coats the song with a different kind of flair, where instead of the original’s meekness that sticks true to adjacent folk pop cuts of its time, raccoon eyed ronan’s cover is rather melancholic and dreamy. Sticking true to the original’s quaint romantics, but still goes for broke enough to sound bigger. It’s rare to find a cover that makes me reflect upon the faded memories I’ve had in the 2000s, but raccoon eyed ronan’s cover of MYMP’s “Kailan” with his own instrumental twists and sonic shifts just cuts through in a way that I did not expect. It pokes through the overall soft structure that made MYMP’s “Kailan” a standout in its heyday, but raccoon eyed ronan makes sure not to actually break it apart, just chip through the form in brief, but effectively emotive bits. I may have missed the music that ruled the 2000s, but that doesn’t mean there are no opportunities to make me find a new appreciation of that scene. And with this song, it’s a refreshing gem that will make you adore not just the already stunning original, but also the refreshing elements of this cover. Support the art & the artist: