Thursday, January 19, 2006
Music, part 2
Like Isa, been thinking a lot about music lately. Mostly because I'm in the process of putting together a music issue of the magazine. It's a long hard slog, lemme tell you, folks. It's almost done and I'm just waiting for the final pages to be colorproofed before I put it to bedie-bye.
Anyway, that's the reason I have music on my mind for the past month or so. In any case, it should prove to be an exciting February issue for MANUAL. Lots of great stories--the 10 movers and shakers in the local music scene is guaranteed to provide contentious debate among people, we have a short piece on the 10 most influential Pinoy albums, how to be a music snob, books by or about musicians, cindy kurleto, the singer Sheree etc. It promises to be a most interesting issue. Lots of hardwork, though. Especially booking the personalities for the 10 movers and shakers for a shoot. Most of the personalities were really nice once you get them in the shoot, but getting them there is where the nightmare starts. One thing's for sure, it's a good thing this only comes around once a year. I don't think I can deal with it if we did this once a month!
What got me through the whole process were really great CDs that I'm now listing down for you. Not that I'm trying to get you to listen to them, but hey, why not? I was basically chained to my desk day in, and day out and these were my sanity savers, in no particular order:
1. Killer Tracks, various artists. Twenty songs that will remind you of how New Wave by way of England sounded back in the day, by artists as diverse as Morrissey, Stereophonics, The Libertines, Bloc Party, The Prodigy, Feeder, our very own Orange and Lemons (whose contribution, "Strike Whilst The Iron is Hot" fits right at home in this motley collection), and other artists. I play this for times when I'm madly writing an article that ought to have been written eons ago. The perfect accompaniment to a pounding keyboard.
2. Strike Whilst the Iron is Hot, Orange and Lemons. Very Brit-pop sounding Pinoy band with a totally infectious sound. I didn't like them at first; I thought they were pretentious. They may still be, but what the hell, the music grows on you and in the end, that's what matters. Perfect for after-dinner lattes at your computer trolling the blogs while waiting for the proofs to come in.
3. Get Behind Me, Satan, The White Stripes. The WS is not for everyone. They're not very accessible musically, methinks. This is not relaxing music. But I remember a college professor once told my class, "There are books you read for the language, and books you read for the story." I think it's the same with music. There's music you listen to because it's relaxing, and there's music you listen to because it makes you think. This is music that makes you think.
4. Eraserheads Anthology, Eraserheads. Because. Two discs of the quartet's best songs, written when the band was at the peak of its fame. Great for crunch times when tempers are frayed and blood threatens to spill at any moment. Play "Maselang Bahaghari" and watch everyone calm down and start humming. My only beef: This should be a four-disc set, at least.
5. Ultraelectromagneticjam, various artists. A laudable effort by various musicians to interpret the best of the Eraserheads. Not as effective as #4 at calming the waters, but still pretty damn good. My only beef: This should be a two-disc set, at least.
6. Halina sa Parokya, Parokya ni Edgar. These guys are a riot! What can you expect from a band that used to perform in their moms' old dresses and had album titles like Kangkhungkerrnitz (their first), Buruguduystungstugudunstuy, Gulong Itlog Gulong? They kinda remind me of neighborhood tambays, with a bottle of lapad, a guitar, and an old tattered copy of a Jingle songhits regaling the neighborhood with their singing. This latest album is a concept album with the songs sequenced a la Sesame Street or Batibot and the band members having alter-egos--e.g., Chito Miranda (the vocalist) is Chito Matsing, Buwi Meneses is Pedro the Basura Man, Gabriel Chee Kee is Uncle Gab and His Lucky Seven Club, Vinci Montaner is Mr. Suave, and Dindin Moreno as The Ordertaker. Totally hilarious. There's a song here, "Telepono" that tells the reaction of a guy who gets a dawn phone call from his girlfriend who just found out she's pregnant and is now breaking the news to him. The arrangement is like any sentimental love song, but listen to the lyrics. It will crack you up, guaranteed. Basically, I love Parokya. And this album is vindication that these guys are geniuses. Play when you need people to laugh out loud simply because there are worse ways to spend your time and sometimes laughter makes everything bearable.
