autoceremony

2011-03-26T19:10:00.002+08:00

raymanray by children of cathode ray

a rare original recording from the children of cathode ray, and with vocals at that! retitled to 'raymanray' this experimental, quirky pop-ish tune was recorded sometime in the early 90s with magyar tuazon laying the lead voice. primitive as it may seem, please excuse the quality of the recording since all the tracks were bounced several times on two-track stereo cassette tapes. except for the digital transfer to the computer, most of the original recording was retained to maintain its authentic analog reproduction.

the children of cathode ray was established in 1989 and regarded as one of the earliest experimental sound art groups in the philippines. its original members were:

tad ermitano on video, visuals, bass, synthesizers, electronics, efx, computers;
jing garcia on audio, synthesizers, electronics, efx, computers;
blums borres on lead guitars, efx, graphics, computers;
peter marquez on lighting effects, electronics, photos and visuals;
regiben romana on percussions, efx;
magyar tuazon on visual effects, bass, electronics

autoceremony: electrostatic 09242008

2011-03-24T12:10:00.000+08:00

jing garcia a.k.a. autoceremony performing for the electrostatic sound conference on september 24, 2008 at club dredd, eastwood city, manila, philippines.

gear list: korg mini kp; korg kaossilator, and AM radio.

the children of cathode ray: mantracks

2011-03-24T12:07:00.000+08:00

a rare recording from the children of cathode ray, one of the earliest experimental sound art groups in the philippines. there was no documentation on this track but it was probably recorded between 1989 and 1990 at north greenhills and/or scout area. the recording was done bouncing 4-channel open reel and stereo cassette tapes several times, along with grounding exposed PL wires. the last part of the track was what remain of the original tune that was recorded over on the stereo-channel master reel tape and accidentally retained it.

the children of cathode ray was established in 1989 with original members:
tad ermitano on video, visuals, bass, synthesizers, electronics, efx, computers;
jing garcia on audio, synthesizers, electronics, efx, computers;
blums borres on lead guitars, efx, graphics, computers;
peter marquez on lighting effects, electronics, photos and visuals;
regiben romana on percussions, efx;
magyar tuazon on visual effects, bass, electronics

jing garcia (aka. autoceremony) performing on the second night of 'fete dela WSK' at b-side, the collective. november 20, 2010.

2010-11-24T13:00:00.001+08:00

fete dela WSK! is dedicated to contemporary electronic, digital and experimental sonic art, as well the diverse range of artistic activities in the context of digital culture in south east asia. www.wskfete.com

The Ampatuan Massacre public service adverts by the November 23 Movement/NUJP

2010-11-18T16:52:00.000+08:00

A montage of the gory massacre juxtaposed with press freedom issues, using a high Phantom High Speed Camera and the Red Camera. This short video jolts the audience into what the core issue is all about of the Ampatuan Massacre. Director: JIM LIBIRAN DOP: LUIS LIWANAG Script: TJ BESA Sound: JING GARCIA EP: ALWYN ALBURO PM: VERONICA UY Producer: N23M/NUJP Production: RSVP FILM PRODUCTION Post: RSVP FILM PRODUCTION Talents: 1.ED LINGAO 2.INDAY ESPINA-VARONA

The Ampatuan Massacre public service adverts by the November 23 Movement/NUJP

2010-11-18T16:43:00.003+08:00

The families of the victims continue their quest for justice one year after the Ampatuan Massacre... Director: JIM LIBIRAN DOP: NAP JAMIR Script: VERONICA UY Sound: JING GARCIA EP: ALWYN ALBURO PM: VERONICA UY Producer: N23M/NUJP Production: RSVP FILM PRODUCTION Post: UNDERGROUND LOGIC

fete de la wsk!

2010-11-11T16:36:00.002+08:00

fete de la wsk!

2010-11-07T19:55:00.002+08:00

COMING THIS MONTH

NOV 19-28, 2010

Fete dela WSK! is dedicated to contemporary electronic, digital and experimental sonic art, as well the diverse range of artistic activities in the context of digital culture in South East Asia.

WSK! -- three cryptic letters, which can only provide as much as the sum of the parts.

Organized by SABAW Media Art Kitchen – a not-for-profit organization whose primary interests lie in curatorial and research-based production towards the imminent intersections of art and technology.

www.wskfete.con

Fete dela WSK

2010-10-27T14:30:00.004+08:00

ALL OVER THE METRO THIS NOVEMBER

PROFILES OF THE LIVE PERFORMERS FOR NOV 19-28!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15484&id=116821565045638

But things have gotten decidedly more interesting. Weirder. (a blog by Erwin Romulo in 2006)

2010-10-27T09:38:00.002+08:00

Whereas punks before needed only two or maybe three chords, the new breed were happy to discard these altogether. The independent release S.A.B.A.W. is an anthology of experimental, electronic and noise recorded by local artists, some formed as far back as the late 80s/early 90s. It features elder statesmen in the sound-art scene like the multi-media Children of the Cathode Ray (featuring tech-journalist Jing Garcia, media artist/guitarist Blums Borres and acclaimed filmmaker Tad Ermitaño among others), noise terrorists Elemento and Foodshelter&Clothing. to young upstarts like the abstract-rock outfit EAT TAE and modern classical composers like Teresa Barroza. If nothing else, the album is a document of recent times up to the present, making perfect sense amidst the Futurist cacophony that assaults anybody on EDSA during the late afternoon. The cover art itself by visual artist Poklong Anading aptly represents/depicts this savage, noisier era: against a backdrop f flypaper, everything that is thrown on the wall sticks—not just the flies.

Read Erwin Romulo's entire blog at:

http://www.pulse.ph/posts/lunatics-let-loose-in-the-asylum-pinoy-rock-in-2006-by-erwin-romulo/

2010-10-06T02:36:00.003+08:00

Profile of participating artists visit:

http://soundartmovementexist.blogspot.com/2010/09/participating-artists-for-active-de.html

autoceremony at ASEUM'09

2009-09-08T00:00:00.001+08:00

ASEUM '09

2009-07-19T12:49:00.002+08:00

JOIN US FOR A WEEK OF ASEUM '09

ASIA-EUROPE MEDIA ART SYMPOSIUM
JULY 21 to JULY 25

ASEUM WEBSITE
http://aseum09.tk/

WHAT IS ASEUM?
http://www.tengal.clangfu.com/?page_id=4

LIVE PERFORMERS
http://www.tengal.clangfu.com/?page_id=454

PROGRAM SCHEDULES
http://www.tengal.clangfu.com/?page_id=222

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
http://www.tengal.clangfu.com/?page_id=416

ASEUM OVERVIEW:

ASEUM is an international network of new media art practitioners initiated by SABAW Media Art Kitchen (Philippines) and Multimedia Center KIBLA (Slovenia) that aims to become a catalyst for a cultural, educational, and technological exchange on emerging new media art practices in South East Asia with Europe.

The symposium, initiated with the support of Asia-Europe Foundation, will consist of a series of workshops, presentations, performances, video screenings, open-studio sessions, round-table discussions, and policy meetings with cultural foundations by both participating organizations, in an effort to advance artistic positions reflecting on the socio-cultural impacts of new technologies and artistic practices that not only respond to scientific or technical developments, but also try to shape the way in which we think about and experience these technologies.

