Radioactive Sago Project – Urban Gulaman (2004)

Reimagined old Manila as if it was all neon, funk and jazz. Squatterjazz instead of Squatterpunk. Lourd de Veyra jettisoned the non-Tagalog numbers for ones written spoken in the vernacular. Whether it’s de Veyra having written his best spiels yet or the band being in the perfect groove or both, this set is wittier, sharper, funnier at the same time more immediate, more accessible than the first (“Hello,” “Kape,” “Masarap”). There’s no question “Bad Motherfucker” is a bad motherfucker, but maybe you need at least a liter of gin pomelo in your blood to dig “Gin Pomelo.” And as Malkmus once said, words—they’re diamond-sharp today (“Magbanat ng buto at gawing bulalo,” “Burak sa kape, gamot sa ubo, sa utak ng gago,” the whole of “Alaala Ni Batman”). Also, sage advice: Wag Kang Maingay May Naglalaba. A