Wha-cha gonna do when there ain’t no jazz: The best music of 2006

For this column, there really is no other way to conclude the year but to cite the past 12 months’ best music. The list this year is considerably shorter but that does not at all reflect our enthusiasm for Pinoy Rock 2006. Like last year, there was so much good local music released this year that we barely had time to listen to anything else. But therein lies the rub.

With so many exceptional albums, we can only say that a few really stayed with us. Not surprisingly, most of them turned out to be quite unconventional and wayward enough to be remembered – some have even disputed if whether one of the entries is music. We were surprised ourselves when we were drawing up this list.

Last year, among others, we singled out The Itchyworms’ "Noontime Show" as one of the albums of the year – and now, almost a year later, everyone is heaping this same accolade on it. Well, we were first and all of you suckers are just imitating. But do we get any love from Kelvin or Jugs and the rest of the band? Nada. Suits us fine – especially as we’re writing in the editorial "we." Ours is a path best traveled alone – besides, those ‘worms are pretty heavy to carry.

Enough of the nonsense and let us proceed to the list. This year’s artists are considerably leaner than their forbearers.

A.M.P.O.N. "Dekoding Rhythm"

Probably the only local hip-hop release in a dry spell since 2000 that’s actually aspired to be more than their foreign counterparts, this hip-hop collective’s independently released debut makes use of what we always thought was the genre’s best weapon/tool: language. Nowhere else can you hear Filipino hip-hop express itself so well and – dare we say it – beautifully. Particularly standing out is a track called Malimit that manages to spew revolutionary rhetoric that rouses even these jaded ears. Of course, the music itself – especially on instrumental tracks by Caliph8 – is a dense affair that offers anarchies of samples as an alternative to the mesocephalic redundancies of most hip-hop.

THE DORQUES "Le Metronome E.P."

Although this release is technically only an E.P., there are no throwaways among the five songs contained therein, so it deserves to be on this year’s list. Quirky and pop-savvy, the songs are Technicolor wondercoats compared to the drab garb of most rock ‘n’ roll – if anything it’s a welcome relief from all the faux-goth and "emo" currently in vogue these days. With the drummer the only musician (in the usual sense of the term) in their line-up, The Dorques make up for it with conviction, playing as cheeky as they want to be on the cleverly rude title track or as wide-eyed on Sun Just Feels.

VARIOUS ARTISTS "S.A.B.A.W. — An Anthology of Noise, Electronic and Experimental Music"

Of all the compilations and tributes put out this year, this collection of local fringe music from as far back as the Eighties is the probably the only one that can actually be considered a landmark. None of the artists are household names and – as far we know – none of them have had any videos shown on any music channel. You won’t hear any of them on the radio either. But the artists featured on the album, such as EAT TAE, The Children of the Cathode Ray, Foodshelter&Clothing and Arvie Bartolome to name but a few, are making the true, anti-Bagong Lipunan, anti-EDSA "Manila Sound." Mostly foregoing harmony, melody or conventional song structure, this isn’t the sound of the future. This is now.

MOON FEAR MOON "The Floating Response To A Grounded World"

Enigmatic and alien, Moon Fear Moon’s brand of electronic music is seemingly a hermetically sealed domain wherein the artist is free to make any racket while rearranging his mental furniture. Usually classified under the label "intelligent dance music" or IDM, the music is not out to win converts or beg popularity – never subscribing to the credo to go for the lowest common denominator and get those asses shakin’. This new album – available only online so far – is by far Moon Fear Moon’s most accessible offering – not that this makes things any less difficult or complex. What’s more confounding is that he downplays everything to a degree no other local electronic artist would be comfortable with, managing an intensity of an ascetic’s sub-vocal prayer. If anything, the best tribute to the album is that it is only less slightly imposing than blank silence.

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If there’s anything that makes me reconsider the truism that "the best TV is like junk food – it’s bad for you," it’s my addiction to the Discovery Channel. (Believe it or not, my other obsession is The Tyra Banks Show.) Although I believe that my brain will eventually turn to rot by my constant exposure to the reassuring glow of the cathode ray, I won’t feel my time’s been wasted as long as I get my fix of shows like A Haunting, How Do They Do It?, I Shouldn’t Be Alive, The Forensic Files and – yes! – Mythbusters. You can imagine my delight upon reading the following: "NEW SEASON OF MYTHBUSTERS MAYHEM PREMIERES THIS JANUARY".

This is probably one of the only shows I still tape on VHS. The premise of the show is simple – to uncover the truth behind popular tall tales and urban legends using quirky, action-packed and often unconventional methods. For this purpose, hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, along with Tory Belleci, Kari Byron and Grant Imahara, devise a multitude of scientific experiments that often use themselves – or crash-test dummy "Buster" – as the test subjects. The results are often surprising – and explosive. 

The show has tested such age-old questions as: If you get caught in the rain, will you stay drier if you walk or run?  (Believe it or not, it’s better to walk.) Can a simple candy like a jawbreaker become a potential explosive? (Confirmed!) Could eating food with poppy seeds cause you to fail a drug test? (Absolutely.) If you drop a penny off of the top of the Empire State Building, would it kill a person on the ground if it hit him on the head?  (Nope, this one is busted!) Can cola polish chrome/shine a penny/erode a tooth? (While it’s a great chrome and penny polisher, your dentist will be happy to hear it cannot erode a tooth.) 

Hyneman and Savage have more than 30 years of combined experience in animatronics, model building and special effects, but their contribution to Mythbusters goes well beyond their technical experience. Both are intuitive builders and "tinkerers" who possess a practical resourcefulness and gleeful inquisitiveness about how things work. While their methodologies often differ, their combined know-how and contrasting styles have helped make the series a resounding success. Plus they seem to have a helluva lotta fun doing it.

All new episodes will air every Thursday at 9 p.m. starting January 11. Episodes encore on Friday at 5 a.m., Saturday at12 noon, Sunday at 6 p.m., and the following Thursday at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.

In line with this, Discovery is giving away free books and merchandise based on the series. This space will keep you updated but, yeah, we’d also like to hear what myth you’d like busted. Send to the e-mail below.

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Anyone working for the PR of any congressman or politician is prohibited from sending ANYTHING to this e-mail account (or else I’ll alter them accordingly and send them out on your behalf): erwinromulo@yahoo.com.