Truefaith!

Truefaith has been one of my favorite bands since I was in college. I stumbled into their music while I was working on my PolSci thesis. I was meeting with our barangay's SK chair when he mentioned that the SK chair for Marcelo Green Village (Eugene Marfil - he's now officially part of the band)  was the brother of Truefaith's lead vocalist. I told him I had not heard about them and he promptly gave me free tickets to the gig. My thesismates were so happy we got free tickets. We went and that's when I fell in love with their music.

The song that got me hooked on Truefaith.

I was really ecstatic last week when I saw Medwin guest at ASAP. I always listen to their music either on my iPod (my very old one) or through Spotify. I collect their albums and bought new ones when my CD collection went underwater due to Typhoon Ondoy. How I wish I could go home and watch their concert on July 22 at the Solaire Theater.

Truefaith is one of the bands that has stuck to their brand of music. If you listen to all their albums their sound is consistent. They are unique and I like the fact that they don't follow trends. When you hear their song you know it's Truefaith. And more importantly, they always come out with original music. I'm looking forward to their new album which is set to come out in August/September this year.

I wish they visit Singapore and do a show here! =)

Filipino Music in Singapore

I'm challenging myself to make a post every day this month of July :)

I was ecstatic when I found out that my friends from Pinoytuner were coming to Singapore for a gig. It's been quite sometime since I've watched a show so I got some friends to go with me. 

The gig was organized by Requiem Rising Singapore and the artists who performed were Vin Dance (Peryodiko), Jerome Alcantara (Teeth) and Carlos Castanos. It was a really fun evening and at some point I thought I was back home watching a gig (most of the audience were Pinoys!). 

Here's some photos I managed to take:

The first set.

Vin Dancel.

Jerome Alcantara.

My SG girlfriends (Cathy was taking a video of Vin singing her favorite song) and Norman and Mongks (not sure about spelling). 

Carlos.

The girls with Vin. 

Thanks Norman and Vin for inviting us!

*To get more updates about what's up with Filipino music you may want to follow Pinoytuner and Vin Dancel on G+. 

I Like Tanya Markova

I found a copy of Tanya Markova's self-titled album on Sweetie's desk last week and thought I'd listen to it. I learnt about Tanya Markova from my rocker-friends, Karla and Sha when they started singing "Picture Perfect" during a mapping party.

I slipped the album in my CD drive with some apprehension. I was expecting that it would just give me a headache and bust my ears (haha). I was dead wrong. I actually liked it and copied a couple of songs into my iTunes so I can listen to it anytime.

It's been sometime since I heard a local band come out with original songs and I guess that's one reason why I liked Tanya Markova. The last time (I think) I heard something "new" was when "Parokya ni Edgar" was launched. I hoped that Tanya Markova's "Picture Perfect" wasn't a one-hit wonder and I'm glad to share that they have other songs in their album that would hook you in.

Tanya Markova's songs are easy to sing along with and the songs I love most include, "Linda Blair", "Disney", "Bye Mosquito" and "P.A. Roadie Fernandez". My favorite song (aside from "Picture Perfect") is "Linda Blair" because the beat is just so cute and kulit. There were some songs in the album that were a bit hardcore head-banging songs (okay so I'm kind old na), but generally I loved the album and have recommended friends to buy it to.

Here's Tanya Markova's "Picture Perfect":

Charice, the Little Girl with the Big Voice

Before Charice became THE CHARICE I watched her compete on Little Big Star and I thought she had such an awesome voice as young as she was back then. Eventually my Pinoy colleagues started talking about her when one of them chanced upon her video on Youtube and that was weeks before people started talking about her here.

And she definitely made it BIG. An international star at such a young age.

A few weeks ago I got a chance to witness the big voice from the little girl (as Oprah coined says Charice) at the launch of her new album "Charice, my Inspiration". And she was simply awesome! You'd really wonder where she gets the power of her voice since she is very tiny. She sang a couple of songs from her new album, including the duet with her Mom. It was touching to see how they both just focused on each other as they did their duet (Charice's Mom is shy, she never looked at the audience during the song hehe).

I wonder if Charice when will Charice visit Google/Youtube hehe.

Check out more info about her new album over at Titikpilipino.com. 

I'll Take Care of You - Richard Poon

When Sweetie said we were going to attend an album launch I was quite excited since it's been awhile since we attended one. I got more excited when I was told that Richard used to be with U-Turn (remember their hit single "It's You") and when I watched the music video "I'll Take Care of You" on Myx.

I have become a fan! (Photo by JayDJ)

I had no idea that his album would be very much different from all the other album launches I've attended. His music genre is that of the "standards". (Gulp! Standards! I thought it was my Mom who should've gone but... but... read on...). He said that he never dreamed that he would go into that genre. A lot of people actually doubted that he could pull it off. BUT! Richard who used to be a chef for their family business is a very talented singer, musical arranger and you'd know it's true when you listen to his songs. He started doing the standards (forced by his manager) for a charity event, and let's say the rest is history. Here's Richard talking about why he tried out the genre -



Richard believes and hopes that his music would bridge the gap between the young and old generation. I know the feeling because my Mom forces me to listen to her favorite singers - Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett etc. - and these are Richard's influencers for his music. I'd say I truly appreciated the way he sang old and new songs in his unique "standard" way.

Check out how Richard turned pop music into the standards (really cool!) -



You may want to check him out in some videos I took during his album launch -

I'll Take Care of You (carrier single)
Goodbye (para sa mga emo)
The Last Time (for those in love)
Way Back into Love (feel good!)
Dance with Me and Kahit Maputi ang Buhok Ko
Quando Quando (duet with his sister)
Moon River

I certainly enjoyed Richard Poon's album "I'll Take Care of You". A must buy! Bili na!

