The Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival in Puerto Galera is shaping up to be one of the biggest music festivals in the country today. This year’s festival is no different. In fact, this year’s Malasimbo lineup may be even bigger than last year’s. For 3 days, from March 2 to March 4, the foot of Mount Malasimbo will be turned into a musical paradise where local bands like Up Dharma Down, Radioactive Sago Project, Good Leaf, Similar Objects, and more will be sharing the stage with legendary foreign acts like Latin Soul pioneer Joe Bataan, hip hop DJ Kentaro, and Shuya Okino of Kyoto Jazz Massive fame, and Eureka The Butcher, the solo electronic project of The Mars Volta’s Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, definitely one of the most anticipated acts in this year’s line-up.

And it’s not called a “music and arts festival” for nothing. There will be visual art exhibits by acclaimed artists such as Gus Albor, Kawayan De Guia, Agnes Arellano, Olivia D’Aboville, and Billy Bonnevie, just to name a few.

The fun doesn’t stop there, though. There will also be workshops ranging from Yoga, art workshops, drums and percussion, and more. You’re bound to find something that fits your interests.

For an additional PHP 400, you can also be part of the Malasimboat Parties, held on Kristal’s Liki Tiki Floating Bar.

The Three Day Pass for the festivals costs PHP 2,575 and the Single Day Pass costs PHP 1,030. For more information about the festival, visit their website at http://www.malasimbofestival.com.

Malasimbo Festival 2012 Trailer

Every  year, thousands of bands from around the world flock to Austin, Texas to play South By Southwest. It is a mecca of sorts for bands looking for exposure, where talented unsigned bands perform at showcases for record executives and A & R people; where music fans hop from venue to venue, following the bands they love and discovering new favorites in the process.

On March 15, Taken By Cars, arguably one of the Philippines’ top acts, will be in Austin, Texas for South By Southwest. Finally.

And what better way to celebrate this momentous occasion than with a big send-off party?

The Taken By Cars send-off gig will be held on March 3 at the Republiq Club, in Newport Mall, located at Resorts World Manila. Tickets are available for pre-order starting tomorrow, February 20 until February 29. The pre-ordered tickets cost PHP 500 and will cost PHP 600 after the 29^th of February.

To pre-order the tickets, just text  +639228258946 or email party.bear.records@gmail.com.

And of course Splintr fans will be given a chance to win free tickets for the event. More details to follow. Keep your eye on this blog for updates.

Meanwhile, here’s the RA Rivera-directed video for the Taken By Car’s song “Unidentified” from their 2nd album “Dualist”.

If there’s one thing that can be said about Filipino bands is that they are hardworking. The case is especially true for Paramita, probably one of the hardest working bands in the Philippine music scene today. This much-loved band comprised of Ria Bautista, Marco de Leon, and Alsey Cortez seem to have tapped into the ether with their infectious hooks and interesting dynamics. They have a bunch of shows lined up on their Facebook page, so feel free to check them out at these shows when you can.

But if you’re one of those people who are not able to catch bands whenever they perform live, well The JD Set Philippines and Jam 88.3 have done you a really huge favor by inviting none other than Paramita to perform an exclusive on-air set. Be sure to tune in to Jam 88.3 for Jam Sessions tomorrow at 7:00 PM and listen as Paramita ends Valentines week not with a whimper, but with a bang… and some kick-ass rock music.

Rock bands don’t usually make a lot of noise during the annual Grammy Awards but Foo Fighters sure was able to create a lot of buzz. The awards night was certainly toned down a bit due to the tragic and unexpected passing of music legend Whitney Houston but the band will go down in history as one of the more dominant bands in Grammy Awards history as they got FIVE awards:

Best Rock Album – Wasting Light

Best Rock Performance – ‘Walk’

Best Rock Song – ‘Walk’

Best Hard Rock/ Metal Performance – ‘White Limo’

Best Long Form Music Video – ‘Back and Forth’

The album Wasting Light was also nominated for album of the year but it lost out to Adele’s 21. The British singer ended up with six Grammys for the night and was the only artist with more trophies at night’s end compared to the Foo Fighters.

The band tried to return to their roots by recording the entire album using analog equipment – as a throwback to the grunge past of the Foo Fighters and a way to divorce their music from the artificiality of digital recording that has somewhat dominated recent rock releases. The release was a very nostalgic and strong album that has been well-received by the band’s fans and as it turns out, the Grammy committee.

The five awards that Foo Fighters won puts the band’s total to 11 Grammy Awards.  The band’s first awards from the Grammys came in 2001 when the award-giving body cited the album  There Is Nothing Left To Lose – the album that had the great tracks ‘Learn To Fly’, ‘Generator’, ‘Breakout’ among others – as the best rock album for that year. Few bands can come close to this mark. Aside from the wins, the band have also been nominated a total of 25 times!

This comes at a great time. Foo Fighters are set to play a show at The Padang in Singapore on March 2. This is the closest the band has ever been to playing in the Philippines. Singapore will be the lone Southeast Asian stop so think long and hard before passing this one up.

Right before At The Drive-In’s scheduled appearance at Coachella Music Festival on April, The Mars Volta will be releasing their sixth studio album called Noctourniquet. The album follows Octahedron (the 2009 release) and will be channeling songs inspired by Solomon Grundy (a villain from the Superman comic books) and the Greek mythology tale of Hyacinthus.

It will be interested to see Cedric Bixler-Zavala and company balance their time as At The Drive In has already hinted several times that they plan to keep touring well after Coachella.

No singles have been released so far but one could bet that one will be dropping soon – the album is slated for a March 27 release.

