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Monday, April 30, 2012

Razorback Returns with Three Minutes of Glory


I had to do a double take when I saw the OPM Countdown list last week since Razorback is one band that was present when I was still in college - so I just had to make sure it was not some sort of typo!  Indeed, the band is back and last year, they released their album, Three Minutes of Glory.  This song, Daan-Daang Dahilan is part of that album. 

As you can hear, the band hasn't lost their rockin' edge until now!
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Kjwan Is Back with Kjwan Volume One



Since I only started seriously listening to OPM in 2010, I am not very familiar with the discography of Kjwan.  I think their last song that registered with me was Meron Ba which they released sometime July of 2010 - that's why that's the only song I know of them.

Anyway, they are back with Walang Kaso. The song has peaked at #14 in the Myx OPM Countdown.  I have been listening to the song a few times now and I think the band's sound is going to another direction.  I like Meron Ba more as of now but I'm sure I'll be able to soak in their new songs as well. 
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My OPM Myx Countdown Votes This Week - April 30, 2012


After sizzling in the lower rungs the past few weeks, finally, Tanya Markova gets to the position they've been used to before - as the most voted OPM song of the week - a feat they did before with Disney, Picture Picture and Linda Blair.  This week, they return with the first song from their repackaged album - Tanya Mark-over - and the song is Da Facebook Song.

#1.  Tanya Markova - Da Facebook Song (4 requests per day)

#2. Sarah Geronimo, Somedaydream, Gary Valenciano - Tuloy (3 requests per day)

#3 - Emmanuelle - Happy (2 votes per day)

#4 - Chris Cantada - Scarred (1 vote per day)
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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Concert Review: Lightning Crashes with Ed Kowalczyk










1994 and 1995 where the last two years of my college life and probably the most fun I've had too since during this point of my life, I met some of the happiest party people I've ever met in Manila!  I'm saying this because this group of friends from IS Manila also introduced me to the music of Live - the band, whose lead singer, Ed Kowalczyk, had a show here last night at the Araneta Coliseum.  Funny thing is, we didn't even realize that Ed's music had that deep Christian bent and it really took us by surprise that Ed's latest album, Alive, is already a full blown Christian rock album!  I may have had an idea then that Lighting Crashes had some holy freakin' message but realized only now that Ed was really bent on making music praising God.

Would you believe that after the set of Vertical Horizon, Ed started his set with an Ave Maria song!!!??? And ended it with the classic 'Hallelujah'!!??  Who knew and to think my IS friends did a lot of unholy things to their music (sshhhhh......)

Anyway, his new music sounds close enough to how Live sounded but after listening to it for a week, I couldn't find any standout single.  So it was still the Live classics that moved the audience that night - from All Over You, to Dolphin's Song to Heaven to White, Discussion - and of course, the classics - I Alone, Selling the Drama and Lightning Crashes

I admit I only warmed up when he played the Live songs.  I do listen to Christian rock (Jars of Clay) and I watch their concerts (Switchfoot - twice already!!) but I think Ed tries to hard to 'preach' here.  Sometimes, being too preachy can turn off people.  Oh well, just my opinion.

I do hope he still releases new music.  I am still interested in the direction he is going.  I just hope he digs deeper emotionally since his songs from his Live days had that mysterious pull which made their band interesting in the first place.  Right now, he just sounds like a preacher who tries too hard.
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Gloria Estefan Tops My Personal Countdown List for the Eleventh Time with Wepa


Here are my favorite songs for the week ending April 27, 2012.

#1 Gloria Estefan - Wepa (NEW)

Gloria Estefan is back on top of MyFABEMusic's Weekly Top 10, due mainly to this song's inclusion in the latest release of the Les Mills Program, Body Jam 60.  This is already her eleventh #1 song in my personal Top 10, which stretches way back to 1985 with Conga.  Here's a list of her songs which became my personal #1's -

1985 - Conga
1988 - 1-2-3
1989 - Get On Your Feet
1991 - Coming Out of the Dark
1991 - Nayib's Song 
1991 - Live For Loving You
1994 - Everlasting Love
1996 - (You'll Be Mine) Party Time
1998 - Cuba Libre
1999 - Music of the Heart (with N 'Sync)

This week, the first single from her album Little Miss Havana, Wepa, goes to #1 in my personal countdown.  This was due mainly to the song being present in the latest release of Body Jam 60, which is one of my favorite exercises.

