Sunshine Day
Show notes for the 219th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers in or from Malta:
Scream Daisy – Last Goodbye
In preparation for the release of their third album Scream Daisy return with another track featuring a new guitarist. Tony Bartolo from the Retrophytes replaced Jeremy last year and the band are now on their way to return to the same level of public exposure they enjoyed with their previous album in 2007.
Kristina Casolani – Heartless
The queen of Maltese R&B releases her second single this year. Following up on last winter’s Get Out this new song shows her maturing beyond the abilities of many other Maltese wannabes. Surprisingly, this song sees her collaborating with Toby once again, but this is understandable when considering the fact that Kristina will also be releasing an album of all her songs so far (and some more) in the coming months.
Winter Moods – Sun Won’t Shine
One of Malta’s longest standing bands will be staging a mega-concert at The Granaries on Wednesday 28 July 2010. Few other Maltese bands would even dare attempt to host a show of their own on The Granaries and to my knowledge this is indeed a first. They have also recently released their fifth album celebrating their 25 years on the local scene entitled Argento. The song I’ve picked is the opening track from this CD.
Explicit - Daydreaming
Stephanie Chetcuti is one of the better Maltese rock singers. She makes her band sound a cut above most others on the local scene and shines beautifully when singing material that brings out the excellent quality of her voice. This new song may not grab you right away, but make sure you listen to it more than once, especially beyond the first minute or so. If you like what you hear, remember that you can also catch them live at the Farsons Beer Festival at Ta’ Qali on Tuesday 27 July 2010.
Skimmed – Napoleon
During my recent visit to Malta I had the good fortune of attending the launch of a new video by Skimmed at Rookies in Bugibba. Their live act is captured splendidly in their recordings and this video takes their quirky punky pop songs to a whole new level verging on the surreal. I’m really looking forward to more material from this band because they have something quite unusual about them and I believe that as time passes they’ll find new ways to make that what they’re remembered for.
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.
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One More Time
I’m in Malta right now working on a new major project to be launched after this summer. During the last couple of days, various conversations I’ve had with people who follow the weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast have prompted me to repeat the release of one of my previous podcasts from the series every now and then. So, I’ve picked the first non-seasonal edition from 2010 to repeat this week.
Show notes for the 196th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers in or from Malta:
Cable 35 - Harry
The first music video released in the Maltese music scene for 2010. This is a song from the EP Hygene. This band’s 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.
Tea - Guilded Cage
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 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 one of Europe’s better rock bands in the seventies.
Skambomambo - Banana Cake
Speaking of Maltese connections to European bands makes me want to play something by these Polish ska masters. 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. 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.
Sylvan Borg - Soft as Stone
Sylvan recorded this new song to promote his first gig for the year; appearing ahead of Stalko and British singer Adema the MITP in February 2010. 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.
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Gone Again
Show notes for the 218th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers in or from Malta:
V.S.O.P. – Take Control
Vince Leguesse is the man behind Vinnie Skillz Original Production. Those who keep close tabs on the local music scene will undoubtedly know him as part of Sixth Simfoni. This experimental trip hop & electronic fusion is not a great departure for him, but it does showcase his musical skills without having to share the limelight with some crafty words, giving the tunes and beats a whole different shade and meaning. Vinnie is one of the most underrated musicians in Malta. My hope is that more people will take a closer listen to more tracks from V.S.O.P. and come to appreciate him more.
Nath Inder – Metropolis
It’s been a while since I last played something by Nathan Inder on my podcast. He made a comment about Stalko on my Facebook wall last week and that triggered my move towards playing this new track from him on this week’s MMI podcast. I really like the cool laid back electronic grooves that he produces. Whenever I listen to a short burst such as the one you can hear here, I gladly dive into one of his longer mixes, which he has now also released via SoundCloud.
