backwards

I fell in love with Eraserheads too little too late, I know. (Cue in singing “Ganyan main-lab lab lab lab
Ganyan main-lab” from Shirley) During the mid- to late 90s, when E-heads catapulted to fame, I was too preoccupied with boy bands that I never understood so much hype over them. It’s such a shame, actually, because I only got to appreciate one of the best bands this country once have years after they disbanded. Ate G, my officemate, and I echoed the same sentiments on their disbandment. I really don’t know the story why they disbanded. Most of the E-heads now have new lives with their new bands (Ely Buendia has Mongols, which I think had been renamed as Pupil; Raimund Marasigan has Sandwich and Pedicab, which are good; Buddy Zabala is with Twisted Halo, which I like for their “Miron.”)

I can truly say that no contemporary OPM bands could match the E-heads. They are simply one of a kind and I am glad that they had reaped MTV Awards and lots of accolades before. They truly deserved it because indeed they are one of the real pinoy bands who didn’t sound like they were a clone of foreign bands. I could say their music is distinctly Filipino because their songs showed a hint of Filipino culture - the sari-sari store in “Tindahan ni Aling Nena,” campus life in U.P., and the streets teeming with corrupt cops, the videoke, I could go on and on. They are a musical genius, I now agree. Their songs are stories of ordinary Pinoys, that’s why. The melodies and beats of their songs are easy to listen to.

For those who still haven’t discovered how good E-heads are, I recommend the following personal faves (I didn’t include those that are really popular like Huling El Bimbo and Magasin):

1) Shirley from Ultraelectromagneticpop
2) Tindahan ni Aling Nena from Ultramagneticpop (this one’s my superfavorite right now… It leaves a bright smile on my face… “Tindahan ni Aling Nena Parang isang kwentong pampelikula Mura na at sari-sari pa ang itinitinda Pero ang tanging nais ko ay ‘di nabibili ng pera”)
3) Kailan from Circus
4) Maselang Bahaghari from Natin99
5) May Sumasayaw from Natin99
6) Para Sa Masa from Sticker Happy
7) 68 Sixto de Antonio Drive from Natin99 Spolarium from Sticker Happy
9) Fill Her from Cutterpillow
10) Kamasupra from Cutterpillow

For those who are into indie Philippine music, visit this site http://indiecultureonline.com/index.php

If you want to download E-heads songs, http://www.searchlyrics.org/eraserheads/ (but I am not sure if this one is really reliable, i haven’t tried DLoading from this site. I recommend DL Bearshare for P2P Dloading)

Long drives are not complete without music. What I miss most when we were still in Iloilo are days when the whole family just go on a spur-of-the-moment road trip. Both my parents love to travel, so it’s no wonder that i too love to "gala." As I was saying road trips are not complete without music… You can’t stay on the road for long hours in deafening silence, can you?

In the past, music on the road would include the following:
1) my father’s jazz compilation - from Suzanne Ciani, Yanni, etc…
2) my mother’s The Carpenters - long before Judy Ann even tried to mutilate the You song, I was already singing it… I could guess a Carpenters song from its first note back then. Still, I love their "Close To You." Mama’s fave? I think it was Masquerade.
3) boyband music and Jon Secada… because my sisters and I were fans of CMB, BSB, CITA, etc… then it shifted to - Jennifer Love Hewitt, the Corrs, Tina Arena, Tupac Shakur (courtesy of Geselle) and Gene Paolo’s 98 degrees and Kai.

When we moved here in Manila, my father still stuck to Jazz… Crossover was a staple. But now, we can’t have the luxury of having those road trips. Maybe when I win in the lottery, then we’ll revive the lifestyle we once have.

Anyway, my present road trip music would include:
1) CD No. 12 - so i could sing along with Gin Blossoms, K’s Choice, and Splender 2) Sugarcult - because i still need to sing (She’s The Blade and Memory are my favorites)
3) Bob Marley and Jack Johnson, you’ll never go wrong… esp. with the latter’s music.
4) Sugarfree, Sandwich, etc… - because i still need to sing.

Any song that will make me sing like there is no tomorrow actually will make traveling more enjoyable…. But if there’s no music, just pack up a good book or tag along a travel buddy who wouldn’t get tired talking about serious and trivial stuffs then those butt-aching long-hour travels wouldn’t be such a pain.

Hmmm, but right now, I am considering trying a solo long trip to somewhere. I am daydreaming of the day when I’ll just hop on a bus with my discman, a book or two, a camera, and a couple of clothes, as well as enough money, to go somewhere that has a peaceful and safe beach and forget about being stressed for a day or two. Then I could just sit by the beach while waiting for the sunset and singing like I don’t care whoever hears me. For now, I have to dream on.

