Reggae fans around the world mark the death of Bob Marley this weekend; he died on May 11, 1981. It is therefore fitting that this week's Mużika Mod Ieħor opens with a tribute to the Jamaican legend by Mind's Eye Dub. I Wanna Love You is an innovative dub on a classic song and it bears the hallmark of David Magro, Malta's own most prolific reggae musician.
The rest of the 113th MMI podcast consists of hard rock tracks, starting out with a new recording by Joe Mizzi called Falling Apart. I'm ashamed to say that I've somehow not managed to include anything from Joe Mizzi in the series to date. This is extra shocking when I realize that he has released 2 CDs -- Unrest (2005) & The Zero Chain (2007) -- since this series started and I happen to know (perhaps I should say knew) Joe on a personal level too rather than just as a musician; we first met in the early 1980s. Anyway, this will undoubtedly be ratified, starting right now.
A few weeks ago I joined the Maltese Metal Scene Community at undergroundfactory.com. It is a wonderful example of a subculture within a subculture. Through it I've discovered a couple of metal bands that had escaped my attention until now. One of these bands is Blind Saviour who are poised to release their debut album The Master Plan. From it you can hear The Episode, which is one of two songs featuring singer Rachel Grech. The other song comes from Weeping Silence, who have recently released a new CD entitled End of An Era. From it I've selected Deep Regret, mostly because this was the only track I could get my hands on without waitng yet another week to feature this band on my podcast. Rachel Grech's voice is a welcome change on the local Metal scene, however, I need to hear more from these two bands to make up my mind in terms of which one suits her better.
It's been another strange week. I'm beginning to feel an urgent need for a proper break, but that's not going to happen for a while. At least I managed to get out and do some decent work in the garden this weekend.
I was going to post something about the death of Sir Anthony Mamo a couple of days ago but chose not to, mostly for a personal reason I'm about to share with you now. Throughout my childhood I recall my departed grandmother Ġiużeppa and the late great-aunt Ġiustina saying that Sir Anthony was their cousin. They were all Mamos anyway. I even recall my grandmother saying that she was his babysitter at one point. My father reminded me about some of this when the news of the demise of Malta's first President spread across the Maltese Islands. It feels good to know that such a revered man - a politician, no less - was a distant relative. It appears that the Mamo side of my family has great genes, as my grandmother and a couple of her siblings lived very long lives just like Sir Anthony. Unlike most Maltese men he even managed to outlive his wife Margaret, who passed away about six years ago.
Moving swiftly on to this week's Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast, which is number 112 in the series. In true spring mood it features all new tracks released in recent days, weeks or months, as the case may be. First off is the song Memories from Two, the second EP by Chasing Pandora. When this duo first appeared on the scene a couple of years ago I was one of many who raved about them. Now that they've acquired a solid following I can completely see why. They deserve every accolade they get, even if they still haven't surpassed themselves on their divine debut.
Local music scene veterans The Myth have also just released new material. In their case it's a single called Star. By their own admission this song sounds like something out of the Oasis songbook; like a cross between Champagne Supernova and Live Forever. I prefer their blues-tinged numbers but it's good to see them spread their repertoire to include the sound of other (more recent) bands they admire.
It's always a pleasure to listen to new releases on the Pinkpube website. Their most recent release is an EP by Brian James, which was actually first made available for download in January. The 4-track EP is called Ectomorph and from it I've selected Red Strobe; incidentally the whole thing is available as a free download from Pinkpube.com. Brian is one of Malta's techno pioneers and he has inspired many others to follow in his footsteps, even if they're not always aware of how significant he is for the local electronic music scene.
This type of music is/was often referred to as house. The two styles are actually quite distinct, even if most people are unable to distinguish between the two...particularly anyone for whom this is just electronic din. One of the up and coming house-masters (does that term still have any meaning on the street?) is SunSatION. I know very little about him other than the fact that he's quite young guy from Żurrieq. From his MySpace page I've included the tune Not A Wonderful World as the closing track for this week's podcast.
The rain can be both real and metaphorical at the same time. I thought about this quite frequently this weekend. I had planned to spend as much of my "free" time in the organic garden at home. It started out as the first truly mild weekend this season, but my plans were rained on; first metaphorically and then from the sort of clouds that always bring moisture in the air.
I've now resigned myself to yet another weekend were I can't do the work I'd like to in the garden. Hopefully it will get better very soon because the lawn really needs mowing. Meanwhile I find solace in my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast. At times like this it feels very much like my own private pot at the end of the rainbow.
The 111th MMI podcast opens with a song from Pete Molinari whose mother's Maltese parentage qualifies him for inclusion in this series. He has a remarkable voice that would be very well suited for Maltese għana. He has not explored that part of his personal heritage, yet. If/when he does, keep in mind that you heard about it here first. Have a listen to Virtual Landslide, one of his recent singles, and you'll see what I mean if you're familiar with Maltese folk singing beyond the hackneyed stereotype.
On one of the early editions of Mużika Mod Ieħor I featured a tune called White Russian by the Sandro Zerafa 5tet. At that time this was a new project that this Maltese Paris-based guitarist was exploring. The whole thing has now matured into a full CD release, which was launched at the recently opened venue Warehouse No.8 in Marsa. While listening to the track Sidewalk Slant it crossed my mind that the launch party must have been a fantastic place to be this weekend, particularly because Danjeli provided the music after hours.
Any opportunity to play something from Danjeli is not easily passed up on my podcast. From last year's outstanding Pinkpube release by Danjeli Kakofonija I've picked Dureb. It works well in the eclectic mix on this week's show. If you still haven't heard Kakofonija, do yourself a favour and download it (for free!) from the Pinkpube website.