Spriggan Mist – Dragut’s Eye
Whenever I say the words Spriggan Mist at home, my wife starts singing Indigo Child by this band. They have now released a CD album called Caught in A Spell featuring that song and others they had uploaded to the MySpace page earlier, along with some new tracks that we had never heard before. Dragut’s Eye features the Marsa parish church bells, the legendary 17th century character from the failed Ottoman invasion of Malta, and a casual phone conversation between Baz Cilia and his mate Anglu Fenech. Spriggan Mist is essentially a British band, but these elements make it more than worthy of inclusion on the MMI podcast whenever possible.
Malcolm Pisani – Gone Again
When I introduced this song on this 218th MMI podcast I mistakenly said that I hadn’t played anything else by Malcolm Pisani on the series before. I actually played a song called Press Play in the 129th MMI podcast. This new song is nowhere near as good as that other one, so this is probably why I had forgotten the initial inclusion in the series. Then again, you can’t really expect me to remember every single track I’ve played since 2005 now do you? Still, Pisani can’t go unnoticed since he has managed to attract considerable mainstream media attention to the video, which is the second one he has independently produced in as many years.
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.
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Summer Day
Show notes for the 217th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers in or from Malta:
Manwel T feat. Mind’s Eye Dub – Umtha Welanga (Vuvuzelas Mix)
Following on from last week’s nod at the 2010 FIFA World Cup on the MMI podcast, this week I’m opening the show with the sound that is dominating this summer: the vuvuzelas. Life millions of others, at first I found the sound of these plastic horns to be very obnoxious but like so many people around the world I have grown accustomed to it. It has undoubtedly become the sound of this World Cup. I honestly doubt that they’ll still be all that within four years time, cause these things then to come and go as fads. Still, whenever I hear that sound again, I will be brought back to this lovely summer and the international tournament for the beautiful game.
Stalko – Lady Laundry
I first heard of this band several months ago when they played a gig in Valletta, which I was unable to attend. A video clip shot by one of their friends/fans on what seems to me like a mobile phone has made me want to get my hands on a decent recording by this trio. Tim Ellis, Mike Stivala and Chris Cini have recorded some of their songs in a proper studio just recently and they’ve now released Lady Laundry through their MySpace page. I’m sure that many MMI podcast listeners will like what they hear just as much as I do.
Marilyn Mifsud – Where My Head’s Been (acoustic version)
Marilyn is one of the hardest working singers in Malta and yet she is not a household name like so many of the wannabes that are paraded on the pop scene through one of the annual misguided song contests that take place in the Maltese Islands. Her debut single come to my attention in a new acoustic version a few days ago and I thought it would be a good track to include on this week’s podcast.
Angelcrypt – Depopulate
Few Maltese metal bands have been around since 1997. Angelcrypt has, even though they have gone through several personnel changes. The current line-up has now released a single to capture the sound of the new formation. Some of their old fans may prefer the way their sounded on one of their previous albums, but I have a feeling that they won’t be too disappointed with the new single. Longevity is a quality I appreciate greatly in bands, especially when they believe they still have something to give their audience. Just for their longevity, Anglecrypt probably deserve a greater following than they actually have in the Maltese islands and this new single will certainly help them reach new followers locally and abroad.
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.
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Crawled Out of the Sea
Show notes for the 216th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers in or from Malta:
Airport Impressions – Walk With Me
Errol Sammut and the rest of his band have slowly but surely established themselves as one of the foremost alternative rock acts in Malta over the past couple of years. Their new single showcases them in full force and as you would imagine it’s also managed to acquire a fair amount of radio airplay in the Maltese islands. The band is now planning to release their debut album later this year.
Tea – Surfer
When Marc Storace left the Malta in search of a rock career some 40 years ago, the main band he worked with before making it big with Krokus was Tea. They performed a memorable concert at the Plaza Cinema in Sliema sometime before they broke up in the late 1970s. Last year they started planning a reunion and produced a compilation CD with some of the best tracks from the albums they originally released over 30 years ago. And now Marc and his old Swiss pals return to Malta for a gig at Sky in Paceville on Friday 25 June. Marc is also appearing at a couple of other gigs in Malta before and after this date, but the show with Tea will undoubtedly be a highlight for both old and new fans.
