Stuff I Like & Shit I Don't Like

A unique mixture of what now? Yeah you probably have no idea of what I'm talking about, and a bunch of "wtf"s must be racing in your head right this time. Let me get straight to the point. On this entry, I'll be directing my views towards Sergio Mendes' new album, "Timeless". I remember when I was young, my ears were forced to listen to Sergio Mendes' music coz my parents would play his songs all day during weekends. Thru that, I came to like the soothing sounds. I was fond of how he could make samba and bossa nova blend in together to catch my taste for music. From then on, his music became my benchmark everytime I try to listen to other artists under the same genre.

Let's shift back to today. The dude's got a new album out, and not only that, he gives us a dash of both Brazilian and American music. Thanks to the featured artist on the album, Will.I.Am (of BEP), they manage to create great music by mixing Hip Hop with Samba and Bossa Nova. It's two urban clashing and fusing together beautifully. Will and Sergio brought in the Black Eyed Peas, one of hip-hop's premier groups, and also recruited some of pop music's biggest artists, each a Sergio fan, to contribute to various tracks, including Justin Timberlake, Stevie "Blind nigga" Wonder, Erykah Badu, India.Arie, Black Thought of The Roots, John Legend, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, Jill Scott and Q-Tip, among others.

Lemme give my opinions for this album, track-by-track.

1. "MAS QUE NADA": It was Sergio's signature song. In fact, it still is. My favorite Sergio song. I think it was a great idea to do a remake of this classic to expose it to a new generation. The lyrics are simple but its refrain is recognizable all over the world.

2. "THAT HEAT": A very catchy track. The voice of Erykah Badu belnds in well with Will's simple rhymes.

 3. "BERIMBAU": Riding on his harmonica sound, Stevie Wonder brings a unique touch of R&B and Jazz into this Brazilian tune. Very relaxing.

4.  "THE FROG": One of my favorite Sergio tracks, even before it was remade. What a nice way to update a classic by bringing in the noticeable voice of Q-Tip.

5. "LET ME": Jill Scott brings her very special touch to this bossa-nova piece. This is some lying-on-the-couch type of music. Very laid back.

6. "BANANIERA": Nice reggaeton rhythm, great for some Carribean scenery. Cool.

7. "SURFBOARD": A relaxing instrumental piece that gave way to some hiphop beats. A perfect vehicle for this marriage of hiphop and bossa-nova.

8. "PLEASE BABY DON'T": Brings back of good ol' memories. John Legend did a perfect job on the track.

9. "SAMBA DA BENCAO": A great jive to a haunting Sergio melody.

10. "TIMELESS": With her vocals, India.Arie takes us back to the delicious and sensual feeling of bossa nova. A wonderful collaboration, a great rhythym track.

11. "LOOSE ENDS": Creative and powerful rhymes over a great melody. Justin Timberlake gives a warm touch to the song.

12. "FO-HOP": Sounds like a festival song. The amount of Brazilian rap is just right. A rhythmic gem.

13. "LAMENTO": A great instrumental. Excellent guitar arrangement.

14. "E MENINA": This tracks is very light and airy. It's simplicity allows the audience focus on the melodious and chant-like quality of the song.

15. "YES, YES, Y'ALL": The last track on the album. A steady beat pattern plugged in with piano parts. The powerful raps along with the sensual vocals keeps us relaxed and excited at the same time.

 The album is great. Although they try to experiment ways to mesh hiphop to samba and bossa-nova, Sergio, Will and co. manage to maintain an easy-going feel to the album. This is the type of music to put on when you feel stressed and you just wanna get some time out and free your mind from everything. This album easily gives me that. Try listening to it and you'll probably think the same thing. This Sergio Mendes record will absolutely keep you untroubled. A surely successful mix and match exploration.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

 

To listen to the track Mas Que Nada, download here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AHEQXLDX 

