Last year, I mentioned my music choices of the moment, which included a few synth-heavy tracks and what-not. My current work music playlist is still a bit of a mess at the moment (which may be forever the default state of that playlist), as I’m in the middle of rebuilding it – there’s a lot of chiptunes and ambient music in there, but I’ve been recently listening to a lot of OPM – not that I stopped listening to it, but a random YouTube recommendation for Autotelic’s Gising got me listening to the rest of their tracks; coincidentally, one of my favorite bands Up Dharma Down released their fourth (eponymous) album UDD, so that ended up on heavy rotation today.
Here are a few Filipino bands (and particular tracks), both new and old, that feature heavily in my library, in no particular order or genre:
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Actually, go listen to their newest album UDD, which features (in my opinion at least) quite a good 80s synthpop/smooth jazz/neo-soul sound. Taya is one of my favorite tracks of theirs; it has probably slightly more plays in my library than the other song that is my favorite, Pag-Agos from their first album.
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A Weeknight Memoir (in High Definition) - Taken by Cars
I first heard Taken by Cars live at a gig of theirs in BGC way back in 2008, where they launched the music video for their track Shapeshifter. Their entire album was the soundtrack to my trip to the US to visit family that year, and it was awesome to hear them live. I really don’t remember who introduced me to them – it may have even been the music video for their track Uh-Oh playing on heavy rotation on one of the local channels. Still a banger to listen to though.
If I’m honest, I’m not particularly fond of their third album, but that’s probably due to my own tastes.
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I attempted to sing this song a while back during an uncle’s birthday party. Bad idea. I still love this song though, and how it speaks of loneliness and yearning.
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Ang Huling El Bimbo - Eraserheads
No list of Pinoy music is complete without at least a track from the Eraserheads. It’s hard to describe how my youth was colored by their tracks – from Pare Ko to Magasin to the entirety of the album Fruitcake. Ang Huling El Bimbo carries with it a lot of memory and nostalgia: for one, it was the track that Manila’s rock radio station NU-107 signed off with on their last broadcast before going off-air permanently, and the song speaks about what-may-have-been, of lost love, in a way.
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I only started to listen to Wolfgang in college, years after some of my friends, and I’m a bit sad I didn’t start listening to them earlier. I bought their live album Acoustica, from their September 2000 Music Museum show. I think I lent my physical CD to someone, since I can’t find it in my collection. Too bad, as Acoustica doesn’t seem to be on Spotify.
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Turning My Safety Off - SinoSikat?
I first heard SinoSikat? on NU-107’s In The Raw one weekend night, and their first album accompanied a few late night coding sessions, working on shipping a feature for a client.
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I have strong memories of listening to Urbandub early on in my career as a writer of code – Embrace, their third album, was on heavy play on my home machine while I was in between jobs (and trying to go back to school), and I was spending a lot of time noodling around with Linux late at night.
Urbandub is always a good band to listen to while working, at least for me, so they’re always in my library.
Admittedly, OPM is huge, and my choices above aren’t too everyone’s tastes – and there are several seminal bands which I failed to mention (which may earn the ire of some fans), like Rivermaya, Side A, or Razorback. But if I were honest, they haven’t really played heavily in my collection.
There are also a few tracks I’ve discovered recently; who knows, they might become regulars in my library:
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I admit: I’m not much of a fan of folk rock, but there are tracks which I can’t avoid listening to. Their sound is very reminiscent of Mumford and Sons. This track has made me curious enough to listen to their other songs; maybe I’ll like them.
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I’ve already mentioned Autotelic, and this track does do it for me. I’ve been listening to the rest of the album, and so far I like it. I also like Languyin from the same album.
I’m definitely open to more interesting music to listen to; drop me a line via email, or send me a tweet.
Previously: Winter