MANILA, Philippines - Black Market has lately become the nucleus of Manila’s cool, and it’s not hard to imagine why — some of the best noise in the city seems to be coming out of its four walls.
This became even more apparent at Obey Radio Manila’s latest serving last June 6, with international artists Free The Robots and Lefto. Los Angeles-based Free the Robots, also known as Chris Alfaro, stirred up the kind of music that manages to be genre-ambiguous with a repertoire that ranges from chill blues to the kind of electronic sound you can feel in your gut. Jetting in from his native Belgium, Lefto is becoming known as one of Europe’s musical tastemakers. Lefto’s music, deeply rooted in jazz and hip-hop, gave Obey Radio Manila’s audience a good mix of jumpy tracks and raw rhythms.
Local acts such as Don P, Moki McFly vs Similar Objects provided some supporting sound, and Unde provided music lovers with visual candy to go with the sweet sounds. It wasn’t a night of sobriety, neither from booze nor good company, and definitely not from great music. One then wonders if Black Market could get any cooler. —Margarita Buenaventura