Shinichi Osawa aka Mondo Grosso from Japan. (Contributed photo from Volume Unit Entertainment)One thing you can't fault the swarm of foreign music acts now descending Manila—their diversity.

For every Katy Perry, there's a Death Cab for Cutie. Morrissey plays days away from Lady Gaga in May. And Japanese math rockers Toe, indie band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and the New York punk legend Marky Ramone all rocked smaller venue.

And, at the second Malasimbo Music Festival held earlier this year in Mindoro, afro Cuban funk king Joe Bataan, who has never set foot in the country before in spite of his Pinoy roots, performed before a record crowd.

The same group that organized the Malasimbo festival is hoping to replicate their Mindoro success with the first Manila Music Festival on May 1, Labor Day, at the Alphaland Bay City along Aseana Avenue in Paranaque, near the Mall of Asia.

Hip hop, rock, reggae and house

The fest will adopt the eclectic mix of acts it employed for Mindoro event insofar. The Manila fest lineup promises a riot of contemporary Pinoy rock, and soul, seminal

Blitzkrieg (Publicity photo)Drummer Marky Ramone, the last surviving member of iconic punk band The Ramones, will rock the Hard Rock Café in Makati on Tuesday, April 17 with his latest band Blitzkrieg. Joining the group on vocals is Michale Graves, former Misfits frontman.

The Manila leg of the Blitzkrieg Live world tour is expected to explode with The Ramones' punk classics like "Sheena is a Punk Rocker", "I Wanna Be Sedated,"  "Rockaway Beach" and, of course, "Blitzkrieg Bop."

Previous band performances also saw Graves covering Misfits psychobilly ravers like "Descending Angel," "Fiend Club" and "Saturday Night."

Keeping the legacy alive

The band will certainly inject its first single "When We Were Angels" during the epic punk rock concert.

Rock and roll Hall of Fame inductee Marky Ramone says he formed Blitzkrieg to keep the legacy of the Ramones alive in tribute to the three fallen members of the band: singer Joey (died, 2001) bassist Dee Dee (d. 2002) and guitarist Johnny (d. 2004). Marky adds that he still

The Bleu Rascals (Contributed photo by Irene Gomez)The Bleu Rascals, composed of vocalist and guitarist Paul Leobrera, 17, bassist Spencer Rymonte, 18, and drummer Darwin John Quinto, are one of the youngest blues bands this side of the Pacific.  They will play the Timbre Rock & Roots Festival in Singapore on March 30 and 31, 2012. Yahoo! Southeast Asia is a partner of the fest.

The Bleu Rascals will share the Singapore festival stage with the likes of ska kings The Specials,  pop funkateers  Earth, Wind & Fire and bluesmen Buddy Guy and Keb' Mo, among others.

As blues ambassadors, the Rascals have already distinguished themselves when they played at the 28^th edition of the annual International Blues Challenge held in Memphis early this month.

Listen to the Bleu Rascals.

Tears of joy in Memphis

They're only the second blues band from Southeast Asia to go onstage at the Youth Showcase of the Memphis international competition often described as "the Olympics of the blues." Witnessing their performance, Rascals mentor Tom Colvin, who

Wolfgang at the Legazpi leg of last year’s Tanduay First Five nationwide tour. (Photo provided by Lizza Guerrero …When this year's Tanduay First Five tour kicks off on March 30 with Parokya ni Edgar, Kamikazee, Wolfgang, Rico Blanco and Urbandub, it will do so at the Embarcadero de Legaspi Parking Lot just outside Legaspi City.

The venue commands a view of the mountain at the back and the sea out in front, a fitting starting point to a nationwide tour. I know because I spent a rocking Saturday night there with last year's batch of Tanduay First Five.

Legazpi City was the final stop of Tanduay First Five's weekend swing in the Bicol area.  As the crowd trickled in around 8:00 p.m., Wolfgang hit the stage with the force of their highly melodic hard rock. Sandwich followed it up with infectious servings of their electro-rock concoctions. The energy flagged down a few notches with ChicoSci's fey emo-metal-Goth pastiche before Parokya ni Edgar pressed on with rocking versions of their hits.

