July is the birthday of this website as well as mine. Who knew that it would go on for years and would end up reinventing itself every chance I get. Then I realised the website which started out as a simple music blog was able to attract a wider range of multimedia topics. So it has been everything I wanted it to be except the niche blog which Blogie and the rest of the blogger pips keep encouraging everyone to make their blogs in to – and there is a very good explanation for that. They say the more you write niche topics, the likelier chance of getting a “niche” following. But it’s never been easy for me to get that ever elusive “niche” following. I often rely on the random traffic I get from the random posts I happen to come up with.
I also realised that the website is also a semblance of myself, of my ever fluctuating interests and at this point in my life when I want to stay focused, I seem to want to implement it on this blog as well. Finally.
If music is what got this blog rolling then expect that the next few months will be ALL ABOUT MUSIC. Let me know what you think about that, if the random content is more your thing or a blog about music seems to sound more like my style.
Francis Magalona’s death is yet another signpost of a “dying” generation of Filipino music. Not to mean it very literally, but what used to be the scene of more talented and less populist driven musicians is burying itself in nostalgia and beneath all the new fads. The Eraserheads had their absolutely final reunion concert recently, and I can’t help but think, “There goes the old days”.
I try my best to be optimistic and pray for more critical work (that is critique-worthy). And yet again, the Philippine arts are in crisis. It has yet to find a voice for the generation I belong to.
In any case, thank you for all the memories. Cheers.
Andrew told me that I could write anything I want on this blog, ANYTHING I was passionate about to write. If you know me personally, it’s hard to tell what field I belong to. That is because I’ve been all over the place and am practically interested in EVERYTHING.
A few months ago, I took the bold step of turning this blog into everything I was interested in. And now it’s turn out to be an “anything goes” kind of blog. But I haven’t done it any justice by waiting for its 2D walls to grow cobwebs. WELL. That’s always been my bane. Being too busy living life to write about it. I even missed writing about the very eventful Kadayawan, but if I released anything at this point, I suppose it’s like stale cheese. Which is worse than the smell of freshly fermented cheese…you get my point.
So, it’s back to basics for me and that’s the fact that I love music.
Did I tell you that I love music?
The other day, I was just thinking about it when I finally reunited with my lovely guitar after TWO YEARS. That’s a fairly long time to be away from an object you held on to practically everyday. Imagine you lost your phone and found it two years later: that’s how I felt.
See, when I left Manila two summers ago, someone (who I had kindly sought favor to load my things at the back of the car while I prepared for my trip to the airport) forgot to load my guitar (among other valuable electronic gadgets, irritatingly so). So by the time I got to the airport, I was cities away from my lovely wooden thing.
A few days ago, I got in touch with my cousin who I haven’t seen for the same number of years and found out that she took the liberty of taking MY guitar with her to Davao. I just love her, she is definitely the best. That’s why I forgive her for the pink heart-shaped butingting that she pasted on my guitar’s pick guard, it’s alright by me. Even though I would never have approved of it to begin with. Never mind, we can easily arrange its…removal.
What got me thinking even more while I was finally strumming the thing was how hard it is for a musician to love music without an instrument. Or to REALLY love music without being able to play anything. I know you’re all sick of my metaphors, but here’s another one: It’s like, you can’t really appreciate sex until you’ve done it, in my humble opinion.
I finally get to play a song I’ve been dying to play myself which is Joy Division’s monumental single, “Love will tear us apart”. For this post, I won’t have you listen to how I played it. Instead, check out this superb cover from Jose Gonzales (who also made an equally superb rendition of Heartbeats by The Knife as well as Teardrop by Massive Attack). For me, it’s always a joy to listen to guitar players and hear them sing to the songs that they play.
What more if I was THAT guitar player.
Jose Gonzales – Love will tear us apart (Joy Division cover) [Download] [Lyrics]
Click through to check out a more "personal" side of me. After all, behind this veneer of musical snobbery is (surprise, surprise!) an actual person with feelings and thoughts.
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