Another kind of Dimsum

Dennis Garcia, the man who created the Manila Sound with his group Hotdog and ushered in the glory days of Filipino pop music in the ‘70s, has recently returned to his one real–and I must say, great love–making music. And this kind he says is "Music that is not ‘manufactured’ to please a ‘targetted’ segment of our society, but to please everyone who loves beautiful music. (Sorta like…what Hotdog set out to do).’ Quixotic? You bet."

He continues: "To interpret the songs in my mind, I put up a band…made up of very young and talented musicians…and gave it the moniker Dimsum. My premise was simple. Every few years or so, a new band comes along and creates a deafening splash in the music scene. In the ‘70s we had Hotdog. In the ‘80s it was Side A’s turn. Just a while back South Border and Freestyle were ‘it’.

"Today, there seems to be a need for a new, fabulously chic band that can raise the level of OPM, a band that will passionately delight and electrify us. Thus… Dimsum."

Dennis is at work on Dimsum’s first album. That means he is writing songs and producing the entire thing. For the moment what he has by way of recorded sound is a rough mix of the song Heaven-Sent featuring Dimsum’s female vocalist Abbey. The band’s work in the background is competent and Abbey’s singing is soulfully sexy but also chicly laid back. Like the edible dimsum, it is very, very good. Maybe, as Dennis predicts, Abbey and her friends will indeed personify the trendy Pilipino music of our times. And we will find out how true that is once we get our hands on the Dimsum album.

To see for yourselves why Dennis is so excited about his new group, catch Dimsum at Strumms in Jupiter on Wednesdays, Virgin Café on Thursdays, the Hard Rock Café on Fridays and the Suburbia on Saturdays. If you want to find out more about the group and its gig schedule, you may call telephone numbers 817-0828 and 0919-2057268.

South Border’sdreamy Rainbow

Speaking of South Border whom Garcia cited as one of the leading bands of the past decade, the group has made a sensational return to the spotlight with its recording of Rainbow. The dreamy inspirational now dominates the airlanes although South Border’s much-anticipated new album still has to be released.

Other songs that have been reaping success of late are She Believes in Me, a remake of the Kenny Rodgers classic by ex-Boyzone Ronan Keating; Bakit Pa Ba? by Jay R; The Reason by Hoobastank; Pamela by Vhong Navarro; Take Me to Your Heart by Michael Learns to Rock; Toxic by Britney Spears; Megalomaniac by Incubus, which recently rocked Manila; Come in and Out of the Rain by Sheryn Regis; Perfect by Simple Plan and Mandy, a new version of the Barry Manilow big seller by the now defunct Westlife.

New acoustic album

Acoustic Night Live 2, the second volume of live recordings from Tapika, the home of acoustic music in Metro Manila, is out. The first to come out late last year was such a big hit that it was only natural to follow it up with another set. Featured in the new album, recorded during an actual performance in Tapika, are six acts, all experts in acoustic sounds, performing time-tested favorites and current hits.

These are Sugarshack with Luca and Mustang Sally; Devotion with Unwell and So Wonderful; Kitchie Nadal with Turn Off the Lights and Tom’s Diner; Mic with Any Lucky Penny and Make Me Whole; Sole Acoustix performing Kissing a Fool and The Art of Letting Go; and 17:28 with Just Friends and As.

For a live Tapika experience, you may want to check out Pido tonight and on April 19; Thor on April 6, 20 and 27; Sole Acoustix on April 7 and 13; Hourglass back to back with Mosaic on April 10, 17 and 24; Sugar Shack on April 11; Paolo Santos on April 12 and 26; Take One on April 13 and 17; MYMP on April 14, 21 and 28; 17:28 on April 15, 22 and 29; U-Turn back to back with Dreamsound on April 16, 23 and 30; and Invocan on April 18 and 25.