Wow. It’s been exactly a year since I last compiled a Groovee Playlist™. Well, I haven’t actually actively sought nice songs this past year so I haven’t had time to properly compile lists throughout the year. It’s only the past month or two that I tuned in to various sources to get my music fix. So let this be the extra-long 2009 special of the Groovee Playlist™. As much as possible, I only featured songs that were released or have become big in 2009 and I must note that this is not my Best of 2009 selection—I haven’t listened to as much music as I should have and I deliberately strove to have a diverse set of music to include in this list.

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We won! Team Bloggers, which consisted of Benj, Jeff, Hannah (whom I only met then), and me, conquered the 3rd Max Road Challenge, organized by 103.5 Max FM. The Road Challenge happened last Sunday, December 13, and had us traveling all the way from Caltex along Julia Vargas in Ortigas to Leslie’s Restaurant in Tagaytay.

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Yay! I luckily got a free ticket to Paul van Dyk’s event last October 13 at A-Venue in Makati and which was organized by Bigfish Manila and sponsored by Nokia. The ticket came via a radio promo during the Bigfish Radio show, which airs on Magic 89.9 every Saturday night. The promo question at that instance I joined asked the listeners to name one album by Paul van Dyk. I e-mailed my answer, In Between and that got me one of the complimentary tickets! Thanks Bigfish!

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Welcome to the year-ender non-special installment of the Groovee Playlist™ series (see the previous list). To remind you, the Groovee Playlist is my way of highlighting the recently (relatively) released songs that I dig. As in previous playlists, I’ll link to the Wikipedia article about the song (if it exists) as “[W]”, and to the YouTube search (or official music video) for the song as “[U]” so that you can sample the song and see if you like it as well.

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Here’s the seventh installment of my Groovee Playlist™ series (see the previous one). As before, I’ll link to the Wikipedia article about the song (if it exists) as “[W]”, and to the YouTube search (or official music video) for the song as “[U]” so that you can sample the song and see if you like it as well.

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Whee! Here’s the sixth installment of the Groovee Playlist™ series (see the previous one). As before, I’ll link to the Wikipedia article about the song (if it exists) as “[W]”, and to the YouTube search (or official music video) for the song as “[U]” so that you can sample the song and see if you like it as well.

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I’ve heard good things about Avenue Q so I was determined to watch the Farewell Run of Atlantis’ production of this Tony Award-winning Broadway musical before the cast and crew perform in Singapore. Good thing that our former neighbor was able to snag some tickets and so me and my sister, our neighbor, and a couple of other friends got to watch Avenue Q last June 21. And what a blast it was!

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Yay! Here’s the fifth installment of my irregular Groovee Playlist™ series (see the previous one). As before, I’ll link to the Wikipedia article about the song (if it exists) as “[W]”, and to the YouTube search (or official music video) for the song as “[U]” so that you can sample the song and see if you like it as well.

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A little less than two weeks ago, I and several other bloggers were invited by Nokia Philippines to a discussion over dinner at Sugi in Greenbelt 2. There, Nokia presented the global company’s future direction and solicited fedback and insights from us. Representing Nokia were William Hamilton-Whyte, General Manager, Rhomel Marcojos, head of various marketing stuff, and Nikka Singson-Abes, Corporate Communications Manager. William is actually a quite a fascinating expatriate. He’s Scottish-French, born in Kenya, and has lived in about a dozen countries before taking the country General Manager position for the Philippines’ most successful mobile phone brand.

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I was caught unawares by the news that 99.5 HiT FM would be replaced by the old Campus Radio station. So last Holy Week, the HiT Squad signed of the air and 99.5 Campus FM started its broadcast on Easter Sunday. It should be recalled that the old Campus Radio on 97.1 MHz was reformatted by RGMA into Barangay LS 97.1 early last year and that the institutional 99.5 RT also bid goodbye (to become 99.5 HiT FM) about a month earlier than that. While HiT FM is RT in practically everything but name, the Campus FM will definitely be a step into a different direction.

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The continuation of my Groovee Playlist™ series is long overdue (see the last installment), so here’s the first edition for this year. As before, I’ll link to the Wikipedia article about the song (if it exists) as “[W]”, and to the YouTube search (or official music video) for the song as “[U]” so that you can sample the song and see if you like it as well.

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Connie, over at Write Life Guide, asks “Can you remember your first Internet experience? How was it like?” Well, surprisingly, given the fact that my non-work waking life is centered on the Internet, I can’t remember exactly when I first got on the Internet or what was the first web page I visited.

