Category Archive for: tugtugan

kultura

the young and angsty is all you get

It’s always a struggle, whether or not to spend good hard-earned money on OPM CDs that have no Tagalog songs in them. But then again, maybe an all-English album is but a measure of how music-making still remains a luxury, i.e., those get their albums out there are those who can afford to.

With that struggle down the drain, The Vince Noir Project’s self-titled album had much going for it. Listening to it at the music store, I cajoled my husband into getting the album, if only because I was interested in what sounded like techno music from a local band. How could I pass it up in this age of rock bands and novelty songs? (more…)

kultura

Where Songbird fails to fly

It was undoubtedly poised for flight. Songbird was to be the only musical-variety show in a sea of reality shows, soap operas, asianovelas and the few sitcoms that have local TV’s daily primetime covered. It has as star Regine Velasquez, upon whom the label “Songbird” has been bestowed, and who is known for reinvention and defamiliarization – you think you know her and then she does something extraordinary; you imagine she’s done everything imaginable with her voice, and then she surprises you with CD upon CD of different songs; you buy her CDs, and even the way she looks is different every time. (more…)

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a joyride with Marcus Highway

Marcus Adoro’s silence has given him legendary status—at least as far as Eraserheads fans are concerned.

After the breakup, while other members of the band remained visible, lead guitarist Adoro disappeared. A few years ago, a cassette tape entitled “KamonKamon” became available only to the fan who knew where to find it. (more…)

kultura

pinoy rock ‘n’ roll: dead and alive

Probably the best and the worst that could possibly happen to a rock concert happened this rainy Saturday night. In the midst of an early Flores de Mayo (complete with floats and throngs of people) on the streets fronting the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the traffic that’s expected of any payday weekend in the metro, Fiesta ng Musikang Filipino (An OPM Chronicle) was celebrating its second night of, well, what they made us believe would be pure unadulterated Pinoy rock ‘n’ roll. That expectation of course, has its basis in the fact that the Juan dela Cruz Band had topbilling for this concert series of three nights, and that my friends and I were just giddy at the thought of watching Pepe Smith on stage – a rare treat for those of us who came to Pinoy rock ‘n’ roll when he was already considered a legend. But there was nothing rakenrol about ticket prices (which were steep at P1000 pesos for orchestra seats – thankfully ours were free courtesy of 105.9 RJ Underground DJ Mikey Abola), and that would only be the beginning of an evening that celebrated what seemed to be both the death and life of Pinoy rock as we know it. (more…)