A very ‘Ang Nawawala’ Christmas
Just in time for the holidays, a slice of Christmas cheer comes in the form of the Ang Nawawalang Soundtrack, containing 20 musical tracks from Marie Jamora’s debut film which won the Cinemalaya Audience Choice award as well as Best Original Score trophy (New Breed category).
It’s fitting that Ang Nawawalang Soundtrack finally gets its digital download life, since the movie is set during Christmastime and New Year’s Eve in Metro Manila.
I can’t say I’m an impartial listener to this soundtrack: I’ve been exposed to various versions of these songs and this soundtrack since my sister-in-law began working on her film (which is being shown at the Slamdance Festival in Utah next January, by the way). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Tarsius pounding out Deathless Gods in various mixes, live and on MP3 and YouTube form, since its inception; can’t remember how many versions of Outerhope’s Twenty Years From Now have entered and exited my iPod playlist; it would be futile to ponder when Ciudad’s There’s a Lonely Road to Sunday Night became, not just the earworm cut from the band’s latest album, but the L.S.S. classic from a key scene in Ang Nawawala.
In addition to that, any casual exposure to the local indie scene that takes you to gig-friendly places like Route 196 on Katipunan Avenue or Saguijo in Makati will land you in front of groups like Outerhope and Ang Bandang Shirley (whose recent single Di Na Babalik is featured in a live version on the OST).
Even if you haven’t seen the movie — or stand on either side of a cultural debate over its place in the socioeconomic divide — it’s a great cross-section of OPM, both old and new. At over 80 minutes of music, it’s also a bargain to download (you can get it for P400 from Mymusicstore.com; a vinyl version, for the true hipsters who want to “meta” the whole experience of fondling the cover just like in the movie, will be delayed, due to Hurricane Sandy’s wrath earlier this month in New York, where the pressings were being made.)
Still, vinyl has its limitations. Due to “groove cramming,” it’s unlikely an LP could handle more than 50 minutes or so of music (that’s what double LPs are for); the download is actually a bargain at 20 songs.
The mood of the Ang Nawawalang soundtrack swings from night-out-in-the clubs thrash (the first four tracks, with ripping performances by Flying Ipis, The Strangeness and Sandwich) to downright ‘80s nostalgia (Apo Hiking Society’s Ano Ang Ibig Mong Sabihin, which is key to an impromptu dance scene in the movie). These songs were carefully “curated” by direk Jamora and her crew pals, and in this sense the curating was very careful and selective. (A few Nora Aunor numbers, adding even more layers of meta nostalgia, were unavailable for the soundtrack.)
There’s an almost elegiac quality to what is here, perfectly fitting with the mood of loss and tentative rebirth in the movie — particularly Ebe Dancel’s Cuida and the original instrumental music crafted by Mikey Amistoso, Diego Mapa and Jazz Nicolas.
For me, it’s these non-vocal cuts that close the album — What Isn’t There (with guitar samples snipped and re-edited by Mapa) and Enid Ah Ah Ah — that set the tone of the album: one of careful longing and quiet astonishment, and just a hint of indie rock leaning. In fact, I might have preferred that the song lineup be reversed: opening with these instrumentals and closing with the relentless thump-thump of Tarsius’s dance track would have had a completely different effect.
The album pirouettes from live tracks to remixes to instrumentals. Live tracks are clumped at both ends of the soundtrack, taking you on a pubcrawl of sorts through the world of Enid and Gibson.
Another quiet astonishment is Finlegs by Amistoso’s solo project, Hannah + Gabi, a piano-led waltz with traces of Bacharach (again!) that really grows on you (it was featured in the car makeout scene between lead actors Dominic Roco and Annicka Dolonius). And let’s not leave out Nicolas’s side project Jaztafraz’s Chechebureche and its brilliant torch song pastiche, Wag Na Sana ‘kong Gumising Mag-Isa (featuring torchy vocals by Uela Basco).
Let’s face it: the whole album is indispensable listening for those hoping to get their arms around today’s local music, shot through with waves of nostalgia. But it also rocks: Jonestown by The Strangeness and This Song Is About You by Flying Ipis are credibly raw; you can almost hear the beer bottles landing on the sticky club floors. Pedicab offers up Ubusan Ng Lahi and Itchyworms run riot through Yokonakitamakita. It’s clear that those live gigs staged for the making of Ang Nawawala were not just run-throughs: everyone’s in a ripping mood. What’s the saying? “You had to be there.” Well, with this soundtrack, you are, in all its grunged-up glory.
And here’s another coup for you: Ely Buendia and Raimund Marasigan come together for one cut, Minsan, bringing back a little of that Eraserheads magic for the soundtrack. Decorated with glockenspiel and tambourine jingles, the track will fit nicely on your Xmas Playlist. In fact, the whole album belongs there.
So, yeah: Ho, ho, ho, already. Have yourself an Ang Nawawalang Christmas.
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The Ang Nawawalang Soundtrack is available digitally at the local MyMusicStore. You can download 20 tracks for P400. (http://www/ymusicstore.com.ph/album/1080110/Ang-Nawawalang-Soundtrack.html)
Internationally, it’s now available online at CDBaby (20 songs plus two score selections for $11.99) and soon on iTunes.