In preparing this week's selection I came across singer Ann Degaetano's name. She won the Virtual Rock Star contest put on by Malta's XFM radio with her band Slur. I was hoping to see more of her by now. To my knowledge, so far she has been a one hit wonder. I hope someone tells me I'm wrong and points me towards new recordings featuring Ann's voice. Luckily, other than the song she presented for last year's XFM contest she also released It's Your Imagination, which even on a first listen shows that it would be a shame for this singer to simply disappear into oblivion just yet.
Closing up with something new, I came across B. Lee, the new lead guitarist with Metrokueen, who appeared on a recent edition of the MMI podcast. B. Lee (aka Billy) has released an instrumental blues rock track called Until I Find My Way. More than anything I really like the title of this instrumental track because it ties in with the way I feel about getting back to the garden. Until then, I'm just caught in what Joni Mitchell calls the devil's bargain.
It's been an odd week. I can't really put my finger on it but I know that it has much more to do with the latest language debacle or the new collaborative effort at MaltaMedia. When the going gets tough there's nothing like heavy metal to realign the gray matter adequately for the next challenge.
In case you're wondering how I go about dealing with this sort of thing, just have a listen to the 110th podcast in my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor series. It's all metal all the way going from hard rock to the heaviest metal since lead and mercury were discovered.
Frenzy Mono have recently teamed up with bassist Albert Bell to form a new band called Nomad Son. The podcast opens with The Blacksmith from Frenzy Mono followed by Shallow Grave from Nomad Son, which is one of the songs that landed the band a recording contract with Italian label Metal on Metal. Albert Bell is one of a handful of rock gurus on the Maltese scene. I've known him since we were both sixth formers about 25 years ago and I'm truly impressed by his prowess.
Nomad Son are playing a gig with Lithomancy at the Poxx Bar on 3 May. Lithomancy have almost been around for two full decades. As Maltese metal bands go they're dinosaurs even if their brand of metal remains close to the cutting edge of the hardest rock genres. I like any band that Dino Mifsud Lepre drums in and Rex is one of the most versatile singers on the local rock scene. Lithomancy fans know them best for their Witness of Eternity, which has to be one of the death metal classics from the Maltese dark scene.
Hardcore metal bands are still numerous in Malta. Metal tastes on the islands have come a long way since the days of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and even Metallica. I've selected new material from two relatively new bands for the latter part of this week's podcast. The first comes from last year's Erythuria album Annihilate to Repent, launched at Poxx on October 5. The track I've selected is called Touched by the Gods. The other band is Tendency Charge. From their (possibly as-yet unreleased) EP Stages of Peripheral Diversity I've picked To Punish and Enslave.
I have a feeling that some of the regular MMI podcast listeners will not necessarily appreciate some of the hardcore metal sounds presented on this week's edition. I believe that this should most certainly not preclude this music from the series. I'm also pretty sure that listeners who understand what I'm on about with my podcasts can see why I chose to play all sorts of music from the alternative music scene in Malta.
My weekly music podcast is on the 109th edition this week. The four tracks I've selected to play are all new. This is a clear indication of how vibrant the local scene has become. At least that's how I see it, even if two of the recordings I've included don't really originate from Malta.
The opening song is the new one from Fraser Gregory. It's called Let It Rain and comes with a video on YouTube too. Apparently Fraser is now firmly anchored in London gigging at various small venues. I wish the listings on his MySpace page were up to date. Perhaps he's just too busy making music.
Keeping it Maltese abroad, the second song comes from Maltese-Australian singer-songwriter Luke Caruana, better known as Carra. He has recently released a new single entitled Gaia, apparently inspired by his 2007 visit to Malta. It's worth noting that Carra's band features a Maltese-Australian drummer by the name of J.J. Portelli. It sure is a small world.
Back on the rock centre of the universe, the gravitational pull of the alternative music scene these days seems to be at the Poxx Bar in Paceville. This weekend nosnow/noalps played two gigs there. Last night they appeared sandwiched between Cable 35 and BNI. Tonight they're supporting the Beangrowers as they launch their new album Not In a Million Lovers, which was featured on this podcast last month. To celebrate what seems to be the hardest working band on the Maltese music scene, you can hear Lights On from the nosnow/noalps EP (just rock), which was released last February.
This week's podcast comes to a close with what is undoubtedly one of the heaviest new bands in Malta: Dying Signals. They made their live debut last summer Slit and Ktinodia. Earlier this year they started recording their first CD at Splitter Studio entitled The Last Of A Dying Breed. They've just released some demos from these session and I've picked Neglected for my podcast. Hardcore metal is an acquired taste and I must admit that after some years I seem to have come to like it more than I thought I ever would. I think it's at least as entertaining as watching anything else that doesn't normally happen on a quiet Sunday morning.
Things are more or less back to "normal" now after the ups and downs of the last couple of weeks. The weather still doesn't want to play nice just yet, but that's to be expected in Britain. Luckily I managed to find a few hours to work in my organic garden this weekend but there's plenty more to do now that it's (supposedly) springtime.
The 108th podcast in my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor series is out a few hours earlier this week. This is mostly because it's too cold to work out in the garden this afternoon, but it's also a way to make sure that I avoid another nightmare scenario like the one I went through last week. As a way of recentering myself and the podcast I open with a track from last year's debut album by Peklectrick. I featured his Reclaiming Space when it first came out last November, but it's high time I played another track from it. So this time I've selected a song called Six Strings. If you like alternative music from Malta and you haven't heard this album yet I highly recommend this CD. It deserves much more attention that it has received so far.