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Well, Juned tagged me with Jayvee’s Naked Meme and I’m obliged to answer because they’re my friends. Well here are the verbatim instructions:

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Continuing my Groovee Playlist™ series (see the last installment), I’ve got a whole bunch of songs that you will definitely like provided that we have the same taste in music. Hehehe. As before, I’ll link to the Wikipedia article about the song (if it exists) as “[W]”, and to the YouTube search for the song as “[U]” so that you can sample the song and see if you like it as well.

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I’ve taken some liking to Sitti’s bossa nova music. So I was rightly intrigued when I spotted Sitti in the Mix: The Dense Modesto Remixes at Music One in Glorietta a couple of months ago. This is a compilation of electronic remixes of Sitti’s songs, most of which are themselves bossa nova covers of nice songs. This makes this album an original twice removed. Hehehe. I’m a bit partial to electronic and dance music (EDM) and Club MYX DJ Dense Modesto’s remix work got me quite curious.

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Okay, the Groovee Playlist™, which I started last May is intended to be a monthly (or at least bi-monthly) series, but I forgot to continue it in the past two months. So to catch up, here’s a list of songs that I’ve grown to like within the last three months.

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You may or may not know that Jam 88.3 (Wikipedia article) is my most favorite FM station by far. I’ve been listening to them since 2004, around the time they were celebrating their first anniversary. Jam 88.3 began airing in 2003 replacing CityLite 88.3, and it’s widely known that the station was instrumental in popularizing acoustic music in the local scene. In fact, if there’s an acoustic version of a song avaliable, then they would play that. They were also responsible for launching the careers of artists like M.Y.M.P. and Kitchie Nadal.

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Since I’ve been creating lists of music that I currently like, I’ve decided to create a name for these kinds of posts. (See the ones for March 2007, December 2006, October 2006.) Hey, it’s difficult trying to find relevant or witty titles for light-reading posts like these so these particular music posts will now be called “Groovee Playlists.” You say it’s corny? As I said, I’m not witty. So on to the list.

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Now for something light, here is a list of songs that I like and have entered my consciousness in the past few months.

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I really love the song “Here (In Your Arms)” by hellogoodbye. I first heard it (well at least the latter part) on 99.5 RT several weeks ago and it was new on the airwaves back then. I thought that it was a new house song due to the heavy use of synthesizers and DSP’d vocals, but listening to it in its entirety, it’s more pop than electronic. I think the correct genre is power pop (e.g., “My Sharona”).

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To complement my previous post, “Music to Start the Summer”, listed below are several of the songs that I’ve come across and liked. Well, the primary criteria for a song to be included is that I should really like it enough right now that I just might request it on the radio. And the secondary criteria is that I should’ve come across the music within the past several months.

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I first encountered Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” via this blog post sometime early this year. The post linked to this parody video (warning: NSFW) poking fun at the unintelligible lyrics of the song.

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Not even a half-year after I got my iPod nano, Apple introduced even yummier nanos last Tuesday. Thinner? Check. Twice more storage for the same price? Check. Twice the battery life? Check. More colors? Check. Scratch-resistant aluminum casing? Check. Brighter LCD screen? Check. And the oft-requested gapless playback feature? Check, check, check!

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Is it just me or is Electronic dance music (EDM), and house music in particular, becoming much more popular in the local music scene? One very good evidence I have is the Power Lunch show of 99.5RT, which features DJ David Ardiente doing an hour-long DJ-mixing of house music from 12 noon to 1 pm from Mondays to Thursdays. This is in addition to his old regular show On the Decks which happens from 10 pm Saturday night till 2 am.

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I’ve been seeing an increased interest in Solu Music’s song “Fade” based on the comments to a previous post and also since I’m hearing a new remix on the radio and in the clubs.

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Remember when I said that I wouldn’t get an Apple iPod? Well, I changed my mind. I’m now a proud owner of a black Apple iPod Nano 4GB, which I bought in Akihabara for only ¥24800 (around 10,600 pesos). I can’t wait to turn my younger sister green with envy. Hehehe.

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Hmmm… I never thought that my next movie will displace my best-movie-of-the-year-so-far V for Vendetta so soon. But Rent is quite a beautiful movie with a much more emotional impact on me. I’ve been wanting to see it ever since I saw the trailer on the Net. I wanted to watch a movie before coming to Japan (since I won’t watch one in Japan—movies in Japan are damn expensive) and fortunately, Ayala Cinemas decided to screen Rent starting on March 29. Just in time!