Pupil. Yeah, the "eye" term. As you might have heard, this is Ely Buendia's newest band. They just released their first album, Beautiful Machines, under BMG. Yes, the same BMG that Ely walked out on in 2000 in the wake of his falling out with the Eraserheads. But the wounds have now been healed and BMG accepted him like a prodigal son. "Beautiful Machines" is a 14-track masterpiece, 8 english songs and 6 tagalog songs. Including tagalog songs wasn't probably a coincidence, maybe they wanted to add a more local flavor into it. So, here's the lineup:

1. Different Worlds
2. Blow Your House Down
3. Nasaan Ka?
4. She Talks To Trees
5. False Alarm
6. Gamu-gamo
7. Mary
8. Hypersober
9. Dulo ng Dila
10. Beautiful Machines
11. All This Time
12. Dianetic
13. Kalawakan
14. Lost Guide

Many of you are probably expecting that all songs on this album were written by Ely. Well, think again. I read somewhere, I just forgot where, that a few of the 14 songs were written by band members other than Ely. This proves that the album was mastered thru a collective effort from the group. Yan Yuzon (guitar/vocals), brother of the Spongecola frontman, wrote "Mary" and "Lost Guide". Bogs Jugo (drums) came up with "Hypersober" and Dok Sergio (bass/vocals) worked on another track titled, "Dulo ng Dila". Surprisingly, Ely's significant other and Pupil manager Diane Ventura, got in on the act and wrote the carrier single, "Nasaan Ka?", giving hints on Ely's present disposition. Not only that, she sings on it as well. Well, as for Ely... well he wrote the rest of the songs. From the lyrics of the tracks "Gamu-gamo", "Dianetic" and "Kalawakan", it seems clear that his domestic life is inspiring enough to go on being a musician on his own terms.

As I was listening to the songs, I noticed that the songwriting of Ely on some tracks were a far-cry from what he used to write during the E-head days. Maybe it was a deliberate move to find his identity in a new band. Overall, the songs were good. Good, not great. Nothing heavy, very friendly to the ears. Being an Eheads fan, it was just right to hear some new music from the man who sky-rocketed his group to the top of the charts of the local alternative scene back in the 90's. All the songs harmoniously come together to form one likeable album. Now that new bands are surfacing and comin' out with their own shit, I think Pupil can manage to tag along, if not parallel other bands' success. Let's see if "Beautiful Machines" can help them niche their way in the local scene. The Mongols couldn't do it. Let's wait. I hope to see some light in Pupil.

 

Rating: 3.5 / 5 

 

To listen to their carrier single, download it here:

Yesterday was so exhausting for me coz of all the work I've been doing at the office and I decided to cap the day off with a movie with some friends. I didn't really wanna watch, and a weekday movie isn't really my thing, but what the hell, I needed some time off. We decided to watch Proof, a movie starred by Anthony Hopkins and Gywenth Paltrow and the guy in The Day After Tomorrow, whoever the hell he is. Seeing the first two names on the movie roster somehow comforted me that it was gonna be a good movie, coz I knew nothing about this film and never caught a glimpse of its trailer in the past flicks I saw. Well anyway, we bought tickets, got in and made our way to our seats. As usual, all the previews were great. Well almost, except maybe for those local chick flicks.

The movie started out with a scene with Anthony Hopkins, the dead dad and the daughter, played by Gwyneth. Hopkins was a mathematician in the film, he was a great mathematician. In fact, he was so great, he went nuts. Gywenth at the same time, was being a bitch and acting all crazy and shit because of her father's loss. Anyway, to cut the long story short, the movie was full of crap. It didn't have good scriptwriting, probably because the scriptwriters were screwed by the producers. Who knows. The way the scenes were plotted were fucked up. Well, acting-wise, I did like the performances of Gywneth and Hopkins, but shit, who am I kidding, the movie sucked bigtime. It didn't even portray any "real" mathematics in the film, which could have been relevant, since it is titled Proof.  It's probably the second to the last worst movie ever made, just a notch higher than Gigli. I can't believe I paid 120 bucks to see such shit. This wasn't the way I was expecting to end the day.

Well, if it weren't for this movie, I wouldn't have started this piece. That's the only positive thing I can get from this fucked up movie. Anyway, till next time. I'll add more.

 

Rating: 1.5 / 5