Why I like Filipino Music.

It seems that my ipod is always playing Filipino music these days.

Whenever I visit a new country, I pick up a couple of CDs featuring local talent. I have done this all of my traveling life because as a music lover I am always searching for new and inspiring music.
In most cases these purchases get a couple of plays and then sit on the shelf gathering dust.
I think it is quite difficult to enjoy music that is foreign sounding to one who is not used to new rhythms and languages.
Folk instruments can sound harsh and untrained to ears that have never heard them before.
I find difficulty appreciating music from Thailand, Cambodia and The Middle East but that is not to say that that they don’t have fine musical heritages.
As an Australian my musical tastes have been always steeped into blues, country and jazz genres but Filipino music has somehow penetrated my senses and it ranks among my favorites.

My first encounter with Pinoy music was ten years ago. .I was holidaying in The Philippines in a place called Puerto Galera.
At night I switched on the radio to listen to the local talent.

The first song that made an impression on me was Halik by a band called Aegis. They were just starting their career and were storming up the charts.

I remembered the name and when I mentioned the band to a vendor, he produced a copy of the album on a cassette for me to purchase. That cassette got played to death over the years, right up until the time I replaced it with the CD version.

In 1998 I never really knew much about the band only that they were an all female rock band except for one member.
Their voices were fantastic and that’s all that I knew about them.

About a year ago I decided to look them up on youtube and I found a few videos featuring Aegis.
Damn it. They were so good and funny. I made up my find to see them next time I was in Manila.
I got in contact with their manager who gave me their gig dates and when I arrived in Manila I ventured out to the outer suburb of Las Pinas to see one of their shows.
They did not disappoint. Comedy clubs may seem like an unlikely choice of venues for a rock band but it was worth waiting around till they came on at midnight.

Before I forget here is a link to my Filipino Music Blog http://walletss.blogspot.com/

To be continued.