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MAYA O. CALICA
This Pinoy boy band wants to sing you a love song… or three
Screen stars
GETTING GENKI
IN JAPAN
By Karen Pond and
Akiko Saito
Writer Karen
Pond chronicles
her transition
from rural Maine
to cosmopolitan
Japan in this
collection of
entertaining essays. From befuddled
to wise, they recount her follies as
a newcomer to Japan — including
(mis)identifying the food, (mis)
pronouncing Japanese and finally
figuring out how to flush the toilet!
Available in Fully Booked.
RETURN TO A
SEXY ISLAND
By Neil Humphreys
After five years,
the bestselling
author returns in
search of a new
Singapore, visiting
places that didn’t
exist back then.
From reaching the cloud-topped
heights of Marina Bay Sands to
making ill-advised bomb jokes at the
subterranean tunnels of Labrador
Park, Humphreys walks, cycles,
kayaks and swims across a rapidly
evolving country, meeting an
interesting crop of island dwellers.
Available at Singapore bookstores.
NEW BALLADEERS ON THE BLOCK
IT’S A
tried-and-tested formula for commercial success: take a few good-looking young men,
dress them in outfits that show off their ripped muscles, and add love songs. In this case, the
boys are Kerwin Caballero, Toff Guela and Visam Arenas, and the music is a collection of
heartwarming OPM melodies and romantic poetry. Their debut album,
VFort: The Love Band
Project,
features True Faith’s Bimbo Yance and Jake Lumacad, and Driven Band’s Josh Villegas
and Larry Ropero, who lent their talents of musical arrangement. Voice coach Jeff Cifra wrote
their songs. The carrier single,
Prinsesa,
hopes to tickle many a young lady’s heart, with the
boys professing their affection that’s for keeps. Available at all record bars.
The Outsiders
BORN TO DIE
by Lana del Rey
Lana del Rey’s music — orchestral, atmospheric and retro — is
perfect for her husky, torch-singer style. Her record features 12 tracks,
including
Blue Jeans
and
Video Games
— the latter video having
gained 28 million views (and counting).
Born to Die
has hit number
one in several European countries and reached number two on the
US charts, making Lana definitely someone to watch.
Are their songs just as good as their videos? You be the judge
MAKING MIRRORS
by Gotye
The Australian artist’s third album has spawned
Somebody That I
Used to Know,
with the video generating more than 200 million hits
on YouTube.
Glee
and
American Idol
have covered his music too. The
reason? A refreshing sound that smacks of both the old and the new:
In Your Light
brings to mind a 1980s Peter Gabriel, while
State of the
Art
resonates with the psychedelic pop style of Yeasayer.
Lana del Rey