Arcade Fire: A Neophyte Band With Veteran Moves

Arcade Fire—-seems to me like the safest name for a band, especially for a new-wave rock group. It is so gothic sounding even while gothic music is not anymore in vogue these days.

And yet Arcade Fire is making waves in the music scene like a comet on a clear evening sky; that despite of it being merely an upstart band, it had already garnered for itself a Grammy award nomination. That’s an achievement that is hard to follow for any new indie rock band. This ethereal group was formed in the middle of 2003 in Montreal, Quebec and had a debut album titled Funeral which went to become a sleeper hit and was in fact considered an internet phenomenon after getting sold sizably online, following an excellent 9.7 critic rating from Pitchfork.

The first time I had encountered the music of Arcade Fire, I had felt intense familiarity with it as if I had already known them for so long. But the truth is, Arcade Fire is just a new band even though they are playing like refined veterans—-with unparalleled intensity and attitude, and a steady no-care-what-the-critics-say rocker gait.

Their music is quite familiar in a sense that it can easily be taken in without any hint of protest from the listening side. Yet the melodies in their songs are so innovative that they are completely original. I do not know exactly if such circumstance could be possible or such combination be reasonably realistic but that’s just how I feel about them. Perhaps, this is the main reason why I had adored Arcade Fire in an instant, where aside from The Fray’s hit singles (How To Save A Life, Over My Head), it is their latest album Neon Bible that is so heavy on my rotation, especially on afternoons in the backyard, sipping smoldering coffee and reading a fresh book or tuning in to the early evening news.

I could well remember the days when the Psychedelic Furs were riding up so high, that listening to Arcade Fire has that same experience I have gotten then; as Richard Butler filled my college years with his heavenly groans singing Pretty In Pink and Ghost In You. This may just altogether be a sign that there is still hope for new wave resurrection, even if many thought that new wave is completely dead. This may also be a hint that the rock music scene could still afford to do some backward steps, to the days when music was an entirely effective form of social expression (of angst and rebellion sometimes); in order to forward whole opinions and forceful digressions; as music then was such a significant means to important aims or objectives.

Arcade Fire’s lyrics are strong and unrelenting; clearly uncompromising and that’s why listening to them for the first time is akin to meeting a long lost friend after a very long and ardous journey from afar, traveling back to the days when bands like U2 and The Smiths was still as outspoken as a dead poet or to that momentous year when a seemingly roguish upstart band from Seattle named Pearl Jam released the very strong and heavy Ten album—-a musical work that was filled with stark realism that it resembles what Fyodor Dostoyevsky would have made if he was a modern rock superstar.

In Windowsill, “Don’t wanna live in my father’s house no more
Don’t wanna fight in a holy war
Don’t want the salesmen knocking at my door
I don’t wanna live in America no more…Don’t wanna sit in the windowsill no more…; that’s how strong their opinions can become and so ultimately frank and honest.

And in Crown of Love, the band’s lead-singer and songwriter Win Butler sings, “They say it fades if you let it, love was made to forget it. I carved
your name across my eyelids, you pray for rain i pray for blindness.
if you still want me, please forgive me, the crown of love is not upon me…” . The emotions gets so high towards the end of this song that in the background, one can hear a cruel violin, feint but insisting, to pursue a lost emotion.

This band has such powerful music, and so affecting lyrics.

Musically, Arcade Fire blows the listener away with crisp instrumentality; combining ethereal digital sounds with the tender sounds of classical instruments like the violin and cello. Half the time—-in their livelier pieces—-an upbeat bass sound reverberates like a war chant and puts liveliness into the air only the likes of Bruce Springsteen and the Rollingstones could provide previously.

And I could not help but be reminded of the excellent Australian band Midnight Oil , the group that had the historic Diesel And Dust album released in 1989. Win Butler vocals sounds so much like Pete Garrett of Midnight Oil and that’s a good thing since the Aussie band’s distinctive vocal have been often imitated by many bands in the 90’s but clearly never equaled. Perhaps Win Butler is Garrett’s worthy heir apparent.

Arcade Fire should by all sense be the next big thing in the rock music scene.
This Canadian band is riding high on the crest of its initial success—-both critically and financially—-and they only have their superb brand of music to thank for. They have been to the David Letterman show, they have been interviewed by BBC, and they have already appeared on Time Magazine’s front cover. Success is printed all over them in bold capital letters.

Listen to samples of Arcade Fire’s music on Last FM.

Listen now to the single “Crown of Love” from their 1994 Funeral album:

Mr. Jack Ryan Is A Comedian

What’s with Mr. Alec Baldwin? I have been seeing him for a number of times now in the weekend show “Saturday Night Live” and I thought it was merely a passing thing for him for afterall he is (or was) a serious actor first and foremost—-or even an action movie starrer as Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy’s superthriller “Hunt For Red October” (who could forget that).

