QED Records is home to some of the finest and most obscure electronic/ambient/IDM/club recordings you could ever find this side of the internet. And while the Manila-based netlabel has decided to stop its coverage 2 years ago much to the disappointment of music fans and lurkers, revisiting their old catalogs can lead you to discovering hidden treasures that have come to define the innovations and trends of electronic music of a particular season or year, when only a few gave an F word about it.

One of the tracks that caught my fancy was “Home In You”—a Holiday-brushing marvel that pays tribute to “marriage and lasting relationships.” This fantastic collab between electronic producer and QED Records founder Acid42 and pop crooner Cholo Mallillin was commissioned by their friend Mon Guinto as a birthday gift to his wife Karen in 2004. And while it sounds like The Blue Nile or China Crisis on a Christmas shopping spree in the glitzy land of Vegas, it retains  a certain jazzy vibe ready to wrap its arm around you for the long winter haul.


REVISITED: Acid42 Feat. Cholo Mallillin - Home In You (2004)

It’s probably best to assume that after “Peppermint Mocha” held us in captivity last year, it might take some time before Loop would be able to unleash their minty-smeared spunk and surprise listeners again the same way its bittersweet ditty charmed us last year. But here comes “Adorable”—the first single off Loop’s upcoming album Flirting With The Universe, swooning its way to our ears with the blanket-comforting, ethereal pop smarts of The Sundays and The Cranberries. 

Name-dropping aside, the most distinctive ingredient about Loop has always been Kim Trinidad’s voice, whose syrupy hypnotic quality serves as the perfect fit to the band’s delicate wall of shimmering guitar-pop sound. The magic of hearing them lift off the runway and coast up in a very flighty position is very evident in this particular track. Here, they have created something that is both accessible and compelling, an effortless undertaking to nix the sophomore jinx and turn even the most cynical of listeners into converts.


Loop - Adorable

IDM prodigy Morse has recently lent his remixing hand to convert Imago’s indie-rock anthem “Kapit” into a deep, pulsating post-dubstep cut. Stripping the song to its ethereal bareness, the veteran music producer applies tense rhythmic patterns and skittering beats to Mayumi’s otherworldly vocals, restoring the emotional resonance of the original while also defying its strictures with a left-field approach.

The result: an interesting joint with undercurrents of the UK bass-driven club culture thrown in the bag. That Morse has never sucked in the remix department and has done the task progressively over the years, speaks so much about his latest reimagining of Imago’s new track. But you have to credit Mayumi for her enigmatic vocal gifts. Her instrument glides effortlessly in the mix, wandering above the fray, wispy and calm: with nowhere to go but to your dream-of-consciousness.


Imago - Kapit (Morse Magnetic Mix)

There’s a surge of renewed interest surrounding Nuncyspungen right now, at the center of which is their upcoming new EP of wild-limbed post-hardcore sensibilities and shambling atmospherics. 15 years in the game, the aggressive rock quartet comes off even more frenzied than before as heard in their new track “No Exit.” Here, you get to hear their off-kilter melange of militaristic rhythms, textured loud guitars, and nihilistic charm, slipping into anthemic heights. But all these chaos and grim come together to form one uniquely rousing whole, with nuanced and sophisticated arrangements to back it up. And by the time it rolls around to the finish line, it leaves a lot to the imagination. And that’s a big part of why we keep coming back to this CDO-based band.

Nuncyspungen - No Exit

Ambition is nothing new for Chocolate Grass. Without August Wahh singing the blues in her creamy upper register or the band stripping the core elements of ‘70s soul in a bohemian vigil, their songs would feel stale and uninspired, the kind which lacks the ridiculous complexity that has drawn us into their music in the first place. This is why “Better than a kiss itself” works in a Chocolate Grass context: the keyboards and horn arrangements are both mesmerizing in its runs and pauses, and its psychedelic, jazzy warmth does something that fellow contemporaries seemed to lack—passion and intensity. There’s hypnotic playfulness in the way Chocolate Grass articulate sensuality and rage like both elements intertwine at one point. When August gushes over a summer romance and belts out, “Sometimes it’s better than the kiss itself,” it all sounds more like a command than a confessional in itself. Her voice is a towering presence, an intense weapon that razors your feelings with the deepest cut. Restraint may not be in her vocabulary, but her voice adds fuel to the band’s show-stopping display of force and talent, a fearlessness that trades control for maximum emotional effectiveness.  

