Eevee – Paramdam

This is one band to watch out for. Recent winners of Nescafe Soundskool, These4 young lads hailing from Davao released their debut album “Paramdam” under Sony Music. The first time i heard their single “Gusto ko lang ng girlfriend” this is a refreshing sound and what we need right now and not some angsty-driven music that is playing on the airwaves right now. I personally like the debut album and i can see that they have the potential to make it big in the music industry. “Gusto ko lang ng girlfriend” opens up the album while “Waiter” has the catchy tune of “Waiter pa-follow up ng order, yung inorder kong lovelife. kanina pa ako naghihintay” will make you singing for quite sometime. Other notable and personal favorite tracks include larawan, photographer, master baby (which is also one catchy) leading man and saturday night just to name a few.

I only have one complain on this album, it’s very short. Why only 11 tracks? Just when i was having fun listening to the album, it falls off with 11 tracks. Well, my complaining can only mean one thing and that is i can’t wait to hear the next album.

I highly recommend this album guys so get it now!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Taken from the MusikoInc youtube channel

Francis M and Ely Buendia – In Love And War (ILAW)

About a year and a half ago, there is this dream collaborative project between 2 of the most influential artists in the philippines namely the late Francis Magalona and Ely Buendia. Everyone was excited until the man from manila passed away. They did however started the recording process and as a result, the carrier track is Higante. But due to the unexpected death of the master rapper, we were all left wondering will this album still be released?

Flash forward to 2010, finally, In Love And War (or simply ILAW) is now released in record bars. I was curious, how did the project went on? Answer? It has 10 tracks wherein 3 tracks were recorded with both ely and francis taking over the microphones. As for the remaining tracks, it’s a collaboration with different artists such as Pupil, Hilera, The Purplechickens and Gloc 9 just to name a few. The Album starts off with the carrier single “Higante” and you think that was it? Bleeder and Bust Stop are the next track that has francis magalona on it. The rest “Bum Ticker, Hand on,Wasak Waltz, It’s alright Ma and Buzzkill just to name a few) are some of the other tracks in the album though quite honestly, the 3 tracks that has ely and francis singing has got to be the strongest tracks in the album.Don’t get me wrong though, i like the purplechickens track and hilera but not as strong as bus stop (though bum ticker is a little catchy especially the closing verse)

Overall, the album is not bad though it would be epic if the late francis magalona didn’t passed away and completed the album. That would be legen…. wait for it….. dary

Still, get the album and you won’t be disappointed

Click here to view the embedded video.

Taken from youtube user kupalczach

The album packaging is nice, which i might say should be the standard CD packaging here in the country. It has has 16 tracks (alot for a debut album) and i guarantee you, you will be listening for the whole album the first time you play it.

“Black Box” opens up the Archipelago experience and i believe this is the current single playing on the airwaves and it’s a feel good song. The next song which is the same as the album’s title also has a slow rock feel to it but nevertheless, another feel good track.

“Lumapit” is the first tagalog song that you will hear on the album and it’s followed up by “Meteor” Honestly, i can’t pick a single song that shines on the album because there are a couple of tracks that is worth noting and potential singles from the album in the future. Here’s my list on it:

• Blackbox – Currently their single and no doubt about it
• Travel Advisory
• Lumapit
• Meteor
• May 1 – This was their previous single after MRI
• Gaan
• Engine Breaker
• Baguio
• MRI – Their first single

As you can see on my list, almost half of the songs in the album can make it through the airwaves. This is a good sign for the band considering that it’s just their debut album and most of the tracks are good enough, heck i can’t wait for the next album to be released.

So my, verdict? let’s just say the day when i got my hands on the album up until now, i can’t help but play at least 4-5 songs everyday. It’s on my iPod touch, office mp3 player and even on my cellphone (i use the intro of “Silver” as my ringtone) heheh!

To sum it up: Buy the album, plug in your earphones and get ready for an experience that only Archipelago can deliver. This is a must buy for those who are looking for a breath of fresh air and are tired of listening to the “crappy tagalized” songs that’s playing on the airwaves or better yet, for some good ol’ rock, the way it should be be. One of the albums you must buy. We are lucky to have the band Archipelago, right here in “our” Archipelago.

13 Seconds To Love

It only takes 13 seconds to love or hate a band…. That was the main theme for this new offring from KJWAN. And i have to admit, it would take take you only 13 seconds to love the whole album. This highly-anticipated follow-up to 2StepMarv was undeniably a change and a breath of fresh air on the music scene.

A little history of how i heard this band: I was browsing sandwich’s yahoogroups way back in 2003 and i saw this side band of Marc Abaya, who was then frontman of Sandwich. Kjwan was a catchy name and it was something new to the ear. As i was trying to grab a copy of either their album or some of their sample songs, i caught up with user jorelpogi on their group. Little did i know that it was Jorel Corpus (Kuya Jor as i still call him) humbly answered my queries about the band, and i also promised them that i would spread their sound on the campus where i was taking up my bachelor’s degree (De La Salle – Dasmariñas) and well enough, i got one person hooked to their sound. This is my now good friend, bandmate and former classmate Kristian (rock on dude!) and the rest was history….

