Drawn to the deep end

A number of great works of art draw their inspiration from the darker half of the artist’s personality. It’s almost impossible to imagine painters like Francis Bacon or Jose Legaspi without their attendant anxieties, or writers like William S. Burroughs or Patricia Highsmith without their trademark suspicions. Music is no exception; whether it’s simply melancholy or dark depression or even paranoia, musicians have found ways to transform their neuroses into moments of aural splendor.

From The Beatles’ Happiness is a Warm Gun to The Cure’s A Forest, good music finds fertile ground in the shadowed part of the garden.

As one of the cardinal rules of rock n’ roll states: "Enjoy the good times; write about the bad ones. The wise would do well to follow."

Dominion The Hand of Cain E.P

Of all emotions, fear is probably the most difficult to capture on a record. (Anger being the most abused in rock, and lust — not love- being a favorite topic of pop.) While listening to the three-song the E.P. The Hand of Cain by Gothic-rock purveyors Dominion, one can’t escape the unmistakable dread that stains the songs. The title track is no doubt one of the most harrowing musical journeys ever chronicled in local music, the kind no house band would play as the ferry sinks into the river Styx — its whisper-washed coda, the perfect accompaniment to drowning in its abysmal depths.

On the next two tracks, the band conjures much more than chills, boasting a range somewhat missing from other Goth-inspired bands. The grandiose and romantic Margaux sounds as if they were written like an Edgar Allan Poe fever dream: it pronounces the flipside of love as being death with the rising temperature of a heart beating for a rapidly cooling body. Crowd favorite Within These Walls is a claustrophobic rocker that pounces and snarls with an energy that most nu-metal can learn from.

Arguably the best and certainly one of longest-standing bastions of Gothic music in the Philippines, Dominion surpasses expectation with this modestly packaged CD (which, according to the band, is only a prelude to their forthcoming LP "Paralyzia"). Here’s hoping it won’t take another Halloween to hear from them again. (To obtain copies of the E.P, send e-mail to: subkulture @gothica.zzn.com or contact Doi Porras at 0916 4610566. You can also visit the Dominion website at geocities.com/solanima.)

Kevin Tihista’s Red Terror Don’t Breathe a Word

If Liam Gallagher has John Lennon’s sneer down pat, then singer/songwriter Kevin Tihista certainly has the seer’s gentle and aching coo. One need only listen to his debut "Don’t Breathe a Word" to be convinced. It’s especially spooky when one hears Sucker — the album’s best track and the only song from an American artist in recent memory that manages to condense the confusion and upheaval of a broken heart from disbelief to resignation in less than four minutes. Think Lennon reworking The Smiths’ I Know It’s Over with help from Brian Wilson and one gets the picture. Tihista summons a plethora of pop ghosts from as far out as Nick Drake to the aforementioned Beatle to come up with one of the most painfully beautiful American debut albums in a long while. The album accordingly oscillates from sad observation to joyous rapture with the grace and skill of a Brill-building veteran. Lyrically, the album is intelligently written and boasts couplets that even Morrissey would carve a cow for. In Stoopid Boy, Tihista sighs the words:

"The only good impression that I ever made was on my pillow." Not that Tihista is incapable of a good cheer, he serves up gems like the romantically horny Lose the Dress and the synth-driven Outta Site, Outta Mind. However, it’s when he’s lovelorn that he writes his most moving (and catchy) work.

Still largely a cult favorite, Tihista is songwriter in the grand tradition, showing a sensitivity usually absent from mainstream artists like John Mayer and Dave Matthews. May his number increase.

* * * Notes from Underground

Where were you on Halloween? If you were in Metro Manila, the place to be was certainly in front of the Gothic music stage at the Remedios Circle in Malate. Excellent bands like Dominion, The Late Isabel, Five Wounds To Enter, Skies Of Ember and Funeral Frost were there to provide the perfect soundtrack to the darkest of holidays. It was also refreshing to be in a crowd without the usual seasonal Goths in their designer threads (which should only inspire contempt and an irrepressible urge to bastinado the offending parties with the shoehorns they used to squeeze their feet into their much too expensive footwear.) That said, it really isn’t about the fashion, only the music, man.

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This column is looking for any vintage keyboard — analog like a Moog or anything with Roland Strings, or other ’70s or early ’80s keyboards. To give you an idea, think of what bands Kraftwerk or Pulp use in their albums. If you have said items or know where to find them, please send e-mail to the address at the bottom part of this column, or you can call 0918 9121133 or 631-03-21 (look for Rose).

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Rugged Art Gallery opened its first exhibition on Nov. 1at the 18th Avenue artists’ compound in Cubao. The gallery is an artist-initiated project, which deviates from formal exhibition and gallery practice. It is open to proposals from diverse groups and persuasions, including those outside traditional art circles.

Its first exhibition features drawings, photographs, installations, videos and other works by the residents of the compound in Cubao and other people who frequent the place. The exhibition runs until Dec. 1. It is located at 70 18th Avenue, Murphy, Cubao, Quezon City. For further information, please contact Louie Cordero at 0916 3750054 or Jun Sabayton at 0917 3736184.

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Initiated in 1999, the "Lighting Show" is Big Sky Mind’s annual year-end exhibition of artworks which explores the many properties of light while reflecting on the temporal and transitory nature of contemporary art. The exhibition is a celebratory gathering of photography, video, installation, performance and other ephemeral works by artists working at the forefront of contemporary art. Mounted at a time of closures and prospects of new beginnings, it also resonates with issues of history, time, place and memory.

The 4th "Lighting Show" is open at the Photography Art Center in Makati and will run until Jan. 4 next year. It features light boxes by artists Juan Alcazaren, Datu Arellano, Ringo Bunoan, Roberto Chabet, Lena Cobangbang, Al Cruz, Nona Garcia, Nilo Ilarde, Geraldine Javier, Gary-Ross Pastrana, Ikoy Ricio, Gerardo Tan, Alvin Villaruel and MM Yu. This is a fundraising activity organized by the Big Sky Mind Artists’ Projects Foundation for the development of a resource center on contemporary Filipino art and artists. The center will be open early next year in a warehouse complex of artist’s studios and project spaces in Cubao, Quezon City.

The 4th "Lighting Show" is supported by the Photography Art Center, Dial-A-Beer, Studio 58 and Rexman Commercial Corp.

For inquiries, please contact the Photography Art Center at the Zen Building, 8352 Mayapis St. corner St. Paul St., Makati City. With Tel. No. 895-41-43. You can also e-mail pacenter@hotmail.com Gallery hours are Wednesday - Sunday, 1- 8 p.m.

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Last week’s column titled "The Last Supper" was written by Erwin Romulo and Dafort Villaseran. The editors regret the oversight.

Send comments and reactions to: erwin_romulo@hotmail.com.