WE EXIST

2009-05-11T20:10:00.001+08:00

Field Trip

2009-02-28T16:29:00.012+08:00

Media Arts Manila
Field Trip
"Field recordings and soundscapes of corporeal and imagined environments"
Green Papaya
February 25, 2009

Photos: Eddie Boy Escudero

Blums Borres

The space

Dark side of autoceremony

Crowding the space

Lighting the Green

Tad's right side

Korg's DS 10

soundscraping

A tad of light

sound tripping

2009-02-17T17:37:00.003+08:00

Media Arts Manila
in cooperation with Green Papaya Art Projects presents

FIELD TRIP
field recordings and soundscapes of corporeal and imagined environments

February 25 (Wed) 9 p.m.
Green Papaya Art Projects
41 T.Gener St cor Kamuning Road (near Brahma Kumaris)
FREE ADMISSION

http://mediaartsmanila.blogspot.com/
http://www.greenpapayaartprojects.org/

The M.A.M. tour bus stops over at the Green Papaya Art Projects and ushers us through an acoustic safari of feral atmospheric fauna. Featured artists present their original phonography, creating immersive environments through the manipulation and playback of captured ambient sounds. autoceremony, Blend:er, Christian Conception, Mark Laccay, Mannet Villariba serves us their own brand of improvised acoustic ecology. Improvised video by Edsel Abesames and Tad Ermitaño. This show is supported by Globe.

Edsel Abesames

is a video editor / motion graphics person / director / racketeer / guitarist / poser / anime fan /overweight 32 year old / discontent drunkard.

autoceremony a.k.a. Jing Garcia

sound artist and award winning music producer. He established the Children of Cathode Ray backed in 1989, one of the early experimental and sound art groups in the country. Produced several music albums for different alternative music artists in the 90s. He is currently the tech editor for The Manila Times and Speed Magazine. He also hosts a tech segment on the late evening news on TV5

BLEND:ER a.k.a. Cris Garcimo

is an electronic music creator and a noise enthusiast who lives in Cavite, Philippines. He started experimenting with audio acrobatics and technoid sonic landscapes in 1999. Being included in various album anthologies like Mood Swing Theater Volume 1 (2004) released by Kittenwhip Compilation and S.A.B.A.W. Anthology of Noise, Electronic, and Experimental Music (2004), Blend:er has often collaborated with E.X.I.S.T., SABAW and Electronica Manila artists.

Tad Ermitaño

is a media artist, writer and filmmaker. As far as the media art goes, he is interested in algorithmic/procedural editing and composition, new uses for the moving image and have been lately drifting into elementary robotics. His work "Quartet" was exhibited in the recently concluded International Symposium for Electronic Arts (ISEA) in Singapore.

Grnd Ctrl a.k.a Christian Martelino Concepcion

a manila based art director, experimental musician, DJ and event organizer. His breed of work roots from his propensity in the field of music and design. It is his passion for avant-garde films, art, fashion, experimental music and bizarre imagery that led him to create audible pieces as well as to do graphic design work. It wasn't until implementing his studies of traditional fine arts and his enthusiasm with avant-garde music that began his realization of his ideas, philosophies and visions by combining dissected sound textures with rhythm, to create soundscapes that pierce images inside our minds. His currently an active band member for the ambient/experimental/industrial band "The Slave Drum", busy with his own electro industrial act "Decay Transit" and does solo performances as "Grnd Ctrl". Uses both traditional and non-traditional sound sources with using samplers, synthesizers, transducers, effects and anything he can get his hands on. Has participated in several events from various production outfits and his group called "Circa1849".

Mark Laccay

is an award winning Audio Engineer who is the CEO of Sonic Logo Multimedia Inc. and a managing partner of Sweetspot Studios. He has worked as a Sound Designer for various films and is the main audio consultant for the "Dr. Jose Maceda Collection Digitization" Project. As an educator he taught audio classes at DLSU-CSB. He recently returned from the Austrian Academy of Sciences where he acquired a certificate of Audio Tape Restoration and Digital Audio Archiving.

Mannet Villariba

is a performance artist, painter, sound artist, visual programmer and designer. He has been active in diverse fields of art and design - including research and development. Yielding the outputs of sounds, images, and light through analyzing and transforming the numerical values gained from various sensors and input devices, he is a visual artist pursuing sensual peculiarity and interaction.

EXPERIMENTAL AUDIO RESEARCH

2009-02-04T13:36:00.004+08:00

I've been a great follower of E.A.R. (along with Spacemen 3 and Spectrum) since i accidentally found a CD copy of 'Beyond the Pale' at CD Warehouse in Greenhills back in the 90s. Since then, it has very much influenced the sound i create for (lately) autoceremony and (my previous incarnation) the dominguez-shimata colony.

So, as a simple tribute to this enigmatic and obscure soundart project group, I'm posting their band message taken from the Sonic Boom website (http://www.sonic-boom.info/ear.php), which also very much sums up what autoceremony do (as posted on this page's title head).

===============================

Experimental Audio Research was formed in 1990 by Sonic Boom as a solo and collaborative ensemble in order to pursue the more experimental work he had contributed to Spacemen 3 since the 1980s.

The project revolves around two separate yet overlapping areas - studio recording and live performance, both environments being treated as complimentary but different sides of the same coin.

EAR's main ethos, embodied in their acronymous name, is one of necessary experimentation. They create a space where any sound or texture, technique or emotion is treated as a possible contribution to the piece(s) in hand. The same applies to the interaction of the performers improvisation and integration are left open, until what feels like the right moment, all the while keeping an eye on the whole, and avoiding a forum where concept overtakes content.

EAR's members and musical philosophies run the gamut from purely Electronically generated sounds -produced instantaneously- to beautifully crafted, acoustic techniques - the product of a lifetime's experience. This is a rare terrain where individual extremes merge in the collective sound - each member exploring the possibilities of the integration of opposites. By definition each of the group's performances are quite different -to replicate performances is of no interest. Surprise and variety are far more important - yet all within and around their intended framework and disciplines. In this way the group creates a special kind of sound-scape and mood space aiming forwards whilst heeding yesterdays experiments and advances. To ignore the work of Cage, Varese, Stockhausen or Cardew would be foolhardy. To dismiss the expeirments of LaBradford, Joe Meek, Eno or Kraftwerk would equally be a mistake. EAR exists in the furrow between the low brow and the high brow, between traditional and contemporary, independent of categorisations, where AMM can meet Spacemen 3, where classical music can meet My Bloody Valentine. Where Preconceptions and prejudice can be left outside and sounds can exist for their intrinsic values. Where sounds can show their true selves.

To assume that this approach must lack discipline is a common mistake. The discipline is mirrored by the freedom given the performers, keeping its aims pure and free from excess, aiming to be progressive, but not just for progressiveness' sake.

The Instruments used in their recordings and performances do not revolve around the chromatic scale, and no amount of divisions per octave is defined before hand - indeed many of the instruments from the Theremin and Modular synthesisers to the Insect and Human voice generators "lack" any fretted or keyed sequential controllers to even suggest a particular mode or scale. In this way, the most stimulating range of sounds is come by, because it is the most stimulating and not for any predetermined reasons. Likewise, the sounds selected come from various random or heuristic programming functions and improvisational playing techniques rather than from a preset bank of sounds - none of these instruments have a 'memory' or "preset" facility -giving unique sounds every time the instrument is used. In this way the performer becomes the selector from the near infinite possible range of textures.

