YM -- I-YM Mo 'Ko!

Three cuties comprise the boyband YM, or Young Men: Edgar Allan Guzman (Eat Bulaga, The Studs, Astig), Andrew Miguel (Freshman), and Rex Salvacion. Their new CD contains a booklet of shirtless and boxers pics, and that's the reason to keep this in your collection.

But sure, you could buy it for the music, too. Hopefully, you can't get enough of the song "Nagmahal Ako" -- the one about guys who love homos -- because five of the seven tracks on this album are versions of that famous hit, including a clean version, a "medyo bastos" version (that isn't, really), a bleeped version, and the original by rap group Dagtang Lason. To untrained ears, there will be no distinction between the tracks, so listening to them is a test of endurance. But you've got to admit it's fun to hear the sentiment coming from a bunch of worthy boytoys. Oh, the fantasies you can have.

Clearly, the group image is sexy/tongue-in-cheek, a novelty act. The backside of the jacket captures the guys with their shorts pulled down, smiling. The kick-off track is a cover of Michael V's sendup "Mas Mahal Na Kita Ngayon", morbid lyrics set to syrupy R&B. I can't really vouch for how funny it is, or how good musically. I just try to imagine how cute they must have looked while recording it. The corny music video gives us an idea, although only two of them are in it -- Edgar Allan, who's annoying with all those affectations, and Andrew Miguel, more natural. The third member used to be Dex Quindoza, before he was replaced by Rex, so this video must have been produced during that awkward transition phase. (So who is it that we hear singing?) They appear shirtless only in flashes. If the music is not so good or not so funny, then the guys should have been naked more. That's like a rule or something. They better make up for it in the video for "Nagmahal Ako"; Hopefully, there will be five versions of it.

The CD: C-
The music video: C
The album packaging: B
AVERAGE GRADE: C+



Related Links:
On Ivory Records (Notice the old photo.)
More Photos of YM
Live Peformance of YM on YouTube (with Dex, not Rex)
Review: "Nagmahal Ako (Ng Bakla)" By Dagtang Lason

CosmoMen 2009

So according to Cosmopolitan magazine, this year’s hottest bachelors are all greasy and/or sweaty. Who cares about individual personalities anymore? They’re all models, groomed to fit the bad boy sex appeal concept. Maybe that’s the statement: To be hot nowadays, you must be dangerous, or at least know how to hold a cue stick or a motorbike. If you’re one of those who pipe about the inclusion of so-called non-wholesome elements (Bold stars? Callboys? Aren’t they in the list every year?), consider that maybe it’s all part of the masterplan of naughtiness, or the editors only care about bodies anyway. Besides, could anything be more shameless than to cast kids as fantasy objects? Everyone is young-looking (no one below 30), if not downright barely legal – Gerald Anderson on the cover! Aljur Abrenica looks like he got beaten up! And because most of us will never really get to date any of them, let’s rate the photo spread for the piece of erotica that it is: It’s great.

GRADE: B+

Related Links:
Photos of the Ten Centerfolds
CosmoMen 2008

Star Studio Magazine - October 2008 - Sexy Dozen

"12 Most Sizzling Boys Under 23". Why 23? Is that the screen age youngish actors can get away with? The point is that the guys are young and Star Studio Magazine got them shirtless. The insane appeal of these monochromatic snapshots lies in the thin line between innocent and sexy, boyish and manly. Bravo. The armpits are delicious. Everyone should have been made to raise their arms. Only one shirtless photo per boy? What a tease. I demand to see the outtakes from those photo shoots. I demand it, dammit.

The shirtless boys are: Gerald Anderson, JC De Vera, Enchong Dee, Robi Domingo, Jake Cuenca, Aljur Abrenica, Carlo Guevara, Joem Bascon, Marvin Raymundo, Rayver Cruz, Jason Abalos, and Matt Evans.

GRADE: B+

Related Link:
Star Studio Magazine Blog

Climax No. 2

How long ago was the release of the first Climax photo book? The makers sure took their time with the second one. X-Ray Media, which also publishes the "X-Ray" titles, are by now the masters in assembling flavors-of-the-moment Filipino men for portfolios of impeccable quality and steaminess. Photography, styling, design, packaging -- all ace. Testicles, shafts, asses, pubic hair -- present and in abundance. Only the cockheads are missing.

The men of Climax 2 are collectively tagged "Indie Boys" -- actors starring in recent independent movies: Josh Ivan Morales, Kristofer King, Harry Laurel, Will Sandejas, Gabriel Del Rosario, and Andro Morgan. It must be noted that they're stars of a particular subgenre: films with sexy gay appeal. Though the guys let it all hang out (only Gabriel Del Rosario keeps his jewels encased), you may feel underwhelemed by a lack of new revelation. Afterall, we've seen more from these men in their movies and photos from the internet. Really, the only way Josh Ivan Morales can top himself is if he fucks in another hardcore porn. But that doesn't make these new sets any less hot. You'd be hardpressed to find their bodies worshipped in richer textures. Like the first edition, Climax 2 is a beautiful celebration of flesh. It feels like a liberation by way of objectification.

I'm also thankful for what is probably the first glossy spread for Kristofer King. Although the most talented, longest-running, and boldest dramatic actor of the lot, I don't think he's ever really enjoyed a full-blown, visual, sexy publicity like the others.

The copies are limited and hard to find, available only in the following stores: CV Magazine in Landmark Makati, Dongskie (below Quezon Avenue MRT and Cubao MRT Walkway), Hilom Spa Center along Mother Ignacia Avenue, and online through ManilaGayGuy. Filbars branches also sell but don't display them, so you will have to ask for it. Finding it will have to be like the minor effort before unearthing a gem.

GRADE: A-

Related Link:
Pages from Climax 2

Red Hot Magazine - No. 4

Dave Rebolledo

The three models baring for this issue oddly look alike, with similar lean bodies and facial features. I couldn't tell where one begins and another ends. Ivan Maxwell, RG San Jose, and coverboy Dave Rebolledo, though each good-looking (I'll have sex with any of them), have unfortunately been bunched together to emphasize their ordinariness. It's as if the magazine strives to look generic.

Red Hot is one of today's "lesser" sexy male mags, even though its pages are bigger and the price is about the same as more popular titles. Red Hot scrimps on content. Only three models? I think articles in magazines are overrated too, so I welcome cover-to-cover pictures and the occassional bio, but those photos better pack some punch. The photography here is often common and unimaginative. I wished someone dangled his dick in full view just to break the monotony of the bakat (bulge). The printing, murky and flat in dull colors, does justice to neither the models nor the photography. It can be redder and hotter than this. Maybe next issue? Which I can't wait to see. Because although shots of reclining men and tight undies tend to be boring when it's all that's offered repeatedly, I'll take what I can get.

GRADE: C