Hey! Give me space so I can breathe
Give me space so I can sleep
Give me space so you can drown in this with me
- Space, Something Corporate

A friend told me I should consider everything that I am facing right now as growing-up pains. Thank you, just two days after I officially turned a year older, I have to deal with this so-called growing-up pains. Hay! This isn’t exactly the surprise I want.

What I realized though… I can deal with storms with grace and finesse. I always stuck with my “I-won’t-stoop-down-to-your-level” principle whenever I have to deal with people who resort to personal attacks and insults. I believe in karma… that whatever you do to other people will boomerang back to you… times 10. Two weeks have been turbulent and I am hoping that the coming weeks will no longer be such a pain.

I am looking forward for Saturday… I just want to get a good rest and play with my nephew. Even though Joaqui seemed to have turned to be a demanding toddler because he is aware that everyone at him just loves. Who wouldn’t? Even if he turns our home into a disaster area (just this morning, Mama told me he made a graffiti wall out of our sofa) and always keeps us on our toes, Joaqui can melt our hearts to the nth degree and would leave us smiling the whole day with his ‘talks.’ And he loves to imitate all of us… like if he sees us eating on the dining table, he would also climb on one of the chairs to eat with us. And whenever Gene Mark, our youngest, would make him cry, he would rush to Mama or to anyone to sort of make “sumbong.” I could go on and on when I talk about Joaquin.

But I won’t cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world,
Somehow I have to find.
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world…
I will learn to survive

- Ordinary World, Duran Duran

This is my current favorite song… Everyday, i find myself humming this song. Thank you for the CD given by Ng Cyrel, I can have my Ordinary World fix.

I just havent had the energy to write as so many bad things have happened these past few days. And I don’t want to write when I am really frustrated and angry because I might end up typing away bad words all through out. Nangyari na yan sa akin when I got too mad sa tindera ng CDR-King. Ngayon ayokong murahin ang BPI even if it deserves more than that. Hay sana maayos na lahat. Pag di pa rin maayos, maiinis na talaga ako.

O sya, balik sa music… I am in 90s alternative rock mode since over the weekend. While channel surfing, I chanced upon U2’s music videos and I kind of not used to seeing Bono so young. I kept on saying, parang nakakaasiwa na he has so much hair pa.

Since nasa U2 na rin tayo, I am listing my favorite songs from the Brit band.

1) With or Without You (walang kamatayan)
2) Beautiful Day (what you don’t have you don’t need it now, my fave line from this song)
3) In A Little While
4) Stay
5) Stuck In A Moment
6) Vertigo
7) Sunday Bloody Sunday (let me recheck if tama title ko) Elevation (i remember singing under my breath while waiting to be interviewed for a job)
9) Mysterious Ways
10) Discotheque
11) All I Want Is You (because its video puzzles me)

Since Christmas is fast approaching, I feel like watching "Love Actually" for the nth time… as well as listening to its OST.

Stories of different kinds of love were successfully woven in this movie. My favorite substories - the one involving Keira Knightley, the one involving Colin Firth and the "Portuguese" character, and of course, the one involving the little kid who has a crush on an American schoolmate.

From the movie’s OST, my favorites are Maroon 5’s Sweetest Goodbye, Beach Boys’ God Only Knows, Eva Cassidy’s Songbird, All We Need Is Love… and Norah Jones’ Turn Me On.

"Love, actually, is all around" - Love Actually

One of my favorite E-heads songs is ‘Huwag Kang Matakot’ from the Natin 99 album. It’s not as popular as their hits from their first album but the lyrics are nice. Nice, again, is an understatement. Whenever I feel like everything is in disarray, i just hum or sing this song.

Huwag kang matakot
‘Di mo ba alam nandito lang ako
Sa iyong tabi
‘Di kita pababayaan kailan man
At kung ikaw ay mahulog sa bangin
Ay sasaluhin kita

Huwag kang matakot (huwag kang matakot)
‘Di kita pababayaan kailan man

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken
Don’t close your eyes, don’t close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you’ve got now
Yeah, and today is all you’ll ever have
Don’t close your eyes
Don’t close your eyes

This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

Yesterday is a kid in the corner
Yesterday is dead and over

- This Is Your Life, Switchfoot

That song says it all…

Anyway, this one isnt about anything on music… I heard this quote read over the radio a while ago. It’s bitter but I still find it funny.

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life…You give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like ‘maybe we should be just friends’ turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It’s a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.

- Neil Gaiman, In Love

Haha, i love the last sentence - I hate love. I guess we all have a love-hate relationship with love. You can’t entirely hate it. We love love when it brings the giddy, i-can’t-stop-smiling feelings but when everything turned wrong, we hate it. It’s like U2’s song - With or Without You… Just replace ‘you’ with Love.

