backwards

James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful is quite addicting. It’s not exactly a “brilliant” song but there’s something in the way it is sang or the song’s tune that makes me want to listen to it.

So anyway, if you listen closely to its lyrics you’ll figure out that the story of the song is about a guy who met someone on a train. He was so taken with the girl’s beauty, basing on the lyrics ha… The girl, in turn, noticed him but they both knew they might not see each other again. Anyway, they are just strangers who met on the train, nothing more.

This song is a classic example of romanticizing a daily routine. This song stirs the hopeless romanticism in us. It makes us think, “Ah, oo nga no… baka sa MRT ko nga mameet soulmate ko” or “Sana sya na lng” while stealing glances at a fellow passenger.

You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don’t know what to do,
‘Cause I’ll never be with you.

Hmmm, teka, if he really fell in “love” with her, why did he let her go? Dapat he asked for her name… Ikaw, if you saw someone who caught your attention big time, would you just let him/her go or would do something to make sure that you’ll see each other again?

Sabi nga ni Miko sa akin before… “ang tunay na pagtataya ang sukatan ng pagmamahal. sa katunayan, ang pag-ibig ay siyang gumagabay sa pagtaya upang masabi na ito ay totoo.” (quoted by verbatim, makata-sounding si Miko)

There are two major figures who influenced my love for music - my father and my cousin, Ng Boyet.

Since I was five years old (funny, I can only remember my life started at 5. I couldn’t remember anything from the years before I turned five), I grew up to my father playing LPs during lazy days. The most significant group was Abba… I could still hear Super Trooper or Mamma Mia echoing at the back of my mind from days when my father would pop Abba’s vinyl record (yes, uso pa un nung maliit pa ako… eto ung CD nun, i think).

During elementary years, I never fell in love with Menudo or New Kids On The Block though I listen to rap (i.e. MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice) in the 90s… But mostly, when you are at home, you’ll wake up to the music of Jose Mari Chan (one of my father’s favorites), Tadao Hayashi, The Lettermen, The Cascades, or some instrumental music. I could memorize Chan’s past hits back then… Haha, kung di ka nga naman nabingi sa Beautiful Girl, Sing Me Your Song Again, Daddy, etc…

High School, I have to admit I was a boyband fan. My younger sister and I would buy Color Me Badd, Backstreet Boys, and CITA (Caught in the act, if you’ve heard of them… sila ang kumanta ng Zoom). Patay na patay kami dati ng kapatid ko kay Nick Carter, haha. But during the latter years of my HS, my cousin, Ng Boyet, worked as a DJ for NU and from there I got introduced to alternative, rock, and new wave music. My cousin’s music preference is as diverse as a 24-volume encyclopedia. Haha, sya ung kilala ko na who knows the 80s, electronica, rap rock, alternative, at kung anu-ano pa.

So basically, my father influenced me to love the oldies and instrumental music while my cousin made me fall in love with more genres of music. Give me anything wag lang po novelty at music na puro sigaw na magtataka ka whether mauubusan ba ng hininga ung vocalist sa kakasigaw or what.

Special mention, si Myan, she introduced me to trip hop group Cibo Matto, punk and emo rock (The Strokes, Dashboard Confessional, and Franz Ferdinand).

Si Ate Ivy, i discovered Fiona Apple and Incubus, as well Coldplay, because of her.

Si Mark S., di ko alam kung saan nya napupulot ung mga pinagdodownload nya na MP3s.

Si Jen, more Jazz and oldies…

Si Miko, he, who introduced Sound, Ive Mendes, and Erykah Badu and reintroduced Bob Marley to me.

Ah oo, si Rico, na dating supplier ko ng mga bagong kanta. Download ka nito maganda yan, lagi sabi sa akin… introduced Tool and Trapt (way before it became popular) to me.

At sa Yahoo Launchcast and our depleted “record store”…

No more LSS with Dessie Belle… I got the full lyrics now! yey! But then I am on to another search, this time for the lyrics of Falstaff Hero’s Divebomb. The song is quite danceable but I am more attracted to its lyrics.

