More new compilations

The Platinum Collection by Side A: Unless somebody with enough clout succeeds in getting Ivory, Vicor and Warner Music cooperating soon there is no chance that we will ever get a complete collection of Side A material. I do not know what the situation is with Ivory, which owns the first Side A album but Vicor which has the second, holds tightly to its catalogue.

This is not really a surprise as the country’s leading proponent of Filipino music some years ago makes its bread and butter compiling and reissuing old recordings from the golden days of local pop music. New hits like Aiza Seguerra’s Pagdating ng Panahon are rare events. So even if Warner made an attempt I do not think Vicor, with its Silas reputation would have agreed. Instead it would have found a way to repackage, reissue or compile the blue Side A album.

Given this, Side A followers have no choice but to content themselves with The Platinum Collection. This is a digitally remastered package of songs culled out of six albums that the well-known band recorded for the label. The songs continue to wield the famous Side A magic and sound so remarkably better than before. Thank the wonders of technology.

You will definitely not find Hold On here but you will get Forevermore, So Many Questions, Tell Me, Ang Aking Awitin, Will I Ever, The Girl’s So Right for Me, If Only, By Your Side, Think It Over with Zsa Zsa Padilla, Let the Pain Remain, Endlessly, Anak, Set You Free, Umagang Kay Ganda with Chedi and Tillie Moreno, Clara’s Eyes, All this Time with Sharon Cuneta and Foolish Heart.

Vodka Ice Chill-out Nights by Various Artists: This one must be the coolest compilation of tunes in the market today. Also produced by Warner, this album was created to approximate the cool atmosphere supposedly generated by a swig or two of Vodka Ice. So it is not just radio or TV stations or clothing lines, that have discovered the vast media mileage that can be had out of a collection of particular songs that speak for the image they desire to project. No need anymore to wait for that time when you must brave a cold Russian winter to get your fill of vodka. You can do it right now and with the right sounds in the background too.

As for those who have no use for vodka of any sort, the album is still a great find. You will get samplings of acid jazz, techno, new age and other kinds of modern world music, not to mention the fact that most of the contents are not readily available in the local music shops these days.

Included are Merba by Hamid El Gnawi, Kereama by Ortiga, Fire of Love by Gabriela Anders, The Sun Rising by The Beloved, Crusoe by Art of Noise, Sirens by One Dove, Salva Me by Libera, Out a Nowhere by Norman Brown, Secrets/Far Above the Clouds by Mike Oldfield, Fu Gui and Jia Zhen by Zhao Jiping, Tranquility Bass Remix by Reich Remixed and Voices by Dario G. Vodka Ice Chill-Out Nights is exclusively distributed in also cool nightspots around town like Padi’s Point, Streetlife, Grilla and Bedrock.

First Love by Various Artists: This one is really just another collection of popular tunes but it goes for a definite type of buyer, young teen-agers just discovering romance. Besides that, I like to think that although most of them will buy this album because of M2M or Britney Spears, they will in turn be introduced to Craig David, Macy Gray, Lenny Kravitz and other artists of greater import.

Included are Better Man by Robbie Williams; Again by Kravitz; From the Bottom of My Broken Heart by Britney; No Me Ames by Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony; Don’t Say You Love Me by M2M; I Wanna Love You Forever by Jessica Simpson; Run to Me by Oscar de la Hoya; Cradle by Atomic Kitten; I Turn to You by Christina Aguilera; Let Love Lead the Way by the Spice Girls; No Matter What by Boyzone; Amazed by Trademark; My Everything by 98 Degrees: I Wanna Be with You by Mandy Moore; You Took My Heart Away by Michael Learns to Rock; Back Here by BBMak; Fill Me In by David; and I Try by Gray.