Nyoy Volante
?In You?
MCA Music

FROM the very start, Nyoy Volante has been honest about his calling. He is not angry with the world, and neither does he pretend to have opinions on social ills. He just wants to play his acoustic guitar and sing laid-back pop-rock.

His music makes us imagine a bar where beer could be a bit pricey, but at least no lunatic would pull out a gun at the parking lot. His sound is a sedative without the hangover.

His new 10-track album, ?In You,? has a violinist, harmonica player and saxophonist, besides the usual drums-keyboards-electric guitar setup.

Among the original cuts, the titled track stands out for its sax-infused hooks, not to mention Volante?s tuneful expression of missing a loved one.

If that sounds like a message for his ex, the singer Nina, well, Volante likewise includes his own version of her big hit ?Someday? (which he actually wrote)?a conscience-pricking, sniffy breakup song. He sings in a hushed tone here and if Nina gets to hear it, she?ll probably say, ?Aw, shucks, forget about the lawsuit!? Totel de Jesus, contributor

Christina Aguilera
?Bionic?
RCA Records

?Bionic? is pop dominatrix Christina Aguilera?s fourth studio album and her first in four years since the delightfully nostalgic cheesetravaganza ?Back to Basics.?

The 16-track ?Bionic? finds Aguilera in a highly experimental mode and in cahoots with a colorful array of producers and songwriters such as Samuel Dixon, Tricky Stewart, Polow da Don.

The result has not been an unqualified success, but Aguilera?s powerful and superior vocal chords are all over. To those who don?t much welcome her crossovers from familiar territories such as R&B and pop, she sends an advance caveat early on in ?Not Myself Tonight,? where she spews with a vocal-riding crop: ?The old me?s gone, I feel brand new, and if you don?t like it: f**k you.?

When the all-girl Canadian band LiveonRelease timidly meowed, ?I?m afraid of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera,? what it really meant was: Take away the fancy clothes, choreography and the off-camera scandals, all that?s left standing is Aguilera with a whip and brass knuckle asking you if you feel lucky. Manny Espinola, contributor

Cafe Del Mar
?Ibiza Volumen Uno y Dos?
MCA/Universal

Cafe Del Mar has, over the years, become synonymous with music terms like laidback, chill out and its derivatives. Named after the actual bar in Ibiza, Spain, the record is mostly ambient-like soundscapes you?d normally hear while strolling at high-end shopping malls.

If fuzak (over-commericalized fusion jazz) was a trend in the ?70s, and Kenny G?s dental office muzak was big in the ?80s, Cafe del Mar would be their modern-day counterpart.

Mostly instrumental with sparse and subdued vocals in some instances, Cafe del Mar serves well as soundtrack to lazy, rainy afternoons at home or sunsets in Boracay.

But to dismiss the music compiled on Cafe Del Mar as merely modern-day elevator music would be unfair. Foregoing any semblance of branding, and simply focusing on the music itself, it can pretty much stand up on its own.

Non-intrusive and hypnotically relaxing, this twin volume collection features some of the big-name chillout players in the scene, like A Man Called Adam?s Carribean-flavored ?Estelle,? Jose Padilla?s fluid-like offering ?Agua? and Sabres Of Paradise?s ?Smokebelch II,? with its all-too-familiar keyboard figure.

Subtle rhythms abound in a collection that may be appreciated by the middle class?from college teens huddled at coffee bars, to young execs on their way to work, or even housewives whipping up food while waiting for their hubbies. Manny Pagsuyuin, contributor