The band released the song ‘Prurien†’ as a free download on the official Rolling Stones website. One spin and you’ll see that Moreno has definitely left his prints all over this creation – while his voice soars over the arrangement, the song is definitely a lot lighter than your typical Deftones song. The vocals are absolutely relaxed and soothing – just like most Deftones tracks but there’s certainly a different flavor to †††.

How To Destroy Angels - a trio comprising of Trent Reznor, wife Mariqueen Maandig and musical genius Atticus Ross – is offering a free preview of a cover of “Is Your Love Strong Enough” originally by Brian Ferry. The song was released early December of last year and has since been played over 29,000 times on the official How To Destroy Angels blog.

The song is a very soothing with a lot of ambient moments. Mariqueen does almost all of the vocal chores on the track – and yes, as her surname would suggest she is very much Pinay. She was the lead vocalist of the band West Indian Girl for the most part of the last decade and was married to the NIN frontman October 2009 – just months after Reznor and co. played in Manila.

The song is part of the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo sound track. Reznor and Ross were the brains behind the Academy-Award winning score for The Social Network. The pair were finalists to the Golden Globes for the same category but they ultimately lost to Ludovic Bource for the Artist.

Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Foo Fighters.

Aside from being awesome bands that are famous all over the world, these three bands share something in common – they have been to Asia to promote their albums via a concert series but they’ve all decided to skip the Philippines for one reason or another. It’s quite frustrating since Filipinos have proven time and time again that they’re voracious concert goers. While Pinoys do lap up the pop sensations who visit, rock bands like Incubus have routinely been welcomed with open arms! They wouldn’t have played here three times if it made zero business sense on their part.

The Philippines used to be a good place to hold events in. The Araneta Coliseum played host to what is perhaps the most memorable fight moniker of all time – the Thrilla in Manila. Metallica has played here before and Rage Against the Machine likewise held a show here (in Pasig!) during the 90s.

So what changed?

For one, the world economy has changed so much that bands have had to scale back in a lot of things. It takes a lot of guts to bring a product like Foo Fighters or Red Hot Chili Peppers to the Philippines. While their albums are sure-fire number 1 hits in the US, it would be a stretch to expect a jam-packed Araneta if they do go into town. That’s why it takes a lot of faith and belief in a business model for a company to bring in an artist like Deftones or Nine Inch Nails to the country – they may not necessarily be the most mainstream of artists but there’s a lot to be said with their very devoted following.

A country’s economic standing also plays a good part in planning the concert. It’s not enough to have a lot of fans – it has to be an event that makes business sense. Will there be sponsors? Will there be enough people to build buzz for upcoming concerts? While we Filipinos can rest easy on how proficient we are in the social media game, we’re still a long way from being the country that people look at as far as the artistic and musical compass of the region is concerned.

With Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers and now Foo Fighters (playing in Singapore, March 2) becoming more open in playing in more Asian locations, the idea of flying out for a night or two just to catch a show becomes a valid proposition. For people who have the means, it’s definitely a choice that is considered for a long time. After all, this could be the most cost-efficient way to catch a band – the alternative option would be to buy a more expensive ticket to a location that is farther than Singapore and Hong Kong. But still, shelling out for airline tickets (this would at least set you back 5-10 grand) and good tickets (5-10 grand, probably as well) would eat into your wallet.

If anything, we could take solace in the idea that the times are changing a bit. Bands are starting to consider Manila (again) as a destination. Hopefully, the choices that Deftones, Korn, Incubus, Thursday, 30STM, Saosin and many others would resonate with the other bands.

Taken by Cars had such an awesome year in 2011. After releasing their well-acclaimed Dualist album in a packed Amber Lounge early last year, the band successfully came up with two singles that are now being played over the airwaves. The band also released their music video for “Unidentified” during the Splintr yearender party Eat Your Beets.

While international citations is nothing new for Taken by Cars – they were named as one of the top Asian bands to watch by Time Magazine not so long ago; something truly big just got served on TbC’s plate. The band was invited to play at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival to be held in Austin, Texas from March 13 to 18.

The band is currently raising funds for this expedition of sorts and all the preparation will culminate on March 3 at Republiq where Taken by Cars will play for their fans one last time before they make their way to Austin. The band is also planning to release outtakes and performances from their preparations and 2012 SXSW experience on DVD.

This is definitely a great opportunity for the band and an awesome chance for Philippine music to be heard outside of our borders. We’ve already seen some bands cracking the scene in international festivals in Singapore and it’s about time that OPM gets its due in stages elsewhere. The SXSW festival is a melting pot of different musical styles and ethnicities. Last year’s festival attracted bands from 57 countries and this year’s festival promises to be as diverse.

We wish Taken by Cars all the best! Congratulations!

To register simply go to the Blaster Studio (#29, 2nd flr, Rd 8, Project 6, Visayas Avenue, Quezon City) and secure a registration form. Each band would only need to pay 200 pesos! Bands would then be scheduled for screening and if your band is really awesome, you can get P1000 in gift certificates from Black Kings Bar and a chance to record one of your band’s songs professionally in the ultra-cool Blaster studio!

Once you’ve been named a monthly winner, your band will also be included in the Blaster compilation album and be in the running for the grand finals! If your band ends up winning the whole shebang you will win P 25,000 cash, P5,000 worth of gift certificates to Black Kings Bar and a band’s greatest dream – a full album recording FOR FREE at the Blaster Studio (A P50,000 value)! Aside from this, the winning band will also be featured at Rakista.com and the band will also be given 150 copies of their recorded work. Exciting prizes will also be given away by Draven Shoes, Lyric and Sennheiser!

Imagine the opportunities that this would open for your band!

Come on! Register, you never know if your band’s dreams could actually come true with this helluva shot from Blaster!