Almost There

As I sat down to prepare the 199th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast this morning it dawned on me that next week's edition will be the 200th in the series. I recalled how the 100th edition was marked as a special occasion back in 2008, first by Michael Bugeja in The Sunday Times (of Malta) and then through the MMI podcast itself featuring a bunch of carefully picked tracks.

Should I make the 200th MMI podcast into another special edition or is it enough of a celebration to acknowledge the fact that the series has reached 200? After all, my hope (and plan) is to go on for as long as I physically can with this series and it would be rather silly to "mark a moment" every 100 podcasts as if it's something special. I'd like to believe that people who follow the MMI podcast (or even one who stumble across it by accident) recognize the fact that this is a very special series by virtue of the focus it has and its longevity.

The 199th MMI podcast opens with a debut track from Tape Division, which is a new project by Hadrian Mansueto. It sets the tone beautifully for today's podcast, particularly since it's not often that I open the show with a dance track. Apparently Heartbeat is still a work-in-progress, but it has already been paired up with a video on YouTube.

New releases for 2010 keep coming at a steady pace, even though I would say that things haven't really picked up the pace for this year yet. Dubkey Records has just released an album of tracks by Mind's Eye Dub entitled A Different World; available as a free download here. There's a video to accompany the title track, which like most of the tracks on this album come from the early 2000s, when M.E.D. was presented to an online audience through the original MP3.com. There are however three tracks on this album that were not previously released through MP3.com. One of these is the one I've selected to play on this week's podcast. Nuff Respect features MC Trooper who was the resident toaster on Dread Connexion, a Sunday night live internet show originating from England, when this recording was made.

This week's messages from podcast listeners included one from my old friend Mark Attard, known to many who follow the Maltese music scene as the keyboard player with Fakawi. Mark pointed out that the MMI podcast doesn't follow live gigs as rigorously as he would like it to. Fair comment, but as I explained to him, there are valid reasons for that. Furthermore, it's not as if we never refer to gigs. In any case, this week I wanted to highlight the fact that there are certain bands -- such as Fakawi -- who can only really be appreciated fully during their live shows. Video clips of live gigs can give you a glimpse of why certain acts don't translate well into a studio recording. The upcoming live concert featuring Fakawi, BNI, Dolls 4 Idols, Loose Ends, and others at the Nadur Carnival on Saturday 13 February is clearly one such gig. No recording can replace the experience of being there.

The debut release from the new band Eggshell Black landed on my desktop a few days ago. I was immediately struck by the wide-reaching online presence created for the release of Unwanted. Not that it couldn't be better, but I don't remember ever seeing this much noise being made by a new band on the Maltese scene for their debut release. The song itself is slightly unimpressive at first, but it quickly picks up steam and develops into a song that tells the discerning listener that this band may be on to a bright future. Giving Eggshell's debut single a second listen is highly recommended. I overcame the initial reaction and I'm sure others will too. Bring on the next track.

As you may have noticed on this links embedded in this blog post, all but one of the tracks included on this week's podcast relate to some sort of video clip. It's therefore appropriate to squeeze in one more track this week; one that's video related, of course. Veteran Maltese electronic musician Ray Buttigieg left Gozo many years ago. He has produced an impressive discography over the past 4 decades and now seems to be capturing some of his music through video clips on YouTube. Tripper Big Dipper is one such track from Buttigieg's catalog. Old and new fans will undoubtedly be looking out for more video clips in the coming weeks and months.

The RSS feed for the Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast is available here or you can simply click here to subscribe directly with iTunes. You can also follow each new episode through the MMI Podcast: Facebook Fan Page or on MySpace. If you have no idea what any of this means, just click here or listen to the podcast on the player right below this text.

Sign O The Times

A couple of weeks ago my friend Ariadne Massa, Chief Sub-Editor and long standing journalist with The Times (of Malta), asked me to answer some questions on "on how the changes in technology impact the media business in Malta" for an in-house diploma organised by her newspaper bosses.

In the spirit of this blog and everything it has come to represent over the last 6 years, I asked Ariadne to reproduce her questions and my answers right here on my blog. Feel free to comment at the bottom of this blog post.

1. There has been an emergence of citizen journalism. What do you believe is the impact this has on the way traditional journalists report?

I believe that traditional journalists look at citizen journalism in one of two ways. The first way is to ignore it as something not worthy of their attention; how can someone without the proper training, professional experience or ample resources do what they do? The other way is for them to pillage and plunder whatever they can get from citizen journalism to fill their pages and airtime. By extension, I'd say that traditional reporting has been impacted depending on the approach adopted out of these two camps. Those ignoring it do it at their own peril and lack of respect for their audience. Those who get it realize that their profession is no longer as privileged as it once was.

2. Does citizen journalism provide a clearer picture of the news or is it unaccountable vigilantism?

I think it does both these things. It cuts through the stylistic way the news reports what's going on to give perspectives that are unheard of in traditional journalism. At the same time, if anyone can say anything they want, then that's exactly what's bound to happen too. However, I'd stress that it's not one or the other. Both are possible at the same time, in varying measures.