Metrokueen is a new band on the local scene. Most recently they appeared at the BJs music marathon where they undoubtedly delighted fans of classic rock. They've already recorded two of their own songs. Insanity is the one I prefer and you can hear it as the second selection on this week's MMI podcast. The bassist for this band is none other than James "Jelly" Attard whom listeners may recognize as either the bass player from White Crimson or the uber-tech guru who gave us the Facebook app for selecting the 2007 listeners' picks.
If you're a regular listener of the MMI podcast, you'll have already heard me play two tracks from the band Colourblind. They're currently working on an album but meanwhile guitarist Alistair Galea has recorded a very interesting instrumental track as a soloist. The tune is called Nowhere to Run and it's delightfulness is only rivaled this week by the guitar chimes at the heart of the Metrokween song I played earlier.
Closing off this week's podcast is a young singer whose output has so far been fairly eclectic in terms of quality. I like Lyndsay Pace's voice but I'm not impressed by most of the songs she sings. Thankfully there's one that's good enough to hear from beginning to end without a single cringe. What You're Made Of shows that this singer can either really make a name for herself on the local scene or disappear without a trace like so many others before her have done. I should probably make a note of that as an idea for a future podcast.
The 107th podcast in the Mużika Mod Ieħor series is now online. Better late than never. It's only late because of the mental meltdown that accompanied the failure of my hard drive over the weekend. I won't bother you with the details of the two days I spent in technical hell. I'll just say that I've finally learned my lesson about having a proper back-up system. I'll be working on that later this week but first I have some unfinished business I need to tend to, which includes the most recent MMI podcast, of course.
I decided to take a brief break from the podcast over Easter to recharge my creative juices. In the meantime, a number of new releases accumulated on my desktop so this week I'm seeking to put out as many of them as possible. The first offering is the second single from Beige called Say Hey. They've released it on ReverbNation. Singer Claire Falzon's voice is reminds me of Linda Perry from San Francisco early-90s grunge band 4 Non Blondes.
Another new track comes from Shilloo's Tree who were first featured on the MMI podcast last year. Breakfast Serial is a very well-crafted song and shows that this band puts some thought into their tunes. I also think that Max Dingli's voice brings it together quite nicely.
The Areola Treat released their debut single at the Poxx Bar on Sunday during a gig that featured British band The Violets. SIBBI is an excellent debut single from a band that's at the forefront of the current Maltese underground music scene. The other demo recordings that this band has released. Christine (my wife) told me that this band is one of the best things she's heard coming out of Malta in recent months. I agree. It's quite energizing.
Back to the Poxx Bar for a minute: it was there that I saw Mathematikal supported by Vinnie Vintage during my most recent visit to Malta. Poxx is right on the edge of Paceville so it's a very appropriate venue. Mathematikal were very enjoyable to watch live, even if the sound wasn't quiet as good as any musician would like it to be. To make this occasion I'm playing part of the Mathematimix celebrating the strong presence that Jon and Jay have established on the local hybrid music scene.
To close off this week podcast I've decided to play a song I heard several times on the radio during my recent visit to Malta. One reason it was being played so frequently because it had just been released, but the other reason is that it is a truly remarkable arrangement of one of the best Maltese songs of all time. The song is Paul Abela and Alfred C. Sant's L-Aħħar Bidwi f'Wied il-Għasel and the new interpretation comes from Italian singer Claudio Baglioni. It's simply divine.
I'm still in Malta for another couple of days. Scarborough beckons and not a minute too soon. I miss my monkey and my dog but for the first time in years Malta doesn't feel the same way it has to me since I left the country in the early 1990s. I wonder whether this feeling will linger on in the coming months. Perhaps it's because this visit has turned out to be quite different than ones in recent years.
Whatever it is, there are thankfully some things in life I know I can depend on. My weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast is one of them, even if I'm tempted to take a brief Easter break next week. To prepare myself for the brief rapture (although I seriously doubt that this is the right word to describe it) podcast number 106 is held together by divine intervention (and again I very much doubt that the proper term to describe it).
The Y4J Band appears to enjoy a strong following among the Maltese charismatic movement in the Pembroke/St. Julians area. In The House is the theme song used by the group in what can only be described as an excellent example of Christian branding. If you think Christian worship in Malta is too stuffy for your taste, just check out this band and the group they pray with.
Lest you think that I plan to simply play contemporary Christian music during this week's podcast, I should mention that there's always more than one predominant perspective I'm (more than) happy to take into consideration whenever looking at anything. About 35 years ago, Maltese rock legend Freddie Portelli released what to my mind is the most outstanding devotional song to emerge from Malta in my lifetime. Mulej remains an amazing testament of the singer's spiritual side and it has hardly dated after all these years. He recently released a new CD album entitled Viva it-Tewmin. Although this album has an unlikely title, it contains what can be considered a follow-up to Mulej called Nitolbok Illum. While it bears the hallmark of all the best laid-back tunes in the Freddie Portelli songbook (including a spoken interlude and some delightful whistling) only time will really tell if this new song will become as memorable as Mulej.
Chris D'Alfonso is undoubtedly one of the brightest star of Maltese Christian rock. Broken, on the tracks from his 2006 album Blueprint was recent voted the top song for Eucharistic adoration on the Top Catholic Songs website. The available of Blueprints on iTunes has certainly contributed to this accolade. Well done Chris!
The contemporary Maltese Christian music scene is growing at a steady pace. Footprints and Quicksand are two new Christians bands currently gracing the local scene. The final two track for this week's podcast from these two bands. The first offering is Footprints' debut song I Need You, followed by Quicksand's Silence. Although the latter is a pleasant instrumental track, the band has also just released a song called Hu Magħna Llum, specially made for the Maltese World Youth Day 2008 and selected as the theme song for the upcoming Maltese Pentecost celebrations.
