Mixing Things Up

MANILA, Philippines - Reading over Regina Belmonte’s article “Before the Torrent” in last Friday’s Young Star section, I too ended up reminiscing about how I discovered new music in my teens. So much of what I relied on is gone or unfamiliar now: there’s no more NU107, in fact there are no dedicated rock stations, period. MTV barely plays any actual music videos anymore. MYX rarely plays any non-local indie stuff, though if you can recall their early days, they used to play Pavement and Yo La Tengo. Music magazines can be hard to find and/or expensive.

These days it’s all online. It can be a bit of a chore, going through the many websites and personal blogs and figuring out which ones share a similar taste, whose opinions can be trusted. There’s thousands of acts on Bandcamp and Soundcloud so you sort of rely on others to filter out the good (like Cults) from the not (too many to mention). But when it’s rewarding, you’re really grateful, because you can discover music that gets you right where you need it to at that point in time. It can make a terrible day easier to bear, give you that small window where you can see sunshine on the other side. Whether it’s a catchy earworm or the perfect song that breaks your heart (or reminds you of when it was last broken, or helps the current heartbreak feel less crushing), that recognition, or connection, is something to savor.

I first heard James Blake’s trip-dub bass drops in a TV show’s soundtrack, and had to Google him up with some web-fu.

Thankfully there’s also friends. Sharing music can be an awesome thing. I’ve made friends just by talking about and recommending music; it’s one of the easiest things to do. I was invited to spin some tunes at Borough at The Podium and I’m doing so tonight, but to make it even more interesting for myself I’ve also invited guests whose taste and suggestions have led me to more music I currently enjoy. This way I won’t just be playing songs for others to hear, I’ll hopefully be discovering new stuff as well.

So if you’re in town for the long weekend, please feel free to join us. Maybe you’ll hear something you like.