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Here’s some of the latest music I’ve been discovering and enjoying.

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I wonder why the fates have decided to put these two electronic music events on the same day. Electronic music is not a particularly big thing here in the Philippines and people have been agonizing over which event to go to on March 31. (I’m told that the bigwigs at Bigfish, the organizers of the Hed Kandi event, are furious.) Then again, some people might decide to go event-hopping since the two parties will be held within 400 meters of each other.

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Cheesy number one: it’s sung by a popular ABS-CBN talent. Cheesy number two: it’s a song for a popular toothpaste brand. But those two reasons doesn’t prevent me from liking Sam Milby’s “Close To You.” Even my older sister likes it.

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Retrievr is a really cool image search tool. You draw an image on your left and it will automatically return images from Flickr that resemble what you’ve drawn. I agree that Google Image Search should implement this mode. Via Google Blogoscoped.

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After a little more than a year, DJ Magazine’s 2005 #1 DJ Paul van Dyk is coming back to Manila to promote his Politics of Dancing 2 DJ mix compilation. The album contains his newest single “The Other Side,” which is dedicated to the people affected by the 2004 tsunami.

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“And now here’s something from Deepest Blue called ‘Shooting Stars,’” DJ Harry of Jam 88.3 announced just several minutes ago. And I did an, “Oh my God! They played Deepest Blue!” I knew that I just had to blog about it.

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DJ Magazine recently released the results of their Top 100 DJs for the year 2005 poll. While there was relatively little movement among the top tiers, the big news is that perennial #2 Paul van Dyk managed to unseat three-time #1 Tiësto from the top spot. Ferry Corsten, Sasha, and Van Buuren practically retained their spots. Trance music is still king of roost having five DJs championing the genre among the top 10. (That number doesn’t include former trance DJs Sasha and Digweed.)

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Taking a leaf from many other blogs, I’ve decided to play that song game where I list down twenty music artists that I like and you try to guess my most favorite song of those artists. Whenever someone gives a correct song in the comments, I’ll update the post to show the correct answer, the person who got it, and some notes on that song. Try to give only one guess per artist; don’t use machine gun tactics!

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I wanna go to Big Fish Manila’s Hed Kandi Disco Heaven 2005. It’s happening tonight, September 17, at the Philippine Trade Training Center along Roxas Blvd.

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My search for this song is actually quite a tale in itself. It is a piece of female vocal house music that I heard on the radio (99.5 RT’s On the Decks) a few weekends ago. I instantly liked it and tried to listen to the lyrics so I can research more about it on the Web. Searching proved futile since I didn’t find any lyrics matching what I heard. So I relegated the song to the back burner for future reference.

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But I did hear the song being played on the radio. Not that I mind; I like the symphonic rock of Bamboo’s “F.U.” better than their hard-core head-banging “Hallelujah,” both from their sophomore album, Light Peace Love.

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After numerous listening sessions at various Tower Records and Music One branches in the metro, I finally decided to buy myself a copy of Deepest Blue’s debut album Late September. I first encountered this UK pop duo, composed of Matt Schwartz and Joel Edwards, through their very successful first single self-titled “Deepest Blue.” I since heard club mixes of two of their other singles, “Give It Away” and “Is It A Sin” on the radio.

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Driving home a while ago listening to 99.5 RT, I was shocked to hear the unmistakable opening bars of Bonnie Bailey’s “Ever After.” Huwaaaat?!? Since when did that song get into RT’s primetime playlist? On a Monday night? (Not that I’m complaining.)

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I finally got passed this long-lasting musical baton from Leenlang. Credit also goes to Markku who wanted me to try it but I instead waited to get the baton “legitimately.” And of course, I’m doing my best to perpetuate it.

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You learn something new everyday. While exploring the website of silverfilter, a local electronica act I saw at last Saturday’s Fête, I came across this tutorial explaining how to make a dance track. It’s interesting to say the least, and it might’ve ruined the way I listen to music (at least for a while).

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Wow. El Pueblo in Ortigas was packed to the rafters in this year’s Fête de la Musique. As usual, various strata of Manila’s society were there enjoying the free music and emptying the coolers of their beer cans and softer drinks. I had a great night enjoying the music at the Alternative and Electronica stages.