The roar at midnight

Near midnight, during the lull for the concert's finale, the background music slowly

Marcus Adoro (Photo courtesy of Marcus Adoro)Former Eraserheads guitarist Marcus Adoro is plotting another comeback. This time around, his music takes a backseat in favor of his first book entitled "Greems."

After the E-Heads broke up, Adoro might as well have gone "underground" compared to the more illustrious careers of Raimund Marasigan with Sandwich, Ely Buendia with Pupil and Buddy Zabala with the Dawn. He would turn up now and then in concert performing with his Marcus Highway combo even as he gained more media mileage as a skilled surfer dude catching perfect waves in La Union.

The impending release of "Greems," a book-plus-music project, may not significantly change Adoro's current low profile. Just the same, a two-part offering from an ex-Eraserhead is nothing to sneeze at.

Book first, music as background noise

Adoro says the book comes first and the music is just background noise.

He explains, "It ("Greems") is a proper book, a collection of 100 pieces of 'greems,' printed on paper. There will be no accompanying CDs or

Mel Maniego (right), late of the 80s rockabilly band Private Stock, now fronts The Go Signals with (from left) …"The underground scene is healthier now," says The Go Signals guitarist Mel Maniego. "There's more buzz and kids are starting to pick up guitars and instruments. Thanks to the Internet, kids now also understand the music style that drives our music."

During Pinoy punk's mid-80s heyday, Mel played guitars for rockabilly poster boys Private Stock. Now, with the power trio The Go Signals, Mel provides slashing chords and short sharp solo turns in the wake of the sturdy backbeat from his mates. His brother Dennis is a steady presence on bass while their cousin Spyk is a workhorse on drums.

At the group's album launch at Skarlet's Jazz Kitchen near Timog in Quezon City, Throw's Al Dimalanta introduces them as "the best band in the land."

Hooks, power pop and best album of 2011

Performing tracks from their debut, "Secrets & Lies," The Go Signals channel the power and the riffage of The Jam and the Clash with the melodic appeal of the Kinks and The Beatles.

They open with "Time", a hook-laden

Photo courtesy of PolyEast Records

It's hard to imagine how a rap metal band could survive the backlash after the popularity of the music has faded. But here's Slapshock proudly celebrating their 15th year in the scene with a brand new album, their 7th in a long-running career.

In an interview a couple of years back, the band refused to disown the genre that spawned them. By the sound and volume of their latest "Kinse Kalibre," they're not backing down from the original fire and brimstone with which to slay naysayers and the scant opposition.

Actually, there's hardly any competition either from their 90s batch of loud rockers or the current factions of comparably limp-wristed metal heads. Slapshock vocalist Jamir claims, "Most our contemporaries have come and gone, and we're still around."

Aside from Jamir on vocals, Slapshock is composed of bassist Lee Nadela, guitarist Lean Ansing and drummer Chi Evora.

Back to the moshpit
They're not just the last of the screaming metal messiahs. Slapshock have also set themselves

05 July 2011: Pirated CDs are dropped into a shredding machine as part of Manila City government's anti-piracy …(UPDATE) When drummer Gep Macadaeg of Y! Rocks breakthrough act Stereodeal declared in a Yahoo! Philippines OMG! story I wrote that  "we haven’t understood piracy completely” and that “we’re in a phase where we only see [piracy’s] negative consequences,”  he triggered a firestorm of comments.

Some couldn't comprehend the idea of a musician supporting an activity that robs them of potential revenues.

Others, like reader "SeVen" concede, "Sure, piracy might help an unknown band be heard by more people. Some famous bands have also said that they do not mind if people bring small personal recorders to their concerts."

But "SeVen" was concerned about having professionally recorded albums copied or perhaps downloaded. "It is common sense that the people who spend their money to make a product (studios, artists, packaging, promotions) should be the ones to reap the rewards for their efforts. Stealing is stealing..it does not matter what it is that is stolen..it is wrong."

"NOR" conveyed a