‘Pare Ko’ 25 years on

Eraserheads (Instagram) I know what audiophiles my age (those who were in college in the mid-’90s) would want to see under their tree this holiday season: A vinyl of the Eraserheads’ debut “Ultraelectromagneticpop.” The album had its sonic makeover in “The 25th Anniversary Remastered Edition” vinyl format due out February or March 2019. But if you are subscribed to a streaming service, then you can jump right in and enjoy the album that brought us the joy of the Eraserheads. I admit that when this album first came, I was kind of a snob and ignored the whole thing. I mean, who in (traffic) hell are those unwashed jeans clad-Converse canvass trodding-longhaired misfits on posters looking at me from across the record store aisle? Nobody, I thought – which goes to say how little I knew when I was 19. ‘Ultraelectromagneticpop!’ album cover Back then, it seemed everybody in my age group (in college) was playing that album on their boombox, CD walkman and even on their acoustic guitars (for those who know how to grip a chord or two). Everyday talk in school will have a mention of the Eraserheads. Indeed, they were blowing up the spectrum horizontically and vertically so eventually, I gave in and listened to their second album “Circus” – their greatest – right before “Cutterpillow.” But yes, “Ultraelectromagneticpop” started it all. Remastering duties were done by multi-award winning American audio engineer Bernie Grundman whose work includes “Thriller” by Michael Jackson and “Purple Rain” by Prince. Grundman reportedly worked on the original master tapes from studio sessions that produced “Ultraelectromagneticpop.” It wasn’t mentioned anywhere on Sony Music’s press (Sony-BMG so many years ago) whether members of the band sat down with Grundman to work on the remasters. But it did mention that Ely Buendia’s music label venture, Offshore Music, was involved. My guess is that Offshore will be the one to do the vinyl pressing for release early 2019. So how does it sound? This is the first time I listened to the album in full and I was surprised by the cohesiveness of the track list. While I was familiar with the singles when it came out, this is the first I heard the Motown-esque riffing of “Easy Ka Lang.” Or the bar room fiddling on “Honky-Toinky Granny” and, yes, that sounds like the Eraserheads as they sort of fumbled through. But hearing the singles “Pare Ko” with that awkward off key note, or the simple but earnest “Toyang,” and their breakout single “Ligaya,” this clear sonically, just brings so much memories. “Shirley” sounds like it is listened to with new ears. And “Maling Akala” sounds like a newly developed picture snapshot. Come to think of it, “‘Ultraelectromagneticpop’ 25th Anniversary Remastered Edition” is like strumbling through a box of undeveloped film. You have one roll developed and you see all these familiar faces but you see them all in new perspective.