Tech Times editor on list of influential

2009-01-19T18:34:00.000+08:00

http://manilatimes.net/national/2009/jan/19/yehey/top_stories/20090119top4.html

Manila: A local magazine listed The Manila Times’ technology editor as among the most influential people in the technology business in the country, the only person from a Filipino daily newspaper to be honored.

Jing Garcia, editor of the Tech Times section, said he was not aware that he was chosen as one of the most influential people in the technology business until a friend told him that he was included in the January-February edition of T3 magazine as among the “movers and shakers” who shape the gadgets that consumers buy.

Garcia was one of the three cited “tech journos,” along with TJ Monotoc of the television network ABS-CBN and Leo Magno of Inquirer.net. They were among the nine Filipinos on the list by T3, which is published locally by Summit Publishing Co. Inc.

The Tech Times editor, who started working for The Times in 2005, is also the newly elected president of the cyberpress, the country’s only organization of information-technology writers—the IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (ITJAP).

“Before jumping in IT, the three-time Awit Award nominee was instrumental in shaping the Pinoy alternative rock scene during the 1990s,” the magazine said of Garcia, a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.

“I got hook on computers when I was inside the recording studio,” he said.

Garcia said people who want to have a better choice of the gadgets that they need “should always read tech writer’s review before buying a certain gadget to have an idea about the thing that they want to buy and not to waste their money.”

Tech Times, which features Garcia’s articles and reviews about the latest gadgets, appears on Mondays in The Times. He also hosts technology segments on the television network TV5.

Transmissions by Gangan Ensemble (part 2)

2009-01-14T14:43:00.002+08:00

January 10, 2009
Mogwai, Cubao X,
Philippines

mobilevid by autoceremony

Transmissions by Gangan Ensemble (part 1)

2009-01-14T14:41:00.002+08:00

January 10, 2009
Mogwai, Cubao X,
Philippines

mobilevid by autoceremony

ELECTROSTATIC SOUND CONFERENCE III

2008-09-16T02:59:00.001+08:00

NMAM's ELECTROSTATIC SOUND CONFERENCE III
September 24 (Weds) 9 p.m.
Club Dredd (2nd Flr Gweilos)
Eastwood Cyberpark, Libis, Quezon City
FREE ADMISSION!

New Media Arts Manila presents ELECTROSTATIC SOUND CONFERENCE III. The blackwinged furies of Sonic Art take to the air once again as Manila's sonic hatcheries crack out the incubators at Club Dredd on September 24. Australian Darren Moore of Iron Egg joins the flock with Edsel Abesamis, autoceremony, Teresa Barrozo, Blums Borres, Tad Ermitano, Inconnu Ictu, Mark Laccay and Manet Villariba for a night of anti hymns in praise of Hundun, the egg god of chaos.

Video art by Edsel Abesamis, Blums Borres, Tad Ermitano, and Manet Villariba.

In addition, Tad Ermitano will give a short presentation on Quartet, the robotic gamelan installation he created in August for the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA). Mark Laccay will also talk about the Jose Maceda Collection Digitization Project and his experience in Austrian Academy of Sciences where he acquired a certificate in Audio Tape Restoration and Digital Audio Archiving.

Proceeds from this event will be donated to the fundraising effort for Tara Bosch-Santelices.

This event is sponsored by Intel, Sony Ericsson, and Globe Telecom

Darren Moore is an Australian musician based in Singapore. He is involved in various projects as a drummer and as an experimental laptop artist. He has performed and collaborated with musicians such as Jon Rose, Chris Abrahams, Johannes Bauer, Jeff Henderson, Scott Tinkler, Eugene Pao, Will Guthrie, Eric Boeren, Wilbert de Joode, Micheal Vatcher to name a few. Currently, He leads a jazz quintet and is a member of Iron Egg - an electro-acoustic visual experimental trio with Tim O'Dwyer and Brian O'Rielly.

Edsel Abesames is a Video editor / motion graphics person / director / racketeer / guitarist / poser / anime fan /overweight 32 year old / discontent drunkard. That about sums it up.

autoceremony a.k.a. Jing Garcia sound artist and award winning music producer. He established the Children of Cathode Ray backed in 1989, one of the early experimental and sound art groups in the country. Produced several music albums for different alternative music artists in the 90s. He is currently the tech editor for The Manila Times and Speed Magazine. He also hosts a tech segment on the late evening news on TV5

Teresa Barrozo is one of the emerging women composers of the country. She started her career as a student of the UP College of Music. Her compositions range from solo, chamber ensemble, orchestral, vocal & electroacoustic. Her works have been performed in the Philippines and in various Asian music festivals (Japan, Thailand). In 2007, she was one of the featured Filipino composers in the Asia-Pacific Weeks 2007 in Berlin, Germany. Teresa also works as a composer for theater & film; and as an arranger for various choirs and orchestras.

Blums Borres guitarist and media artist who experiments with sound, video, and animation. Formerly a technical director at Toei Animation Philippines, he has a BA in Multimedia Design from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. His work has been featured at the Australian Center Moving Images (ACMI), and in cinemas and television in Japan. His career in post production spans over 14 years and has involved himself in both professional productions and education. He teaches 3d animation at DLSU-CSB.

Tad Ermitano. The artist was forced into the hell of art making as consequence of his enemies' envy of his enormous pencil and mastery of the black arts of nuclear canelloni. In revenge, he conquered the three continents of Fairyland by masquerading as five of their seven dead kings and obtained the Dread Dagger of Demosthenes by which he obtained dominion over the twin race of Electrons and Positrons that mortal scientists have confused with inanimate matter and probability waves. In his next work, the artist plans to have the two races meet in battle, guaranteeing an antimatter conflagration that should end the known Universe. Autographs given to women of adequate pulchritude.

Inconnu Ictu a.k.a Roger Llagas Lopez a post-musician,experimental composer,improviser,multi-instrumentalist,visual art enthusiast who reside in the shoe capital of the Philippines. Inconnu Ictu(s) means an unknown mans blow or a stroke,as a sound constructor he explore his interest by using an obsolete electronic gadget,cheap equipment set-up,pedal efx box,deffective rhytm console,found object,d.i.y mic and a circuit bend materials. Inconnu Ictu was participated and affiliated with S.A.B.A.W and EX.I.S.T(experimentation in sound art tradition) a sound art collective,multi-media and explorative art enthusiast.