Various Artists – Festa ta’ Kuluri
Music and sport and strange bedfellows but from time to time they combine to produce a memorable moment of popular entertainment. Such is the case with the official 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem, which is making the rounds in a large number of languages right now. The Maltese version is produced by the Xarabank team under the direction of Joe Brown. The singers include Freddie Portelli, Thea Garrett, Mary Rose Mallia, Wayne Micallef, Glen Vella, Claudia Faniello, Tiziana, Ludwig Galea and Mike Spiteri. The video is very colourful and has a subtle message pro-diversity. However, the whole thing masks the distressing reality that Malta will most probably never play in the FIFA World Cup, so Maltese football fans can only really support a foreign team, perpetuating the cultural subservience that plagues post-colonial nations unable to embrace their own unique national identity. Then again, it seems that hybridity has been an element of Maltese culture since pre-historic times.
Mike Spiteri – 20,000 Leagues
It would be a shame if subsequent generations of Maltese music fans only remembered Mike Spiteri for singing Malta’s entry at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1995. Along with Marc Storace, he was one of the first heavy rock singers the country produced and sang with some of the best underground bands in the 70s and early 80s. He has always dared to be different and, to my mind, has probably never really been appreciated for his true worth. The song I’ve picked as the final track for this week’s podcast was written for him by Ray Agius and Alfred C. Sant for the 2010 Malta EuroSong festival but it didn’t make it to the final 20. Although it’s not an outstanding song, it certainly deserved to be heard from the stage in Ta’ Qali much more than at least half a dozen songs that actually made it to the EuroSong final.
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.
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To The Sea
Show notes for the 215th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers in or from Malta:
Eve Ransom – Escaped
Brendan Jackson returns along with the rest of the band with this new single. It’s the sounds exactly like the sort of thing you’d expect from Eve Ransom if you’ve heard them before.
Heartbeat – Reach
Dorienne Cachia’s voice is one of the most appealing on the Maltese music scene. This new song from Heartbeat sees them going from strength to strength. Although this is one of the most non-assuming bands in Malta, I they really deserve a second (and a third) listen.
Cygna – Wooden Little People
Mario Sammut is on of the most listener friendly electronica artists to ever emerge from the Maltese Islands. Gig goers in Malta may have spotted him at the recent Earth Garden weekend in Ta’ Qali. Other can look out from him at Glastonbury towards the end of this month.
Jo Micali feat. U-Bahn – Beautiful Eyes (remix)
Jo Micali is not someone I’d heard of before but he comes highly recommended. I doubt U-Bahn would have been as pleased as they are with his remix of their hit song from last year if he wasn’t as good as they say he is. Apparently bigwigs like Paul van Dyk and Armin Van Buren seem to think so too. Who am I to disagree? What’s more: I really like the U-Bahn song because it makes me feel positive about life in general, even though it’s not really as deep as all that.
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.
Mużika Mod Ieħor podcasts are brought to you by Vodafone.
Fire with Fire
Show notes for the 214th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers in or from Malta:
Bitterside – Left Alone
I don’t think if seen as much Twitter saturation as I’ve seen for this new single from Bitterside. It comes with an accompanying video produced by A Butterfly Effect Productions. When the time for nominations on the 2010 MMI Listeners’ Picks poll comes around at the end of this summer, I’m sure this will be one of the ones that will attract some attention in the video category.
Victoria Osborne – Counting Butterflies
Regular listeners of the MMI podcast will have heard me play other songs by this wonderful Maltese singer-songwriter with a strong London connection. I’m very fond of her sophisticated yet simple songs. I’d love to hear her play live one of these days, but I’m not sure if she is really interested in that sort of thing. If that’s the case I should really start working on a way to help her change her mind.
Andre Camilleri – Southern Star Travelling Music Band
Moving to Australia has proved to be a good move for Andre Camilleri’s music output. He has recently released his third album. This one is called Heaven & Hell and features a bunch of seemingly more thoughtful songs than the ones he has released in recent years with the Broken Hearts Band. I really like how consistant Camilleri manages to be without repeating himself too much. If he keeps it up (and I have no reason to think otherwise) he’ll most certainly be remembered for many years to come.
