One Week Last Summer

My Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast returns this week after a brief break. It would have been good to mark the end of summer but this year it seems like the season was gone before I could really appreciate it. I blogged about this several weeks ago and nothing much changed since then.

So the day after I wore a red shirt in support of the Burmese monks I sat down at my desk once again to produce another edition of my podcast. The 84th episode is exactly as it would have been had I produced it last week. It opens with a new recording from Sylvan Borg called Leaving Home. I was browsing through his MySpace page a couple of weeks ago and I saw a comment from Xtruppaw drummer Dino Mifsud Lepre, which essentially urges Sylvan to get a live band for his gigs. I like his studio sound but I agree wholeheartedly with Dino that this sort of sound needs a band to come alive in a live setting. Still, this new one from Sylvan gets nominated for the 2007 MMI listeners' top picks, along with a couple of other titles featured in today's podcast.

Eliza Borg's Sobering Up has a cool video, which you can watch on YouTube. Peter Borg plays guitar for her and it's quite good to see him outside his strong suit as the raunchy rock lead guitarist for Drive. The video and Peter's contribution give Eliza a debut to be really proud of. I'd even dare be bold and declare that Eliza and Peter could give Chasing Pandora a run for their money given the same opportunities that the Gozitan duo has enjoyed since they first hit the scene last year.

I like spicing up the podcast with names that have been on the music scene as long as, or longer than, I've been interested in it. Tony Scott is most certainly one such name. He has been involved in the Maltese music scene, especially with his recording studio, since the early 1980s, if not before. He has now released (what I believe is) his debut solo album. Entitled Talking Moods it features a collection of instrumental tracks that verge on the new age sounds that were very popular about twenty years ago. I've chosen the opening track,Signature Tune for my podcast. The whole album is refreshingly retro and Tony has attracted a relatively huge following through his MySpace page. While not everyone's cup of tea, he appears to have found a secret formula to draw an impressive number of fans and followers to comment on his MySpace page. Naturally, Tony Scott's album too makes the list of MMI nominations for 2007 releases.

In closing, this week's podcast delivers a blast from the past in the shape of a song called No More from Purple Haze, one of the most popular Maltese metal bands of the last two decades. Singer Daryl Ebejer is recording again and I'll bring you his new stuff as soon as its available.

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