Keeping Rock n' Roll Unsafe...Again! 06/27

because we're lazy/busy bunch of motherfuckers who cant come up with any decent posts, this will do for now.

The Spirals - A Decade Later (review)

"A Decade Later" is a surprising gem coming from the erstwhile unheard-of Spirals. With the slew of poorly written, even more poorly-recorded songs coming forth from the speakers of our FM radios nowadays (yes, you can probably guess who you are, so I won't mention names), I hardly expected anything from "yet another local band". But somehow, this band managed to pierce through my calloused tastes and tickled my fancies enough to get one thumb up.

While the days of my enthusiasm for post-punk music died out with Franz Ferdinand (whatever happened to them?), I can still appreciate staccato rhythms and hauntingly repetitive guitar notes. In the postpunk world, everything is so derivative that the only way for a band to stand out is to go a little over the top and actually reset the counter back to "original", just like Franz Ferdinand and a few others have done. Unfortunately, "A Decade Later" falls short of that level of rock 'n' roll greatness. But of course, how much can one expect of a relatively new (or so I presume) band? For a (and again, I presume) first EP, it's an excellent effort to deviate from the current mainstream of local music - and music in general!

What I like most about the album - it's not a particularly professional-sounding album, but the effort put into it is obvious. It takes commitment to actually come out and pull off a well-recorded album in these days when penny-pinching for studio time is a trend. About the songwriting? Reminiscent of Interpol - dark and ambiguous. The arrangement is even darker - with damp, lonely guitar notes resonating from all aural corners.

All in all, I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars, leaving just enough room for growth. As soon as this band finds its own signature sound, they could well be on their way to becoming the next big thing.

-> Teh Spirals on Teh Myspace
(first printed on the most awesomest music webzine of yesteryear, eksena.net)

the second transmission : "boy pops girl"

thanks for the long wait my dear geeks and friends. and so you probably notice that we're now back with this shit, keeping you dear, internet people, with the latest sonic juice right about your favorite southside musicmongers. we know you miss us alot (if not boo-fucking-hoo) so we're making it up by way of putting ang cooking up almost an hour of good quality music incase you get bored from facebooking and/or maybe from torrenting too much katrina halili-related porn.

the bands featured on this mix are specifically chosen on a sole reason: because we like em (and we would expect you would too). as for the tunes, as much as we would like to talk and beat around them with personal notes and whatnot, we'll just leave it up to you dear listeners for the taking lest we be branded of ill favoritism(and we're actually lazy bunches who hate music pigeonholing). if you like the band, visit their respective links below to get to know more about them, befriend them, tell them how cool they are and buy their merch for chrissakes!

on a technical note, the list in which the band appears on the cover remains as is with the song order. fillers and extra shit are added in between song. half of the songs which we have included, are posted with permission from the respective bands who own the music, which to our favor gave us the thumbs up. the other half, well, to put it bluntly, are taken and reposted from somewhere(read: myspace) to here. and as per rule of thumb, in case you decided you're too cool for this blog and would like your shit to be removed immediately, shoot us a restraining cease and desist order note at shoutkast@gmail.com.

...and now.


Southkast Radio - The 2nd Transmission (part i)

Southkast Radio - The 2nd Transmission (part ii)

contains:
1.) intro/filler 2.) tiger pussy - when you were young, you called everyone a bitch 3.) the spirals - betamax format 4.) undercover grasshoppers - sidetrack 5.) rescue a hero - to my dearest 6.) rhodamorgenstern - worthy 7.) otis green - there is no need for paracetamol 8.) mathet - maternal 9.) foc fashion - not sure 10.) face first down - nine fifty nine 11.) jewels of delilah - rosary burns 12.) a call for blood - rose for prisa 13.) bombo pluto ova - death rides nothing 14.) xiomara & the robot balloons - before the 30th* 15.) shadowbox serenade - kanta sa kadulog

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* sent by louell/spirals who by the way, is starting a personal blog incidentally called "30 : still clumsy, still shy". if we get sued for this shit, then he's to blame.

+ image copyright © Edgar Degas. Spartan Girls Provoking Boys. c.1860-62. National Gallery, London