Review of New Beginnings - INTRoVOYS album

---- blog owner's note: before you begin to read this review. i would like to personally thank Meo for writing such a well written review. please feel free to chime in. and if you don't have the album he's talking about, now would be a good time to purchase it at www.introvoys.net - paco arespacochaga

Here it is...

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Review for New Beginnings
by Romeo D Garcia


The album is still Introvoys in sound and in spirit. But this time, I think its more mature, with more grit, toughness, and definitely more rock.



I particularly like the new versions of Just A Dream and Calling All Nations. These two songs are supposedly, even in their original versions, an upbeat song. The New Beginnings version gave more meaning and truthfulness to the song because of the extended use of guitars.



I think Tell Me Why is better here than the original version. As far as my ears can hear it, this new version was sung by Jonathan, while in the original, it was Paco on vocals. Sorry Paco, but I like the new version. This new version removes the stereotype that comes along everytime I hear the original version, which for me lacks the maturity and seriousness, more like a teenybopper song. Another song which I feel is better here is More than a Friend, for almost the same reason as Tell Me Why, the new version is more adult, mature, and serious.



Two of the songs in here are from the album A Brighter Day, the first album not to be released commercially in the Philippines . In A Little While is a nice song, although I think the lyrics is not tough enough vis-à-vis the beat and the guitars (I may be wrong, I barely understood the lyrics, hehehe). Meanwhile, Desire is like a feel good song with a spice of rock and alternative music. Still sounds distinctly Introvoys though, but no longer the eye-candy Introvoys, but the real musicians. Kudos guys for Desire… I love it!



As for the other songs, I’d take the original of Di Na Ako Aasa Pa over the New Beginnings version. Why? Because I felt that Di Na Ako Aasa Pa is not meant to be tough and rock. I like the balance of guitars and keyboards in the original version, whereas the new version has more guitars. Secondly, I think being a staple Introvoys song, my music databank in the brains just can’t be more objective, and tend to favor the original. Now for the song Living my Life, what I particularly miss was the guitar adlib of Vic Carpio, although the song is still good. Having said that however, the new versions of Line to Heaven and Kailanman are just all right.



Overall, the album simply wants to introduce a more mature, rock-oriented Introvoys, geared towards adult listeners rather than teenagers, which I think is better and only epitomizes your evolution as musicians. Hope you would commercially release new songs (albums) in the Philippines , and re-introduce yourselves in the Philippine music scene. We are tired of revivals coming from the modern musicians in RP.

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Paco, it is not an expert's review, just a few cents worth of opinion from a music listener.

Regards,

Meo
ROMEO D. GARCIA, MPA
Research and Advocacy Manager
Employers Confederation of the Philippines

INTRoVOYS Video

My bandmates really made it easy for me to pick up the guitar. Then, there's Tim de Ramos, who is also a good musician.

I just want to thank my bandmates for being patient with me. And I'd also like to thank Steve Guadiz and Jonathan Manuel for giving me some pointers on how to play guitars.

INTRoVOYS @ Annual Philippine Independence Day Celeb

Photos were take by Mark Anthony "Clickrhappy" Jardinazo on location in Carson CA on June 06, 2009

INTRoVOYS 2009 Left to Right: Tim de Ramos, Paco Arespacochaga, Jonathan Buencamino, Steve Guadiz, Jj Buencamino & Raincrowd.

Paco Arespacochaga bonding with the rest of his bandmates.

Jonathan Buencamino getting ready to get on stage. Behind him are some of the members of INTRoVOYS.

More pix to be posted on Facebook... if I can figure out how to upload photos!

The World is Watching!

Less than 10 years ago, you had to pay an arm and a leg to buy airtime on TV to share to the world what you have to offer. Well, you may still have to pay an arm and a leg to really get on free air and cable TV. But with the rise of YouTube and other video sites… the world has now become your audience.

Now, you can produce and star in your own show. You can create your own music video, infomercial, variety show and whatever you want! You can even embarrass yourself or make yourself matter to thousands up to millions of people all over the globe. And with this soiled economy, we all have to get ingenious to make residual income for ourselves and our family.

And one way to do this is through the Internet.

If you’ve been dreaming of a career like Jay Leno or David Letterman, fire away! Your 15 minutes of fame may be just around the corner. But how do break away from the pack of millions of people who all want to do the same thing online?

Here are some tips.

Be unique! Don’t copy someone else’s work online. For starters, that’s plagiarism and that’s illegal.

Get creative. If you can’t be unique, spin off someone else’s work. Make it yours by adding the “you” element to it.

Know who your audience is. Catering to an audience is better than creating an audience. Offering something informative, creative and entertaining to a certain market demographic is like cutting your workload in half! They’ve already come…now BUILD IT! Of course the opposite would be… if you build it, they will HOPEFULLY come.

Be prepared. You will never know if what you have to offer to the world will take off or not. If what you have to offer suddenly succeeds, will you be able to sustain it? Remember, the BIG THING means there is the NEXT big thing waiting in the sideline for you to fall. And if you fail, be prepared to try something else. Which is why…

NEVER QUIT! Keep trying and keep tweaking your ideas until they fly! Keep flapping those wings. My mentor and trainer, Scott Kaplan, told me that if I felt I’ve done everything I could, I should give it one more shot just to make sure “I’ve done everything I could” because that “last shot” may just be the BREAKTHROUGH you’ve been waiting for.

If you have any other suggestions, feel free to chime in by adding your comment.

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Paco Arespacochaga is an artist/songwriter who shares his passion in blogging. Read more of his blogs at www.zyncopado.com

There Should've Been a Better Way to Read That Inauguration Poem

I was glued to my TV to witness history unfolding right before my eyes as my 5 month old baby slept like... a BABY!

Watching ex-presidents, the current one and the soon-to-be president all in one historic location was itself a sight to behold! Icing on the cake were performances by Yo Yo Ma and Co and Aretha Franklin. I was told that Charisse Pempenco was going to be there. My bad! She was at the Inauguration PARTY. Anyway, I was also anticipating poet Elizabeth Alexander, who was being raved at by different bloggers and different publications. I also read that during Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, she was there, being a year old and on her father's shoulders listening.

When they called her to read her poem, I kinda felt insecure about my ability to appreciate poems. Don't get me wrong. I like poems! As a matter of fact, I liked her "Stravinsky in LA" poem! So imagine my dismay when she got behind the pulpit to read her Inauguration Poem like a GPS asking a driver to "turn right" or "turn left". Where was the passion and emotion in her voice? I wanted to feel it but I wasn't. Half way through her poem, I had to force myself to appreaciate her poem delivery the way I used to force myself to swollow a tablespoon of COD liver oil!

*sigh*

I probably just expected much from her, I suppose.