3. Abroad, newspapers have been dealt a blow by the internet, but this does not seem to be the case in Malta. What do you believe distinguishes us from other countries?

Size. Parochialism. (Ir)Relevance. Lack of updated higher education. Isolation. Misplaced pride. Nostalgia. Complacency. How about all of the above?

4. The newspaper industry is under siege from new media. What do you forecast will happen to newspapers by 2020?

Fewer people will want to read a newspaper printed on paper but they will not stop wanting to get the news that's relevant to them. Also, the newspaper industry will continue to realize that the newsprint cycle is no longer in step with contemporary lifestyles. Front page news at any early hour of the morning will continue to become more and more irrelevant as it's reporting something we've already heard about as it happened or through other media available on demand, where and when we want them.

5. What do you believe newspapers should do to face the challenges ahead?

Answers to this question depend in large part on the size of the newspaper and the community it serves. I don't think I can give a decent answer to this question here and (with all due respect to the interviewer) I wouldn't really want to unless I was being paid or given proper professional credit for it.

6. Please feel free to add any other comments which you feel are relevant.

What the newspaper industry really needs to realize is that the intermediary role it once served is being relegated to the junkyard of history. The industrial age, which gave us the newspaper industry, is being superseded by what some call the information age, where information wants to be free. By free we mean both as in no cost and as in freedom, of course.

Don't Tell Me That It's Over

While we can safely assume that the newness of 2010 is behind us, some of us may not be back on the grind in full throttle quite yet. Speaking from a personal perspective, I'd say that it was only last week that I really got back into the swing to things properly, but this is not to say that the days before that were filled with hours of lounging around doing nothing.

One way I gauge whether we're back to "normal" at this time of the year is by the announcements I start receiving for upcoming album releases during the first quarter of the year. Two of these contribute to the contents of the 198th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast, so I'm pretty sure that we're firmly on our way now.

After playing a track form the recently released Tea compilation Reloaded, it's a great pleasure to have the opportunity to have Marc Storace's voice heard on the MMI podcast. Krokus have just announced the release of their new album entitled Hoodoo, which is due out on the 26th of February. This new album features ten new tracks by the band and a rousing cover of Steppenwolf's classic Born to Be Wild. To promote the album ahead of its release Krokus have issued a single called Hoodoo Woman, which is undoubtedly destined to become a favourite with their fans.

Staying with overseas-based bands sporting a Maltese singer this week we turn our attention to Fraser. This London band is fronted by Fraser Gregory who Malta music fans may remember as a founding member of the Beangrowers. Last summer we heard a track from Fraser's upcoming album A Garden at the Top of the Tree, which is set to be released on the 27th of March. The single chosen to promote this album ahead of its release is called Lay It On The Line. Aside from being included on this week's MMI podcast, it was also been selected as a single of the week by IndieLondon for the past week.

Bark Bark Disco have just released a video for their Song for the Lovers from the 2009 album Your Mum Says Hello. The new video is a tribute to 70s Scandinavian porn star Brigitte Lahaie, featuring sequences from her classic film Six Swedish Girls in a Boarding School. Centre of My Heart is the track I've picked to play on this week's MMI podcast. The album remains available as a free download from the band's official website.

This week's MMI podcast is heavily slanted towards acts that are either based outside Malta or have a strong overseas connection; Bark Bark Disco is actually half German. Mark Axiak is based in Norway and I've played his music on previous editions of the MMI podcast. His guitar-driven tracks are very untypical of what most people would expect from the quintessential rock 'n roll musical instrument. Somewhere in Between is delightfully different from what anyone who is not keen on exploring experimental sounds may have heard so far this year.

For those who prefer guitars to sound like guitars, I close this week's podcast with a track from the hard-to-find 1994 Norm Rejection EP Subtly Mesmerized?, which has just been reissued on their MySpace page. As you listen to Distorted Visions you may be amused to figure out that this song was recorded 16 years ago. Expect new releases from Norm Rejection later this year, including the highly anticipated Kemm Hawn Dwejjaq fil-Pajjiż.

The RSS feed for the Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast is available here or you can simply click here to subscribe directly with iTunes. You can also follow each new episode through the MMI Podcast: Facebook Fan Page or on MySpace. If you have no idea what any of this means, just click here or listen to the podcast on the player right below this text.

Firestarter

My ears are still buzzing from last night's concert by The Prodigy at the Bridlington Spa's Royal Hall. It's almost incredible that this band has been around for 20 years and it was simply amazing to see young people in the audience who weren't even born back when they started out. The Prodigy is simply a massive band and their music is undoubtedly anthemic for a whole generation. There's a direct connection with The Prodigy in the 197th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast. I'll came to that when I get to the fourth track in this week's MMI podcast.

Prolonging the shelf-life of their debut EP Your Head Is Too Big For Your Crown, released a couple of months ago, Skimmed have now released the song Shitty Jobs on their MySpace page along with some new band photos. This bodes well in terms of what seems to be a plan to ensure that people don't lose track of Skimmed's EP in the torrent of new material that's due out this year.