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My dad got lucky and won a 512-MB iPod shuffle in a raffle. Naturally, my younger sister went agog over it and protested when my dad announced that he’s giving it as a present to my mom. Even my younger brother and older sister were quite excited as well. In the end, my siblings got what they wanted and now they share it among themselves.

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For once I am not tripping on a Paul van Dyk song, although I still have a crush on that last one. The song that I can’t get out of my head right now is Solu Music’s “Fade” featuring KimBlee on vocals. Like many dance/electronica songs I like, I encountered this song from diverse places before I finally learn enough about it for it to actually become a favorite.

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I really have a crush on Paul van Dyk’s song “Crush.” It’s now officially my second most favorite song of PvD next to “Nothing But You” (and its various remixes).

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Just a quickie post. I suddenly realized something about the word “dreamweaver” that I never saw before. I encountered the word through two very different ways and only realized just now that they were the same word.

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The Slinky and Hed Kandi parties are back-to-back weekend events in Boracay organized by Big Fish, the same company that brought Paul van Dyk here in Manila last December 9. Slinky happened last March 26 while Hed Kandi will be this Saturday, April 2.

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I expected more from the event that called itself The Movement. Sadly, it failed to deliver what it promised on the promotional material:

Clubbing is getting classier and more sophisticated. Clubs abroad such as the Supperclub in Amsterdam have made elegance and clubbing synonymous. It’s now time to show your style, sip your cocktails and unwind to the soothing sounds of a more refined groove within a chic atmosphere.

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As I mentioned before, I’m going to do a review of Anton Ramos’ The Chillout Project: House Sessions 2. I’ve seen this album months before but it was only two weekends ago that I finally decided to buy it, thus formally starting my CD collection. (Heh.)

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A bunch of us watched the Jars of Clay Show You Love concert here in Manila (Araneta Coliseum) last Wednesday. I think it was the first time I really watched a concert of my own volition (and the first time I visited Gateway mall). The mall was nice enough. The Jars of Clay concert was even better.

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So far, my biggest musical discovery this year is Paul van Dyk. He’s an East German DJ/producer smack dab in the middle of the trance music genre. I encountered him through his well-known track, “Nothing But You,” as part of a DJ mix CD. In many circles, he is acknowledged as the King of Trance.

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If ever I would buy my own portable music player, it definitely won’t be an Apple iPod no matter how cool it is. That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t appreciate someone giving me an iPod as a present—I would be thrilled to receive one—but I wouldn’t buy it with my hard-earned money.

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My youger sister bought Kitchie Nadal’s self-titled debut album on CD. I like her songs and I like the design of the album! No, I don’t plan on making a review of the album since I haven’t heard all the songs on it yet but I’ll talk about the songs that I have heard and I’ll comment on the really cool layout of the album liner.

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“Deepest Blue” produced by the Ministry of Sound is the first single released by the duo group, Deepest Blue. This track, as you would expect, is my current song of the week. It is one of the most refreshing vocal house songs I have ever listened and it’s due to its simplicity.

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“Take Me to the Clouds Above” was my song of the week last week. It’s a dance track created by the English dance group LMC. The song combines two 80’s hits: “With or Without You” by U2 and “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston. The opening lines of Whitney’s song, sung by Rachel MacFarlane, was overlaid on the background intro of U2’s song. Combined with great electronic melodies and a fast percussion line, this song totally rocks!

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I opened Winamp a while ago and set it to play my playlist consisting of 75 songs in shuffle (random) mode. Imagine my surprise (and delight) when I heard it play my three currently most tripped songs one after the other within the first five songs! What are the chances of that happening? I would’ve believed it’s a sign from God except that I don’t know what it is a sign of.

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Let’s resume our normal movie reactions. Over the past two weeks I’ve watched the following three films: House of Flying Daggers, Before Sunset, and Cellular. Among the three, I liked the Ethan-Hawke-Julie-Delpy starrer the best.

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My current song of the week is Freestyle’s “Once in a Lifetime”, coming from the recently released album of the same name. I don’t know but I have fallen in love with this song. The lyrics are great, the melody is oh so wonderful, and I feel as if the singer is pouring his heart out into it.

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I finally found out important data (i.e., title, lyrics, artist) about this song being played in the bar I frequent to. I always enjoyed listening and dancing to this song. (What? Eugene—dancing?!) The song epitomizes how I enjoy music; I don’t like a particular music genre but I do like individual pieces of music. The only criteria is that it should sound good, never mind the lyrics or the message.

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