Mark Laccay is an award winning Audio Engineer who is the CEO of Sonic Logo Multimedia Inc. and a managing partner of Sweetspot Studios. He has worked as a Sound Designer for various films and is the main audio consultant for the "Dr. Jose Maceda Collection Digitization" Project. As an educator he taught audio classes at DLSU-CSB. He has recently returned from Vienna where he acquired a certificate of Audio Tape Restoration and Digital Audio Archiving from Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Mannet Villariba is a performance artist, painter, sound artist, visual programmer and designer. He has been active in diverse fields, such as art, design, and even research and development. Yielding output of sounds, images, and light through analyzing and transforming the numerical values gained from a various sensors and input devices. A Visual Artist pursuing sensual peculiarity, and interaction. He is a graduate of Bachelor of Fine Arts, Major in Painting at the University of Santo Tomas.

http://newmediamanila.blogspot.com/

NMAM: Minus Ten Decibels

2008-05-02T10:51:00.004+08:00

New Media Arts Manila
Minus Ten Decibels
Mogwai FIlm Club,
Mogwai Cafe, Cubao X
April 30, 2008

video by: Janette Toral

http://rockistacraze.blogspot.com/

Cuts and Bruises

2008-02-03T12:37:00.000+08:00

here are tracks by autoceremony.

cuts and bruises is a collection of old singles recorded between 1995 and 1998. except for holy money and retiring a human by mistake the rest of the tunes came out in the numeric sampler 502 (diagrams, edit, inc.) and 507 (warranty for the first end user) released back in 1995 and 1996, respectively. listen and learn.

diagrams
http://www.4shared.com/file/36672932/b8274e4a/autoceremony_diagrams.html
edit
http://www.4shared.com/file/36673128/f746a0c8/autoceremony_edit.html
holy money
http://www.4shared.com/file/36673841/d7118465/autoceremony_holy_money.html
inc.
http://www.4shared.com/file/36674000/57be18f6/autoceremony_inc.html
retiring a human by mistake
http://www.4shared.com/file/36674276/f218ff6a/autoceremony_retiring_a_human_by_mistake.html
warranty for the first end user
http://www.4shared.com/file/36674405/20dd44a5/autoceremony_warranty_for_the_first_end_user.html

best on headphones.
free download.

The 2nd ElectroStatic Sound Conference

2008-01-12T12:04:00.000+08:00

New Media Arts Manila (NMAM) presented its second offering on January 2, 2008 at Club Dredd in Eastwood another packed crowd of sound-art enthusiasts, who braved New Year hangovers and the ever present possibility of permanent hearing damage to watch another installment of the sound-art showcase called THE ELECTROSTATIC SOUND CONFERENCE. This time around, the show featured Filipino-Canadian guitarist Maggot Breeder (left); Lirio Salvador and Jonjie Ayson of Elemento playing Lirio’s chome-plated alienware; the Trojan Whores; and Ugong. In addition, The Children of Cathode Ray performed live soundtracks for the experimental films /mutation (pronounced “permutation”) by Tad Ermitano, and Ink and Lizard, two classic films by Roxlee, the godfather of Philippine Experimental Film. NMAM performances are supported by: Globe, Sony Ericsson, Intel, Microsoft, Asus, and Behringer. The next NMAM performance will be in April 2008.

Soundartist Ugong and his homebrew soundware.

Soundartists Lirio Salvador and Jonjie Ayson of Elemento

Trojan Whores' Pow Martinez tweaking a classic analog Yamaha synth.

Soundart group The Children of Cathode Ray with The Manila Times' tech editor Jing Garcia (left), experimental film and video director Tad Ermitano, and computer graphics expert Blums Borres.

Photos by Peter Marquez

Sound Art Conference this October

2007-09-23T20:14:00.000+08:00

New Media Arts Manila(NMAM) was formed to curate, stage, and promote New Media Art -- art made with electronic, audiovisual, and information technologies. It includes sound art, video art, interactive electronics, algorithmic art, computer music, and whatever art forms new technologies may yet spawn. As NMAM's first project, ELECTROSTATIC SOUND CONFERENCE will showcase the full range of performative sound art pieces through the performances of the following artists:

Malek Lopez, Berklee-trained virtuoso who is the principal composer for the band Drip, and half of the abrasive electronica duo Rubber Inc.;

Mu Arae Transmission, (aka Moon Fear Moon aka John Sobrepena), who composes haunting and eerie instances of IDM (Intelligent Dance Music);

Blums Borres, 3D animator, performative video artist, and sound artist who dedicates himself to expanding the sonic territory of the electric guitar;

Jing Garcia, tech editor of The Manila Times who founded the seminal sound art group Children of Cathode Ray in 1989 and composes industrial/ambient pieces as autoceremony;

Tengal, frenetic composer, a tireless sound artist, the founder of S.A.B.A.W. sound art collective, and a one-man record label;

Lirio Salvador, sculptor and luthier whose ornate, chrome-plated instruments are featured on television, displayed in galleries, and played by his group Elemento;

Tad Ermitano, filmmaker and video artist who creates custom programs and hardware for his art installations. His work has appeared in Time magazine.

The ELECTROSTATIC SOUND CONFERENCE will be on October 10, 8:30 pm at Club Dredd, 2nd floor Gweilos Eastwood.

Admission is FREE!

The genius of the songs

2007-08-12T14:42:00.000+08:00

So this is permanence, love's shattered pride.
What once was innocence, turned on its side.
A cloud hangs over me, marks every move,
Deep in the memory, of what once was love.

Oh how I realised how I wanted time,
Put into perspective, tried so hard to find,
Just for one moment, thought I'd found my way.
Destiny unfolded, I watched it slip away.

Excessive flashpoints, beyond all reach,
Solitary demands for all I'd like to keep.
Let's take a ride out, see what we can find,
A valueless collection of hopes and past desires.

I never realised the lengths I'd have to go,
All the darkest corners of a sense I didn't know.
Just for one moment, I heard somebody call,
Looked beyond the day in hand, there's nothing there at all.

Now that I've realised how it's all gone wrong,
Gotta find some therapy, this treatment takes too long.
Deep in the heart of where sympathy held sway,
Gotta find my destiny, before it gets too late.
-- Twenty Four Hours (1980)

This is a crisis I knew had to come,
Destroying the balance I'd kept.
Doubting, unsettling and turning around,
Wondering what will come next.
Is this the role that you wanted to live?
I was foolish to ask for so much.
Without the protection and infancy's guard,
It all falls apart at first touch.

Watching the reel as it comes to a close,
Brutally taking its time,
People who change for no reason at all,
It's happening all of the time.
Can I go on with this train of events?
Disturbing and purging my mind,
Back out of my duties, when all's said and done,
I know that I'll lose every time.

Moving along in our God given ways,
Safety is sat by the fire,
Sanctuary from these feverish smiles,
Left with a mark on the door,
Is this the gift that I wanted to give?
Forgive and forget's what they teach,
Or pass through the deserts and wastelands once more,
And watch as they drop by the beach.

This is the crisis I knew had to come,
Destroying the balance I'd kept,
Turning around to the next set of lives,
Wondering what will come next.
-- Passover (1980)

In fear every day, every evening,
He calls her aloud from above,
Carefully watched for a reason,
Painstaking devotion and love,
Surrendered to self preservation,
From others who care for themselves.
A blindness that touches perfection,
But hurts just like anything else.

Mother I tried please believe me,
I'm doing the best that I can.
I'm ashamed of the things I've been put through,
I'm ashamed of the person I am.

But if you could just see the beauty,
These things I could never describe,
These pleasures a wayward distraction,
This is my one lucky prize.
-- Isolation (1980)

When routine bites hard,
And ambitions are low,
And resentment rides high,
But emotions won't grow,
And we're changing our ways,
Taking different roads.

Why is the bedroom so cold?
You've turned away on your side.
Is my timing that flawed?
Our respect runs so dry.
Yet there's still this appeal
That we've kept through our lives.