Għanafest 2010 – Żaqq u Tambur
When folklorist Ġorġ Mifsud-Chircop passed away a couple of years ago, many wondered if anyone could really pick up where he left off with the successful Għana Festival he established. With the more recently established GħanaFest, composer and musicologist Ruben Zahra has managed to reinvent this annual celebration of traditional Maltese folk music, augmenting it with a contemporary twist featuring bands like Brikkuni and No Bling Show, not to mention some remarkable performers from around the Mediterranean basin. Zahra has managed to demonstrate with some ease what Mifsud-Chircop had always maintained: folk music is alive and pertinent to modern lifestyles. If you read this in time and happen to be in Malta this week, see if you can catch one of the many performances on this year’s bill.
Fredu Abela il-Bamboċċu + George Azzopardi l-Makk – Maxi u Mini-Skirt
To follow up on plugging GħanaFest, I thought it would be a good idea to play you one of my favourite Maltese folk singers of all time. Taxi Mary was the big hit from il-Bamboċċu way back in 1970/71, but there are other songs that deserve equal attention even though they never received the same amount of airtime. I think it’s time that a new generation discovers il-Bamboċċcu and some of his contemporaries, especially as there now seems to be a new wave of improvised rhymed folk song, championed by the likes of Jon Mallia (aka Pan Demonium). I’d love to hear some of this old stuff sampled in new work that a younger generation can appreciate.
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.
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Goodbye Blue Sky
Love it or loathe it, the Eurovision Song Contest cannot be ignored. Many who followed the first semifinal for this year’s edition saw Malta fail to make it to the the final round. Finger pointing is inevitable at this point, but I think that talk of neighbourly voting is misguided. Otherwise how is it that Belgium and Iceland find themselves in the final?
PBS must radically rethink the way it selects the songs it sends to Eurovision as well as how the selected performers are presented on the international stage. The long-standing way of doing things clearly doesn’t work and is indeed a waste of money. Worse still, it’s a wasted opportunity to promote some of the excellent musical talent emanating from the Maltese islands. To really get its value for money from the Eurovision Song Contest, Malta must spend more than €400,000 a year, not less.
The real problem right now is that there is no ROI (return on investment) analysis on the process. No strategic plan. No accountability. And no continuity or development on long-term experience gained from entering acts in the contest year after year. Then again, PBS has a remit to do public broadcasting and the Eurovision Song Contest is strictly a public broadcasting service, rather than a commercial concern. Done right, there is plenty of milage to be had from the Eurovision Song Contest, even for acts/countries that don’t win the contest.
The alternative is to spend a lot less and still take part just to be there. After all, there’s a great game element in the whole thing anyway. Regardless of placing, the Eurovision Song Contest is an incredibly interesting event for performance scholars like me to study.
Now that Malta no longer offers a distraction at this year’s contest, I can fully focus on the upcoming activities of the Eurovision Research Network. My next blog entry will most likely be a personal reflection on one of both events we’ve planned for the next two days.
Empty Space
The number of people who have contacted me asking about my Eurovision 2010 “predictions” in the last few days is staggering. There is no stand out act this year, even if Azerbaijan have spent more than Malta spends in 10 years on this contest to promote their 2010 entry. I am rather surprised that the Google worm is steady for Germany’s Lena, but let’s see what happens over the next couple of days.
So, without too much prejudice towards anyone’s taste in music, here are my pick for semi-final 1, in order of appearance:
Russia
Just because the Russians clearly aren’t taking Eurovision seriously this year, it doesn’t mean they can’t make it to the final.
Slovakia
The interesting staging, if nothing else, will make this a memorable entry on the night. Will that be enough to get Kristina Pelakova to the final?
Finland
What a country of extremes! It’s one of the most kitschy songs in this year’s contest but it’ also horribly infectious. Traditional Eurovision fans will love this. I’d also make a special note of the fact that they’re all dressed in white.
