It’s time to party

There are those CDs that are designed to just be left on the CD player and provide a party groove, all by themselves. This is achieved either because it’s a really smart compilation/concept CD of various artists, or because the artist being treated to a Best Of has a string of funky/dance hits. Jamiroquai struts his stuff of over a decade with his new CD, while Doobie Nights reveals the depth and variety of Philippine reggae’s party groove.

Jamiroquai – High Times, the Singles 1992-2006 (SonyBMG)

Riding on the crest of the acid jazz movement that got started in the early ’90s, Jamiroquai has consistently stayed true to its vision, and created quality music throughout the intervening years. More popular in Europe than in the US, the J’s real monster hit here in Asia was Virtual Insanity. The CD is a great reminder of how Jamiroquai’s catalog is so much more than Virtual Insanity. While lead singer Jay Kay and his eco-warrior persona have often been the band’s focus, the CD shows how intricate and well-thought out the musical arrangements have always been. Along with Fatboy Slim, Jamiroquai is one of the few bands that married an adept musical vision with commercial success.

The music here is a melange of acid jazz, funk, R ’n B, disco and jazz. One cut blurs into the next, and what we really have is more than an hour of really groove-filled music. At times, tracks pop out that show how the band is in fact, evolved over the years. There’s the trademark Jamiroquai sound, but one discerns how they got dirtier and funkier around year 2000, and how a somewhat edgier synthesized touch (for the band) developed over the last year with Runaway and Radio. This is feel good, danceable pop with a conscience – if one ever gets to really give a listen to the lyrics.

Doobie Nights (Galaxy Records)

Conceptualized as an offshoot of Jam 88.3 regular radio program Doobie Nights, the CD is a heady mix of Jamaican-inspired Filipino bands who have, so far, eluded the kind of mainstream popularity Brownman Revival chanced upon. And for my money, a number of these bands deserve the spotlight. There’s humor, there’s attitude, there’s traditional reggae, some ska thrown in, and there’s a whole lot of surprising quality music on the CD. If you’ve ever swayed to the Natty Dread rhythms that Bob Marley first brought to the world, this is our own local version that truly deserves a listen.

From the strains of the first cut, Dream Cloudy of G2 and the Bundocks, to the final notes of Cherry Cornflakes’ aptly entitled It’s Over, this is a sparkling collection of how we Filipinos can embrace reggae music. The Spaceflower Show’s Boogieman is delicious ska, Sinister Sister by Indio is Police-inspired, Down and So Lonely by Domestic Grass is one enjoyable upbeat "I’m wallowing in misery" tune, and the Hangover Song of Sefyla carries the religious overtones that much of original reggae music carries. Listen to Ngiti of Peacepipe, or the tongue-in-cheek humor of Chongkeys’ Diksyonaryo, and here’s evidence that reggae works just as well even when the lyrics are in Tagalog. A great reggae CD in any language!