Chocolate Grass - Better Than A Kiss Itself

Unlike the younger batch of garage-rock blokes, The Bernadettes aren’t afraid to show their lack of sophistication and pop sheen. They understand very well their limitation and proudly dish out rock n’ roll anthems in dirty, sloppy fashion. Such attitude not only functions as their strongest suit, but also serves as their beer-hug of a swagger, a quality that helps music fans avoid compulsively thinking of what they sound like and instead focus on what the music can offer at the moment. The Bernadettes’ personalities are huge and likable, but they back it up with indelibly catchy power-pop glee that you’re left without a choice but sing along to every word you can’t even understand, while chugging a couple of drinks with your friends like tomorrow never happens. 

And with a song like “Nasty Pictures” getting them back on track, The Bernadettes maintains interest in keeping us drunk, rowdy and giddy, which is precisely the very point of their existence. The song doesn’t head them in a new direction, but it lives up to the excitement brought by their alt-rock smash “Let’s Make Babies,” fleshing its rawness in fully realized form. While “Nasty Pictures” reeks of unapologetic kick in the arse, it also wallows in scorned self-pity as it reaches its finale, with lyrics “I can’t let you go, I can’t let you go, I’m not hurting anymore,” making sense of the emotional disguise. 


The Bernadettes - Nasty Pictures

You won’t find anything that would subvert the local hip-hop game on “Koronasyon,” the latest single off Gnarrate’s upcoming EP. It’s a diamond in the rough, crackling to life as soon as Chrizo’s laid-back beats and patched soul sample take over the space with spitfire of an energy. Gnarrate barely makes an attempt to tip the scales in his favor, but he settles for bars that lead to crossover reliability, without having to put himself aggressively on the spotlight. While his straightforward delivery feels like he’s not having fun here, he pulls it off for the most part. “Koronasyon” won’t crush the buzz alarm the same way Curtismith, Ninno, BLKD or newbie heavyweights have done in the past few months, but it’s a much-welcomed place to start: a promising debut worth checking out.

Gnarrate - Koronasyon

“Bang! Bang!” isn’t exactly a creative departure from Toni B’s brand of harrowing confessionals, but it recognizes her strength as a singer-songwriter with a voice that demands to be heard. Toni is unstoppable when she sings the hell out a song, enriching it with the kind of remorse and vulnerability honed through years of experience. 

Taken as a whole document, “Bang! Bang!” casts an even vaster shadow than anything she has released yet. Wrap her chops with richly textured production and you’ll hear her destroy everything that comes her way.


Toni B. - Bang! Bang!

“Persistence” is a suave effort that should appeal to music fans who dig the likes of Brand New Heavies, Incognito and D’Sound. Their smooth blend of acid jazz, funk and retro-soul is a significant shift from their early demos, punctured with a more refined production to highlight a warmer sound. Sure, their latest track resonates more with the older guard, but there’s effortless charm in the way Isa sings coolly atop driving, jazzy rhythms and wily melodic turns, steering clear of forced ambition for a stab at a lighter, more laid-back pop affair. 

Banna Harbera - Persistence

Aside from wringing stripped-down confessionals for her solo acoustic project, Kai Atienza fronts psychedelic soul band Analemma whose debut EP Evodia shows fearless creativity despite the inherent lack of subtlety in terms of production. Inarguably the best song of the record is “Bounce,” an iridescent showstopper whose flair for theatricality and sonic unpredictability is a revelation in itself. Ambition is pretty much the virtue here, but it’s done in such a tasteful way. From the dramatic shifts in structure to the soulful delivery, the track morphs from a skittery electro-R&B jam to a prog freak-out that brings to mind Janelle Monáe on acid—whatever that means. Spin this track in repeat and indulge: 

Vandalsonthewall2014

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