Pinoy rock '70s classic now available on vinyl 44 years later

MANILA -- A long lost DZRJ classic, “In Love With You” by Phase Two -- a staple on their FM radio station rotation -- has finally seen the vinyl treatment 44 years later.

The song was written by Johnny Alegre who since those halcyon days of the 1970s made a name for himself as a jazz and world music musician. Among his bandmates then was noted guitarist Joey Puyat. Along with Sam Sen on bass, Uly Avante on drums, and Colby Calzada on keyboards, they recorded the song as Phase Two.

As Alegre tells it, “In late 1975 or early 1976, I auditioned a handful of songs to my bandmate, Joey Puyat, who was fishing for ideas to record. Joey chose ‘In Love With You’ as the right vehicle.”

The song was recorded in the now-defunct Cinema Audio recording studio in a matter of days and Alegre trooped over to DZRJ then located in Sta. Mesa and handed over the cassette recording to legendary disc jockey, Howling Dave. 

“Suffice to say, that the song was on heavy rotation simply because it blended with the spirit of the times,” explained Alegre of the breezy early staple of Pinoy rock. 

The band endeavored to get signed by a local record company but was ignored. The song, on the other hand, has taken a life of its own even decades later. “Many people to this day come up to me saying that 'In Love With You' was their theme song leading up to their raising a family. The thought of that is its own reward,” shared Alegre.

Alegre with his old cohort, Puyat, and occasional conspirator Kris Gorra-Dancel (of Fatal Posporos, Cambio, and Humanfolk) on vocals, Dennis Mabanta on bass and Paolo Manuel on drums, re-recorded the song as “#Hourglass” to breathe new life into the classic. The result is like an indie pop rock gem down to the DIY spirit.

“'In Love With You' is restructured, brought sonically forward to the new millennium with the best resources we could muster. I was not uncomfortable playing it again,” summed up Alegre.

The re-recording was undertaken right before the COVID-19 pandemic with the vinyl copies making it into the hands of Alegre right before the lockdown last March 11. 

This marks the first time that the song is available in any format whether physical (vinyl, cassette) or digital. 

The new version is on Side A of this seven-inch record release while the classic version is on Side B. Only 100 copies of this – on red vinyl to boot -- were pressed (in England) and are available for sale at P950. 

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How to get CDs, tapes, records on your smartphone

A huge amount of the world’s audio has been digitized, but many veterans of the Analog Age still have out-of-print albums, lectures and other content locked on vinyl records, cassettes and CDs. Converting the audio to digital formats for personal use is much simpler than it used to be, though, thanks in part to gadgets that connect to a computer’s USB port.

In addition to making files that play on your smartphone or media server, digitizing your analog audio creates an electronic archive you can store online for safekeeping. The steps for converting your old recordings vary on the formats and equipment you have, but here’s a general outline of the process and the equipment you may need.

GET AUDIO-EDITING SOFTWARE

No matter what type of analog media you’re converting, you need software to digitize it. Capturing the audio to a computer has been a common approach for decades, and free programs to do the job include Apple’s GarageBand for Mac and the open-source Audacity (for Windows, Mac and Linux), which has its own guide for converting records and tapes. Commercial software is also available, like Roxio’s $50 Easy LP to MP3 or the $40 Golden Records from NCH Software.

Choose a digital format for recording. Uncompressed or lossless formats like WAV, FLAC and AIFF preserve more of the original audio for higher-quality sound, but compressed formats like MP3 create smaller files.

Follow the software’s instructions for importing audio. After you capture the whole album, you can use the program to slice up the recording into individual tracks, label the songs, and clean up hiss, pops and other noise.

DIGITZE VINYL

If your stereo equipment is long gone but you held on to your old records for sentimental reasons, using a compact USB-based “conversion” turntable that connects directly to the computer is one approach. You may not have ultimate control over the recording quality, but it’s usually the easiest process to convert the vinyl yourself.

For the less technically inclined, ION Audio makes several conversion turntables, including the $110 Premier LP, which connects to the computer with a USB cable and includes its own conversion software. Audio Technica, Crosley and Sony also make USB turntables.

