I’ll raise you like a phoenix: Music moments that rocked 2013

 

In a year of blurring lines, getting lucky, ball-wrecking and roaring, here in no particular order are a few of the most memorable, rocking music moments that occurred in the Philippines and abroad in 2013.

Kanye’s 'Bound 2' music vid

You want to talk about swagger? If putting your fiancée (who happens to be a curvy Kardashian) sans top on a bike for a music video in a show of confidence, brag, and what is probably the most rocking kind of PDA to date isn't as swag as it gets then I don't know what is. Kanye West rings in his own bell to announce just how big a hip-hop rock star he is (and then gets spoofed).

Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift rock the Victoria's Secret show

I'm not an FOB fan, but there's no denying a true moment of transcendent glam rock glory when the lights came on and the signature call to arms “Whoa oh oh oh oh” of new single “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)” rang out to the sashaying heels and switchblade legs of scantily clad Victoria's Secret Angels. The bonus? Miss Swift in a UK-emblazoned dress walking out for a quick interlude. Check out Adriana Lima and Adam Levine's stupid, wide grin.

The gospel of twerk courtesy of Miley

Bad taste or just a shlock full of shock? Whether you approve or not of Miley Cyrus's twerking to Robin Thicke's “Blurred Lines” at the VMAs, there's no denying the impact she's made on pop culture this year. Twerking has even made it to the Oxford English Dictionary, defined as "to dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance".

Beyonce ninja releases self-titled album online

Way to use the intarwebz, Mrs. Carter. "There's so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans," Beyonce said in a statement. "I felt like I didn't want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out." How rock star is that?

Aerosmith live in Manila

The flash, the bluster, and the sweet emotion. Steven Tyler and Co in the flesh. Can you believe it? I don't think a Joe Perry solo sounds justified unless it's heard live, now.

Deftones destroy Manila. . .again

Still reeling from the death of their longtime bassist while in a coma, Chino and Co found a way to soldier on and release “Koi No Yokan,” AND tour Asia again with all the aplomb and attitude of their glory days. A moment of silence for Chi Cheng. A moment of grace and gravitas for the `Tones.

Amplify.ph for legal OPM downloads

In an age of torrent and rampant piracy, internet firebrands and music lovers Tim Cardenas, Dylan Pizzarro and Dan Feliciano found a way to circumvent Pinoys' love for free stuff by letting them support their fave artists with free downloads. A great idea in bloom and in need of louder support. 

SYNC Manila: The big powwow

Probably the biggest powwow so far about what taking advantage of tech means to local music felt, writes correspondent Bong Sta. Maria “more like being in a music class where teachers are cool and students aren’t being forced to sit though what feels like a perpetual reading of an instruction manual.”

Gathering together established local bigwigs like Tony Tanchanco and new firebrands like Amplify.ph and the NDFY boys, it's was great to see music lovers under one roof discussing how musicians use digital technology to create and promote the industry today.

Jack White’s label releases seminal blues recordings

Never heard of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, or Ma Rainey? There's good reason because Paramount Records never got a big label deal, but these are the artists that influenced early stalwarts like Rolling Stone and Bob Dylan, and eventually became the same lifeblood for modern, blues-based guitar bands like The White Stripes. Thanks to Jack White's Third Man Records in collaboration with Sun Records, the full roster is now available for digital or as a deluxe packahe of LPs. This is the TRUE blues of the time; earnest, stripped to the bone, and full of woe.

Bloc Party returns to form, wows Pinoys

Post-punk lovers rejoiced when Bloc Party reformed after some years of dormancy and rumored break-up, they were well nigh ecstatic when the UK boys stormed local shores and gave them a taste of new songs and old hits. Our correspondent swears that hearing “Banquet” live was a moment of catharsis.

Explosions in the Sky light up Manila with post-rock

After Toe and Mouse on the Keys proved that there was sufficient audience for the instrumental genre in the country, EITS decided it was their time to touch Pinoys with their brand of airy, heartbreaking, and grand post-rock. Oh, how sweet it was.

Papadom Gamboa: A moment of silence for the Pinoy rebel lion

Dominic Gamboa was a music icon of both Pinoy punk (Betrayed), and variations of reggae (Skavengers, Lokal Brown, Tropical Depression) who was taken too early, at just 47 years of age. His pioneering work and songs, as well as fostering many local acts to a bigger stage (like Jr. Kilat) will love on, however, and so will his hits on CDs and videoke machines through the land. Remember him, and those who gave their lives to the betterment of OPM.



Cannibal Corpse, et al, at Pulp Summer Slam 2013

Still the place for metalheads and every stripe of heavy music fan to congregate and get their mosh on, this year's Summer Slam was quite special. Was it Corpsegrinder and Co's guttural howls, the space trippines of Coheed and Cambria, or the fiery guitar work of Dragonforce? It's all that and more. A couple of thousand sweating kids in black banging their heads in synchronized motion can't all be wrong.

All hail the masters: Black Sabbath’s “13”

Picture growing old this gracefully and still being this heavy. Probably the last album (if rumors or the haunting bell at the end can be taken as true) for the progenitors of heavy metal, “13” is a fitting capstone to a career filled with darkness, devils, and evil minds plotting destruction. If it is, we thank ye, messrs Iomi and Co, for saving our damned souls. `Twas a most blessed season in the abyss.

Metallica live in Antarctica

Not sweeping winds nor below-zero temperatures can stop this monster of thrash metal. With this landmark gig, Metallica fulfill one of the missions on their bucket list to play every continent on Earth. I think the polar bears and the penguins will miss Hammett's sinewy licks floating in the air. — BM/VC, GMA News