You cry out in your sleep,
All my failings exposed.
And there's a taste in my mouth,
As desperation takes hold.
Just that something so good
Just can't function no more.
-- Love, love will tear us apart again (1980)

Procession moves on, the shouting is over,
Praise to the glory of loved ones now gone.
Talking aloud as they sit round their tables,
Scattering flowers washed down by the rain.
Stood by the gate at the foot of the garden,
Watching them pass like clouds in the sky,
Try to cry out in the heat of the moment,
Possessed by a fury that burns from inside.

Cry like a child, though these years make me older,
With children my time is so wastefully spent,
A burden to keep, though their inner communion,
Accept like a curse an unlucky deal.
Played by the gate at the foot of the garden,
My view stretches out from the fence to the wall,
No words could explain, no actions determine,
Just watching the trees and the leaves as they fall.
-- The Eternal (1980)

This is why events unnerve me,
They find it all, a different story,
Notice whom for wheels are turning,
Turn again and turn towards this time,
All she ask's the strength to hold me,
Then again the same old story,
Word will travel, oh so quickly,
Travel first and lean towards this time.

Oh, I'll break them down, no mercy shown,
Heaven knows, it's got to be this time,
Watching her, these things she said,
The times she cried,
Too frail to wake this time.

Oh, I'll break them down, no mercy shown,
Heaven knows, it's got to be this time,
Avenues all lined with trees,
Picture me and then you start watching,
Watching forever, forever,
Watching love grow, forever,
Letting me know, forever.
-- Ceremony (1980)

Caressing the marble and stone,
Love that was special for one,
The waste in the fever I heat,
How I wish you were here with me now.

Body that curls in and dies,
And shares that awful daylight,
Warm like a dog round your feet,
How I wish you were here with me now.

Hangman looks round as he waits,
Cord stretches tight then it breaks,
Someday we will die in your dreams,
How I wish we were here with you now.
-- In a Lonely Place (1980)

Control

2007-08-12T11:46:00.000+08:00

... a short conversation after watching Control, the movie that told the story of Ian Curtis, the enigmatic frontman of one of the greatest bands this planet ever had, Joy Division.

Jing Garcia: The thing with Joy Division, no one came close.

Mon Castro: The band had their misfortune work for them. They didn't get the chance to become mediocre.

Blums Borres: And they never would have. New Order was no less as great.

Tad Ermitano: They also benefitted from the halo that surrounds those who die young and stay pretty. Same halo around Cobain, Hendrix, maybe even Eman Lacaba, Che Guevara, Marilyn Monroe, and the quintessential death angel, James Dean.

No one writes articles about us?

2007-08-09T13:13:00.000+08:00

Tad Ermitano's email reply on another soundartist's concern regarding the lack of articles written about the soundart scene in Manila.

"Well, it IS true that there are no writers (aside from me?) who write anything about sound art worth reading about. Although for an absolute beginner, Erwin O.* was actually not bad. That's true of almost everything to do with contemporary art here though. Nobody writes about the conceptualists with any knowledge or history, even though they stage show after show in SHOPPING MALLS!! Nobody (except Nick) wrote about the experimental films in Mowelfund. Nobody (except for Lourd?)** wrote about Publiko, Elemento, Lirio or Cathode Ray when we were doing stuff in the 90s.

(On a wider scope, we can wonder who wrote about say, the Futurists when they were active, aside from themselves.)

Tengal is different from Poklong (and Chabet?) in that he actively
resents the lack of knowledgeable art writing vis a vis the new stuff.

But that is why you have to tell your own story/curate yourself: because it's better than waiting for someone to get your story right/curate you.

Unless artists want to say that the most important thing for them to do is to wait for someone to learn how to write about them, then the most important thing for artists to learn how to do is to learn how how to write.

Jing was among the first to try to curate his and our work (maybe we can call him the godfather of Sound Abakanism? hehe)

Which is why we have to bring back manifestoes and pamphlets. We're lucky to have the net though, which gives free blog bazookas to all who would be Abakanists! hehe."

* - Erwin Oliva of www.inquirer.net recently wrote an article on the Sountrip blog about his soundart experience at Mag:net. Link: http://inquirerbloggers.net/soundtrip/2007/07/31/the-sound-of-silence/

** - Lourd de Veyra, frontman for fusion band Radioactive Sago Project and an acclaimed writer and music journalist.

TAD's blogs: http://www.cavemanifesto.blogspot.com/

AND, here's another reply from the same issue by BLUMS BORRES:

"Obviously his (the soundartist) anger is displaced. I don't take it against him.

I guess the writing problem is inherent in any "emerging" art form. All we really need are one or two writers who are dedicated and knowledgable. Get Erwin Oliva or someone into it. Let's buy him a book or two about avant garde, electronic music, and sound art.

Someone should also write an article "What the FUCK is sound art?" and "Sound Art in Manila"

:P

As it was, when it was: The new album on Pinoy underground 80s and the great rock ‘n roll swindle

2006-11-02T22:22:00.000+08:00

...or in other words: the liner notes that never made it to the album.

80s pop culture is an enigma. Thick shoulder pads were the order of the day, while Aga Muhlach strutted his way to poseurdom. Yet, despite, the (un)forgettable state of Pinoy-pop culture at that time, another kind of scene was seething on the fringes.

There was a place at 18 Anonas St. Project 2 called A2Z records (relocated from Kamias). It was a record bar and at that time, had everything that wasn’t available elsewhere (at least in 80s Manila)– New Order, Joy Division, The Smiths, The Cure, Dead Kennedys, Psychic TV, The Jam, Stiff Little Fingers were some of the music artists on the A2Z vinyl record rack. It was the coolest joint to hang out in.

And we did, from Dominic Gamboa (Betrayed) and Binky Lampano (Dean's December); spending late afternoons individually discussing the meaning – or the lack of it – of life. Dina, the soul behind the A2Z desk, with the help of Sonia (later the soundbuzz.com lady) tried to maintain order and make sure the Recto punks wouldn’t steal the latest British copy of Punk and Disorderly.

The scene at A2Z at that time was straight out of that John Cusack starrer, High Fidelity – complete with blasting music, non-stop babble about the obscurest music trivia, as well as the bragging and sniping. The place, owned by my editor at Jingle Chordbook Magazine, Ces Rodriguez and her beau Leslie David, was a sanctuary for music of every kind because they did have Miles Davis and The Modern Jazz Quartet and Johnny Cash and The Band and George Gershwin and early Stones on their racks. So I hung, deeming that I had the right as a music journalist and record everything that needed to be heard, and partake of Leslie's cooking. That was a sign I was “in,” to have access to the basement kitchen and sleeping quarters.

And belong I did. On mornings, in the mid-80s, I worked as an early-day custodian for the bar, accepting a daily wage below the minimum. But that didn't matter. As long as I could record or get a copy of those fresh new-music records that Toti Dalmacion (yes, same dude at Groove Nation) lent to the store directly from Hong Kong or LA. It was music heaven. To have the first a copy of Psychocandy and Brotherhood – those were high points.

Chill out chong out

But new wave was the order of the day. While the entire country drowned in the music of Duran Duran and Culture Club, people at A2Z were listening to The Fall and Tones on Tail and The Specials and Bad Manners. Ces and company would later have successful new wave shindigs in small local bars in Malate where the likes of DJ Par Sallan would spin some of the best if not the latest from British underground. The creative team would go on to buy airtime for their own radio show called “Capital Radio” so they could play what they wanted on DWXB 102, an underdog FM radio station, which by its sheer cult-status spawned many enterprises including a portion of the T-shirt industry along Recto Ave.

