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By Rome Jorge Lifestyle Editor
There’s something suspicious
about a band with a French word thrown into its name (they could
have named themselves Oplan Vicente Itim) and vocals with a British
accent, even when mentioning local geography like “Beula-khan”
(That’s Bulacan in Filipino, girl. How many years do you have to
spend living here to say it right?) in the song “Wha’ a Git”
currently receiving airplay. The Vince Noir Project, like most
trip-hop bands, exudes an aura of theatricality—film noir to be
exact—hence the name. But as with any similar effort, such devices
risk verging on artifice and pretense.
Trip-hop—the musical genre that
evokes 1960s film femme fatale through a combination of sexy soulful
vocals, acid-jazz beats and distressed electronica
music—originated in Bristol England in 1991 with such prime
exponents as Portishead, Massive Attack and Morcheeba.
This album begs the question: If
today’s reggae band can do away without Jamaican accents and
dreadlocks and locals rappers now can rhyme without posing as
Afro-Americans in bling-bling, do trip hoppers require European
intonation and seductively deadly auras?
Local exponents such as UpDharma
Down and Drip have not only paved the way for the genre locally,
they have also shown how to make trip-hop truly Pinoy with their own
distinctive takes in the genre.
Vocalist Alessandra Tinio
certainly has what it takes to play the part. Born in San Francisco
and educated in London, she is many things to many people: posing
sexily for men’s magazine FHM, deejaying for rock station NU 107
and even appearing as an exemplary fashionista by Internet gadfly
Bryan Boy. Her vocals alone are sexy enough. What she sings about is
enough to make you hot and bothered.
With “Wha’ a Git,” she
reveals all the life of a seductress painting the town red as well
recollects on her first time. “He was the first, he was the
worst,” she sings. For their part, Rembrandt Vocalan on
synthesizers, Tani Santos on guitars and Wally Contento on drums
provide compelling aural textures that complement Tinio vocals,
altering it from breathy to robotic with distressed samples.
“Alter Ego” features compelling fat beats. Tracks such as
“Release to the Wild” and “Taste the Rust” provide multiple
layers of lush and edgy sound.
With its maiden self-titled
album, the Vince Noir Project boasts an impressive pedigree: punk
pioneer Tommy Tanchangco serves as executive producer, Diego Mapa of
disco-punk band Pedicab and supergroup Cambio as album producer and
collaborations with Mong Alcaraz of emo-rock band Chicosci and post
punk exponent Sandwich and Madz Abubakar of Nyco Maca and
Playground. However, the album stands on the talents of its own
musicians.
The Vince Noir Project has got
its act together. However, with so many contrivances and devices up
its sleeve, their sound is emotionally distant. I want them to make
me feel something and quit being cool all the time.
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