Perfecto De Castro reunites Rivermaya sans Bamboo?

Oh my God! Is this really happening? According to Perfecto De Castro (original Rivermaya lead guitarist from their debut album), former Rivermaya members Rico Blanco, Nathan Azarcon, and Mark Escueta (still with Rivermaya) will be joining him for a one night engagement, setting the stage for a Mini-Rivermaya reunion. Too bad though that Bamboo Manalac (original lead vocalist) couldn't join them. See his Facebook post below:

Perf has just released a new single through CD Baby, and what a way to launch the single here in the Philippines by dragging along his ex-bandmates. To the uninitiated, check out the album notes below:

Album Notes

Perf De Castro is the quintessential guitarist’s guitarist. Well-versed in a multitude of musical styles, his affinity with the instrument is evident in everything he does; from unleashing an emotion-laden solo with an overdriven electric guitar, to navigating complex musical counterpoint on his 10-string classical guitar.

Perf, as he is known to Filipino music fans, is best recognized as the original guitarist for 90s Pinoy Rock supergroup Rivermaya. Since his departure from the band he has added numerous credits to his wide and varied list of accomplishments; producing platinum-selling albums by Wolfgang and Marc Velasco, lending his guitar wizardry to Philippine Music Icons Mike Hanopol and Francis M, and garnering awards such as NU 107’s Guitar of the Year as well as from Philippine Music organizations Awit and Katha.

"Guardant" heralds Perf's return to electric guitar shreddom. Its driving and relentless groove provides a burly vehicle for the anthemic meloy and continuously modulating solos. This song is anime-sounding, conjuring up images of hordes of Guardants riding into battle.

I will be downloading a copy of the song soon and will give my thoughts about the song. Do support Perf De Castro as this landmark release would definitely help reintroduce him to the Philippine music scene after a long absence (since he is now based in the U.S.).

Rico Blanco's Dating Gawi: Album Review

So I finally was able to purchase a copy of Rico Blanco's brand new album, Dating Gawi. I was pretty much surprised with Rico's direction for this new album to the point that I kind of got alienated with this new/old sound. It is actually ironic for me to feel such because I have always been drawn to Rivermaya because of Rico's penchant for creating easy sounding Pop-Rock melodies. Maybe I was far too removed from the sound of Rico Blanco's Rivermaya days (and has accepted the fate of it) that I would never expect Rico to go back to those types of song. Dating Gawi is Rico's back to the basics attempt at creating an album with a band. "With" being the operative word, because this is the first time in years (not heard since his Rivermaya days) that Rico wrote and completed a whole album with the same set of band members from start to finish. And what band members did he get for this album with no less than one half of the legendary Pinoy Rock Band Eraserheads joining him. Former Eraserheads band members Raymund Marasigan (drums) and Buddy Zabala (bass guitars) joins Hale guitarist Roll Martinez (guitars) to complete Rico's new crew. Each of them have already recorded and performed with Rico at different points in Rico's past two albums, so familiarity with them isn't new. And Rico with a band could sound fresh and also a case of deja vu for those of his fans who either have moved on or could not move on with the Rivermaya Blanco.

Rico Blanco and his "New" bandmates. (Photo from Philstar,com)

The chosen carrier single for Dating Gawi is the song called "Videoke Queen", a bombastic sounding ditty that probably is taken out of the pages of Marasigan's sound book. Rico has stated in interviews that before recording the songs, he brought along stick and bones versions of the songs for the whole band to pick on or pitch in their ideas. The guitars in this song prances all over from high to low, and crashes all over the place when the chorus comes. The song leaves you a slight case of last song syndrome if exposed too much to it. The opening track "Parang Wala Na" harkens back to Rivermaya sounds like "Elesi", "Umaaraw, Umuulan", and others like it. My personal favorite in the album, "Sorry Naman", meanwhile evokes the earlier sounding Sugarfree songs of Ebe Dancel when he was still hanging around with Rico Blanco more often. Another favorite here is the song "Wag Mong Aminin" which is a pseudo ballad sounding song that gives us another Rico Blanco masterpiece that aims to tug our heartstrings. The rest of the songs are your standard Rico Blanco songs that really does give you a sense of deja vu if you are familiar with his body of work while he was still with Rivermaya. I listened to the whole album in a loop for countless of hours and honestly at first it gave me a straight line experience. I guess I just missed (in a good way) the innovative, experimental, weird, and big on surprise sound that has been spoiling us since Rico left Rivermaya. Erasing that kind of Rico Blanco songs in my system is hard to flush out in the same way when I had a hard time flushing out those Rivermaya songs of Blanco when he started going solo.