Bands such as XTC, Bauhaus, The Cure and Japan were first and only heard on XB, while Capital Radio went even deeper with Teardrop Explodes, Joy Division, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Minor Threat and yes, even Motown. Local earcandy proponents Dean's December, Violent Playground, Identity Crisis, and Ethnic Faces also found a comfortable home in the government sequestered 10,000-watt radio station.

The term “chong” – to distinguish the new wavers from the punk rockers – originated from the jocks that spun for the A2Z team. Stubborn teens that couldn’t get into the music of Paul Weller or Joe Strummer would approach the music booth and irritatingly ask, “Chong, chong, 'State of the Nation' naman." The name stuck forever.

In an article by Didits Gonzales

Rock journalist and photographer Didits Gonzales made the better distinction on punks and chongs in a column called “The Low Life” for A2Z’s in-house newsletter and fanzine called The Shop (c.1987). "Chongs and mobile discos go together. You'll find them in trendiest discos, privately organized parties, 102 soirées, and Identity Crisis concerts. Chongs go to school and eventually take over the family's handicraft business. Punks avoid school like the plague, and if they don't end up dead, they end up scrubbing decks on merchant marine ships plying the Persia Gulf. You can have a decent if somewhat shallow conversation with a chong. You can have a slurring match with a punk but remember to duck when you see the first sign of a puke-a-thon. Chongs have cars, punks have no money. Enterprising punks have car spare parts. And when chongs and punks meet…they ignore each other." Well, that sums it up.

Punks not dead! Or so they thought

But another scene began thrusting its way out of the underbelly of popular culture. More than 10 years before the Eraserheads, and only a couple of years after Sid Vicious crossed the line between punk and stupidity, Pinoy rock was slashed in the face by an underground music scene that would leave a haunting scar.

Tommy Tanchanco and his Twisted Red Cross (TRC) cohorts led the way in the early ‘80s and introduced some of the best if not the brightest stars in Pinoy underground music. TRC was bred from punk. The music was harsh, hard and in your face.

Bands such as Betrayed, I.O.V., G.I. and the Idiots, including two of my personal favorites, Urban Bandits and The Wuds, all in their combat boots punk regalia, were just among the few who carried the battle flag that would push Pinoy punkdom its demonizing identity. Like its origins in decadent 70s England, Pinoy punk created tribes stretching from the gutters of Malibay in Pasay to the sidestreets of Recto, disturbing even the once rural life of Malabon.

Pinoy punk threw their guttersnipe punches in Brave New World concerts at PhilCite, an ihaw-ihaw shelter in Malate called Katrina's, or at rundown corner gymnasiums, far from a police precinct. Chicoy Pura's The Jerks, who at one time played regularly at On Disco in Roxas Boulevard, became club favorites for performing upcoming classic punk tunes from London to New York. Indie filmmaker Patrick Puruganan would immortalize the Pinoy-punk scene with his short flick Generation Lost, making reluctant underground stars out of Noel F.Lim and Dominic Gamboa.

Under the TRC label, Pinoy-punk would thrash their wares on the compilation cassette albums Rescue Ladders and Human Barricades and Katrina's Live – Tama na Away!, just to name a couple. Tommy documented everything in his very own punkzine Herald X under the editorial guidance of Edwin Sallan and the late great Dodong Viray.

Yet, however pure it was, the immaculately dark conception of punk just had to end. When the hype started to creep in, it was already a sign that the spiked hair and the bondage pants trend had become no more than a fad. The chongs ended up mixing with the punks and vice-versa, and suddenly, they melted into a single fashion statement. Blame it on MTV. Blame it on Aga Muhlach. And blame it much on Ray 'PJ' Abellana and Leni Santos, who starred in a 'That's Entertainment' variety show-type teen-trash musical movie called , whatelse, The Punks. The entire cast of Generation Lost deteriorated to the reality of being a lost generation. Along with the safety pins and Meralco safety boots, the music got lost too.

The Maya sings

So, what does a general overview of the 80s local underground music scene have to do with Rivermaya? A lot.

If the underground 80s showed us that Pinoy rock reigns beyond pop culture, the alternative 90s, on the other hand, gave rise to a new breed of Pinoy music pinned to the heart of Pinoy pop. Many of the bands bred in the late ‘80s from an underground rock bar in Timog Ave. called Red Rocks (later Club Dredd) and university belt favorite Mayric's produced some of the best Pinoy-rock bands this country had ever seen.

Although Rivermaya could not pinpoint their own origins in those places, the band has proven itself a tenacious wunderkind, churning out hits at the rate bands today come and go while maintaining an omnipresent “alternative” vibe that distinguished it from those slicked to commercial perfection by the mainstream music industry.

Except that Rivermaya was equally slick and commercial. I hated them. I hated how their manager was the Lizza Nakpil and how well she did her job pimping the band to the people, places, events Dreddheads and their ilk would never ever dream of being associated with.

So Rivermaya looked alt, smelled alt, their songs sounding kinda alt, but I felt that wala pa rin silang karapatan, their creds shot by a…marketing plan.

In the '90s, Rivermaya was not only the new-kid-on-the-block; they were, in the elitist underground I prowled, the only-kids-outside-the-block. For example, while many, if not all of the Pinoy bands played for beer money at the piss-smelling Club Dredd Edsa, Rivermaya gigged at an Italian-cuisine restaurant at the Atrium in Makati on weekends (same place where Razorback and Wolfgang got their kicks).

The band wooed the crowd from International School. They were safe and fashionable for Makati’s teenage elite and quickly landed a record deal maybe not by sheer talent alone, but – according to rumors that were going around at that time - by the industry connections of its movie director manager (Chito Roño) and his socialite PR partner. (Actually, Nakpil vehemently denies this unfair assertion.)

They were cuties too who Chito Miranda of Parokya ni Edgar and Ely Buendia of the Eraserheads – certified Dreddizens – couldn’t hold a candle too. I mean, let’s be honest here – Rico Blanco’s Ube-colored hairdo and Mark Escueta’s collegiala-killer looks? They just haven’t paid their dues, yet.

Worse, the band suffered the stigmata of being a manufactured band, as many in the alternative music scene back then originally believed – gotten together by Roño and Nakpil on the basis of specs. Of course, I conveniently forgot that the Sex Pistols were manufactured too, even if they later leaped across Malcolm McLaren’s svengali fantasies and took a life of their own.

But the specs were spot on. The band had chops, looks, talent (I myself, unashamedly have 214 in my iPod). In 2000, Rivermaya even made mini music history by being one of the first mainstream acts to eschew normal distribution channels and market their album online. Their schtick: Free, the aptly named CD, was a gift to fans. It also marked the first time Rico Blanco emerged as frontman.

Why do Rivermaya continue to remain equally strong and high-profile? Well, Rico Blanco, feyly good-looking, knew how to write three-minute pop gems – emo but affecting, hummable but inspired.

Kayong nag-tataka nag-tataka...