Anyway, that's the reason I have music on my mind for the past month or so. In any case, it should prove to be an exciting February issue for MANUAL. Lots of great stories--the 10 movers and shakers in the local music scene is guaranteed to provide contentious debate among people, we have a short piece on the 10 most influential Pinoy albums, how to be a music snob, books by or about musicians, cindy kurleto, the singer Sheree etc. It promises to be a most interesting issue. Lots of hardwork, though. Especially booking the personalities for the 10 movers and shakers for a shoot. Most of the personalities were really nice once you get them in the shoot, but getting them there is where the nightmare starts. One thing's for sure, it's a good thing this only comes around once a year. I don't think I can deal with it if we did this once a month!
What got me through the whole process were really great CDs that I'm now listing down for you. Not that I'm trying to get you to listen to them, but hey, why not? I was basically chained to my desk day in, and day out and these were my sanity savers, in no particular order:
1. Killer Tracks, various artists. Twenty songs that will remind you of how New Wave by way of England sounded back in the day, by artists as diverse as Morrissey, Stereophonics, The Libertines, Bloc Party, The Prodigy, Feeder, our very own Orange and Lemons (whose contribution, "Strike Whilst The Iron is Hot" fits right at home in this motley collection), and other artists. I play this for times when I'm madly writing an article that ought to have been written eons ago. The perfect accompaniment to a pounding keyboard.
2. Strike Whilst the Iron is Hot, Orange and Lemons. Very Brit-pop sounding Pinoy band with a totally infectious sound. I didn't like them at first; I thought they were pretentious. They may still be, but what the hell, the music grows on you and in the end, that's what matters. Perfect for after-dinner lattes at your computer trolling the blogs while waiting for the proofs to come in.
3. Get Behind Me, Satan, The White Stripes. The WS is not for everyone. They're not very accessible musically, methinks. This is not relaxing music. But I remember a college professor once told my class, "There are books you read for the language, and books you read for the story." I think it's the same with music. There's music you listen to because it's relaxing, and there's music you listen to because it makes you think. This is music that makes you think.
4. Eraserheads Anthology, Eraserheads. Because. Two discs of the quartet's best songs, written when the band was at the peak of its fame. Great for crunch times when tempers are frayed and blood threatens to spill at any moment. Play "Maselang Bahaghari" and watch everyone calm down and start humming. My only beef: This should be a four-disc set, at least.
5. Ultraelectromagneticjam, various artists. A laudable effort by various musicians to interpret the best of the Eraserheads. Not as effective as #4 at calming the waters, but still pretty damn good. My only beef: This should be a two-disc set, at least.
6. Halina sa Parokya, Parokya ni Edgar. These guys are a riot! What can you expect from a band that used to perform in their moms' old dresses and had album titles like Kangkhungkerrnitz (their first), Buruguduystungstugudunstuy, Gulong Itlog Gulong? They kinda remind me of neighborhood tambays, with a bottle of lapad, a guitar, and an old tattered copy of a Jingle songhits regaling the neighborhood with their singing. This latest album is a concept album with the songs sequenced a la Sesame Street or Batibot and the band members having alter-egos--e.g., Chito Miranda (the vocalist) is Chito Matsing, Buwi Meneses is Pedro the Basura Man, Gabriel Chee Kee is Uncle Gab and His Lucky Seven Club, Vinci Montaner is Mr. Suave, and Dindin Moreno as The Ordertaker. Totally hilarious. There's a song here, "Telepono" that tells the reaction of a guy who gets a dawn phone call from his girlfriend who just found out she's pregnant and is now breaking the news to him. The arrangement is like any sentimental love song, but listen to the lyrics. It will crack you up, guaranteed. Basically, I love Parokya. And this album is vindication that these guys are geniuses. Play when you need people to laugh out loud simply because there are worse ways to spend your time and sometimes laughter makes everything bearable.
// posted by terrie @ 10:11 PM 
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Loved this cd-review post! Been meaning to start a Parokya collection, actually, and your write-up on Halina has made me more keen than ever! I'm also interested in that Killer Tracks album :P
Ooh, Carrie! Go buy both! I swear they're good buys. Parokya is really hilarious, and you need Killer Tracks for when you're crunching deadlines for you school papers! :)
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