That's probably as far as the series will go before Easter. As I return home to Scarborough in the coming days, I know I'll be wading through a mountain of chores that have accumulated in my absence. This coupled with the sacred idea that rest is an essential part of life, it's most probable that the next MMI podcast will appear during the weekend after Easter. In spite of this, I promise to post non-podcast-related blog entry before then.
I'm in Malta. It's election day. The logical fallacy is that I'm here to vote. As I've mentioned in an earlier post, I'm here because I had planned to be here at this time even before the national polling day was announced.
It may seem downright odd for anyone interested in the outcome of the Maltese General Elections that this blog post is actually about podcast number 105 in my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor series. Regular followers of this blog and the weekly podcast should not be surprised at all. As I find myself in Malta during the release (but not the actual recording) of this week's podcast I'm convinced more than ever that although election fever is running high, there's a sense that things are not what they used to be; by which I mean that if all goes well there should be at least one unexpected outcome from the predictable norms established by the mainstream over the last 35 years or so.
This week's edition opens with music from a band whose members have certainly not voted today. The Beangrowers are in Austria to promote their new album Not In A Million Lovers, just days away from their return to the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. I'm looking forward to hearing the whole album, mostly because from the new tracks available via the band's MySpace page there's a strong sense that the Beangrowers have matured into one of the most outstanding bands to ever emerge from the Maltese Islands.
Following tracks from Airport Attractions and Stone Joker in recent weeks, you can now also hear a solo track called Affection by Errol Sammut, who listeners will know from either or both these bands. This kind of performer is unusual on the Maltese scene but most welcome by those who, like me, appreciate musicians who can vary their output over different projects. Errol's new solo demos would make interesting tracks for either one of the bands he plays in but they show well what he brings to the table with any of his collaborators.
For the simple reason that I follow the Maltese music scene from abroad, there are a number of acts that I don't get to hear about or from as soon as they appear on the local circuit. StarBunker is one such band. Move On is the single from their debut EP Forecast, which didn't appear on my radar until just a few days ago when I exchange a friends request message from guitarist David Cassar Torregiani, whom I've known for about 25 years since we both played in Tigne bands. To be more precise, we were both members of a band called Structure...but not at the same time.
The election spirit has moved me to present a couple of alternative music styles on the fringes of any mainstream taste. The first of these comes from Synthax & Chemicals, an electronica duo I know very little about, mostly because their MySpace page focuses almost entirely on their sounds rather than any other useful information punters like me look for. Listen to one of their two tracks Next To Hell and make up your own mind.
Hardcore metal is the other alternative style I've picked this week. I must admit that I've become a closet hardcore fan of sorts since I first heard this extreme brand of metal during an early morning radio breakfast show in New York City over a decade ago. Newcomers Cypher will be appearing with a couple of the best Maltese hardcore exponents - Loathe and Beheaded - at the Poxx Bar on March 22. I'll be back in Scarborough by then but I'd have loved to still be in Malta just for that. Anyway, listen closely to What Else Remains and you'll possibly see how hardcore can become much a sought after acquired taste.
It will not be business as usual in Malta or for the MMI podcast over the next couple of weeks. For more on that check back on this blog where I'll be blogging about this, that and the other in the hope of keeping some sort of personal record of these strange days.
My hope to find some time to blog about my Second Life activities in recent days needs to wait another day or two. It's been one roller coaster of a week. I've seen the depths of hell and soared majestic to the heavens. I probably prefer to live in a Prozac-like state, but extreme ups and downs are interesting too.
Anyway, it's time for the 104th podcast in my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor series. Mike Bugeja's interview with me about MMI and my podcasting adventures appears in The Times (of Malta) this week so I'm expected at least half a dozen new listeners to discover the podcast at this point. With this in mind, I've put together a very varied edition this week; I'm sure regular listeners will enjoy it and I hope new ones will like it too.
The opening track comes from the debut album by a new Gozitan band. The album is entitled If Symptoms Persist. The band is called Inner Grey and the song is Your Vacant Stare. Metal has come a long way in the unlikely setting of Gozo over the last several years. Inner Grey are much slicker than my darling buds of 2005 Tears of Revenge but I miss the raw passion that makes for soul torturing songs. Still, judging by the rest of the tracks from the album, Inner Grey is one of the best sounding heavy bands to emerge from the northern isle.
My old friend Grimaud provided me with some much needed positive vibrations earlier this week when he released Aquaman on his MySpace page. The song was apparently recorded in 2007 and meant for an earlier release. I hope to catch up with Grimaud during my upcoming visit to Malta and I'll make sure to ask him for the back story to all this. I could email him about it, but why would I want to when I can speak with him face-to-face over a cold pint of Blue Label soon enough.
Also through MySpace I found out about bassist Oliver Degabriele's most recent recordings. He is now a member of the Riot jazz quartet based in France, where he has established his professional base. I hope the French musicians he plays with can appreciate that Oliver brings more than his formidable bass skills to their sets. Riot is an odd name for a jazz combo but somehow the track Kuumatt provides an appropriate balance.
For this week's final offering, I'm delighted to share with you a new recording by Caligula, the UK-based project of Glenda Azzopardi better known as Gia. Infidelity is produced by her husband Muttley Zammit and shows a musician and a singer finding their own voice filtered through what are undoubtedly very eclectic sources. I want to hear more from Caligula and I'm pretty sure that I won't be disappointed.
