12.17.2008
BIPOLAR LISTENING
UP DHARMA DOWN GOES BIPOLAR IN THEIR SOPHIE ALBUM. READ THE RAVES, AS SHARED BY YVETTE TAN.
It's been over a month since Up dharma Down's highly successful album launch, and the buzz on Bipolar, the band's highly anticipated album is still going strong. Bipolar was launched last October 24 in RCBC Plaza's Hexagon Lounge. This was one time when those who decided to arrive fashionably late had their plans thwarted -- the lounge was filled to overflowing, with fans spilling out as UdD performed songs, old and new, inside a space that was standing-room only. The band, composed of Armi Millare on keyboards and vocals, Carlos Tañada on lead guitars, Ean Mayor on drums and loops and Paul Yap on bass, and whose music Time Magazine called "thought provoking and intense" last year, has been garnering praise for their sophomore album from fans and music critics alike.
And even though Bipolar's release date didn't make it eligible for this year's NU Rock Awards, it managed to show up in the radar of the QLE Awards, an informal 'best of' list hand-picked by three of today's toughest music critics -- Erwin Romulo, Quark Henares and former pulse Editor-in-Chief Luis Katigbak. The Awards, which highlights what the three think are some of the best acts 2008 has put forth, appeared in the critics columns in the Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Manila Bulletin respectively.
Up dharma Down three times: as Erwin's choice for Best Album Cover ("Not as genuinely complex and dazzling as the band’s music contained within, but it sure does a neat job of inviting us into it," he writes); as Erwin and Luis' choice for Artist of the Year ("Surely if any artists this year dominated it would be none other than the Eraserheads. But apart from them, it would surely be Up Dharma Down, that has just released their newest album Bipolar. Just for the fact that they seemed to be the only artist not to be swallowed up by the Eheads reunion and make an impact. Also, for the fact that the band is still constantly pursuing myriad ways of conveying and expressing the conflicting forces of human desire, but without resort to cliche is admirable. Impressive.") and as Luis' choice for Video of the Year for "We Give In Sometimes, from their first album, Fragmented ("It’s hard to match the trippy visuals your mind makes up when you listen to this intricate, dreamlike track, but this video does a great job," Luis comments).
Critical acclaim aside, Bipolar has been on everyone's track list, from fans who have been inspired to create artwork based on the songs to an award-winning poet-fictionist couple. The Bipolar special edition with the DVD documentary, which is almost sold out, is fast on its way to becoming a collector's item. What makes Up dharma Down's songs so addictive? Luis Katigbak says it best: "The very fact that they don't sound like anyone else—that they are neither nostalgic rip-offs or trend-jumpers—weighs heavily in their favor," he writes in a magazine article. But the best way to find out if worth the buzz is to pick up a copy of Bipolar and give it a listen. Odds are, you won't be disappointed.
TAGS: Up dharma Down Bipolar
WAA MEDYO NAKAK RELATE..BS PSCH STUDENT AKOW
Posted By: jumarteros on March 10, 2009 at 13:25