Ok, let’s cut the crap on how i discovered the band. heheh! Let’s get on the review. As for some of you may know, 13 seconds to love was launched way back in February and it was preloaded on the new Nokia Xpress 5800 cellphones (lucky you people who got the phone, as i don’t have enough money to buy that phone) It took about 5 months before we can actually see a physical copy of the album. As soon as the record store i’m dropping by before i go home from work displayed a copy, i immediately bought the album and went straight home.

As i opened and listened to the album, i noticed 2 things. First, their sound was different from their previous albums and almost all of them sings in the album. Even though Jorel already left the band (he’s currently studying at Berklee) their sound remains solid. Probably because before Jorel left, the album was already done. Right now, Marc Abaya, takes on role playing guitars alongside with the rest of the band (Boogie, Kel and Jhoon) which is not bad after all.

The album contains 11 tracks and opens up with the title track 13 seconds to love, a groovy song that will make you move to your feet. It will be followed up by the hard rockin’ “What about us”.

One of the highlights of the album would be the next track entitled “Pause” which features boogie on vocals. It’s a slow song that talks about how a person would like to pause the moment he/she is with his/her loved one whom he/she misses. Nice lyrics and a potential track to be the next single of the album.

“Meron ba” features some of the guitar riffs that is really catchy to the ears. “Lifeline” on the other hand has to be Kjwan’s finest work up to date. It’s uplifting melody, inspirational lyrics and positive message only shows that kjwan is not only about rockin’ with senseless lyrics but rather they make music with heart and soul.

Sunny weather, Dance on the floor, Drowning, Complicated, Nasilayan and One Life  makes up the rest of the album.

Overall, 13 seconds to love is way way different than their self-titled debut album and 2StepMarv. I’m pretty sure that this album will definitely clear once and for all what kjwan’s sound is… raw, energetic, inspirational and pure genius. Some fans may miss the old sounds of their previous hits such as Daliri, Sa ilalim, Shai and Surface but that’s what music is all about. Change and evolution. I highly recommend the album for all of you who are looking for a fresh sound from a not-so-old band in the music industry. Im looking for Pause, Nasilayan, Drowning and Meron ba as future radio hits.

Finally, It has been unleashed. The new repackaged album of Pupil’s sophomore album is now out in the market. I for myself is a hater of so-called “repackaged editions” for albums simply because it’s just a marketing strategy for record companies to cash-in extra money on an album that has been already out in the market for quite sometime (well except of course if that repackaged album only contains 2-3 new tracks well, that has got to suck)

In this case, Wildlife Special Edition is different from those album repackages out there today (also being a pupil fan myself, I’m anxiously waiting for the release of this repackaged edition) and upon seeing the album in store shelves, i was treated to a new album cover (gone is the white-ish cover and it was replaced with a black-ish jungle cover, somewhat like the picture above)

So what’s the difference between the first release and special edition?

• This comes in a 2 cd format (the album and the other one is what i would like to call the “special disc”
• The Wildlife disc (disc 1) has been remastered for this release. I compared the first release to this one and the new one is somewhat cleaner and louder than the original one.
• Slim case (gone are the days of jewel cases)
• If you’re looking for lyrics inside the album, I’m sorry but you won’t find any of it on this special release, go get the first one or if you are saving up money, there’s the internet. Go search for the lyrics)
• Liner notes

So what does disc 2 contains this time?

• Eye in the big sky listers night live set (6 songs)
• 3 demo songs
• 4 music videos
• Wallpapers and band pictures

Wait wait wait, 9 songs  in total plus 4 videos plus digital materials? Now that is a catch. As i bought the album, the first thing i played  on my PC was disc 2 which is the real gem of this release. I found out that the first 6 songs can be an EP (extended play) material. Recorded live with the pupilistas, it gives us a song from the first album (Different worlds) and the remaining can be found on the second album. The catch? they are on a different arrangement if you would be comparing it from their original arrangements which for me is a breath of fresh air. I really liked their arrangements on Different worlds, Sala and Disconnection notice.

The 3 demos i mentioned before were teacher’s pet, sumasabay and matador. I have heard some of them being streamed on the official pupil website. The videos for sala, monobloc, disconnection notice and teacher’s pet are also present here, as well as wallpapers of the band are all here. Plus the liner noted that was done nicely by Aldus Santos adds up some interesting facts about the different songs in the album.

Overall, the special repackaged edition is well worth to be bought. A little higher on the price compared on the first release (approximately just add 25 pesos) and you’ll be treated to an additional disc worth of special materials and extras. If you are a first time buyer, go get the album. If you already own the first release and just curious with the special disc, well, i suggest go get this release also. This is what you bands out there follow when you are coming up with repackaged edition releases. Well worth the money spent.