The sound of today

The three CDs today all carry the imprint of what today’s hot music is all about. Whether slickly packaged, as in the case of Lady Gaga, or proudly preening its lo-fi quality, like The Kills, or putting together a loose amalgam of the main ladies of today’s Pinoy rock scene, Duster; these CDs have found my responsive ears, and deserve a listen. 

The Fame — Lady Gaga (MCA Universal). Idolizing Donatella Versace, and coincidentally, looking like Christina Aguilera, has certainly worked wonders for Lady Gaga. Essentially, Lady Gaga is all about music and theater; a performance artist by trade, she has paid her dues around the music scene, and has even been songwriter for such acts as the Pussycat Dolls. It’s no wonder then that Lady Gaga has craftily managed to steal the spotlight, and become the Madonna of today. Songs like Just Dance and Poker Face (and their videos) have made her an instant hit. Listen to other cuts like Papparazzi and Eh, Eh and I even hear strains of ABBA, while the funkier, more syncopated, cuts reminds me of Gwen Stefani. This is one slick product and the crazy thing is, it really works!

Midnight Boom — The Kills (Domino Records). Jamie “Hotel” Vince and Allison “VV” Mosshart make up the lo-fi, punk/art house band known as The Kills. Rumored to be dating Kate Moss at one time, Jamie is British, while Allison is American. When I first heard their Tape Song, I was immediately struck by how they had perfectly captured a rock/blues vibe and had yet given it a veneer of punk and swagger that made it mirror the angst and mood of today’s rebellious art community. It’s modern and young, with a casual, late night feel. They tapped Spank Rock to produce Midnight Boom and the Rock’s hip-hop credentials also come through. Listen to Hook & Line, Sour Cherry and What New York Used to Be, and you’ll appreciate just how now this band is. And I loved the Lomo cover art.

Sweetheart Snackbar — Duster (Sony BMG). Released last month, Duster is a project masterminded by former E-Head Raimund Marasigan, with band members coming from Imago/Sandwich, Cambio, and Narda — to name a few. An all-female band, most of the tracks were written by Raimund and Lourd de Veyra, and it’s a hip collection of lyrics as only Lourd can churn them, with strong electro-pop, percussion and guitar-riff driven music (as only Raimund can create). Listen to Dek-A-Doodle Dandy (which I refer to as the Addict song) and fall in love with the irreverence and loopy nature of Duster’s music. Titles like Retail Therapy (where high-end designer brands are given the alphabet treatment), Gucci Gang, GPS  and QC Girls, give you an inkling of their mindset and the promise of those titles come through in the songs. A real charmer... with attitude!