Yet now he seems to be a regular already in the abovementioned show together with Steve Martin and Martin Short. Not that it is entirely unthinkable for Mr. Baldwin to be funny sometimes and be in a comedy show but it is just that I could not seem to well-absorb the idea of him being a television comedian in the likes of Jerry Seinfeld or Ray Romano. But there he was there making funny antics on that weekend comedy show and you know what, he seems to be so good at it that I wonder if I would ever be able to see him in any other light except for a very good and very funny comedian—-like he is now. He used to be a drama actor, ain’t he? The guy in “Nuremberg” and “Beetle Juice” ?

So by the way, I got so cracked up laughing at tonight’s episode of “Saturday Night Live” where Mr. Baldwin did a very good imitation of the singing super idol Tony Bennett and my oh my, he was so good at it that he could even closely imitate Mr. Bennet’s inimitable and entirely original voice—-that loud husky voice that is like no other.

I am a huge Frank Sinatra follower but whenever I hear the very unique singing prowess of Tony Bennett, I become of double-mind; who is better of the two? Who is better than whom? Although the man they call the Old Blue Eye is still best for me among male crooners.

I first got to hear about Tony Bennett about the time when I was still so fresh out of college from Ateneo de Zamboanga and got hired as a TV reporter for the ABC 5 channel affiliate here. One day, while loitering around the TV station’s premises, I got to meet a couple of very young lady DJ’s and the two had asked me (out of nowhere it had seem) where I was going or what was I up to at that time. In my mind I had thought then that they were overly friendly when I had not even been formally introduced to them previously and I was feeling so uncomfortable.

But being so gentlemanly that I was supposed to be, I smiled back at them and told them perfunctorily that I was planning to hie-off to a nearby record store and buy some music. What album (we don’t call it CD back then) am I planning to score they asked me. I told them that I have nothing particular in mind at that moment but I just see when I get there. Both ladies said that they could come with me and advise me on what to buy (being DJ’s that they were, they should know better ika nga). Not wanting to disappoint them and be misunderstood, I said why not. But in my mind I thought “geezzzz, I ain’t really comfortable with this, buying records with two people I barely know”. It used to be that buying records is some sort of a personal ritual for me, scouring around the stacks of records so slowly and being able to examine the music available in a time of my own, and not be hurried and be able to think for myself.

So to make the story short, they had egged me (more like trapped me) into buying a Tony Bennett album, an MTV unplugged record of the old crooner if I remember correctly. Back then, I was more into rock and roll or new wave kind of music that when I got home, I was feeling a little disgusted that I had to be so polite and had to buy some music of some old famous guy.

But after listening to Tony Bennett for some time, I felt that his voice was just magical and now as I remember that day when two virtual unknowns came to me and offered to become music advisers, I could perhaps thank those two young DJ’s for introducing me to the oh so wonderful sound and voice of Tony Bennet.

I know you’ll like him and his music—-it is just wonderful and sublime.

See Mr. Tony Bennett sing the song he is so famous for, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” here.

Paris Hilton On Fourth Of July

4th of July in America and Paris Hilton is in the headlines. How surreal and entirely dramatic the situation is. In this very significant day for Americans, Paris Hilton post a message in her MySpace blog and everyone suddenly listens. You’d wonder what she have to impart to the population and I thought it might just yet another controversial quip about her long-running feuds with other Hollywood teen stars. But it wasn’t. She said that everyone shouldn’t “drink and drive” and to be responsible enough to have a driver. I read further into this news and I was expecting that there’d be a catch to it, like she’s just mocking the Los Angeles traffic authorities. I later realized that she wasn’t being foolhardy this time. And this message is so worthwhile considering that vehicular accidents takes away about 1.2 million deaths worldwide annually according to World Health Organization statistics.

Ms. Paris Hilton did have a very worthwhile message to the public on Independence Day and if many had found this a little unusual, well I do not blame them. I too did found it entirely unexpected, coming from a rich man’s daughter who loves to party all the time and one who had frequent brushes with controversy for her atypical conduct.

Sexymom of the The D-Spot had most recently blogged how she adored Paris Hilton. She had expected her readers to be a little surprised and honestly I felt a little bit like that after reading that particular article by Sexymom.

Despite of it all, Sexymom could just be right for her sympathy to a very young women borne to extraordinary riches and a glittery culture where every bizarre happening could possibly happen, and even be bound to happen anyway, just like the sun going up and going down from the horizon. Ms. Hilton could have been trapped within a swirling way of life that only the unusual thrives and the simple-minded perish—-like in a dog-eat-dog world. She might just be exemplifying the cruel world that she lives in and now she’s crying out to the whole world.

Maybe like the news about her “finding God” while being incarcerated for two weeks inside a Los Angeles cell, Ms. Hilton had finally found redemption and realizes that it is really not ideal to live such a self-indulgent lifestyle that in the end, there is no virtue to it and that the only way to go is to have changes—-changes for the better.

This time, Ms. Hilton might just mean it and despite that I am not really into her celebrity or a fan of her of some sort, I’d be crossing my fingers for that. She could be a very effective agent for change to our youth—-to propel the idea of responsibility in the youth rather than the decadent individual that she had somehow exemplified in the past.