I'm trying to resist blogging about how busy I am and how much I wish I had the time to write about some of the things I'm doing. I think it's actually counterproductive, so that's all I'll say about it today. In the coming days I'm going on a work-related mini-tour starting in Hull on Wednesday, then on to Leicester on Thursday, and Leeds on Friday. Most of it is related to my adventures in Second Life, so I'll (hopefully) be blogging about it next week.
Right now it's time to share with you my 103rd podcast in the weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor series. Starting off with a new song from Colorblind. Miles is even more sophisticated than any of their previous offerings. As contemporary progressive rock goes, this band is really doing something right. They've already been at it for 10 year, and it now shows.
Last week I played something by a duo called Airport Impressions. As I pointed out, Errol Sammut is also a member of Stone Joker. I've also recently found out that he has recorded a number of solo tracks too. Before I play any of these tracks (I'll do that in the coming weeks) it's appropriate to bring you Hero, Stone Joker's follow-up single to their Alone debut. Is it just me, or did this band go from being called Stoned Joker to Stone Joker?
While the first two tracks in this week's podcast come from bands that have already appeared on previous editions, the next two tracks add new names to the list of singers and musicians featured on Mużika Mod Ieħor. Although we've heard the band Salt before, singer Luisanne Tate also sings on her own. I just heard a song she's singing for the Malta Hit Song Contest 2008 and I like the arrangement so much that I thought it would do very nicely on this week's podcast. This TV song contest features some of the usual suspects (many of whom would do better to never sing in public) but it's good to see such events because otherwise there would be far fewer opportunities for songs like No Harm in Dreaming to get heard by a broader audience. Needless to say, this song and others that are musically worthy are the recipients of the lowest number of SMS votes. The TV contest is now on hold until after the general elections. Someone thinks they have their priorities straight, no doubt.
Away from all that, I came across the music of Kris Spiteri on MP3.com a few weeks ago. He's been active for a number of years, so I was slightly surprised that his worked hadn't crossed my path before. He is clearly not an ordinary musician and his songs are among the most pleasant I've heard in recent years. You can hear Come Taste the Band as the closing track on this week's podcast.
Apparently Malta is gripped by the political campaigns ahead of next month's general elections. Whatever the eventual outcome I'm not entirely sure there will be a better or a worse off Malta than we've seen in recent years. I'm most amused by the great fuss over relatively so little. Living abroad over the past 3 Maltese general elections has given me a very different perspective on things than what I would have if I had stayed there.
Oddly enough, I'm flying to Malta on the eve of election day. Many will interpret this as as move towards exercising my right to vote, even though I haven't lived in Malta full-time since 1994. As it happens, I had made my travel plans before the election date was announced, so I can't even say I'm taking advantage of the cheap(er) Air Malta flights for election trips.
The official purpose of my visit will be to continue my participation in the Erasmus programme and deliver a number of lectures and workshops at the University of Malta. I'm also looking forward to seeing my parents again, of course. I'll certainly spend some quality time with friends (old and new) but most of all I'm very keen to take in as many gigs and unique cultural events as I can in the few days that I'm there.
Meanwhile, aside from my academic activities, I continue to present my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast. I plan to bring the two closer together in the coming months. Mike Bugeja interviewed me about all this a few days ago for an upcoming feature in The Times of Malta. More about that later, as things develop.
This week it's podcast number 102. It opens with a new song from Uncharted called Another Day. This is their follow-up to last year's debut Song for you. Uncharted is one of the few Maltese bands I know of that has a Facebook profile. There's nothing sensational about that but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
Through Facebook I also became aware of Airport Impressions, a new acoustic guitar duo comprising Errol Sammut from Stone Joker and Johann Schembri. They've released a couple of songs on MySpace and you can hear Wake Up as the second track on this week's podcast. Johann has also been seen playing with Bernard Bonnici in recent years. Bernard, who is better known as Ben, has released some tracks on his own through his MySpace page. In Memory Of is the one I've chosen to play.
Starting today, Saturday 16th February, the weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast will also be aired on SydneyOne Radio every Saturday at 4pm, Sydney time. This is the second radio station that has opted to syndicate my MMI podcast. Central FM a Maltese community radio station broadcasting from Attard, picked up the podcast in January last year. Central FM renounced its FM frequency last month and is now only available as a live webcast. By contrast, SydneyOne Radio doesn't even have a website.
To mark the presence of Mużika Mod Ieħor on the Australian airwaves, I thought it would be appropriate to feature an Australian band with a Maltese connection. The John Smith Quintet is based in Melbourne. There's no John Smith in this band, which is actually a quartet. The Maltese connection comes in the form of drummer Melchior Borg, who I met via MySpace a few days ago. You can hear the funky rock sounds of this band on a track called Gone. An excellent title for the final song selection until next week.
Anyone following my Facebook page in recent weeks knows that I've just undergone a colonoscopy at Whitby Hospital. This my third such intervention since 1994 and things have never been as bad as the first time. I'd even go as far as saying that I'm now better than I've ever been. I'm very touched by all the kind words and wishes of good health I've received over the last few weeks. I'm also very grateful to the NHS staff in Whitby who took care of my procedure.
I've now almost fully recovered from the whole thing. To prove it, I've even gone ahead with producing the 101st podcast in my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor series today. I'm not pushing it. I'm really not. So much so that I'm also giving a lecture to our third year Digital Media students on Monday morning.
Anyway, the purpose of this blog entry is to tie-in with the 101st MMI podcast. This week it's business as usual with three brand new tracks, one new comer act and an interesting connection between two previously unrelated performers.
Dominoes is a new trio on the Maltese music scene. They seem to have appeared out of nowhere with their debut song Love Maze, grooves in a T-Rex kinda way. They're now gearing up to appear as one of the supporting acts at the upcoming 22 February launch of the nosnow/noalps EP. More from them all in the coming weeks and months, no doubt.
