commodity music

i found myself (unexpectedly) immersed with old world ballads and lazy sunset serenades at the mall today. and no, i wasn't at starbucks. three out of the five apparel shops i visited were spinning the vinyl to french and portuguese tunes of acid jazz and bossa nova. (the other two stores weren't playing any music at all.) is it because it's summer hence the urge to play chill out music? or has manila finally come to embrace the sublime lyricism and rhythms of foreign artists?

there was a time whenever i told people that the kind of music i listened to included old bossa classics, jazz and european pop, they'd raise their eyebrows at me with a barely surreptitious look that was supposed to make me squirm for having such odd taste.

i simply avoid fads. and it gets to me when i find my interests suddenly falling within the sphere of manila's insatiable need to saturate itself with the day's trend.

sitti--god bless her for trying--has somehow 'commoditized' bossa nova with her window-shattering, testicle-rattling versions of gilberto, mendez, and who else. starbucks has likewise contributed, if not initiated, to the dilution of what was once a niche market for the records industry.

it actually remains pleasant to browse around with these tunes resonating in the background. it's just a shame that so many things these days are fast becoming commodities.

...leaving me in search of new, less popular favorites.