Rockin’ For Planet Earth

I was so glad I was online some moments ago that I become timely informed about a grand event scheduled this coming Sunday—-Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore and Kevin Wall of the historic Live 8 concerts are staging a similar huge musical undertaking in Live Earth where about 150 artists would be performing in venues stretching across the globe, from New Jersey to Johannesburg, in a lengthy 24 hour period.

In Live 8, rock bands like U2 and artists like Sting came forth to hark about G8’s seeming indifference to the economic havoc occuring in Africa. This time around, they’d be priming the worldwide public with global warming awareness, pronouncing to consumers around the world how they can help minimize and diminish the threat of greenhouse gasses to our environment. It would be so fascinating to see the numerous documentaries that are scheduled to be exhibited while the concert progresses.

Whether we like it or not, the effects of global warming is already being materially felt in our world today with the onset of unusual weather behavior, rising temperatures, melting polar ice, depleting rainforests and many other symptoms of a tapering environmental condition.

It’s about time to heed the call of the times. It’s about time that we become palpably aware of the ruminations of our environment. It’s about time we should listen to the murmurs of our Planet Earth—-for as they say, we only have one Earth and none other.

I have not become so particular aware about the exact schedule of the Live Earth concert and the local television station that would carry it. Since the concerts are slated Saturday in the states, it would be Sunday morning here. Last time around, Studio 23 carried the lengthy and highly-enjoyable Live 8 concerts and it might similarly bring Live Earth to our shore this time. For those who have high-speed connections, MNSBC would be streaming it live straight to your monitors.

See you at the concert.

Typecast--Embracing A New Level of Musicality

Despite their band name—Typecast is never a stereotype except if one thinks and associates it with a very famous rock band like The Sex Pistols or Greenday, then that would be alright because the first time I got to encounter their music, I thought it was from some popular punk band from America or perhaps, Australia. And that should be a compliment.

Music critics often lauded local bands such as Hale and Cueshe to be so foreign-sounding, in a positive tone. Usually it was entirely virtuous to propel high originality in the local music scene like for example in that of The Dawn and The Eraserheads, two bands that had navigated success so well while being so Filipino in musicianship. To be so well-rooted into the nativeland’s culture is one good element for every Filipino rock band most especially.

However, in another sense of virtousity is the desire to be world-class and by this, to sound just like every successful band flying high in the international scene. For by the way, un-American bands like INXS and Coldplay was able to embrace global stardom by sounding so well like the standard rock stuff that are so patronized in America at their respective times. So why not a Filipino band to be sounding just like any other famous American rock band and be famous for it so well? Who could blame Typecast for being that?

Typecast is to me the local rock band that could might as well be the one to be described so aptly as so foreign-sounding that it becomes entirely a compliment. Like hey, “I didn’t know “Will You Ever Learn” is a song by a local band. It sounded so good I thought a foreign band sang it”.

Being foreign-sounding is not only the sole virtue of this great new Filipino band; Typecast exudes great musicianship and inflects enormous confidence; with an attitude that states out loud how they are in the scene not merely for fame and fortune but are here to rock and shake the local music scene, to wake up and instill an unknown virtue in musicality, to bring local rock music towards another level.

Typecast has great attitude and lots and lots of confidence in their music. Spunky and brave, they are.

Watch this well-made music video of Typecast’s “Will You Ever Learn“.

Note: I have reservations however about their photo take (with a semi-naked woman in the middle) in the cover of PULP magazine. I don’t subscribe to this form of imagery, I must be clear. I hope as a band they would skirt away from such outlandishness. It would be just unideal.

The National and It’s Fake Empire

I had heard once before how Sting had sang so evocatively—-with all the drama and eloquence—-about an ‘empire’ or ‘kingdom’, how there was such madness in passion—-and great melancholy too.

But I’ve never heard even once before that there could possibly be an ‘empire’ that is not real, a fake empire that is.

The National is one band that I’ve been listening too most recently and what I’ve read about them did not prove wrong and I could say, their latest album titled “Boxer” is one great listening pleasure that one could play it over and over again and never get tired of it.

“Fake Empire” is one song that could exemplify the greatness of this album along with very evocative lyrics that get ultimately immersed into the melodies, as the song rises to it’s climactic end, with the surprising entrance and reverberation of strings and saxophone, as The National main vocalist Matt Beringer goes on repeating how he has to “hide away in a fake empire”.

How does one hides in an empire that is unreal? It escapes me the most. But with a cool band like The National, it might just as well be possible—-a possibly eloquent hideaway.

Watch and listen to The National singing “Fake Empire” at The David Letterman Show.

Katy Perry Sings Best

I am looking through several videos on the current nowadays. Of course, I would be at You Tube for that. Thanks mostly to the newly installed DSL broadband service that we have just gotten. It’s just a paradigm shift that I wonder where I’ve been before broadband came to us—-perhaps in the dark ages.

Now, I hear Katy Perry lamenting how a “Mannequin” is not a man, but “just a mannequin”, and I could almost hear her voice quiver and get exasperated about this fact. And her voice is just superb, just like in her archetypal and brilliant first single “I Kissed A Girl” that took her to worldwide fame in virtually seconds time. Now that’s success in the most instantaneous way.

