VARIOUS ARTISTS, The Sound of 007
Curating 60 years of theme music from the James Bond movie franchise, this documentary never fails to mesmerize. Sure, the tidbits for example about awkward singing moments involving Shirley Bassey or Tom Jones should be a hoot not just for hardcore fans of Bond, the ultimate secret agent. So do the rare footages with Sir Michael Caine, Amy Winehouse, and Radiohead’s Tom Yorke. Overall, the two-hour special streaming exclusively on Prime Video offers inside information and an in-depth look across six decades of James Bond’s iconic music rendered in various shades of the classical-pop-rock spectrum. It’s revealing, surprising and amusing in its unraveling of untold true stories behind the making of one of the most beloved soundtracks in cinema.
EBE DANCEL, Habangbuhay
Much admired singer/songwriter Ebe Dancel collects all his memories and emotions drawn from some 50 weddings he has played in so far to fashion a four-track mini-album that is at once poignant and celebratory within the same song. Emotive because touching is the nature of Ebe’s voice and cheery since he is extolling the bond into one of two erstwhile separate souls. In opener “Manatili” and “”Tanging Kailangan,” the sense that marriage is a saving grace from despair comes through in some of the most moving lyrics heard this year. Then again, memorable lines still rule even in the happy orchestral sweep of pop tunes like “Huling Unang Sayaw” and the closing titular track. In words and music, Ebe Dancel with help from producer Rico Blanco captures the essence of ‘till death do us part.
JEAN ALEJANDRO, Quarter After 2
Cagayan de Oro’s pride Jean Alejandro releases a remarkable album that also puts front and center other musical gems down South. Starting from the first track titled “Slow Master”, Ajejandro could have piloted his stellar take on fluidly cool R ‘n B end to end but he allows equally gifted homegrown musicians to share the limelight. In “Sideguy Interlude,” Jean is joined by Kagay-anon singer-songwriter and rapper Luiz Cabaron and Jon Mejia. Lucky Boondock$, a Canadian-Kagay-anon rapper, holds his own in “Toxic” while Davao-based R n B singer Mark Glenn Guingao puts his best voice forward in “Soju.” Such selflessness can only lead to greater things to come.
KUBRA COMMANDER, Rhythm Tourists
This five-piece who calls Cebu City home is an extraordinary find. They’re one of those groups from left field that easily tames one’s wild yearning for something new that’s something good too. On this their second album, the initial peg is raising the soul of Oasis in their Bealtesque period but after the Oasis-baiting “High On The Sky,” the Kubras have the smarts to rock their seminal influence in the title track, go country swinging in “Entropy” and psychedelicize their primordial instincts in “”I’ve Seen The Heathens Cry.” These rhythm tourists have a way of making Beatles’ covers night a boring proposition in comparison.
YEAH YEAH YEAHS, Cool It Down
Two decades from their beginnings among New York’s finest, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O, Nick Zinner and Brian Chase still manage to make their new wave roots hang brightly. They’re not, as their latest album suggests, cooling it down but rather letting their major muse shoot out a range of red-hot sounds and styles in the service of Karen O’s malleable vocals. It’s primal electro-pop by way of Hall Madonna in “Fleet” as “Burning” sports a Stonesy groove while something swiped from the Flying Lizard energizes “Blacktop.” YYY’s back in triumphant trumping mode.
THE MARS VOLTA, The Mars Volta
Imagine Stevie Wonder funking it up in a prog-metal band and you’re in the zone of the madcap weirdness of the duo Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López aka The Mars Volta. Stevie’s gotta be the producer because the two Voltas can cook up on their own the epic majesty of multi-chordal progressive rock and the ass-shaking earthiness of soul and funk. Sweet thing is, on their newest self-titled release, they unleash lovely ballads in “Shore Story” and “Blank Condolences.” So for all the ferment of “Black Night Shrine” or “Flash Burns From Flashbacks,” there are glad tidings from Mars Volta that even the little girls will understand.
Most of the music reviewed here can be listened to and even purchased on your favorite digital music platform.