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December 28, 2009“NO NOMINEES, JUST WINNERS”: THE 2ND QLE AWARDS WILL BE HELD ON DECEMBER 28, MONDAY, 10 PM, AT MAG:NET HIGH STREET
LUIS KATIGBAK: It all started last year, when three music-loving, media-saturated friends were disillusioned with the usual annual rock awards. They launched a new ‘awards show’ with articles in the three major dailies, culminating in a gig featuring Intolerant, Itchyworms, Up Dharma Down and others. Those three friends were myself, filmmaker Quark Henares and editor Erwin Romulo.
QUARK HENARES: A lot of really cool things happened after [last year's QLE articles] came out. Rock Ed put up an awards night that was really more of a get-together of music lovers than a hoity-toity awards show.
ERWIN ROMULO: I never imagined we’d do it this again this year, when so much has happened and there is very little to celebrate. Plus this year’s NU Rock Awards was the best in its history.
QUARK: Instead of semi-protesting the Rock Awards, QLE has a new mission, and that is to turn you on to good music that’s mostly overlooked by the pop charts. [...] 2009 in general may have been the most horrible year in the history of the known universe, so I thank the following musicians with all my heart for keeping me company and being that glimmer of hope in the midst of all this chaos…
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BEST SONG I’VE HEARD THIS YEAR
“Matina Town Square” by Zach Lucero feat. Sarah Marco [Quark]
“Matina Town Square” is a masterpiece that will win you over with its 90s alt rock earnestness.
“The Story So Far” by Outerhope [Luis]
Written with honesty, performed with skill and love, this song is one of the most beautiful stories I’ve heard in a long time.
“Superpoke is Nothing Compared to True Love” by Us-2 Evil-0 [Erwin]
An affecting anthem, heartfelt and impassioned but deeply introspective. When Dulce sings, “We just fade away,” it’s already happened―only the song remains.
BEST SONG I’VE HEARD THIS YEAR THAT WAS NOT RELEASED THIS YEAR
“Mmm” by Arigato Hato [Quark]
“Mmm” is a slow-burn delight that results in LSS for weeks to come.
“Clarity (N:ua Remix)” by Bagetsafonik [Luis]
While the song was good to start with, the N:ua reworking―from the 2008 Travel Agents remix album―takes it to a mesmerizing new place.
“Line Drawings” by Sandwich [Erwin]
Cruelly overlooked even by its makers, this is the one song from Sandwich’s < S > Marks The Spot that sounds more alive than any of the popular singles released from the album.
BEST SONG I’VE HEARD LIVE THIS YEAR
Ang Huling El Bimbo by the Eraserheads [Quark]
Cheating, I know, but someone has to acknowledge the sheer drama and power with which the Eheads performed “Ang Huling El Bimbo” for the “Final Set (yeah, right)” last February.
“Medicine” by Waya [Luis]
“Medicine” may have been written based on the lead singer’s experiences with asthma, but it will leave you breathless for other reasons entirely.
“Juggernaut” by Greyhoundz [Erwin]
“Juggernaut” is the song that I wish they made during the band’s heyday in the 90s. If anything, it might’ve prolonged the period so that we could’ve bypassed all the “acoustic” acts that followed them.
BEST SINGLE THAT I HEARD ON THE RADIO
“Matina Town Square” by Zach Lucero feat. Sarah Marco [Quark]
“Twenty Years From Now” by Outerhope [Luis]
Outerhope handed over their new album to radio stations without specifying a single, so it’s interesting to see which tracks individual stations choose to air. This one seemed a natural…
“Let’s Make Babies” by The Bernadettes [Erwin]
This is what all pop should aspire to. It’s music drunk on its own exuberance.
BEST LIVE ACT
Eraserheads [Quark]
Again, it seems totally pointless for me to even give props to the greatest band ever, but the second reunion concert felt like a sort of homecoming to me.
Corporate Lo-Fi [Luis]
Hip-hop with a full band setup is not a new concept, but as you can imagine, it’s not an easy thing to pull off…
Turbo Goth [Erwin]
It’s the shoulders. They make music.
BEST SECOND ALBUM
A Day for the Absent by Outerhope [Quark]
It’s the perfect Sunday afternoon record, a steady listen that showcases Outerhope’s Peanuts-score sound crisper and clearer than the first. [...] Well worth the four-year wait.
