With the plethora of covers albums done by local acts, one can only hope that Noel Cabangon’s “Byahe” will not drown its listeners with pointless nostalgia. The good news is that this collection of 15 tracks, three of which ( “Ang Buhay Nga Naman”, “Dito Sa Kanto” and the inescapable “Kanlungan”) are self-penned by the former Buklod member, is a cut above the remakes heap. For one, the production of Ito Rapadas ( this album includes a classy remake of his former band Neocolours’ “Tuloy Pa Rin” ) is immaculate, emphasizing Cabangon’s soulful voice over lush ( and sometimes sparse ) arrangements. While this Rosario, La Union native’s interpretive instinct is on spot in all the tracks, the album truly reaches new heights when he and producer Rapadas took liberties in adding new slants to familiar tunes : case in points are the slightly jazzy reworking of the Rainmakers’ “Binibini” and an inspired update of VST & Company’s ubiquitous “Ipagpatawad Mo”. Moreover, popular 70’s ditties such as the opening track “Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko’’ and the ultimate Pinoy movie-and-TV theme “Kung Kailangan Mo Ako” are given modern twists for the Ipod generation. His guest stars ( Aia De Leon of Imago in “Kanlungan” and Chito Miranda of Parokya ni Edgar in “Dito Sa Kanto” ) complemented Cabangon’s inspired performances in the aforementioned tracks. Of course, a Noel Cabangon album would be incomplete without nods to his diverse advocacies : here, a trio of socially relevant hits by single-named acts ( “Pinay” by Florante, “Tao” by Sampaguita, “Pagbabalik” by Asin ) provide an appropriate closing to this remarkable album before Cabangon spins his take on the Hadji Alejandro classic “Kay Ganda Ng Ating Musika”. Since the music is about journeys, the album’s package supplants the ordinary inlay with six postcards showing the musician in various locations in Copenhagen, Denmark ( another valid reason why people STILL buy CDs instead of just downloading inlay-less albums from P2P sites). Indeed, to quote a Lea Salonga song “ what a journey it has been”!