Sabi ko na nga ba, I should have texted Ate G too. Naghihintayan lang pala kami kahapon. Hay…

Anyway, I rediscovered the songs from Dawson’s Creek Vol. 1 ost. My favorites from that album - Life’s A Bitch, Shimmer, Any Lucky Penny, London Rain, and Letting Go. I was supposed to hit the bed after typing some stuffs but I got hooked listening to music on the MP playlists…

Aside from Dawson’s Creek, naubos oras ko sa oldies which my aunt uploaded. Oo, I listen to oldies. The other day, Ate Bhek told me that I listen to songs from her father’s era pala. (I was listening to Michael Buble) There are days that I just want to drown in those oldies but goodies songs. It’s easy on the ears, the lyrics aren’t too difficult to follow.

Which reminds me… aside from Jen, the only “young” person I know who loves the oldies is Cedric from back in college. I remember when he would drive us to WVSU-Lambunao campus to deliver copies or what, Cedric would play his tape with oldies songs. He would even sing along with it. I remember Cedric singing “You’re Sixteen” to Roselyn… Those were the days.

Luckily Wesley didn’t really leave for heaven… It’s back online. Yey!

I was recently introduced to Lacuna Coil. I first came across this band through Yahoo Launchcast but never really remembered what their music is. Before I left the house, I found a CD case of Lacuna Coil, which I presume was my youngest brother Gene Mark’s, on the study table but the CD was nowhere to be found. It was, luckily, inside the discman.

Sometimes they sound like Evanescence because they also have a female vocalist but unlike Evanescence, their songs are not that too sad and depressing. I actually find some of Lacuna’s songs religious and I never got tired of listening to their music. Unlike with Evanescence, I actually felt strained after listening to the latter’s songs. It’s a feat that I would listen to something new - the whole CD - for two straight plays. (From what Ive read, they are also categorized as goth rock group like Evanescence. Others describe them as goth/ethereal rock. If you want to know more about them - http://www.lacunacoil.it)

My favorite from their Comalies album are Comalies and Angel’s Punishment.

Comalies, for successfully integrating that part where the frontwoman sang in Italian (I guess coz they are from Italy - yes it’s Italian indeed) and Angel’s Punishment, because I just like it… Ito na nga LSS ko ngaun.

another one of my recent finds - Daydream Cycle - a local indie group that offers a new sound for ears strained by overplayed songs. I couldn’t exactly put my fingers on the music they played. It isn’t edgy as Updharmadown, which I think is another Incubus-sounding band. Everybody wants to be Incubus. I am looking forward to hear more of Daydream Cycle - http://ddcycle.tripod.com/daydream.html.

See, the local music scene is just full of talent.

edited, oct. 17

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying
Are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you
‘Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It’s a very very
Mad world
Mad world

- Mad World, Tears For Fears

The song is quite sad but I still like it. But I am not posting it because I am depressed. Actually, I am still euphoric over passing the teacher’s board. Haha, I remembered this anecdote that Daff, a classmate in PNU, told us over dinner. She congratulated Ate Peachy, another classmate in PNU, and the latter replied, correction Teacher Peachy. Si Ate Peachy talaga.

Anyway, I am supposed to post something about my newest discovery - Lacuna Coil, which has been around the scene for years now… but ngaun ko lng sila nadiscover, thanks to my youngest brother Gene Mark. Unfortunately the draft of my entry on LC disappeared along with Wesley (the file server, bye-bye MP3s… everything) today. So I just have to rewrite everything when my brain works better, unlike now that I hardly understand people talking to me.

Oo, dapat puro music lng dito at movies at libro, pero cant help it kasi naalala ko habang kausap ko sa phone yung admin manager namin. Di ko sya maintindihan, she was giving me instructions on retrieving the password for the admin profile but I couldn’t understand her… mga apat na beses ata nya inuulit-ulit ung instructions hanggang naintindihan ko. Tapos a minute ago, Kuya Marc was asking me something and I couldn’t get what he was trying to say when in fact he was just telling me that pareho kami ng quote. Wah, it’s already 224am, I need to hit the bed na… For the first time in two years, uuwi ako ng 3am from work. Thank you very much… The last time that we went home ng ganyan, Malate pa office namin at ung staff meeting after we are done with work pa. I still remember that meeting because we actually allotted an hour debating over whether we capitalize city when it succeeds the city itself, ie Iloilo City… pati ung river, ie Pasig River. Ayan ang daldal ko na, madaldal pala ako pag antok. Huh? Ang weird… di trying to stay awake lng… nasa FC pa lang sya. Wah!