So, for Rivermaya to cover what is probably one of the best songs to come out of Pinoy punkdom, by a band who probably receive teenage panties and bras for Christmas from their girl fans, is courting danger. The Wuds' “Inosente Lang ang Nagtataka,” as with the Urban Bandits' “No Future sa Pader,” is a classic example what 80s underground music really was - fast, hard and painfully true. (Personally, I would have chosen The Wuds’ “Nakalimutan ang Diyos" for this album. But that would have been truly ironic.)

In fact, with this new album Isang Ugat, Isang Dugo, Rivermaya is on dangerous ground. If it were an extreme sport, they’d probably be jumping from a high rise to their deaths without a chute. Nonetheless, it takes courage and real gall for a band to do something like this, as they mined from a time that many people would not even care about today. And from the cream of the underground who didn’t give a rat’s ass about them from the get go.

When the compilation album 10 of Another Kind came out in the latter part of the ‘80s, it sank without a trace. However, it contained legendary names that completely defined what Pinoy rock music should have been if they actually made it at all. If you don't know how Dean's December, Silos, Violent Playground and Ethnic Faces sounded like, then Rivermaya has just made the perfect album for you to listen to.

For members of Rivermaya, the influence of 10 of Another Kind is inseparable to their success today. The album is a salute to the music that made the band create better music. Music already stamped in the annals of Pinoy rock history.

If Rivermaya does better than the originals (but then again, as they say, nothing beats the original, right?) then, good. If not, the very effort itself is commendable. No one would have done it anyway, not at this time (but maybe this will start a new trend?).

The inclusion of other all-time favorites from The Jerks, The Wuds and even Joey Ayala is evidence of the band's eternal respect of the music that somehow helped shape the ‘80s underground music scene.

There are tributes and there are tributes. Actually, there are plenty of tributes going around nowadays. If there's a difference, you can easily spot one here – it's either music you never heard of from bands totally unknown to you, or music you've been longing to hear again.

-- Jing Garcia

Music deconstruction through technology

2006-10-28T17:47:00.000+08:00

(the article below first appeared in the July 31, 2006 issue of Tech Times, the infotech section of The Manila Times, where I am also its editor)

Experimental, avantgarde, soundart, noise. No matter how you label it, music deconstruction is definitely a part of modern art.
On July 22, the first compilation of such “music” materials from a cross section of Filipino musical artists was launched at Future Prospects, an art space located at the compound of the Marikina Shoe Expo in Cubao, Quezon City.

“The S.A.B.A.W. [samahan ng mga baliw] Anthology is the result of existing materials collected from experimental musicians/sound artists who had been working in the Philippine underground (read: under-appreciated and under-funded) scene for the last 20 years,” according to underground soundart impresario and S.A.B.A.W. Anthology producer Tengal.

Although the arcade still has the usual shoe shops open at daytime, for some time now, the inner parts of the Marikina Shoe Expo compound is slowly transforming itself at night as a crash venue for Filipino artists, exhibiting their artwork or simply hanging out with fellow bohemians in places like Future Prospects, Vintage POP, or even at Bellini’s, an Italian restaurant, which created a cult-status of sort for serving terrific pasta.

As for the S.A.B.A.W. event, an attentively curious crowd gathered to listen to what Tengal and his collection of music deconstructionists had to offer that rainy Saturday night. A number of these noise artists included in the album performed live, complete with their own electronic noisemakers.

“The project—conceived with the intention of not just publishing but also promoting innovations and experiments in music, is an attempt to fill a gap made real by the lack of critical appreciation and inaccessibility of soundart and experimental music for the past two decades,” said Tengal.

Local artists such as Arvie Bartolome, Ascaris, autoceremony, Blend:er, Blums Borres, The Children of Cathode Ray, Conscript, EAT TAE, Elemento, Foodshelter&Clothing, Inconnu ictu, Insomnia, Nasal Police, Pow Martinez, Tengal and Teresa Barrozo complete the roster of the excellent double-CD release. Most if not all of the artists mentioned used technology to create or deconstruct their brand of soundart—from computer hardware and its accompanying software, transistor radios and analog tapes, to kitchen blenders.

Music deconstruction

“Music deconstruction is not new,” according to Lirio Salvador of Elemento, one of the pioneers of industrial music and music deconstruction in the country. “It started with classical music; in the 20th century, artists such as John Zorn and John Cage [famous for his three-movement classical piece, ‘Silence’] made people to notice it,” he adds.

Locally, Lirio made industrial music not only a feast for the ears but for the eyes as well. He creatively makes his own musical instruments from scrap metal; from water pipes, bicycle parts, to disposed electrical materials, to kitchenware—creating a visually engaging mesh-metal sculpture fit for an art museum rather than on a sound stage.

“It took almost 20 years [in the Philippines] for people to appreciate the existence of soundart, I won’t be surprised if it takes another 20 years before most of them actually understand it,” Salvador said.

Another pioneer of music deconstruction in the country, The Children of Cathode Ray, has been doing soundart since 1989. Group member Tad Ermitaño describe their music as posted on the autoceremony blogsite (autoceremony.blogspot.com): “A Cathode Ray piece might have radios and 4-second cassette-tape loops feeding into a mix filled with drums and electronic percussion, effected guitars, synthesized pads and passionate raving in an invented language, which would in turn be augmented visually by video feedback, projections of exposed Super-8 abraded with a variety of kitchen implements, or VHS spliced on a pair of consumer VCRs.”

To paraphrase a familiar art adage: music is in the ear of the beholder.
-- Jing Garcia

S.A.B.A.W. Recordings

2006-07-19T23:33:00.000+08:00

S.A.B.A.W. Album Launching

An anthology of Noise, Electronic, and Experimental Music 2006
22 July 2006 / Future Prospects / Cubao X
S.A.B.A.W. is a non-profit sound art collective
www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/sabaw

PRESS RELEASE

Date: 22 July 2006 / 21:00 (9pm)
Venue: Future Prospects / Shop 62-63, Marikina Shoe Expo. / Cubao,
Quezon City

Admission: FREE

URL: www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/sabaw

S.A.B.A.W. releases its first anthology album entitled:

S.A.B.A.W. An anthology of Noise, Electronic and Experimental Music 2006. The S.A.B.A.W. Anthology is the result of existing material collected from experimental musicians/sound artists who had been working in the Philippine underground (read: underappreciated and under-funded) scene for the last 20 years.

The project—conceived with the intention of not just publishing but also promoting innovations and experiments in music, is an attempt to fill a gap made real by the lack of critical appreciation and
inaccessibility of sound art and experimental music for the past two decades.

The artists here represent but a cross section of a much larger body of musicians and artists from all over the archipelago. (Taken from the album liner notes)

Featuring:

Arvie Bartolome
Ascaris
Autoceremony
Blend:er
Blums Borres
Children of Cathode Ray
Conscript
EAT TAE
Elemento
Foodshelter&Clothing
Inconnu ictu
Insomnia
Nasal Police
Pow Martinez
Tengal
Teresa Barrozo

The two-disc album also includes liner notes (including the bio of
each artist), and the artwork of artist Poklong Anading.

It will be sold for 150 pesos and is packed in a sealed jewel case.
This Saturday's event will have live performances by experimental
musicians/sound artists: Elemento, Inconnu ictu, Nasal Police (Pow
Martinez and Ria Muñoz), Arvie Bartolome, and Tengal.