If you still have a turntable with a headphone jack or a port labeled “line” (or a stereo receiver with a “phono” input for the record player), a device called a USB phono pre-amplifier links your hardware together with audio and USB cables to pump the sound into the computer for recording. ART Pro Audio USB Phono Plus ($100) and Reloop iPhono 2 USB Recording Interface (about $100 in the United States) are two options.

For USB-based recording using older turntable systems without the headphone jack or line output, you’ll most likely need to include a separate phono pre-amplifier box to boost the audio signal as well. The $50 Rolls VP29 and the $66 ART Pro Audio DJPRE II are two models to consider.

DIGITIZE AUDIOTAPE

No tape deck? Tape players with USB connections for the computer or flash drives can be found online starting at around $20. These devices can be quite efficient for digitizing old lectures, family history and other recordings.

If you still have a tape deck, check its jacks. A cable with a 3.5-millimeter plug on both ends or an RCA-to-3.5mm cable are common for connecting to a computer’s line-in port (if it has one), or you may be able to use a USB interface box like those used for digitizing vinyl.

CONVERT COMPACT DISCS

Still have CDs you want to transfer but no CD player or computer disk drive? External USB-based CD players sell for as little as $20 online. Once you connect one, spin up those discs and import the tracks with Apple’s Music app for Mac, Microsoft’s Windows Media Player or another free CD-ripper app.

OUTSOURCE THE JOB

The do-it-yourself approach is not for everyone, but audio conversion services will happily digitize your old analog media for you — for a price. This can range from $15 to $35 for each record or tape converted, but some companies include restoration and sound-cleanup services as well. Memories Renewed, Ever Present and DiJiFi area among the many conversion companies to check out.

KEEP LOOKING

While not a surefire solution for a fully digitized library, some unreleased and obscure recordings turn up online eventually, as did tracks from Jeff Buckley and Prince this year.

The Internet Archive can also be a treasure trove for old 78 rpm recordings from the early 20th century, as well as early hip-hop mixtapes, live concerts and other bits of audio history. But no matter if you’re converting your analog audio yourself or scouring the internet, patience has its rewards.


2019 The New York Times Company

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Streaming helps boost 2018 music industry sales

LONDON - Worldwide music sales rose by nearly 10 percent in 2018, a fourth consecutive year of growth fuelled by online streaming, according to figures released on Tuesday by an industry body.

Revenues reached $19.1 billion last year, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the recorded music industry worldwide, said in its Global Music Report 2019.

"We are now much more optimistic," said IFPI chief executive Frances Moore, describing the period prior to recent growth as a "mourn-fest" when "we only had bad years".

However, the overall growth of 9.7 percent in sales masks a discrepancy within the industry, with streaming buoyant -- accounting for almost half of revenues -- while downloads and physical purchases continued to drop.

The streaming sector, which includes subscription fees and advertising income, grew by 34 percent to reach $8.9 billion in 2018.

There were 255 million users of paid streaming services at the end of year, according to the report.

But paid downloads fell by 21.2 percent and physical sales of music were down by 10.1 percent.

Despite the growing presence of paid streaming services, piracy remains a problem with an estimated 120 million online users illegally ripping music from streams each month, Moore said.

"They are hacking and downloading the music... at the price of the stream, and very often they are not paying at all," he said.

"And whole discographies can be downloaded with bittorrent and other forms," Moore added.

Marked regional disparities exist within the positive global growth picture.

For a second year running, Latin America saw the largest increase, with total sales up 16.8 percent. 

In North America, where the transition from physical to digital music formats is well advanced, sales also jumped, by 14 percent last year.

However, in Europe sales rose a miniscule 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the IFPI's annual singles chart saw rising Cuban-American star Camila Cabello, Canadian rapper Drake and Briton Ed Sheeran top of the pile.

In the album rankings, the soundtrack of smash hit musical movie "The Greatest Showman", South Korean boyband BTS and US star Lady Gaga were the biggest sellers.

Vinyl, an increasingly popular format for audiophiles and nostalgic listeners, also saw sales grow for the 13th consecutive year. 