Katy Perry has such great musicality that in her debut album “One of the Boys”, she belts out a great collection of ear-candy ditties, ones that are also so heavy in emotion and sentiment, and passion of course. I never heard a girl sang with this kind of passion since Ann Wilson of Heart did her thing in the late 80’s, singing “Alone” and “These Dreams”. Ms. Perry sang so well like that. She could similarly be as awesomely haunting as Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette and Sinead O’ Connor, and also like Fiona Apple in the way she writes and sang her songs. Wonder why I mentioned all these great female artists in reference to Katy Perry? Perhaps it’s because I have enjoyed her music so much that it’s one of the most original works that I have digged in lately. “One of the Boys” could be just the best release for this year except if something better comes up from now till December. And do not be surprised if she would garner all the music awards that’s gonna be out there come awards season early next year.

In “Mannequin”, I could almost feel the desperation of her longings, seeking an artificial person, wanting it to be a person, when we are so full of real persons all around. Or is it? Isn’t it somehow beguiling how Katy Perry could be so true in how “real persons” could be so unreal and plastic, that she’d rather have a mannequin on her side. Mannequins don’t complain. Don’t cheat. Don’t lie. Don’t steal. But like Ms. Perry said, “…he’s just a mannequin…and not a man”. Consider this line:

“How do I get

Closer to you

When you keep

It all on mute

How will I know

The right way

To love you”

Isn’t that tragic and romantic, both at the same time?

Katy Perry is just not excellent in “Mannequin” alone. “One of the Boys” is magically lively. “Ur So Gay” soothing yet controversial and in “Lost”, real emotions take the high-note like never before asking “have you ever been so lost…is there a light at the end of the road?” And in “I’m Still Breathing”, the song is just so exceptionally haunting and carries a very catchy slow melody that it should be the best song I’ve ever heard this year, toe to toe with “Mannequin”.

Now you might ask: “I am in consonance with her messages?” Some say she is very radical and controversial for “kissing a girl” or saying something like “ur so gay”, they say she’s homophobic (fear and cautiousness or homosexuals) and some say she’s misandric (irrational hate of boys). But I guess, Ms. Katy Perry is just being brave to tackle the issues that confront the new form of society today, the confusion of gender that hugs the headline news ever so often, the religious and moral issues that heatedly goes with it.

I may not agree with all her dispositions and that’s for sure. But she opens up these questions for us so that we may tackle it ourselves; and observes how these new things are occurring within and without us.

Above all, Katy Perry has really awesome music.

RATINGS: 7.5 out of 10.

Kings of Leon: Melancholia and Bruce Springsteen

There’s something very edgy about King of Leon’s new album.
To be sure, there’s a deep melancholy about the songs consisting this 4th major outing for the up-and-about rock band from Tennessee, one that is so reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen while in his peak during the 80’s; so terse and forceful, like a radiant harmony from an ancient kingdom, one that’s been lost and had gotten away from the wayward hands of man.

In “Use Somebody”, Caleb Followill (King of Leon’s main man), belches out and self-promotes with an insistent voice so steep that even if I could not use a man right now, I feel like wanting to be in Tennessee any minute now and see if I could actually “use somebody like him”.

He sings “I’ve been roaming around, I was looking down at all I see, painting faces, building places I can’t reach” and that is just like in Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia”, evoking melancholy in narrow streets, across a cacophony of nuances, of desertion and yearning and along sad highways.

Who’s using who? It is as real a question as could possibly be, because more often than not, a man is either being used by somebody or is using somebody—- depending on what end each of us would find ourselves in. Such and such things.

In the end, Followill keeps on belching “somebody like me”, over and over again, seeking attention and affirmation, like a crying child; and that’s where the music becomes glorious in its melancholy, to the point of being salvific.

Overall, the album is such a fresh release, imbibing a rock renewal that brings forth the spirit that had carried rock music to the extremes in the 1980’s, along the path of New Wave and Glam Rock, and mostly to the he no-frills southern tinged work from such legends as Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp. You could say, it’s very eclectic this way; but that is just so fine with me.

RATING: 7 out of 10.

Keane’s Spiralling Success

Keane is back with a reverberating album in “Perfect Symmetry” now topping the Billboards Album Chart at No. 7 and I expect it to remain somewhere within that sphere for many weeks to come.

In 2004, this English band gained worldwide accolade for the catchy and ultra-melodic “Everybody’s Changing” and from that moment on, the band never looked back and gained more and more success.

Honestly, I thought so little at first about this band from East Sussex, relegating them merely and probably as one of those one-hit wonders that had just got lucky with one very inspired composition. I even thought then that Tom Chaplin’s voice was just one of those Bono wanna-be’s that tries to imitate the inimitable voice of the U2 frontman.

But lately, things have changed. I am greatly engrossed by Keane and the music they permeate, sounding so proficient and deep like they’ve been out there for decades among the great rock bands of all time. And Tom Chaplin’s exudes that forceful confidence that’s definitive throughout “Perfect Symmetry”, a kind of feel-good exuberance that becomes imbibing to the listeners, especially when most of the songs in the album embark upon the subject of love and emotion, piano-driven love songs as they are called, and probably Keane could be forgiven for being silly almost all the time, as they could be just among a few modern rock bands that is able to extrapolate on those silly topics so extraneously and then be excused afterwards.