Now that we're in the second month of the new year I'm no longer surprised to see new recordings being released on a fairly regular basis. Eve Ransom give us their new song entitled Just the Way I Am, and it's a grungy tune in an early 1990s kinda way.
If you're looking for a sound like no other look no further than Sky of Yuggoth. This long running project from Joseph Mercieca, the same performer who gave us the trippy sounds of MJ.5, has reemerged with a new release called Three Seals of Masshu. Music doesn't get much darker than this without the lyrical grace of a Leonard Cohen or some sludgy blood-drinking metal monster.
By contrast, this week's closing track comes from Russian singer Julia Kay who qualifies for an appearance on Mużika Mod Ieħor by virtue of her marital status to the man behind the previous track on podcast number 101. The song I've selected to play comes from the band she used to sing with before she moved to Malta. Luxeterna is the name of the band and the song is called Angel Teardrops. Next time you'll hear the name Julia Kay in relation to music in Malta it will either be as a Eurovision contender or in some delicious electro-gothic combo...and remember, you read about it here first.
Looks like we made it. It gives me great pleasure to announce the 100th edition of my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast. It's really just another one in the series but because 100 has special significance in metric counting a celebration of one sort or other is in order.
Aside from using the occasion to bring my podcast to the attention of a larger audience I'd also like to thank all the loyal listeners, especially those who have followed Mużika Mod Ieħor since it first appeared in November 2005. Podcasting has enabled my return to regular appointments behind a microphone. Regular broadcasting is something I hadn't done since about 1999, after many years listing "broadcaster" as my profession. Though the MaltaMedia Online Network, I've been exploring the possibilities of webcasting since 1998. My personal highlight in all the webcasting with MaltaMedia is undoubtedly the audio reports I recorded in response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Those webcasts appeared again in September 2005 as MaltaMedia's first podcasting series, which was undoubtedly the world's first series of podcasts in the Maltese language. Mużika Mod Ieħor started soon after that with the first podcast appearing on Saturday 13 November 2005.
I was tempted to include my favourite tracks from the first 99 podcasts on this edition. As I'm not the nostalgic type I chose to open the podcast with a brand new recording from Fakawi, one of Malta's most entertaining bands. They've just released their Smart Song, which is a send-up of all the buzz surrounding the launch of Malta's Smart City. I didn't need to have my arm twisted to play this song on my 100th podcast. The fact that my old friend Mark Attard is the keyboardist for this band earned them enough points to make it to this week's playlist without any resistance.
Making sure that the tracks I selected for this week's podcast were all special for one reason or another, I chose to include a rare recording by the late 80s band Ophidian Twin. As you may recall from a previous edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor, this band was among those that appeared on Mill-Garaxx, the TV series I produced and presented back in 1989, under the direction of my departed friend Mario Ellul. Cameron's Closet is one of two songs The Ophidian Twin played live in the main TVM studio all those years ago. It would be really great if I could get a hold of some of the other recordings that appeared on Mill-Garaxx. Unfortunately there's no official archive of the recordings at TVM, but I have a feeling that some people here and there may have VHS recordings they taped off the air when the programme first aired. If you have one of those recordings, please please please get in touch with me. I've included another track by the Ophidian Twin from Mill-Garaxx at the bottom of this blog entry, which I recently uploaded to YouTube.
To my mind, it's hard to follow a recording from Mill-Garaxx with something that's not extremely outstanding. Danjeli's 2007 album Kakofonija does the trick beautifully. It's my top personal pick from all the Maltese recordings released last year. Appropriately, the track I've chosen for this week's podcast is called Interludju. If you haven't heard this brilliant album yet, just head over to Pinkpube.com where you can download a full copy at no charge.
To mark my penchant for including music my overseas based Maltese musicians or musicians of Maltese descent I've included the track Filfla from the CD Temples of Devotion by Australian band Skorba. Andy Busuttil's band has been featured on a earlier edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor and their album received my personal vote for top overseas-based released in the 2007 MMI poll that appeared on Facebook a few weeks ago. It's wonderful to be able to add this band to the list of recommendations for anyone who likes Maltese combos like Etnika, Nafra, or even Tribali.
A special MMI podcast such as the one I'm presenting today would not be complete without something from Xtruppaw. While we wait for their second album (currently still in pre-production) we can still enjoy the most excellent debut release, Is-CD tal-iXtruppaw. That album is a must-have in CD format for any fan of contemporary Maltese music. I've picked L-Għanja tal-iXtruppaw from it to close the 100th podcast with music from the same band that opened the very first podcast in the series. Interestingly, this recording had not been made when the weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast first appeared.
So now on to the next 100 podcasts. At an almost weekly rate it should take just over two more years to get to the 200th podcast in the series. If all goes well, the 200th edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor should appear sometime in the spring of 2010. All I can add is that I'm really excited about all the new music and other rare recordings we'll be discovering together between now and then on this series.
Don't think me unkind. Words are hard to find. I'm really disenchanted by the final eight songs in the 2008 Malta Song for Europe. It could have come to this earlier but here we are now, and there's very little I can (or care to) do about it. In spite of this and because I've committed myself to taking the raw with the cooked, I've produced the third annual podcast tied to the Malta Song for Europe in the weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor series. [See also MSFEonMMI: 2007 & 2006]
There are only a couple of songs from the 17 selected to compete at the semifinal stage that I care to ever hear again. So it was not easy putting together a playlist for this week's podcast. Luckily, Australian Pop Idol Natalie Gauci has been invited as a special guest for the final night this evening so I open podcast number 99 with one of her pre-Sony contract songs. Take It Or Leave It shows the verve that got this singer to the level of success she's currently enjoying down under.
