Cloning emo & ‘starry’ soul

Music today is very niche-driven, with success stories spawning refinements, and bands seeming to mine the same well-trodden formulas. While that much is inevitable, it doesn’t detract from the good music that can still be produced. Two recent CD’s exemplify just how much can be created within that mindset. While Travis’ new CD has obvious nods to Coldplay and Keane (ironic since the band actually predates the others), Travis puts enough energy and vibrancy to make its CD simply stellar. And if we’re talking “stellar,” our own Bituin (get it, stellar and bituin) Escalante has a new CD out that’s reminiscent of the groove John Legend is now tapping, Soul and R ’n B with a retro ’80s feel to it.

The Boy With No Name — Travis (Sony-BMG)  Travis has always been one of the bands I enjoyed listening to. Now 10 years in existence, this is the band’s first studio album in four years. While they actually predate bands like Coldplay, Keane and Snow Patrol, the CD has Travis seeming to ache for the success enjoyed by these other bands. In fact, if the new video for the plaintive first single, Closer, is any indication, it seems the band and the studio moguls have really gone all out to finally make the band crossover to the mainstream — i.e. Ben Stiller can be found in the supermarket-themed video, and that’s so Hollywood.

The great thing about Travis is that it is just as comfortable playing smart hook-ridden alt-rock as it is  dishing out atmospheric mid-tempo ballads. Witness the energetic Selfish Jean, where leadman Fran Healey tries to get back at some ex with vibrant results. Smart lines like “Hey Jean, Don’t rock the boat when you can’t swim” and declaiming she possesses “A perfect understanding of the finer things in Life, A quite alarming knack of knowing when to twist the knife” are peppered throughout the song. I also loved the song Battleships (his metaphor for lovers who can’t seem to make things happen) and New Amsterdam (a tribute to the Art and Music that swirls around Bleeker Street in New York). It’s the consistency of the quality of all the tracks that makes this such a winning ”welcome back”  CD for Travis. Two thumbs up for the Travis CD.

Ur Luv Thang — Bituin Escalante (Thirdline) The CD of Bituin Escalante is independently produced and has Bituin essaying the role of Queen of Smooth Soul, with snatches of Jazz and R ’n B thrown into the mix. It’s slickly produced and has a lot going for it. As I mentioned above, there’s a very ’80s groove to the  CD, reminding me of artists like Anita Baker and Lisa Stansfield. This in itself is not a bad thing (or thang), and it augurs well for the commercial viability of the musical project of Bituin. My only twinge of regret is that I remembered how the very first time I watched Bituin perform, it was down in Malate several years ago and I was completely knocked off my feet by the raw Blues/Janis Joplin-type numbers she sang. The CD smoothens all that and also ignores the theater/Broadway connection she now can proudly lay claim to.

Having said that and having gotten it off my chest, Ur Luv Thang is one perfect companion for a night when one seeks a sultry songstress, a soul siren, to be our soundtrack, I especially liked There’s No Single Thing, a track that guests supremo guitarist Johnny Alegre. On Each Time We Say Goodbye, I welcomed the liner note that said Artstrong was providing the male vocals and ChuChu Cruz was on violin. There are swirling electric organ fills and tasteful overlays that make this, and other tracks, an aural delight. Just wish she’d let rip once in a while, but I guess that’s for another CD project.