In “The Lovers Are Losing”, Keane sings a winning melody that could rack up admiration all over again, just like it did in “Everybody’s Changing”, serenading the listeners with a wicked keyboards intro that’s leaves a very good mark. Another promising song is “Better Than This’, very catchy and inspiring.

And listening to the whole album is like being in one very enjoyable ride, through desert highways and immaculate interstate avenues, as the wind kisses the sunlit horizon so silently.

I just thought Keane’s new album is just perfect for the car stereo, when I never really thought before that there is some kind of music that is just perfect while one is driving or riding in a car.

In the latest single “Spiralling”, Keane introduces itself so loudly and so eloquently and the song itself has just that, a very enticing intro that make the heart stomp and the feet move in lively rhythm.

Listen to Keane’s “Spiralling”:

Keane’s Album : “Perfect Symmetry” -
Rating: 8 out of 1o.

Himala: A Cinematic Achievement In A Time of Cinematic Doldrum

It would definitely be worthwhile to be taking note of a major achievement gained by Philippine cinema as Ishmael Bernal’s “Himala” had just been chosen as the “Best Asia-Pacific Movie of All Time”, an award given by the highly-credible CNN news network.

Just when we all thought that Philippine cinema is such in a doldrums, spewing mediocre if not atrocious movies one after the other, this international recognition has single-handedly brought our filmmakers to the world map. Perhaps, as I would greatly hope so, this tribute to the Filipino’s once vaunted ingenuity in filmmaking should put new vigor into our movie industry, inspiring local producers to invest more on quality films, rather than the irreverent dosage of cheesy love stories and hackneyed fantasy films that they have been feeding the local moviegoers in recent years.

The state of Philippine cinema today is such in a horrendous state. I remember a time when each year, at least one notable production would be in the offing, finely crafted and aimed to educate and enlighten aside from being delightfully entertaining. I remember a time that even teen movies were created so artfully that aside from gaining hordes of profit from adulating young fans, they also become socially relevant for the message they had conveyed. For example, the film “Bagets” was one movie that could easily be said to have been aimed at attracting young moviegoers as it starred several young and highly popular moviestars at the peak of their careers. And despite that it appeared to be a teeny-bopper of a movie, it was intelligently crafted, especially the script which was reflective of the social problems involving the youth at that time like family alienation and lack of direction in life.

Years ago, local movies are so full of memorable scenes and dialogues, even if they were love stories. For example, who could forget that line when Gabby Concepcion had relayed to Sharon Cuneta that she was his “number one”, and Ms. Cuneta answered, “Ayoko ng “number one’, kasi merong “number two” at saka me “number three”.

But nowadays, local filmmakers churn out almost all the time shallow and mind-numbing love stories and I bet we are all so full of them that we could not take them no more. It’s perplexing for example how every local movie released nowadays are so singular in theme and premise, about some lovers traipsing and running around sand beaches, about how some girl was such in a miserable state of being and some hunky-dory rich handsome guy would suddenly appear in her life, usually in a limousine with a bunch of roses and chocolates in hand, ready to become her hero and savior and would finally take her away out of her miserable life. I mean, gosh, haven’t we all got fed up with these kind of saccharine stuff? Does that really happen in real life? I’ve never seen one from our neighborhood if you ask me.

Fortunately, “Himala” is one bright light for Philippine cinema, a flicker of hope, a light to be followed. I’ve actually seen this Nora Aunor-starrer for about three to five times already, except that, I could not seem to remember the details even if I’ve seen it so many times before. It’s like a mystery to me. Perhaps, there’s an advantage in that as it would always be like the first time whenever I decide to view it again. I have the same feeling whenever I watched “Casablanca” where despite that I’ve like the polished black and white production with the guy named Sam in it, I almost always forget the details of the story, like I thought Humphrey Bogart was always going from place to place looking for Ingrid Bergman, and never really had found her, that I felt like if he was alive today, he would still be looking for her, like a mad man. It felt that way, even though websites about the movie actually tells a story different from what I thought it was.

“Himala”, according to some details I remember about the movie (to which I’ve seen the last time about a year ago as a lunch movie treat from a local television channel), is a very powerful and well-made movie, with the script so tightly knitted that it stands unparalleled at that. The shots by Director Bernal were magnificently done, using spans that are so reminiscent of the filmmaking techniques often utilized by the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.

Nora Aunor’s acting is the highlight of the movie and without it “Himala” would have been entirely mediocre and insignificant.

Truth to be told, if I am to judge the greatest Filipino movie of all time, “Himala” would have not been at the top of my list. It would have been Peque Gallaga’s “Oro Plata Mata”, a sprawling period saga that was outstanding in its production that seeing it for the first time was such a blast. It was almost a perfect movie for me—- good script, fine production and glanderous climactic end.