Back to the Nut House by Hilera [Erwin]
With their second effort, they’ve grown in ambition as well as skill, delivering a modern rockabilly experience that’s angrier but more focused than its predecessor.
BEST GUITAR PLAYING ON AN ALBUM
Kris Gorra-Dancel [Erwin]
Many of our so-called guitar heroes could learn a thing from listening to Gorra-Dancel, who doesn’t need to resort to a single solo to show that she plays with balls.
BEST FRONTPERSON
Katwo Librando-Puertollano, Duster [Luis]
With undeniable style, spirit, and occasionally slightly off-kilter spiels, she charms and confronts and conquers.
BEST ALBUM COVER
Peryodiko [Quark]
19-year old Paulina Ortega made this brilliant album cover by pouring and shaping real wax. She is genius waiting to happen.
The Dingdong Dantes Experience [Erwin]
Self-explanatory.
The Distinktive Sounds of Pasta Groove [Luis]
The cover accurately―and attractively―represents the glorious mashup of elements inside. You know, much like the Dingdong Dantes album cover does.
BEST NEW ARTIST
Waya [Luis]
This is a band that can do seemingly anything, from revelatory covers of Roison Murphy and The Gossip and Talking Heads to instant-favorite originals like “When” and “Medicine.”
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT
Ciudad [Erwin]
Our favorite band is still at it and now they’re playing in Manhattan!
Nine Inch Nails [Quark]
I don’t think Manila’s rocked this hard since Rage Against The Machine back in ’97.
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Up Dharma Down’s “Taya” directed by Nic Reyes [Quark]
Nic Reyes and Up dharma Down have always been the perfect pair-up, and it’s great watching this young director grow with the band.
Pasta Groove’s “Give Bearth” directed by Paolo Garcia [Luis]
Flickering and unfolding like a dream, splicing in vintage film clips with new footage made to look archaeological, the video enhances rather than detracts from the Pasta Groove experience.
Us-2 Evil-0’s “Mighty Heart Attack” directed by J.A. Tadena [Erwin]
Standing as an antithesis to all the rest of the videos gaining airplay today, J.A. Tadena’s video for Us-2 Evil-0’s first single is not a patchwork of pegs strung together from the director’s favorite videos but rather a sincere piece of filmmaking.
BEST LIVE ALBUM
Shuffle Union [Erwin]
Recorded at a tribute gig to the late Luis ‘Weslu’ Guiang in Cubao, this is certainly a testament to the spirit of the statement of its producer, Betrayed’s Je Bautista, that “ska is reggae on beer.”
BEST COLLABORATION
“Matina Town Square” by Zach Lucero feat. Sarah Marco [Luis + Quark]
Not only would it appeal to fans of Zach and Sarah’s bands―Imago and Taken By Cars, respectively―its catchy headlong quality would win over people who were fans of neither.
“Giving Bearth” by Pasta Groove (featuring Up Dharma Down’s Armi Millare, Rubber Inc’s Malek Lopez and Third World Project’s Allen Umali among others) [Erwin]
This track is a demonstration of how adept afro-Filipino stalwart Pasta Groove is in making diverse elements work to his advantage producing music that’s uniquely his own.
BEST PROTEST SONG
“Wala” by Kamikazee [Erwin]
“Wala” is what’s it all about now; and where it’s at—a defiant album saying that for all the bluster our pop stars and Illac Diaz have promoted themselves with: what does it really amount to? WALA.
BEST ALBUM
A Day for the Absent by Outerhope [Luis]
…the songs, from the childlike yet brilliant “Lost in Numbers” to the jaunty “Anna Gabrielle” to the drum-machine driven “Twenty Years From Now” and the deeply affecting “The Man With The Pipes,” are just the best songs I heard this year.
Travel Advisory by Archipelago [Erwin]
…the music sits well with itself, so assured of its own strength that it needn’t try to do anything else.
Fall Crash Infect by Zach Lucero [Quark]
Fall Crash Infect is the best thing that an album could be considering who Lucero is and where he’s been—it’s cathartic.
The full explanations by Quark, Luis and Erwin will come out in the three major daily broadsheets. Stay tuned for links. see you at the awards show!
i read this on erwin romulo’s column just this morning. never knew there was a song about matina town square. i miss davao!