Jean Claude Vancell has appeared on an earlier edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor. He is quite an adventurous song writer, even if a relatively quirky performer. I like him. I also like his debut MSFE song Contradiction, which obviously didn't make it to this evening's final round. I'm looking forward to his upcoming album, which I understand is either entitled Unspoken or Of Hopes & Dreams. I'm sure I'll be featuring his music again on the MMI series once the album is out.
One song at this year Malta Song for Europe semifinal was clearly a cut above the rest. Unbelievably it didn't make it to the final round. I refer, of course, to the Paul Giordimaina and Fleur Balzan song Whispers performed by Pamela. I've been attracted to Pamela voice for the last three years or so. Whenever I hear her songs my mood sublimates without fail. This is the closest that Maltese pop music comes to art.
To my mind there's no way to follow Pamela singing Whispers with any other song from this year's Malta Song for Europe. The only way I can end the 99th edition of my weekly podcast is to play the most sincere recording I've heard from a Maltese singer in quite some time. They Turned Me To Plastic by Carrie, the 2007 Eurovirtual Song Contest (what's that?) winner who is clearly not giving in to any of that nonsense. Listen closely to this home recording of this young Maltese singer in a Tori Amos inspired confessional mode. I think it's quite chilling.
As I write this, Malta's entry to the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest has not been announced yet. To be quite honest, I find it hard to see Malta doing well in Serbia come May. I could be wrong. I'm frequently wrong but sometimes I'm dead on.
The balancing act of working on regular tasks and spending time on Facebook (which was the subject of a troubling article in The Guardian a few days ago) is something that I'm sure I share with many of my blog readers. I'd like to think that Facebook is not a distraction from everyday life but an integral part of whatever it is that I do from day to day. Taking my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast as an example of this, I can now clearly see/say that Facebook is an essential part of letting people know that the podcast is available, while keeping in touch with people who have all sorts of contributions to make to the series.
This week's podcast is number 98 in the series, which means that in a couple of weeks time we'll be celebrating the 100th edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor. Since next week's podcast will feature my pick of music from the 2008 Malta Song for Europe festival, I wanted to pack as much new music as possible into this week's podcast because we won't really have a regular edition for another three weeks.
Dimension-Al has launched his 2008 activities with a remix for the band The Secret Meeting for their track Into the Future. Aldo Lombardi has clearly established himself as a force to be reckoned with and I have a feeling we'll be hearing from him again this year on my weekly series. The same goes for Ivan Filletti who will hopefully release his long awaited second album. A few months ago he released a single that I've been meaning to play on my podcast for sometime. I Keep Standing shows Filletti has what it takes to follow-up on Somedays, his debut album from 2005.
From time to time I look for music websites other than MySpace for new Maltese music. One of these sources is GarageBand.com. One of the acts I found on GarageBand.com is called LeftPlay, but the two songs they have on this site seem to go back a couple of years, so I'm not sure if they're still active. In any case, they sound quite good and the track I've selected to play is called Breathe. All I know about the people in LeftPlay is that they're called Andie and Daniela, but I'd really like to know more. Please contact me if you can help me out with this.
The final two tracks on this week's podcast come from two newcomers on the local music scene. The first of these is Charlie, a teenage British-Maltese Pop/R&B singer who is looking for a musical future in the UK. Judging from Crazy Life and some other things she has been up to recently I have a strong feeling that we'll be hearing more from her in the coming months and years.
Rhythmic Havoc is the other new act on this week's podcast. This interesting Hip-Hop combo has its roots in extreme metal. I'm not particularly crazy about the vocals on their tracks, but the music and the production are very good indeed. I'd love to hear them do a song with a guest vocalist (and there are quite a few of them in Malta) because I'm sure that their production skills will be appreciated even more.
I'm now off to consider this year's Malta Song for Europe. I must admit that on first listen I'm not too thrilled about this year's offerings. I most definitely don't see a Eurovision winner in any of them...but stranger things have happened on that scene in recent years, so I'm not willing to make any grand statements just yet. More in next week's podcast, of course.
My weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor series returns to its regular format this week with the 97th edition of the podcast. I'm quite amazed at the amount of new material that's already around this year. Still, there's some stuff I didn't manage to include in last year's podcasts that also need to be included on my playlist. Comparing these early January offerings to previous years I'd say that this should be quite a prolific year.
Mindstate follow-up on their debut single My Adrenaline with a song called Come With Me. It's the noisiest of all the tracks on this week's podcast, so probably just for that reason it's at the very start of the show, followed by the second loudest track. nosnow/noalps is a band that first appeared last summer. It's the new outlet for former Dripht frontman Nick Morales. This band sounds quite different from Dripht, mostly thanks to the multi-talented Sarah Falzon (aka Sarah Snow) who plays keyboards and shares vocal duties with Nick. Their debut single is called Taking My Time. It's quite raw, but not too rough. I like the edgy sound of this band and I'm looking forward to the release of their EP, entitled Just Rock. They're off to Denmark for three gigs in Copenhagen during the last week of this month, so I suppose their EP should appear soon enough. They're serious contenders for any "best newcomers" type accolade in 2008.
Ailas is back with a new single too. This time it's called Town and shows the former boxer in a slightly less vulnerable mood than other recent tracks. It should go down well with his fans. A few days ago he left a comment on my MySpace page saying that he's working on a video for this song as well as his next album.