In addition to the anthology, three other albums will be released this Saturday, Head Ego by Arvie Bartolome, Drones for the Bored by Tengal, and ZPE (Zero-point energy) by Elemento mastermind, Lirio Salvador.

HEAD EGO

Head Ego is a three-part album: Head Ego (Lost Tapes), Altego, and the scratch tracks.

Altego and the scratch tracks were created during the summer of 2006 and includes a remix track of "Only" by NIN. Head Ego (Lost Tapes)is collection of Arvie's most personal works that have been lost for almost seven years. The original tracks were deleted and only after seven years a tape was discovered.

Now remastered and reedited by Arvie himself, Head Ego is his first time release.

URL: http://www.myspace.com/arviebartolome

50 pesos each.

Packaged in a cardboard jacket.

DRONES FOR THE BORED

Drones for the Bored is the first album of Tengal's Sequential Boredom Series (SBS), a series of albums inspired by boredom.

From electronic soundscapes, dronology, to psycho-acoustic
"ear-dances", Drones for the bored features four massive tracks for solo synthesizer, prepared electric fan, mixer feedback and
reprocessed tape.

Spectacular acoustical effects take you to expansive worlds of dancing difference tones and psychedelic sonorities. Tengal has stirred boredom to come to life.

Limited to nine copies. Double-disc with almost two hours of music.
120 pesos each.

Packaged in a jewel case.

ZPE

If you are a science fiction fan, you might have heard of ZPE.

The concept of zero-point energy, and the hint of a possibility of
extracting "free energy" from the vacuum, has attracted the attention of amateur inventors.

Taking the zero-point energy theory from physics, Lirio has applied it to generating sound from steady electro-magnetic coils found in
house-hold appliances.

An album made up entirely of sound explorations of the insides of
house-hold appliances, Lirio Salvador is definitely the mad scientist of electronic sound art.

All the albums will be sold at the event.

For album orders and reservations, questions and feedback please contact:

Tengal 09206045559 or email tengald@gmail.com for more details.

New-Media Artists Meet

2006-04-09T21:00:00.000+08:00

The Ateneo Art Gallery, through gallery curator Richie Lerma and independent curator Fatima Lasay, hosted the visit to the Philippines, the selection committee for the Ogaki Biennale 2006, organized by the Center for Media Culture, IAMAS and Gifu Prefecture, Japan, on Friday, April 7, 2006 in Ateneo.

Present at the forum were committee members Gunalan Nadarajan, associate dean for research and graduate studies, College of Arts and Architecture of The Pennsylvannia State University, and Hiroshi Yoshioka, professor for media aesthetics, and director for center for media culture of the Intitute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences in Japan.

It was a rare occasion where Philippine-based multimedia artists gathered together for a day of style presentations as well as an intimate discussion on issues emanating from their own brand of art.

New-media artists such as Tupada International Action Art conveners Ronaldo Ruiz and Mannet Villariba, instalation artist Yason Banal, joined by video-artist Tad Ermitano, and soundartist Jing Garcia of The Children of Cathode Ray, were among the presenters at the event.

Multimedia: evolution and transformation

2006-03-08T01:41:00.000+08:00

In a square white room, 8 monitors, facing in, are arranged in a circle in front of a wall marked with pencil lines. The video commences on the first monitor with a hand holding a lead pencil drawing a horizontal line on a white surface from right to left and then on to the next monitor and so on, until it starts all over again on the first monitor. The manner is loosely systematic but the result is quite effective. The drawn lines overlap continuously until the dark lead almost fills the screens.

Excerpt from:
RealTimeArts- Multimedia: evolution and transformation
by Jing Garcia

Read the entire article at:
http://www.realtimearts.net/rt65/garcia.html

Gravity of Sound

2006-03-07T01:38:00.000+08:00

Katawán, Satti includes Filipino artists Tad Ermitaño and Jing Garcia from the group Children of Cathode Ray. They have worked for 15 years in experimental sound and the underground video scene and collaborated on the sound score for this show. Alfredo Manrique, a famous Filipino social realist, is a painter and printmaker who presented his first exhibition of computer prints in 1998.

Excerpt from:
Katawán, Satti
The body between: an interview/review
Keith Gallasch talks to Fatima Lasay

Read the entire article at:
http://www.realtimearts.net/maap04/gallasch_lasay.html

MAAP 2004 - Multimedia Arts Asia Pacific

2006-03-07T00:40:00.000+08:00

Filipino artists Tad Ermitaño and Jing Garcia, from the group known as "Children of Cathode Ray", share their long experience of experimental sound and video art, and how they are able to transgress boundaries of abstract sound and what Ermitaño calls a "visual and aural sensuousness underpinned by a rigorous sequential logic."

Excerpt from:
Katawán, Satti (Body, Force)
Fatima Lasay fats@up.edu.ph
August 2004

Read the entire article at:
http://www.vpa.nie.edu.sg/visual/collect.html

Children of Cathode Ray

2006-02-27T13:45:00.000+08:00

The original 1989 lineup of The Children of Cathode Ray consisted of Blums Borres, Tad Ermitaño, Jing Garcia, Regiben Romana, and Magyar Tuason, with Peter Marquez pitching in as tech and gaffer. The band is a closed but metastable collective, with a 15-year history sporadic dormancy interleaved with sudden bursts of activity. Various combinations of its set of 6 members have disappeared (sometimes for years) only to rejoin as casually as they dropped out. The band is and was a catchall for the members' interests in music, sound, experimental film, lighting, poetry, graphic arts and technological deconstruction.

A Cathode Ray piece might have radios and 4-second cassette-tape loops feeding into a mix filled with drums and electronic percussion, effected guitars, synthesized pads and passionate raving in an invented language, which would in turn be augmented visually by video feedback, projections of exposed Super-8 abraded with a variety of kitchen implements, or VHS spliced on a pair of consumer VCRs. In its present incarnation, the band consists of Tad Ermitaño, Blums Borres and Jing Garcia orchestrating sound and video live out of computers. However, instead of music being composed to add mood to pre-existing visuals (as happens in film), or video being composed to back up pre-existing music (as happens in rock/electronica), Cathode Ray's methods give equal primacy to sound and imagery. A looping image might inspire a certain timbre or rhythm, which calls up an accompaniment in the lower registers, which in turn provokes a decrease in the image's luminance, and so on. -Tad Ermitaño

autoceremony

2006-02-27T13:33:00.000+08:00

Formed in 2005, autoceremony is a solo project-studio effort of mine as a creative musical outlet that spawned from my earlier experimental soundart group Dominguez-Shimata.Colony (est.1995) and The Children of Cathode Ray (est.1989).

The Children of Cathode Ray was a collaborative attempt of a group of six enterprising bohemians hanging-out at Red Rocks(later Club Dredd) in Timog Avenue. Bred from a variety of musical and artistic genre, they got together to create unstructured music out of found instruments, new media and various electronic sound sources, including (ambient) noise. It was a meaningful attempt to deconstruct musical theories and compositions that many of us are already familiar with.

Transforming and synthesizing audio into soundart was an imaginative endeavor that eventually found significant live presentations inside universities, underground rock clubs, and art houses, not to mention three performances at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The same inspired thought of making sense - or nonsense - out of chaotic sound continues with my current project-studio conception. -Jing Garcia