But “Himala” was the chosen one and even noted now as not only best here in our country, but also in the entire Asian sphere, and noted by none other than the very creditable CNN. Maybe I should agree with the choice.

Hercules and Love Affair

When I was just new to being a music lover, like really being into music, sometime just after my high school days, I had a thought then that I didn’t have much interest in dance music. Not that I were just being typical of most rock music lovers, who shows no restraint at all in showing (off) their contempt for “dance” music, like it was only for sissies and phonies. In fact I could like them so well in the past. When I was a very young kid, like somewhere between 8 or 10 years old, I had often jibed and feel the beat of songs like “Brother Louie” or “Tarzan Boy” being played in game arcades that I had frequented then.

Perhaps, it was my great leaning to New Wave that had somehow made Petshop Boys reasonably chic and modish.

Or perhaps, Depeche Mode was really a dance band when they started making music in the mid-80’s that we countless millions of soul who had loved them in their early days really and actually had loved dance music, without us knowing it.

One day, about several months ago, I passed by my favorite video rental store and got hold of the tribute concert video to Leonard Cohen titled “I’m Your Man” , and I just got blown by it. It was a very good concert video/musical, and could be just second to U2’s “Rattle and Hum”. There was this fat guy in that show who just appeared on stage and sang Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will” and I thought it was a fabulous number, the way the fat guy sang it was so terrifyingly haunting that I kept on watching that part of the concert over and over again.

The thing is – I never knew the name of the fat guy even if I had gotten so interested with his so enchanting voice. But I tried searching in the net and I later found out that his name was in fact Antony Hegarty. I thought that I liked to hear most of his song and wondered if ever he had some works before and truth to be told, indeed he was in a band, two of them in fact, Antony Johnson and the Aeons and Hercules and Love Affair.

This was how I discovered the sumptuous and wonderfully-crafted album Hercules and Love Affair, the self-titled debut album from the band with the same name.

The album is a dance album that’s why I was having some soliloquy about dance music in the beginning part of this post.
Now I wonder if finally, dance music is just as pleasurable as rock music. I wonder even if dance music is finally making a huge comeback, back to its heydays in the 80’s.

And for a dance band, Hercules and Love Affair’s album is so seriously wonderful and lyrically emotional that it was not like any other dance album that I’ve got ever known of.

In the beginning song “Time Will”, Antony Hegarty sang “Don’t Lie to me. Don’t Make it Up… I cannot hold half a life.” Now that’s just an emotional outbreak that just got me so wedged with this album.

In “Blind”, the band showed exceptional liveliness with a very jibing bass intro that makes the body move effortlessly and being so caught up by the ever so melodic vocals of Antony, making it one of the most original pieces of music that I have heard so recently.

And as if this wasn’t enough, the album moves on to higher ground in the extremely vigorous “Raise Me Up” with meandering lyrics that sang “They put you down. They pushed your face down. You kissed the ground.”

Naomi Ruiz also maintain vocal duties in this band and she is sometimes called “Fabulous Naomi” and the first time you hear her sing, it would be no surprise why she is called that way. Her voice is smooth and flowing like a crystal afloat an ice field, that in “Iris” and “Athene” she just turned the songs into full bloom naturally. She immediately reminds the listener of EBTG’s Tracy Thorn, so confident in voice and one who needs no vocal acrobatics whatsoever.

Almost every song in the album is as catchy as a fresh rainbow, almost all. It’s a being rare that way. Every song in it could actually be played on FM radio and that’s ultimate radio-friendliness that doesn’t happen every day.

Rating : 9/10

Slumdog Insufficiency

IT’S PERPLEXING.

The most talked-about film today has something fishy going on that’s not worth mentioning at all. Golden-Globe’s “Best Drama Film” winner “Slumdog Millionaire”—- it’s producers to be particular—- has apparently left some of its heroes out in the cold, especially the kids that the filmmakers had plucked out of the Calcutta slums to play important roles in the British-made film that portrays and focuses on the lives of three young kids, growing up in filthy streets amidst the virulent political turbulence in India that had occurred some time ago, specifically about the harsh and often-bloody confrontation between the Hindus and Muslims there, where one of them kids had gained the chance to become a millionaire when he grew up, that is, in the most unusual way—- winning India’s version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”.

I’ve seen trailers of the herein-mentioned film and I can appreciate how it had garnered many accolades so far and in fact it remains as the top bet to win top honors in the upcoming Oscars awards night on Monday. British film director Danny Boyle ( Trainspotting, Sunshine) has certainly achieved some cinematic milestone with this recent work of his.

But then, this controversy; the child actors and actresses employed in the film were merely paid paltry sums and remain to be living in squalid habitats still, as they were before, even if “Slumdog Millionaire” had already surpassed $100 Million in gross ticket sales. Now that’s a lot of money to be talking about and it’s nearly criminal that these adorable kids don’t get as much as they should be getting. They should get to live in mansions from now on if you ask me and be driven in limousines everyday of their lives. That’s what they deserved.

I can sense some lawsuit brewing hereat. A sharp and snooping lawyer could surely spot some goldmine of a lawsuit and I have no problem with that whatsoever.