I was very please to see the return of Bee & Ade in a new guise. They recently recorded a number of songs for their upcoming debut album at the legendary Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. Singer Bianca Caruana and guitarist Adrian Camilleri are now calling themselves SubEgo. My Lullaby is one of the tracks recorded for the The Naming Trees album and you can hear it on this week's edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor. I'm really looking forward to the release of SubEgo's debut album, Adrian is an excellent guitarist and Bianca's voice is very gentle on the ear across the broad range it covers.
The final song on this week's podcast comes from jon lukas/WOODENMAN. Jon is the granddaddy of the Maltese pop and rock music scene; I hope he doesn't mind me saying that. I say it respectfully, of course, because he's been at it for four decades now. His formidable voice sounds as fresh as ever and its a great match for his most recent songs. The most recent track is called Ode to Laura - Far Away, which also comes in a wonderful acoustic version, which I may very well play in a future edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor.
2008 looks like it's going to be a very eventful year. And is it just me or does it seem like there's lots of things going on already? I've always thought that the new year takes a week or two to get back in gear after the holidays, but this year seems like the exception to prove the rule.
Scream Daisy had Ira Losco hot on their tail for weeks in the 2007 Top Albums category. The band managed to outdo the former Eurovision singer with just 4 votes. On the other hand, Scream Daisy's Pretty was voted the 2007 Top Online Music Video garnering more than twice the votes of the next contenders on the list, who were Winter Moods with their video for Marigold beautifully shot at the Manoel Theatre. Scream Daisy were the runner-up in last year's Singles/EPs category, so I'm not surprised that they've swept the board in two categories this year.
Two bands managed to get an equal number of votes at the top of the 2007 Singles/EPs list. Xtruppaw undoubtedly delighted thousands with their Forza Malta (B'Għajta Waħda) while The Rifffs more than made up for last year's position with Jack the Ripper, the follow-up single their comeback release Life of Crime from 2006.
The top place in the 2007 Internet Releases category was also equally conquered by two acts. Ray Mercieca's other band, The Characters, hit the spot with their power track One In A Million, the second of their releases for 2007. Yet the great and pleasant surprise is to see newcomer Dean Saviour receive as many votes as the behemoth band. His Marshmallow Girl is a delightful song indeed. I always expect newcomers to do well in this category but now that established acts are also using the Internet to release new material it stands to reason that its not as much a foregone clear win for newcomers. The Areola Treat would have certainly picked up more votes had their been fewer well known names on this list. I have great expectations for this band in 2008.
Mathematikal came out the clear victors in the 2007 Overseas-based Releases. Their Electrophant EP clearly shows why not everybody with a computer can produce electronic music worth listening to. Jon and Jay have a broad musical sensibility, which is something that can't escape any discerning listener. No other overseas-based released managed to receive more than half the votes they got. I'm very pleased that the 2007 list of overseas-based artists is much broader than the one we had the previous year.
All in all, I'd have liked to seen Danjeli's outstanding Kakofonija album receive more votes, but I have a feeling that most people's taste in music is more conservative than mine. This poll is not about my personal picks but you can say that to some degree my choice of nominations flavors the whole process. We'll see what this year brings...but I'm pretty sure we'll find a number of releases to admire and rave about before this time next year. As that famous line for the old Bette Davis movie goes: "don't let's ask for the moon...we have the stars!"
I'm quite satisfied with the way the voting worked out on Facebook. I'm forever grateful to my friend James Attard who developed the app that has enabled everyone to vote on Facebook this year. I'm sure we'll enhance it some more next year, whether we keep it on Facebook or not.
Speaking of enhancements, this edition of the Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast is a special edition in that it presents the results of the Listeners' Picks from 2007. In keeping with a tradition I started last year in an attempt make it even more special by presenting it in an enhanced version. I'll be working on that over the next day and I'll post some more information about it as soon as it is available.
If you live in the northern hemisphere I'm sure you're feeling the cold right now. Along with that you may also be suffering from a common cold, as am I. I'm so congested now it's not even funny, but I'm sure it will pass soon enough. Thankfully, I wasn't so under the weather yesterday and managed to record the last Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast for 2007.
Before stopping for a couple of weeks to enjoy the seasonal holidays, podcast number 95 in the series continues in the same vein as recent editions but this week it starts with some Christmas spirit. Classic rock band Fire has just released a new Yuletide song called Miss You This Christmas. It's great that we now have one more Xmas rock song to play along with the other mind-numbing muzak featuring sleigh bells and/or saccharine sweet voices.
I also wanted to make sure to play something from Robert Galea's new CD album What A Day, which was released earlier this month. Robert is currently visit Malta from Australia where he is normally based and I'm sure that some of the MMI podcast listeners will catch him at one of his many gigs before he returns to the glorious summer in the land down under. To the End of the Earth is one of the tracks from this new CD, which is currently at number 3 on the MMI 2007 poll in the overseas-bases artists' category, right behind Mathematikal and fellow Aussies Skorba whose Temples of Devotion is my personal pick for 2007 in this category. Chris D'Alfonso is someone else who should have made it to the MMI 2007 poll but didn't. He would probably be in the overseas-based category now seeing that he has moved to Germany. It looks like he's working on a new album to follow up the successful Blueprint from last year. The new song is called Light of the World and his brand of Christian Rock blends is beautifully with that of Rob Galea.
To bring this week's podcast to a close I've selected a song that was released towards the end of last summer. Perhaps it too should be on the MMI 2007 poll; it's one of the ones that really got away. Keep on Strummin' is written and produced by Antonio Olivari D'Emanuele with Errol Cutajar singing the lead vocal accompanied by the ŻĦN Symphonik Choir. It's not a Christmas song, of course, but the choir gives it a festive feeling and the idea of more to come in the new year is indeed one that's most appropriate to end on until the series returns with the results from the MMI 2007 poll during the first weekend in 2008.