To conclude, Dating Gawi is a beautiful album for all his fans to appreciate on. It won't matter at which part of Rico's musical journey you have come into, this album will appeal to all of you nevertheless. My only gripe is that Rico has left me hanging with only eight tracks in this album.  

Japsuki releases new music video, Hirap Bago Sarap

My favorite song in Japsuki's Pinoy Pop album finally has its own music video. Check out my review of the Pinoy Pop album here and download a copy of the album at itunes.

Ex Rivermaya Lead Guitarist Perf De Castro performs "GRAVITY"

Perf de Castro resurfaces as he shares to us his own rendition of the Rivermaya song Gravity from the debut album of Rivermaya, where Perf served as the band's lead guitarist in his only album with the band. Perf left the band due to reported "musical differences" which paved the way for Rico Blanco to take over the lead guitar chores (apart from playing keyboards). It was said that Rico had an On the Job Training in learning how to play lead guitars due to the huge void that Perf left behind. According to Perf, Gravity was one of two songs in the Rivermaya debut album that was done as a collective effort of the group. The linear notes credits Perf and Rico for the song. Two years ago, over at Radio Republic PH, Perf would reveal the real reason why he left Rivermaya. Check out the Radio Republic PH interview video below.

It would have been very interesting to know what Rivermaya would have sound like if Perf never left the band. But still, history as we know it, Rivermaya is still one of the most successful bands in the 90's band explosion era (and my favorite among the bands).

Rico Blanco is back with his Dating Gawi

Rico Blanco is back with a new album, and what an opportune time to go back to his roots. The album,  aptly titled "Dating Gawi" brings back Rico to the type of songs that made his works with his old band from Rivermaya very popular. After going solo and did most of his works experimenting on his musicality (to the extent of coming up with an alter ego Fiesto Bandido in his last album), it came as a surprise to me that Rico has decided to take us back in time. I guess the experimentation could only take you as long as you could take it. Preview the new album below to check it out yourself.

 I'll be waiting for this to hit the stores and get it along with Bamboo's album. Rico and Bamboo with a new album! What a great time to be a fan of these ex-Rivermaya heavyweights!

Bamboo returns for his second album, releases a mash-up music video.

Perhaps the long wait is over for Bamboo fans. After four long years, Bamboo is back with a new album. The Album, titled as "Bless this Mess" is Bamboo's attempt to go back to his roots. In the first Album, "No Water, No Moon" it was more of Bamboo's attempt at Jazz rock and his way of showing his mellower side. Maybe to distinguish himself from his past works that featured more prominently his hard hitting rock side. But old habits do die hard. And as the first/dual single from the album "Bless this Mess" suggests, Bamboo is indeed back to his hard hitting rock side. Consciously done to fuse two songs together to come up with a powerful new single, the songs Nothing Like You and Firepower reintroduces us to the Bamboo that we all love. And that's the Bamboo that punches us in the face as he hits those notes in his songs. Check out the music video below

Bless this Mess is out now in record bars nationwide (though I have yet to get a copy). Album Review will follow as soon as I get my hands on them.

Some New Songs from Rico Blanco

So I've been checking out the net lately for some new Rico Blanco tunes and I was surprised that I missed out a couple of songs released by Rico thru Spotify, Deezer, and iTunes. And with rumors of a new album coming out soon, I've decided to compile some recent singles that Rico wrote for the year. The latest which is a collaboration with Chito Miranda and Parokya ni Edgar. If one could remember, Rico and Chito recorded a mash up song of Rivermaya's Panahon na Naman and Parokya ni Edgar's Harana last year much to every OPM fans' delight. The duo is back this time to breath life into a new song called "Sing". Check out the video below:

Sing - Parokya ni Edgar Feat. Rico Blanco

I also stumbled upon a Kundiman type of song written by Rico Blanco way back in 2013 that sounds so classic Pinoy love song. Kundiman by the way is a Filipino Love Song Genre that permeated the radio waves back in 50s to 70s if I'm not mistaken. The song sent a chill to my spine as it transports me to the past during the time when Filipinos still wore their Barong Tagalog (for men) and Baro't Saya (for women). Hear it yourself here:

Ang Tangi Kong Pangarap - Rico Blanco

  
There are also other songs one can find in Rico Blanco's iTunes store or hear them for free at Spotify. A notable track that you won't be hearing (or seeing) in YouTube but can only be heard in full thru Spotify is the song All the Seconds in our Hours. A very danceable Rico Blanco tune unlike any other. I think this song is a remnant of Rico Blanco's Your Universe Asian Release album that might have not made the cut. The song could pretty much be grouped together with the songs "Neon Lights" and "China in Me" albeit more on the danceable side than the aforementioned songs.

Now let me leave you behind a sneak peek of Rico's new single for the New Album...

More on Videoke Queen soon :)