Bee Eyes, a totally cool low-fi garage rock band, will be touring various bars in Manila this October. If you're in town make sure to see them! They recently opened for the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and have a spread in Esquire Magazine. Bee Eyes sound like a toned-down Jesus and Mary Chain with a whole lot of Beach Boys, and their mellow, drowned-out guitar and drums accompanied with the dreamy, echoing voice of their lead singer Idris is perfect music for those polaroid-colored lazy days out on the beach.
I won't say Bee Eyes is original because this low-fi genre has been around for awhile in the States, and in fact, most, if not all bands in Manila are influenced by the American music scene. Putting originality aside though, if you like the American bands Panda Bear, the Minks, and T.V. Girl to name a few, then you'd definitely love its Filipino counterpart Bee Eyes. If you don't want to take my word for it, then take Victor Basa's, a friend and loyal follower.
Below you can find their bar tour dates in Manila:
I'm excited about my recent discovery of the Cinemalaya Film Festival. It's a non-governmental organization that provides financial grants to independent film directors and showcases their films at the Philippine Cultural Center every July. This year there are three films I want to see from the Festival. Which of these films do you want to see? Provide your comments and remarks after viewing the trailers below!:
Ang Katiwala by Aloy Adlawan
In this movie Ruben, a carpenter, finds a new job as a care taker for a grand home once occupied by a historically significant deceased Filipino President. Knowing little about this former historical figure, Ruben becomes fascinated as he reads up and learns more about him. The night-shift security guard of the compound jokes that Ruben is slowly being possessed by the deceased owner. Here's a clip from the film:
Ang Nawawala by Marietta Jamora
Columbia Univeristy trained Marietta Jamora debutes her first feature film. It's about 20 year-old Gibson Bonifacio who comes home to the Philippines for the holidays and reconsiders and redefines his relationships back home. I'm really excited to see this one (The music soundtrack is excellent):
The Animals by Gino Santos
It's a film about growing up in a wealthy Filipino upper class family. Don't know much about the film, but it sure does look like how upper class kids act in the Philippines!
The Filipino art community and its media coverage both locally and globally is small, so for the artists that do get press and media, all the more power to them! There are only a handful of Manila galleries, the most notable being Silverlens and Pablo. Most of the notable contemporary art galleries popped-up just recently, the earliest in 2004, so the Manila art world and the burgeoning art community are also very new. If you can afford to buy world-class art and support local Filipino artists, please do so. You will be helping this emerging art culture grow while obtaining important works of art.
Address:
2FYMC Bldg. II
2320 Don Chino Roces Avenue Extension
Makati City 1231, Philippines
Silverlens recently opened in 2004 and was ranked #1 by spot.com. The gallery aims to be the hub of contemporary art in Southeast Asia. Founded by Isa Lorenzo and Rachel Rillo, both photographers, the gallery focused on photography in its early inception but expanded to other mediums in 2008. It's a world-class gallery space:
Silverlens Gallery
Silverlens is currently representing these artists:
Frank Callaghan, Mariano Ching, Christina Dy, Patricia Perez Eustaquio, Dina Gadia, Gina Osterloh, Gary-Ross Pastrana, Hanna Petty John, Rachel Rillo, Maria Taniguchi.
My favorite artist at Silverlens is Frank Callaghan who is English by decent, grew up in Baguio and now currently resides in Manila. His series of photographs on urban landscapes are intriguing, making us examine more closely and contemplatively the mundane urban landscapes we zoom by in our cars everyday. Somehow these photos reach into our subconsciousness the ways in which we identify the distinct landscape of Manila. Here are some of his most notable photos:
Titled: "Stranger- Symmetry/Duality"
Titled: "Boat"
Address:
2289 Pasong Tamo Extension
UPRC III Building, Makati City
Metro Manila, Philippines 1231
Address:
Unit C-11 South of Market Condominium
Fort Bonifacio Global City
Taguig, Philippines
Pablo Galleries opened in Cubao X on September 16, 2005, and have expanded gallery space in two locations in Makati City. It's aim is to exhibit the works of young contemporary talent in the Philippines and emerge as a key player in the art world. Here is a photo of the Pablo storefront in Cubao X:
At their Fort location they recently exhibited the works of Dina Gadia and Allan Balisi. Dina is fascinated with images from retro 1950's and 60's posters, and tries to understand and dig the past by placing a skull or exposing flesh where there once was a beautiful face or smooth skin on the image.
A new Filipino music label, Number Line Records, representing various Manila indie bands was established in 2011. Number Line Records' website looks fantastic and the music sounds even better. They describe themselves as "an independent music label based in Manila, Philippines. It was established in 2011 as a collective platform for like-minded Filipino artists to distribute music locally and globally. Number Line Records specializes in free digital releases."
Number Line Record's Tarsius, an amazing electronic band, just played Hong Kong on August 24th. They jam some good beats and are reminiscent of the LCD Soundsystem. You can see them play at various venus like Saguio Bar and Cafe and B-Side Collective. Watch their video Deathless Gods, directed by Marie Jamora:
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