music

So when I first got here in Manila and was listening to the radio in the taxi, I actually thought that they were live-broadcasting videoke (that's karaoke for everybody in the world but Filipinos).  I knew that videoke was a huge thing here, and after hearing, over and over again, songs by Jason Mraz, The Black-Eyed Peas, Akon... but sung by lovely, lilting female voices over acoustic guitar... i was just super confused.

Turns out that cover songs are just a really big deal here in the Philippines.  How big of a deal?  You ever heard of a band named Journey?

Their current lead singer was from a Filipino band that did covers of Journey songs... did them so well that Journey HIRED HIM.  And while that might be unusual, every Filipino artist, it seems, releases at least one album consisting entirely of covers of Western bsongs.

Why?  I hear it's cheaper than hiring someone to write cheaper songs.  I hear it's safer to choose a song people already know and like, rather than risking something new.  Mostly, though, I hear that it's an expression of colonialism

Anyway, whether you're a filthy colonialist or not, I suggest you support the Filipino economy by buying Princess Velasco's "Addicted to Acoustic" albums.  They are awesome.  Based on my highly scientific acoustic survey (by which i mean, i listen to the radio sometimes), she is the currently undisputed qu- uh, Princess - of Filipino acoustic covers.

I hear it's really hot back home... put on this album, sit outside, and have someone blow cigarette smoke in your face, and you can totally pretend you're hanging out in Manila in the summertime.

It's... it's more fun than it sounds like.  I promise!

Anyway.  Have some Princess in your life.  You're welcome.














(haha i love the pictures selected for this video... "American woman" vs "Filipina woman."  Classic.



On another note, I feel like mentioning it places me firmly within the sex-negative and mean-spirited celeb gossip world, but Princess made her way to fame through a sex scandal... a doozy of a sex scandal.  And surprisingly enough all the women involved (oh there were many) seem to have moved on to fabulous careers, while the (male) asshole at the center of it all pretty much got kicked to the curb by pop culture.  And the medical board.  Yeah, he was a doctor, I don't know why he was a celebrity, it was weird.

Anyway, how does this relate to the maria clara model for filipina behavior?   are filipinas liberated from the old cultural rules valuing chastity above all, or equally confined by new rules that value sexuality instead?

Discuss!  With the acoustic cover of tik tok in the background!  Seems fitting, right?