By Pocholo Concepcion
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–You turned on the radio, set the FM dial to 92.3, and your mind wandered off, on to different movie settings — running away with Scarlett Johansson in “The Island” or plotting with Tom Cruise in “Mission Impossible.”

At times, you slid into a contemplative state. The next moment, you’d be having such a good time that it felt like you were driving around town in breezy weather, with no traffic.

This was the aural atmosphere induced by the music from the station that used to go by the name Joey. It is now known as xFM, and for the past four months, it has been experimenting with a free-form play list you won’t hear anywhere else — except perhaps in dance clubs, or in parties that wind down at sunrise.

Much of the music on xFM can’t be called “songs” in the conventional sense. That’s because many of them don’t have vocals, at least no more than short phrases (like, for instance, “Let’s make love tonight …”) spoken with atmospheric studio effects.

It gets more complicated if you try to decipher what the station plug says is xFM music. It’s fairly easy to understand “chill out” or “downtempo” — basically, laidback electronic music. (In fact, “chill out” has become part of contemporary English; it means “cool down” or “relax.”)

But what about “Bristol” (where “trip hop” and “drum ’n’ bass” were supposedly born), “house,” “techno” “trance” and “electronica”? Strange words, especially to 40-year-olds weaned on the Beatles and the Stones.

Maybe that’s why the station’s management recently edited out that plug, and concentrated on hyping its call letters over and over: “This is… xFM.”

What it actually plays are various offshoots of dance music types that were all the rage abroad from the late 1980s till about 2002 at all-night warehouse parties and raves.

In these gatherings, the DJ was king, working the crowd with all sorts of records and mixes that seemed better appreciated with laser lights and the drug Ecstacy.

That scene died a natural death but gave birth to clubs that play chill out music. But then there’s supposed to be a new, revitalized rave scene abroad, although people would rather be called “clubbers” instead of ravers now, and the events they attend are referred to as just “parties.”

In any case, is there a local audience large enough for xFM to attract as listener base? While it’s true that there was a local rave scene several years ago and there are more clubs now around Metro Manila with DJs playing techno, downtempo and the whole caboodle of electronic dance music, is that cool enough to hear on radio on a daily basis?

Apparently, there’s a major adjustment going on at the station. The moody and atmospheric sounds that used to greet us in the mornings are now few and far between. What is supposed to be the centerpiece music is heard only on Wednesdays and Sundays through the syndicated Ministry of Sound franchise in England.

Pop and light jazz

Lately, daytime programming on xFM is veering towards a combination of pop and light jazz.

How else to explain Michael Franks on a Sunday morning? Or Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is,” Phil Collins’ “Easy Lover” and “In the Air Tonight,” Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” Ambrosia’s “Biggest Part of Me” and Manhattan Transfer’s “Smile Again”?

Well, Steely Dan’s “Hey Nineteen” is refreshing after a long while, but isn’t James Ingram’s “Whatever We Imagine” or Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Fantasy” too, uh, stale for a new station to mess with?

The Inquirer asked Al Torres who, as managing director, is responsible, along with president and CEO Raymund Miranda, for plotting out xFM’s sound and direction. Torres explained that, although the crowd that’s into electronic music (and which xFM wants to cater to) is big enough to be called a “community,” it’s not wise to alienate other listeners who may think the station is too elitist.

In the early weeks of broadcast and in initial press interviews, xFM appeared bent on having no talking DJs — or news reports and weather updates, for that matter — to interrupt the music. But perhaps Torres should reconsider this stance, if he wants to reach out to more listeners. Besides, how does one become acquainted with chill out music when nobody identifies the artists and song titles?

In the late ‘70s till about the mid-‘80s, Torres did a great job as station manager of 99.5 RT. It bears watching if he can find the “x-factor” that would transform xFM into something “extraordinary,” rather than the unknown mathematical variable that its first call letter signifies.