Bletchley Park have just released their follow-up single to last year's debut Alien entitled Hold the Trap. This new offering is a solid pop rock song but I believe that this band is still to make a significant impact on the local scene, by which I mean to say that their best work is still ahead of them. They strike me as a hard-working band, so I don't doubt that we'll be hearing more from them this year.

Wayne Camilleri and Errol Sammut seem to have great plans for this year. They've come together as a new duo called K.O.I. (Knowledge Over Intellect) releasing Tears in My Eyes as their debut song. Their sound has delightful 1980s undertones, which makes me think that they're (craftily) tapping into the retro groove de rigueur, as others have beautifully demonstrated in recent years.

Back to that concert by The Prodigy. The reason I made it to the concert last night was thanks to my cousin Keith who is half of the duo South Central. How could I turn down an Access All Areas pass to such a great gig. It was an added bonus to be able to hear South Central do their live DJ set. The crowd truly enjoyed the music they provided and their affinity with Prodigy fans is enshrined through their official remix of Warrior's Dance, which was the second single of The Prodigy's Invaders Must Die album from 2009; the South Central remix is available on disc 2 of the special edition for this album. Their UK tour continues the rest of this month as they head to the south coast in the coming week (Plymouth and Bournemouth) followed by a stint in Scotland ending at the Glasgow O2 Academy. Watch out for them in Malta this springtime.

To close off this week's podcast I've squeezed in a new release by K1nk featuring Thea Saliba. Luigi Lusini's music works well with Thea's vocals and it makes me think that this is possibly a better way for this young Maltese singer to break into the international dance scene than any of her previous attempts. I suppose only time can really tell whether this is the case or not.

The RSS feed for the Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast is available here or you can simply click here to subscribe directly with iTunes. You can also follow each new episode through the MMI Podcast: Facebook Fan Page or on MySpace. If you have no idea what any of this means, just click here or listen to the podcast on the player right below this text.

Empire State of Mind

Between the horrific events in Haiti and the banal nonsense emanating from Malta, I find myself considering what may actually be in store for us in 2010. More precisely I'm also thinking what's ahead for me personally as a continue with my AHRC sabbatical, which at the very least will yield a book I've written on Franklin Furnace.

There was a time when I would have gone on to blog about these thoughts at length. For better or worse, my blog has clearly turned into a place to present the show notes for my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast. I don't really mind this and I'm sure many of my blog readers wouldn't even have notice this if it wasn't for the fact that I tend to bring it up from time to time. Still, there are times when I wish I still was in the frame of mind to blog about more than my weekly podcast.

The 196th MMI podcast opens with the first music video released in the Maltese music scene for 2010. Harry is a song from Cable 35's EP Hygene. Their youthful energy is infections and if they keep this up I believe that they will strengthen their fan-base considerably this year. While I imagine they have aspirations to reach new followers outside the Maltese Islands, I would love to see them somehow embrace their national identity. That would give them the edge of difference that can make them stand out from the plethora of other guitar-driven bands like them.

One of the few Malta-related releases from 2009 that almost passed me by comes all the way from Switzerland. Marc Storace's old band Tea have released a compilation album of their best loved songs. Guilded Cage, originally off the band's third album Tax Exile from 1976, is possibly one of Marc's most heart-felt belters with an autobiographic bent. The 13 tracks on Reloaded show that this Swiss band should have done even better then they did in their day. In my opinion, the reason they're not better known is not because they weren't any good (quite the contrary, of course!) but because they didn't play up their difference in a rock scene where being different was greatly appreciated. Almost 35 years after they stopped recording and touring, this compilation will undoubtedly introduce them to new fans who will appreciate what was undoubtedly one of Europe's better rock bands in the seventies.

Speaking of Maltese connections to European bands makes me want to play something by Polish ska masters Skambomambo. Regular listeners of the MMI podcast will remember that Skambomambo's singer is Mario Cordina, who was first featured in a special edition in the series in 2007. The band is set to play several gigs around Poland in the coming weeks into February. As it happens I'm visiting Poland later on this year and I'll certainly be looking at their show dates while I'm there. It would be wonderful to see them live, not only because they sound like a fun band to watch but also seeing Mario sing live would certainly be an opportunity I wouldn't want to pass up.

Foreign acts play in Malta from time to time and one such gig is coming up at the MITP in Valletta on Saturday 6 February 2010. It features British singer Adem with new local band Stalko supporting. Sylvan Borg is set to open the show with a new acoustic set. He has just recorded a new song entitled Soft as Stone to promote his first gig for the year. I happen to like his songs, possibly for the same reason that drives radio stations to stay away from them: they sound quite different from anything else on the airwaves these days.

The RSS feed for the Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast is available here or you can simply click here to subscribe directly with iTunes. You can also follow each new episode through the MMI Podcast: Facebook Fan Page or on MySpace. If you have no idea what any of this means, just click here or listen to the podcast on the player right below this text.