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. 

Nyoy Volante Launches Heartstrings

I met Nyoy about 15 summers ago. We were kids having fun in a theater workshop in our community and that's where we became tinikling partners! LOL. I'd never forget that day because my foot got caught in the bamboo while we were performing. A painful experience I'd never forget, but I smiled through that since we were, uh, performers that night. Even then Nyoy had a golden voice. He was the rave in the community and nearby communities.

After that summer most of us went our own way. Went through college. Started working. Some went abroad. One thing though for those who stuck together - we surely were Nyoy's fans. He doesn't know it but we've watched some of his concerts, but were too shy to say hi. I bumped into him a couple of times through the years, but I never expected to come face-to-face again with him since we're obviously in two different worlds.

Sweetie surprised me with a copy of "Heartstrings" a couple of weeks ago. We both didn't expect that there would be an album launch, but I made an album review anyway for Titikpilipino.com. Another surprise, Sweetie got invited to attend the album launch and guess who tagged along? Me! Too bad my best friend's in Cebu, he would've wanted to go as well.

I felt quite sheepish when Nyoy suddenly waved at me while he was being interviewed on-cam. Entertainment media icon Mario Dumaul even looked back to check who Nyoy saw. Meeh. Hehe (covers head with a paper bag). Anyway, I must say that Nyoy is still very much the same guy I met when we were kids and I'm so proud that he continues to produce great music. In this video he talks about his new album "Heartstrings".



And below is the carrier single of his album, "Because". I asked Nyoy if he were to choose one song from the album that would describe his life now what would it be. He chose "Because" coz he thinks that's what one should do, "to love and just make someone happy". In love? Yihee. Anyway, he knows where I live, so before he comes and bonks my head for that quip here's the video:



For more info about Heartstrings and to order online please go here. My album review can be found here.

A couple more songs I got during the launch:

No More Lonely Nights
more coming!