Slumdog's Most Sublime Music

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this year’s Oscar awards night especially that my most favored movie to triumph won smashingly that night, in a fashion that I had expected, just like the way “Titanic” did it some years ago.
“Slumdog Millionaire” was such a runaway winner that it bested other nominees from almost every category it was nominated in, from “Best Picture” category to “Best Sound”.

It was kind of a unique feeling seeing or experiencing for the first time how oriental culture takes hold of the rein away from the West, as we are so accustomed to, and never let’s go, even just for one night, in music and in visuals. A.R. Rahman’s music just scintillated the night away that his musical number with M.I.A. on stage that night was just one for the books.

Maybe it’s time that we see the oriental side of the spectrum; maybe it’s time that the world recognizes that the Asian artistic spirit is just about to make a comeback and be here for good, not in hostile competition with the Western Culture that we all had adored for so long now, from art to music, but in a harmonious and Zen-like co-existence.

Slumdog’s sound and soundtrack had particularly made some extraordinary strides that for the first time an Asian musician won the nod in the movie scoring category. In this line, I would like to share how haunting and sublime the movie’s sound and music through this video, “Latika’s Theme”:

It’s a music that was played in the most emotional moment of the film, when Dev Patel’s character, Jamal, was finally about to be reunited with Latika, his love interest for a very long time, after a very long and tumultuous search, one that had caused even the violent demise of his older brother Salim.

It’s a haunting sound, like a sound from a long time era, an ancient sound that perhaps this was a sound that ancient India had been cradled in, upon a magnificent era of art and architectural achievements – from Angkor Wat to Taj Majal.

Slumdog Millionaire should remind us all how India, or the people thereat, had once the most advanced culture on the planet, having had the oldest religion in Hinduism, the direct precursor to another well-patronized religion in Buddhism, where it’s founder had been an ancient Indian prince called Siddharta Gautama, who was later on to be more popularly known as Buddha or “the enlightened one”.

In the story of Siddharta, he was once a very young and richly prince of great nobility and surrounded by all the grandiosity that life could ever provide, from gold to pearls, and had not known any form of misery or suffering whatsoever. One day, Siddharta heard a sound from somewhere far afar, and he was so enamored by the sound of the music that he had followed it. In his pursuit of the sound that he had not had heard previously, he was led to the outside portion of their home, to a place where he had never been to before, and there for the first time he saw a lot of poor and miserable people, many sick and dying. The scenes of misery and struggle had baffled him entirely that when he returned home, he had somehow chastised his mother for not telling him that in fact, life is not all joy and merriment but in reality, also of sorrow and pain. This realization had been the main instigation for his extensive soul-searching later on, one that had led him to the forest, and stayed hungry for days and nights to come, in pursuit of enlightenment.

When I heard “Latika’s Theme”, I somehow felt how Siddharta Gautama must have felt when he said that there was indeed a very beautiful music somewhere out there.

The Chris Daughtry Irony

I stopped playing online poker for an hour tonight so I can watch “American Idol” on cable television and that’s a sign how I am such a huge American Idol patron. As a matter of fact, I am often glued to the singing competition show every time it’s on, perhaps five years in the running now.

I just loved how talented these amateur participants are that I often have doubts if ever they are really real contestants and not just been hand-picked by the show’s producer. And especially the early parts of the season, the one’s they held on stadiums, where lots of goofy things happened, and lots of crazies wanting to have their 15 seconds of fame. I had guffaws most especially when these so out-of-sync contestants really thought they were shoo-ins and even spew bitter and stinging words for the judges, most especially at Mr. Cowell. The episodes are so much funnier than any spoof one could ever snatch on TV, really.

But this year, I haven’t got to watched lots of American Idol episodes due perhaps to my busy work schedule as a University teacher. Or perhaps, I just got tired of it. So I watched AI sparingly now. I don’t even know the names of the current season’s finalists, unlike in previous years.

But hey, this year’s version of American Idol really has stupendous talents, like now it’s so true, as what Randy Jackson have always been saying every time, that this year (like every year he says), the show has the most talented group of contestants than any other year, and the most tight of competition at that. Like he always says that, and it sounds so patronizing doesn’t it?

So now it’s down to the top 3 and next week would be final night. That’s great excitement for AI lovers. The cute girl with the rocking voice was booted out and it was a misjudgment. But hey, I ain’t got no vote privilege to ever complain, being far from the American coast.

And Chris Daughtry appeared with a new single. To date, he had sold 5 million copies of his debut album and had won a Grammy or two to boot. Probably Chris is the most successful Idol graduate to date. Except perhaps that Carrie Underwood could challenge this status, being so huge now in country music world.

Now I wonder, if this would be such a patent irony. We all know that Chris Daughtry did not win the AI the year he was a participant and was a far fourth actually, losing to Taylor Hicks and Ms. Katherine McPhee.

This must be what we can call the Chris Daughtry Irony. He is the reason why perhaps I could surmise why some contestants probably want to go home early and do a daughtry, having some kind of a sweet revenge, or a stunning comeback, proving all of em wrong.

