I JOINED THIS FORUM JUST TO REPLY TO THIS POST.
i am a filipino living in america. a few months ago, i thought id go and listen to some songs that are popular in the philippines. i was greatly disapointed because EVERY SINGLE BAND/SINGER/SINGER i've heard of so far is so westernized and "americanized" and no offense but they don't do a very good job at it. i give my respect to those who are still singing in tagalog but the music is just so bad...i personally think that the main stream audience of the philippines call for western sounding music, music that is popular in the US (my chemical romance and bands similar to them, kelly clarkson(?) and singers similar to her), and that's exactly what they get back, except that the bandmates and singers are filipino which makes it ""OPM", which to my understand stands for original pilipino music, which i don't think makes sense at all because it sounds exactly the same as american music and lyrics but sometimes in tagalog.
i'm just glad that there is one band out there that distinguishes themselves from the popular music in the philippines these days: pinikpikan. they incorporate traditional filipino music with electric guitars and bass and drums, it's pretty cool. it's better than any of the bands or singers on this forum that i'm aware of. now they are truly "OPM". but that's just my opinion. to each it's own...
I'm saddened by the fact that Pinikpikan's not active nowadays. Their quirky or i must say innovative cohesion of indigenous music with art rock, funk, drum n bass, disharmonic to uncanny arrangements, militant beats and Carol Belo's airy but full-blown vocals - are one of the strongest suits that makes OPM - a wordclass movement. Same goes with Up Dharma down, apparently dishing out something that's unclassifiable, and for crying out loud - music cerebrals can trace some of its strains, from the jazz-fusion experminents of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, from an apparent soulful vocals that recalls Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin and maybe Lauryn Hill, from heap-influences from vague electo-pop acts like Photek and Massive Attack, and maybe, just maybe -- a dose of pinoy sensibility which doesn't sacrifice pop music audiences. And of course, a third motion for chopsuey pioneers The Eraserheads (that's no question), atmospheric electro-rock acts Skies of Ember and Sheila and the Insects, and indie acts like Outerhope are a breath of fresh air the music industry badly wants. Actually there are alot of promising OPM acts with a lot of creative stingers, di lang masyado napapansin. Go scour Myspace, attend gigs and do a little research - marami jan. The only problem not only with OPM but with the entire music movement across the globe is through the process of seeking into new ideas and music concepts, ung tipong mga tunog na di pa nadidiskubre. Siguro madali na lang iyon, but I'm hoping that more and more people would set the grounds for discovering fresh new music.