MUSIC NEWS
Hammilan bug bites
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:18:00 07/23/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Dyna Records boss Howard Dy is reportedly “very interested” to acquire Hammilan’s second CD, “Diskarte,” which was recently released on Icon, the artist’s own independent label.
The album, available in limited copies through a distribution deal with the small label D’ Concorde Recording, was brought to Dy’s attention by Robert Chung, who worked in Dyna years ago and whose mother happens to be a sister of the major local label’s patriarch, James Dy.
“Not for anything — I think it’s a very good album and deserves a major label backing it,” Chung said.
Hammilan’s 2001 debut record, “Halo-Halo,” was likewise an independent production but was picked up by Ivory, repackaged and sold some 15,000 copies — with practically no radio airplay.
Electromaniacs update
Guitarist Ernie Delgado of the 1960s band Electromaniacs confirms a report that the band will soon record an album of new and old material.
Delgado was the composer of the instrumental love ballad “I Miss You So,” whose popularity nationwide — it spawned a movie of the same title — was said to have inspired kids at the time to learn to play the guitar, if not aspire to become musicians themselves.
Stars at MTV Asia Awards
Two Singaporean artists, the singer-songwriter Stefanie Sun and pop-rock band Electrico, are the latest additions to the performers’ lineup at the MTV Asia Awards to be held on Aug. 2 at the Arena of the Stars, in Genting Highlands, Malaysia.
They are scheduled to play “Save Our Souls,” a new song written by Electrico to help draw awareness to disaster victims in Asia. MTV is assisting in humanitarian relief efforts by soliciting donations.
Other performers are Jabbawockeez, Leona Lewis, OneRepublic, Panic at the Disco, Super Junior, The Click Five, The Pussycat Dolls and The Script.
Chicosci, Sandwich, Sponge Cola and Urbandub are nominated in the Favorite Artist Philippines category. Visit the official website www.mtvasiawards.com or the WAP site, wap.mtvasia.com/maa to vote.
Slapshock clarification
Lee Nadela, bassist of the rapcore (or rap-metal) band Slapshock, writes: “The group ended its contract with EMI Philippines more than a year ago, and [this was announced] on the band’s website… ‘Recollection’ (Slapshock’s Greatest Hits) was our compromise album before we left EMI.”
This clarifies an item that appeared on July 3 in this section, which mentioned Slapshock as among the bands to be absorbed by another label, following rumors of EMI Philippines’ ceasing operations as a result of mother company EMI London’s cost-cutting measures.
In short, the reason that the EMI Philippines website still carries publicity photos of Slapshock under the heading “Our Artists” is just to promote the band’s greatest hits album, which technically still falls under an existing publishing agreement with the record label.
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