Radio Playtime Pupil’s Teacher’s Pet

Ely Buendia is riding high so once again with Pupil’s “Teacher’s Pet” garnering massive playtime on primetime radio. It’s on KLITE Manila; they’ve been playing it all so often and that makes it tops of the charts, years after it was officially released .

Just when we thought we can count Pupil as just another Eraserhead spin-off, the band lurches back with this ditty that has got not only great sound and melody, but really, really clever lyrics, one that only Ely Buendia could spew out and no one else, at least in the local music scene. It’s so original that way.

Consider how Ely sang in “Teacher’s Pet”: “You are a natural selection, a full-proof rule without exception. Let me indoctrinate you, while you indoctrinate me.”

That’s really awesome lyric making.

And the song itself sound so much like a Billboard charter, only if we don’t easily recognize that it’s Ely singing a catchy ditty all along.

Maybe I’ll just publish the entire lyrics for you to browse. Hope I won’t go copyright violating for this.

Teacher’s Pet by Pupil

You could be making the grade

You could be making the grade

Don’t let your memory fade

Stop cramming when the meter starts running

[Chorus]

Here kitty, kitty

You’re looking so pretty

But I ain’t got time to know

Who’s coming tonight

I repeat, complete the equation

You plus me is a sure bet

Don’t you know it’s good to be the

Teacher’s pet

When I saw you lurching

Like a sea urchin

I knew I had to make good

Like a good boy should

‘Cause you got me thinkin’

You got me thinkin’

You are a natural selection

A full-proof rule without exception

Let me indoctrinate you

While you indoctrinate me

On the ways of the world

You are my favorite girl

(Repeat Chorus)

Teacher’s pet

Teacher’s pet

You could be making the grade

We’re jamming

Gonna hit the ground running

Here kitty, kitty

You’re looking so pretty

But I ain’t got time to know

Who’s coming tonight

I repeat, complete the equation

You plus me is a sure bet

Don’t you know it’s good to be the

Here kitty, kitty

You’re looking so pretty

But I ain’t got time to know

Who’s coming tonight

I repeat, complete the equation

You plus me is a sure bet

Don’t you know

Don’t you know

Who’s coming (6x)

Don’t you know it’s good to be the

Teacher’s pet

Teacher’s pet

Teacher’s pet

Teacher’s pet

David Cook's Star Shines All The More With New Hit Single

When David Cook’s new single came on FM radio, I thought “Come Back to Me” was such a catchy rock ditty that I wanted to play it over and over again. I was even thinking of calling the FM radio and talk to the DJ. But nah, that was something we don’t do anymore, making song request over the phone—- or do we still do that?

In fact, I liked the song first before I knew it was a David Cook song. Maybe it’s true that David’s voice is not so unique after all.

So, “Come Back to Me” is a number with a very strong come-on, and to be sure it would further reinforced David Cook’s stranglehold on his new-found fame, making his star shine all the more.

Maybe I won’t talk about this very catchy song anymore, maybe you just have to hear it playing.

Apocalypse : The Second World War

I’ve been so busy with work-related activities that my blog is on a slowdown for the meantime. I wonder what issues are hugging global politics right now, or those within our midst. I wouldn’t be as informed as I am usually is due to my busy schedule nowadays.

Maybe I just put some morsel of thoughts once in a while just to keep things on and running. I’d be so busy till the middle of December.

Last night, after driving my wife and kids to a friend’s despedida party, I kinda still felt the tiresomeness that resulted from a most recent travel to Cagayan de Oro and other Mindanao cities that I went to bed so much earlier than expected.

And the bed was so soothing to my bodice and the night wind was comforting similarly.
And to top it all, National Geographic channel was exhibiting a series I’ve been anticipating greatly these recent days, Apocalypse: The Second World War, a six-part television program about the events and happenstances of World War II, captured by camera while the war was unfolding, with so many clips that were previously unpublished.

Truly, war is so atrocious and so evil. Yet reminding me that anecdote about how war sometimes becomes inevitable and necessary.

I think I’ve finished watching only 3 of the 6 segments. I hope I’d be able to catch up with the other three. I felt that among many documentaries I’ve seen before, I most enjoyed this one. Not that I am a fan of war, if ever there is a term like that, but it was such a mind-opening experience, about the horrors of war, and what form of evil can men actually commit and implement.

U2's Live Magnificience

U2’s last studio album “No Line on the Horizon” did not do so well in the charts but the band is the biggest live act this year as its 360º world tour has now garnered top spot earning $ 130 Million.

This merely consolidates their status as the ‘biggest band in the world’ today, surpassing legendary AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen for concert patronage.

This is probably not merely due to the great musicianship of U2 but also the unequalled conceptualization of their shows, clever use of lightning and video backgrounds and excellent arrangements of numbers.

Only shows that hardwork and dedication in the music industry remains the only thing that could make a band or musical act as great as U2. Bono and the guys from Ireland certainly show great patience in honing and practicing their skills as rarely you would see them out of sorts every time they hit the stage. This is what the fans are looking for, that for every night they paid pricey concert tickets, they expect excellent performances such as what U2 give their fans night in night out.