#2 - Beyonce - Love on Top (RE)

This song was the first number one song in my personal countdown taken from Beyonce's '4' album.  It went to #1 end of last year.  The album eventually produced two more number one songs this year (End of Time and I Miss You).  Due again to its inclusion in the latest release of Body Jam, it reenters my personal list at #2 this week.

#3 - Madonna - I'm A Sinner (NEW)

MDNA was release a few weeks back and this week, five songs from the album crashes into my personal countdown.  The highest charting song is I'm A Sinner, which comes in at #3.

#4 - Madonna - I Fucked Up (NEW)

#5 - Madonna - Gang Bang (NEW)

#6 - Madonna - Girl Gone Wild (NEW)

#7 - Madonna - Turn Up the Radio (NEW)

#8 - Swedish House Mafia - One (RE)

This song was a top 10 song from early last year after Usher and Swedish House Mafia performed this in the American Music Awards.  This week, due again to its inclusion in the latest Body Jam release, it reenters at #8. 

#9 - fun. - Some Nights (9)

#10 - Chris Cornell - The Keeper (10)
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Concert Review: Vertical Horizon Giving Everything We Want















We were in for a double treat last night, as Vertical Horizon and Ed Kowalczyk, the lead singer of Live, did a back to back show at the Araneta Coliseum. This was the second time Vertical Horizon did a show here. They were here in 2007 and yeah, we were there! This time, they came back to promote their latest album, Burning the Days. They did several songs from that album, including their opening song, Save Me From Myself, which was their lead single. They also did All Is Said and Done. My personal favorite from that album though, is The Lucky One which they also performed.Well, the fans in the audience that night cheered most when they played their AC (Adult Contemporary) hits like You're A God, Best I Ever Had and Everything You Want. They did We Are as their encore. The audience response was very warm not only because of the solid set played by the band but also because the lead singer, Matt Scannell was very simpatico, and he even spoke several phrases in Tagalog! He did make a mistake when he said he just ate chicken 'adobe' which was of course, adobo! But he said 'Magandang gabi' and "Salamat' perfectly fine! It was actually great for him to try to say those phrases. Many foreign singers don't even bother, so really, plus points for the band!I love his voice too!! That's the type of singing voice I want. Not particularly offensive and just crystal clear with a high pitch! Well, with their reception tonight, I won't be surprised if they come back for the third time! I'm sure they will be welcomed back with open arms by their local fans, including moi!
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Thursday, April 26, 2012

My Five Favorite Songs from Jason Derulo's Future History


When Jason Derulo visited Manila a few years back, I was there in that mall tour!  He has always been one of the more innovative and prolific songwriters of his generation so I was a bit excited to hear what he had in store for us in his second album.  It is a very melodic album and like his first album, Jason uses samples of famous songs in some of the material here and you can see that he instinctively uses the music to shore up his own ideas instead of just blatantly copying the melody of the sampled song.  Incidentally, I do not like his first single, Don't Wanna Go Home, although it did hit #1 in the UK.

Here are my five favorite songs from his Future History album -

1.  It Girl - This is my most favorite song from his album.  It reached #17 in the US and #4 in the UK. It also reached the Top 10 in Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.

2.  Make It Up As We Go - If I were in his record album, this would've been my choice for his second single.  He sounds like a real hip hop artist here!  However, this was never released as a single.

3.  Breathing - Another great dance song from Jason where he incorporates a little bit of Latin flava.  The song has reached the Top 10 in Australia, Canada and Switzerland.

4.  Pick Up the Pieces - This song was never released as a single, although I feel it had the potential.  It's my top ballad pick for this album.  I love the chorus and how Jason sings it!  "I miss you I mean it!"

5.  Fight For You -  This song samples the Toto hit, Africa, which Jason uses quite cleverly here!  This was the fourth Top 10 hit he had in Australia - all from this specific album. 
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