For more information about Richard poon check this out.

Your Soul's Music

So it's early in the morning and Juned buzzes me to inform me that he tagged me for the "Naked Meme: What's on Your iPod?" by Jayvee, the bug.

This is how the meme goes -

1. Take a screen shot of either your Top 25 Most Played / 25 Recently Played / Top Rated songs on your music device.

2. Post them on your blog and explain yourself.

3. Copy these instructions and tag 6 audiophiles to do the same thing.

Fine fine... so here's my top 25 most played list:

Now to explain myself:

1. I obviously love OPM. I do and it's what primarily brought me and Sweetie together as friends. We started hanging out because he'd invite me to tag along with him to some music events - the first was Christian Bautista's album launch last January - and the rest is history.

2. I like listening to love songs, but I do have a sawi list too. My top 25 list is worth 2 years of playing. #19 ramped up only recently, bakit kaya? Hmmm...

3. Since I love OPM, I love Pinoy artists. Quite a number of my friends would always chide me for preferring OPM artists over foreign artists. I'm Filipino and proud to be one. I am not ashamed over preferring local music and don't really care if my friends have to be dragged around to accompany me to watch local concerts.

4. The list culminates from different playlists in my iPod and I have really funny names for it, I just choose the playlist that best describes my mood. I've been playing my Christmas list for the past month and my friends on Gtalk have noticed it (to show what your current music track just download the Gtalk console).

5. I am in love. `Nuff said. LOL.

If you love OPM you should check out my Youtube channel since I feature a number of artists I've watched perform live. And watch out for my post about the 1st OPM Songhits Awards.

Most of my friends love listening to music too, bestfriend Anne though prefers listening to another type of music (you'd witness this on our Songs from Wendy's blog) and it would be interesting to see how she'd answer this meme. Well, I'm tagging the following:

Anne, Harry, Janette, Jehz, Markku, and Winston

Papaya!

Some of my friends who are connected to me via Gtalk have been asking me the past few days what "Papaya" is - it's been on my status message. Well, "Papaya" (which I sometimes eat) is a featured song on the "Edu Manzano World Greatest Dance Steps" CD. Uh, Edu Manzano? Don't worry, he doesn't actually sing in the album except for some bits where he just says, "Papaya!".

Okay, okay, so mababaw lang talaga ako and it doesn't take much to make me laugh. It was what my best friend used to make me laugh the whole week last week and since some of my friends are needing a bit of cheering up I thought I'd share this bit -



Oh, I do suggest getting the CD, it helps lighten the mood and I think it'd be great to use at some dinner parties at home. I'm getting one as pasalubong for my friends in the US. You can get it through the Titikpilipino e-store as well if you're abroad.

A Starry Day in the Life of a Music Media Technopreneur

I've been experiencing quite a lot of new things lately. The other day my friendly friend Jay invited me to tag along in an album launch. Since I love OPM I agreed to join him and be his PA for the day. I thought it would be interesting to experience what a music-media person does.

So, off I went to ABS-CBN and waited at Starbucks. I didn't expect that I would be stargazing even before lunch. Jay arrived and off we went to Club O (formerly Dish), venue of Christian Bautista's "Live Christian Bautista" album launch. I got the album a few weeks ago and I most certainly enjoyed it. I thought it was very charming that the Nina Live album would be followed by Christian Bautista. Most certainly a good choice (but I really wish they'd produce a duet album of Nina and Nyoy).

I told Jay that I'd probably get starstruck and I'd be a useless PA. I warned him that if I start he should just put a paper bag over my face. Well, good thing I got over it and managed to put on my "corporate" poker face. I joined the media people in the interview room and I just observed the reporters interview Christian. There was the usual questions on how the artist felt while doing the album, tsismis, intriga and more showbiz questions. It was flattering that some of the reporters thought I was a writer. Some of them even gave me tips on how to interview.

After Christian sang some of the songs in his new album (including my favorite "You"), I summoned myself to approach him and get his autograph (yeah, yeah I know it's baduy, eh fan ako eh, bakit ba) and, of course a picture! My legs were shaking so badly after that encounter. Isa akong starstruck fan! Hehehe. I walked away fast, worried that I might start hyperventilating and make a mess of myself. Haha.

After that I remembered I was a PA for the time-being and assisted Jay in taking Christian's photo. I got up the nerve to ask him if he uses Google and he said yes. I think that was so much of a left-field question coz he looked at me strangely. So, I introduced myself and gave him my business card (in case he'd want to have his website marketed).

Went to my meetings in the afternoon and was supposed to go home already, but new found friend Cecille invited me to join them in Rachelle Ann Go and Jimmy Marquez' album launch at Mugen Bar, Metrowalk. So, I went with them since I'm an OPM fan and I was curious who Jimmy Marquez was. And lucky me! I won a t-shirt!!!

Jimmy Marquez was a runner up in ABS-CBN's Star in a Million. I remember voting for him as well since he was really good. I got both their albums at the venue and most certainly liked Jimmy Marquez' "I was Looking for Someone to Love". I hope VIVA Records supports him more coz he's a very talented and sweet person.

Rachelle Ann was also cool, very warm and bubbly. Her album's very interesting compared to the first one and her singing was superb and full of emotion (siguro dahil in-love! swerte naman ni Papa Christian!). The tracks in her new album are interesting and showcases her voice range. It's a wonder how she did sang the high notes while seated. It's talent!

I was exhausted by the time I got home. It was more than a day with the Stars. It was a day in the life of a music mediaman. As always, I worked when I got home and Jay, the not so DJ, was also working on the stuff he got from the launches. And what's great about the day, was meeting new friends, Cecille, Ginnie and Victor. At last I have friends who love OPM too. :)