The happenstance music critic, part 2

My CD-shopping phase continues for a second week. Like an itch that hasn’t been sufficiently scratched, apparently I wasn’t satisfied with just last week’s purchase. I figure this might be the last couple of albums I buy for a few months as I still need to chip into my savings for this month.

Let’s get the first album out of the way. I already have some Hangad MP3s from Tantan back in my thesis days, so I haven’t really given “Hangad A Capella” a listen yet. However I already have a good idea of what it has and I’m sure I’ll be impressed when I do pop the CD into my player.

The more significant album is the second one I bought. I haven’t bought any Itchyworms stuff ever since they started making the airwaves around three years ago, but their melancholy song “Beer” stuck to my head like bubble gum. I was convinced I had to buy their album, “Noon Time Show (Commercial Break edition).”

After the disappointment of Mayonnaise and the lack of variety from Urbandub, “Noon Time Show” is a brilliantly written and produced CD. Taken as a whole, this “theme album” criticizes the inanity, negative influence and irrelevance of that staple of Filipino existence, the noontime variety show, in its various guises. Even breaking it apart, many of the songs can stand by themselves as they run the gamut of themes of love, heartbreak, showbiz, obsession and waiting.

What truly sets Itchyworms’ album apart is how well they’ve translated the concept into great songs, and here’s where the variety card plays in. “Noon Time Show” is sufficiently varied in musical styles to keep interest/curiosity levels high. They’ve invited quite a few musicians from other bands for some of the tracks, notably the 12-minute variety show spoof “Production Number.”

The “Commercial Break” CD throws in four of their music videos (which are all very well executed, especially the one for “Beer”). Playing up to the title, a few extra tracks make it in there which are collaborations with advertisements and other shows, such as “Kabataang Pinoy” (“Pinoy Big Brother - Teen Edition” theme) and “Happy Happy Song,” the jingle for Enervon multivitamins. The remainder of the tracks are remixes and tracks that didn’t fit into the original release, such as “Jackson.”

“Noon Time Show” might easily be the album of the year in my CD collection. These talented guys have nowhere to go but up.
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Speaking of CD collections, I had bought a number of other items from my Alabang jaunt yesterday afternoon. One of them was a 36CD wallet for just PhP88. It’s not a high-quality item compared to the spiffier ones from Case Logic, but for my purposes it’s a great bargain.

I also bought replacement brake-light bulbs for my car. The last time I went to Honda to buy them, they were ridiculously expensive—and they had given me the wrong type! Imagine my delight when I strolled into True Value and not only found the correct type for my car’s sockets, but paid only 1/5 the price. Rounding out my purchases were a spare “keycard” for my car and some credits for my Timezone card, for a few rounds of Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2.

I’ll have to take a bit of a rest from shopping for now. The next time I’ll shop it’ll be for Christmas presents.
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God knows I’ve sung this song so many times, and I never get tired of it.

Nais kong magpakalasing dahil wala ka na
Nakatingin sa salamin at nag-iisa
Nakatanim pa rin ang gumamelang binalik mo sa’kin
Nang tayo’y mag-hiwalay
Ito’y katulad ng damdamin kong
Kahit buhusan mo ng beer, ayaw pang mamatay

Giliw, h’wag mo sanang limutin
Ang mga araw na ‘di sana maglaho
Ang mga anak at bahay nating pinaplano
Lahat ng ito’y nawala n’ung iniwan mo ‘ko
Kaya ngayon

Ibuhos na ang beer sa aking lalamunan
Upang malunod na ang puso kong nahihirapan
Bawat patak, ano’ng sarap,
Ano ba talaga’ng mas gusto ko?
Ang beer na ito o ang pag-ibig mo...

Nais kong magpakasabog dahil olats ako
Kahit ano hihithitin, kahit tambutso
Kukuha ako ng beer at ipapakulo
Sa kaldero’t lalanghapin ang usok nito
Lahat ay aking gagawin upang aking limutin
Na nag-iisa na ako

Ibuhos na ang beer sa aking lalamunan
Upang malunod na ang puso kong nahihirapan
Bawat patak, ano’ng sarap,
Ano ba talaga’ng mas gusto ko?
Ang beer na ito o ang pag-ibig mo...
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Giliw, h’wag mo sanang limutin
Ang mga araw na ‘di sana maglaho
Ang mga anak at bahay nating pinaplano
Lahat ng ito’y nawala n’ung iniwan mo ‘ko
Kaya ngayon

Ibuhos na ang beer sa aking lalamunan
Upang malunod na ang puso kong nahihirapan
Bawat patak, ano’ng sarap,
Ano ba talaga’ng mas gusto ko?
Ang beer na ito o ang pag-ibig mo...

— Itchyworms, “Beer”