Early candidate/s for OPM "Song of the Year 2008"

It's too early to pick a favorite. But so far, these are the songs that defined how great OPM is, this 2008.


YUGTO - Rico Blanco
Rico's anthemic brashness never reached epic-scale proportion as this! With this kind of sonic amalgam that instills prog riffs, fuzzy low ends, grandiose orchestral elements, cathedral choirs, post punk undertones and time signature shifts into one heck of an epic-rock musical production, "Yugto" feels like Rico's attempt at Radiohead's "Android Paranoid," Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" or a cloned Andrew Lloyd Webb production (Jesus Christ Superstar), only that the clear inspiration for this music is his secret fixation with 70's progressive rock (Rush) and...Joey Ayala. (his sister Cynthia Alexander btw, appears on the video as the bassist. Amen!)






WHA' A GIT - The Vince Noir Project
LCD Soundsytem meets ultra grrl punk with twists of NY electroclash and eurodance ala Sophie Ellis Bextor! Best served with party pills and kinky sex.




ANG PUSA MO - Pedicab
Masochist lyrics over a Rapture/LCD Soundsystem groove and bass funk. Coolness.





MORNING AFTER - DRIP
When laidback, jazzy guitars suddenly sneaks into the race of fast-paced grooves and layered ambient sounds, the rhythm doubles in speed and the beat-heavy, electro-pop vibe becomes subtly heavier than what is expected. However, the fragility in Beng Calma’s voice remains depressing and desperate as ever. In her postmodernist outtake of unrequited love, she asks, "Do you know how to love?" The rest of the world listens and gives its middle finger approval.





CLINICALLY DEAD FOR 16 HOURS - The Camerawalls
Must be the post-chorus banduria on lemony, 80’s indie pop backdrop or the over-all sunshine feel of the song that references near-experience with death. Whatever it is, The Camerawalls latest offering brings out the best in a subtly done, guitar-pop opus that even its hacked influences (Echo and the Bunnymen, The Smiths, 80’s Britpop) wouldn’t deny enjoying. So far, the best Morrissey song not written, produced and sung by Morrissey himself.