‘Kasayaw’: Fresh sound for OPM dance classics

MEJARES. Groove-fueled revivals of the hit songs of Alcasid, Puno and VST & Co.

If you want to start the year dancing, Luke Mejares’ must-hear dance recording, “Kasayaw,” is the way to go. None of its songs is new—but, Bimbo Yance’s reconfigured arrangements allow the singer to reintroduce the album’s classic OPM tunes to this generation’s techno- and hip-hop-weaned music lovers. Mejares “youthens” them further with the vocal supervision of Myke Salomon and Jimmy Bondoc.

Luke’s digitized vocals, with striking, rattling and scraping percussions in the background, boost Randy Santiago’s “Babaero” and Archie Dairocas’ “Kasayaw.” Also given a fresh, idiosyncratic twist is “Ako’y Iyong-Iyo,” one of Ogie Alcasid’s earliest hits in the ’80s.

In his cover of VST & Co.’s “Magsayawan,” a dash of reggae is incorporated into the vaunted Manila Sound to amped up the track’s dance-floor viability.

Then, Mejares teams up with Bondoc to reinvigorate the cheeky humor and musical pomp of Rico Puno’s “Macho Gwapito.” You can even sing along to the “minus-ones” of “Babaero” and “Kasayaw,” which are included in the album. They’re guaranteed to shake your blues away!