Monthly Picks | March 2026
Sining Shelter
AJ'S PICKS
Christian Bautista
ALBUM | Christian Bautista
I'm tempted to call this album a "guilty pleasure" of mine but why would I feel guilty listening to the angelic voice of one of the 2000s greatest heartthrobs? All my pretenses and walls fade away whenever I hear him sing and I just suddenly become an awestruck fangirl. He could serenade me all day long and I would melt every time. Ewan, basta ang pogi ni Christian Bautista. Alam niyo na yun.
ghayoom - غيوم
ALBUM | nabeel - بيلa
I'm not well-versed with alternative genres within Arabic communities and music scenes, but I'm just very much taken by this album from Iraqi-American musician Yasir Razak. It beautifully weaves together some gorgeous poetry and the hazy textures of shoegaze and slowcore. An opulent love letter to the genres garnished with beautifully written lyrics that really made me want to familiarize myself more with the nuances of Arabic poetry and lyricism.
Blizzard
ALBUM | Dove Ellis
I love it when albums create an entire atmosphere and maintain it wonderfully throughout, which I think is the record's biggest strength. It's a very raw and emotional album, grounded by a certain warmth and tenderness that resonates all throughout. I'm especially drawn to Dove Ellis' swooning, impassioned vocals all gently draped throughout all the tracks.
JOHN JOHN'S PICKS
The Fame
ALBUM | Lady Gaga
aus toh ah
Hunky Dory
ALBUM | David Bowie
FUN FACT! Bowie worked as a lyricist and made an english version of "Comme d'habitude", his version rejected. Later on, same song, different lyricist became Sinatra's "My Way" and Bowie's rejected version became "Life On Mars". Malupet magsulat to. top 3 ko Changes, Life On Mars, and Fill Your Heart
TONCHI'S PICKS
image
ALBUM | Maison book girl
At this point, this album is probably one of my top 5 most cherished projects ever. The uncanny textures, gesturing at traditional instrumentation while being stilted, synthesized, perfectly timed, and staccato; matched with the haunting melodies and cryptic lyrics evoke a indescribable feeling in me that no other act has matched since, even 8 years after I first heard it. Add a heaping dose of unconventional time signatures and you've got one of the most unique idol pop masterpieces ever made.
Leader
ALBUM | Omega Sapien
Omega Sapien channels various South East Asian dance genres into the most danceable late capitalist nightmare I have ever heard. Over the 8-track 18-minute album, the lyrics descend into madness, grappling with the anhedonia and detachment of the star lifestyle in the 2020s. Particular highlights include Coca-Cola, featuring production from obese.dogma777 and DJ Love as Omega Sapien professes love for cocaine; as well as the closer Hands Up in the Club, which merges jerk rhythms with budots whines, meme soundbites, and futuristic synths. Overall just a blast, it simultaneously embodies and satirizes hedonistic club culture.
PEPI'S PICKS
Stone Drum Avantgardism
ALBUM | Jigen
A junglist exercise in the quietly off-kilter. Chaotic, but not with the break-yer-door-down heaviness you’ll find in some other cuts of break-based music. This record’s sparse. It’s eerie. It’s got that modernist sense of dissonance. Its samples cut in and out like they’ve passed away mid-sentence and come back as apparitions to haunt your chosen speakers. Open your third eye and play the medium for a while. Put this one on and channel a host of breakbeat phantoms.
Senescence
ALBUM | Korea Undok Group
“Please note there has been zero mastering on this release, as we wanted it to sound as shit as possible.”
Abstract ambient sketches with a penchant for low fidelity. A congregation of the muffled, the slightly off and the external imperfections we often pain to scrub out the mix. Together they create a spectral blanket for the ears, both light and heavy, glacial and warm, comforting and desolate, all in equal measure. Turn the lights out for this one. Tuck yerself in.