It now represents 3.6 percent of the industry's total turnover. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Review: Ely Buendia releases new band's debut album on vinyl

The cocktail glass has been empty for a while. Juan Pablo Dream, once a glimmer of hope, has gone up in smoke. It’s been several years since the free jazz of the Radioactive Sago Project, biting and dripping with its social commentary by its sonnetist, dropped its fourth salvo on a fashionista society. The Cappuccino Kid – God bless him wherever he may be -- has packed up and gone leaving us thinking that they were the best thing that ever happened and they were simply ahead of their time.

The hunt for darn good music in a digital world that warms your soul like good martini has bordered on the search for proof that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his mastery of the blues.

But there something stirs into the quiet night.

The brass, the tickling keys, and the free flowing riffs -- they waft and usher in a beat. You know, like a prayer offered to the Blessed Lady of Acceleration. Suddenly, the music explodes.

You nod. You tap your feet. You ask for a drink that when added to the music fires up every fiber of your being.

Is it hip?

Oh, no. It’s sweet, sweet soul. Laced with jazz and the blues. I think of Al Wilson, Major Harris, the Free Movement -- except it’s Ely Buendia who channels his inner Stephen Bishop or in the case of “Careless Love” calls to mind, Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody”.

The other soul brother, Jay Ortega, doesn’t forget his roots. Memories of Rico J. Puno and the way we were come flooding back. I swear there’s a tinge of George Benson in there as well.

So much for being surreptitious. Apartel, the band’s name is, well, suggestive. I instantly thought of that scene in “Jerry Maguire” where Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger have sex and the music of Coltrane is blaring.

“What is that music?” asked Cruise. Well, Apartel evokes something sexy, smoky, and seductive. Their debut offering, “Inner Play,” sounds like your favorite soul, jazz, and rhythm and blues records but it is at once different because the band finds its own groove and voice. And there is no scrimping on the brass here. You have to appreciate someone who loves his brass.

Because of that, this is a record that demands you pay close attention to every one of the 12 songs on the album. As Ortega sings in the last track, “On the Other Side”: “Free your soul. On the other side.”

Just soak in the words and the music, man. I guarantee its intoxicating.

From the delicious mélange of music to the album packaging itself, “Inner Play” is impressive. That it is printed and manufactured in Japan on virgin vinyl makes this is all the more a special and landmark album. It’s expensive, I’ll admit (P2,800 for two discs) but it’s good music and it’s on vinyl, effendi. Vinyl! This is one of those albums that you simply must possess as only 500 copies were printed.

And to crib that crooner Frankie Valli, Apartel’s “Inner Play”, well, “it’s got groove, it’s got meaning.”

Apartel’s debut record, “Inner Play” is available at the Grey Market and Treskul Records while supplies last. Or give the band a listen to in Spotify.

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Customer finds vinyl in McDonald's nuggets in Japan

TOKYO - McDonald's Japan said Monday it was facing more chicken nugget woes after a customer found a piece of vinyl inside the popular menu item.

The company said the foreign object was discovered at an outlet in the northern city of Misawa, in a nugget sourced from a Thai company it had switched to in the wake of a food scare at one of its Chinese suppliers.

In July, Chinese officials shut food-supplier Shanghai Husi Food Co. following a television report alleging the plant mixed out-of-date meat with fresh product that was then supplied to McDonald's and other major fast-food chains.

The summertime crisis prompted the Japanese arm of the global firm to drop Chinese poultry suppliers and switched to manufacturers in Thailand.

Batches of nuggets made by the Thai supplier on the same day as the suspect item would not be sold, a company spokeswoman said.

"We are starting to investigate how this could have happened," she said.

The latest incident drew widespread media attention on Monday with the story covered by Japan's national broadcaster NHK and the top-selling Yomiuri newspaper.

It comes less than two weeks after the Japanese unit said an emergency airlift has eased a french fries shortage which forced the chain to ration the crispy treat at more than 3,000 restaurants across the country.

Labor disputes on the US West Coast curbed exports of fries, leaving Japanese restaurants scrambling to secure fresh supplies.

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