When I really like a song, I could push the rewind button for over ten times in a day and still dont get sick of the song. (Kaya nga kung minsan gusto na akong patayin ng officemates ko if I listen to a current fave song without earphones) From the constant replaying of Divebomb, these are the lyrics that I only got right (i think):

wrong decisions, hesitations, miscalculations

i dont get to die in my tragedy
i dont get to build a community
i dont get to prove my love for you

If you want to hear how good this punk rock song is, log in here http://music.download.com/falstaffhero/3600-8719_32-100719930.html

And since, Ciudad was generous enough to post Dessie Belle’s lyrics on their site… I am plugging their blog - http://www.ciudadtheband.com

I tried logging in to www.last.fm but after downloading a software, the radio wouldn’t still play. But I found another site featuring indie bands - http://philcast.blogspot.com

Do try http://www.soundclick.com too.

unlike my younger brother, I am not selfish when it comes to music. My brother, Gene Mark, used to like Hale as much as I do but when it started to get mainstream, he decided to unlike it. I was quite surprised when he declined my offer to take him to a Hale concert next month if he wants to. He said he no longer likes the band, noting that it was getting too mainstream. Sounds like a clone of my cousin.

Me, whenever I discover a new act, I want to share it with other people… In defense of Hale, they are not too mainstream… I mean, most of the people who claim to be a fan of the band only listened to Hale’s mainstream singles - Day You Said Goodnight and Broken Sonnet. Hale is more than the two songs. Honorable mention is Take No… and they pen good lyrics. Take the contradiction from these lines - I am freezing in the sun, I am burning in the rain.

And unlike Spongecola, the title of their songs and the song itself have a connection. You would often wonder kung bakit naging 22 ang title ng isang Spongecola song or bakit naging jeepney sya? As what my other brother said, naging Jeepney ba ang title dahil namention ung word na yun sa first few lines?

contrary to what most people think, i am not good at pretending… I am very transparent. Kulang na lang nga siguro nakastamp sa mukha ko what I feel, and sometimes, think.

seek through your mind
until you find the most brilliant sound
strain your ears just to hear
what you just found
and if you chose to be
what you can not be
then it seems true
that you are not the one for me

I have a new fave band (haha, again?!)… I saw them once at 70s bistro in January during an event hosted by Loyola Mountaineers but never got to appreciate their music (because Rosary and I were busy talking about life)… well, again, until now.

The lyrics above are from Ciudad’s Dessie Belle. Makes me want to buy their album and listen to their other songs. A review I stumbled upon online was all praises for this not-so-popular band… So I guess they are really worth checking out.

Other bands worth listening to are Orange and Lemons and Bridge… No, they are not only the PBB theme song and Hanggang Kailan. They sound like a Brit band… sometimes almost like The Beatles but I dont mind. Medyo senti nga mga kanta nila, listen to their Armaggeddon Is Coming To Town and A Beginning of Something Wonderful. I think these two songs are from their first album… Land of Rubber something (mahaba ang title).

Bridge… listen to their Kahit Na (one of my faves in April) and April Fools. Meron din silang kanta na may social relevance, listen to their Makinarya.

Finally, i stumbled upon this site - www.last.fm. They have a streaming radio station featuring pinoy alternative music. The streaming radio is still under maintenance check so it won’t be up on normal operation until Tuesday.

If you still want to hear some more indie and underground-bred music, try logging in to www.purevolume.com too.

this is my third blog… just because i have nothing else to do while waiting for the go-signal from the seniors that i can go home.

i still havent really figured out what this blog will be about… ah perhaps, about the travels i have done. as if i did a lot of it in my lifetime. no, maybe again about the trivial stuffs…

What i can say right now is that I am really SLEEPY now…

there are a lot of unpopular but good bands… if not for the CD that ate G has lent me, I wouldn’t have heard the music played by the likes of Ciudad, Marty McFly, Citric Maple, Boldstar, etc… I think Violent Playground has been around for years but I never really heard their music until now… Their “The Race” from Jack Lives Here album is worth the airplay.

I have to agree OPM, alternative to be exact, is well and alive again. This land could offer more aside from Hale or Cueshe… I love Hale, mind you. It’s just that some bands don’t get as much attention as Hale or Cueshe does.