"You're So Hot" - XLR8

The next Filipino boygroup looks a lot Korean. The twinkiness! The androgyny! The sissy choreography! The company that gave us Viva Hot Men (Viva Records) rides on the K-Pop trend with a crowded assembly of hair-gelled, skinny-jeaned tweens, who are cute even though they look like clones of each other. The danceable single is catchy; Check out some witty Taglish rhymes. But can anyone really jerk off to this?

GRADE:
The song: B
The video: B-

Related Link:
About XLR8 and Introducing the Members

YM -- I-YM Mo 'Ko!

Three cuties comprise the boyband YM, or Young Men: Edgar Allan Guzman (Eat Bulaga, The Studs, Astig), Andrew Miguel (Freshman), and Rex Salvacion. Their new CD contains a booklet of shirtless and boxers pics, and that's the reason to keep this in your collection.

But sure, you could buy it for the music, too. Hopefully, you can't get enough of the song "Nagmahal Ako" -- the one about guys who love homos -- because five of the seven tracks on this album are versions of that famous hit, including a clean version, a "medyo bastos" version (that isn't, really), a bleeped version, and the original by rap group Dagtang Lason. To untrained ears, there will be no distinction between the tracks, so listening to them is a test of endurance. But you've got to admit it's fun to hear the sentiment coming from a bunch of worthy boytoys. Oh, the fantasies you can have.

Clearly, the group image is sexy/tongue-in-cheek, a novelty act. The backside of the jacket captures the guys with their shorts pulled down, smiling. The kick-off track is a cover of Michael V's sendup "Mas Mahal Na Kita Ngayon", morbid lyrics set to syrupy R&B. I can't really vouch for how funny it is, or how good musically. I just try to imagine how cute they must have looked while recording it. The corny music video gives us an idea, although only two of them are in it -- Edgar Allan, who's annoying with all those affectations, and Andrew Miguel, more natural. The third member used to be Dex Quindoza, before he was replaced by Rex, so this video must have been produced during that awkward transition phase. (So who is it that we hear singing?) They appear shirtless only in flashes. If the music is not so good or not so funny, then the guys should have been naked more. That's like a rule or something. They better make up for it in the video for "Nagmahal Ako"; Hopefully, there will be five versions of it.

The CD: C-
The music video: C
The album packaging: B
AVERAGE GRADE: C+



Related Links:
On Ivory Records (Notice the old photo.)
More Photos of YM
Live Peformance of YM on YouTube (with Dex, not Rex)
Review: "Nagmahal Ako (Ng Bakla)" By Dagtang Lason

Nagmahal Ako Ng Bakla - Dagtang Lason

You know how people accuse hiphop of being homophobic? Well, this old-school rap is all about love for gays, sort of. In the knock-you-off-your-seat sing-along refrain, the group Dagtang Lason declare they're bums who got tired of women, so now they prefer gay amours.

The song, which is at least over a year old, should have been a hit. The MC'ing isn't perfect -- awkward phrasing and rough rhymes here and there -- but it has the immediate ticklish appeal of a hysteria-inducing novelty song. Half of it is spent dissing women as users and heartbreakers, but the punchlines are reserved for homos, calling us on sexually transmitted disease or as means to get money. Because the modern climate of gay-straight relations in the Philippines is too loose and colorful, I can't tell if the song is a nasty put-down capitalizing on bad stereotypes or just a bunch of guys who are sincerely sharing how they feel. It's likely both. "Nagmahal Ako Ng Bakla", in spots, can seem naively romantic. The video, a no-budget DIY affair, is fun to watch because I keep imagining those boys making love with the gay species, like me.

GRADE: B

Related Links:
Dagtang Lason on Friendster
Song Lyrics
Music Video on YouTube
Catholic News Agency: "Youth Endangered by Music With Suggestive Lyrics"