Bosnia & Herzegovina
I have it from someone who knows these things well that this is one to watch, for a particular group of Eurovision fans. However, he may be overlooking the fact that they’re also the same fans who don’t really like rock guitars.
Poland
Most Maltese people who bother voting on the Eurovision semi-final will probably like the staging of Legenda but they’ll possibly also take into account the fact that Malta’s own Thea Garrett seems to have found a soul mate in Marcin Mroziński. If they both make it to the final, she may very well be joining him on the cast of Les Miserables when it opens in Warsaw in September.
Belgium
One of the very few songs that don’t conform to the mainstream Eurovision genres and sub-genres. Will a good looking young man strumming an acoustic guitar and singing about, well, his guitar, appeal to the mostly middle aged female voting audience? Watch this one closely: it will either soar above the schlagers or sink majestically.
Malta
Malta has one of the most alluring entries in years. I’m saying Thea will take My Dream to the final. The backing singers are divine but perhaps our young singer is hampered by two of the handicaps that kept Jade Ewen from achieving a higher placing for the UK at last year’s final: (a) the song doesn’t grab you in the first 30 seconds, and (b) a young dynamic singer is made to perform like an aging diva.
Albania
If Juliana Pasha manages to make it to the final, it will prove that the new voting system has eliminated the possibility of bloc voting from excluding entries from countries without friendly neighbours.
Greece
Combing kitsch, ethnic stereotypes, and a catchy chant will ensure that Opa takes the Greeks to the final to provide what many will consider the most entertaining of this year’s entries. I’d also make a special note of the fact that they’re all dressed in white.
Iceland
In spite of giving us all that volcanic ash this spring, Iceland shines at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with a singer that will not only take the northern-most island nation in the contest to the final but can most likely also secure it a top 10 placing (or better) in the final voting round.
Keep in mind that the top two acts tipped to win the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest are not taking part in the first semifinal along with Malta and the rest of the songs presented on Tuesday.
Depending on the kind of feedback I get from you, gentle readers, I’ll do this again for Thursday’s semifinal too, or simply skip to Saturday’s final.
DISCLAIMER: The “predictions” made in this blog post are for your amusement only. I’m pretty sure that these will not be the 10 countries whose songs will actually qualify for Saturday’s final.
CLAIMER: I’ll be greatly amused to see how many of my 10 picks are also the ones that will be seen/heard again on Saturday.
Waiting for the Worms
As you’d expect, I’ll be blogging about the Eurovision Song Contest in the coming days. Not sure what I’m going to focus on this year because there are a couple of different things I’m interested in this time. The Eurovision Research Network has its inaugural events and I’m heavily involved, as you can imagine. Then there’s the almost €400,000 that Malta is spending on this year’s entry.
The main reason I’m in Oslo this year is for the inaugural events of the Eurovision Research Network (ERN). This is a new organization I co-founded with two other UK-based media performance scholars interested in taking a closer look at the Eurovision Song Contest. ERN already has 40 members from 20 countries. The first event is a panel discussion at the Litteraturhuset in downtown Oslo on Eurovision and the “New” Europe on Thursday. On Friday we’ll be having our inaugural symposium at the University of Oslo, around the theme Setting an Agenda for Eurovision Studies. If nothing else, I can now confidently say that Eurovision is something that is attracting a solid body of scholarship and professional research around it, which contrasts nicely with the impression of frivolity many people associate with the Eurovision Song Contest.
Riding the bus to a wonderful party (I try to avoid using superlatives whenever I can, but this party was really a highlight among all the many Eurovision events I’ve attended over the years) thrown by the Georgian delegation at the amazing Oslo Opera House I had a very interesting conversation with an EBU staffer about the amount of money some countries spend on their Eurovision entry. Azerbaijan has clearly gone overboard this year, spending millions of euros on promotional ideas. They are very intent on winning the contest this time. Apparently, Malta still thinks that winning Eurovision is about having a great 3 minutes on stage during the contest broadcast. Still, from my conversation on the way to the Georgian party (how much did that cost?) I gathered that most countries are equally oblivious of actual ROI (return on investment) when it comes to Eurovision spending.
An ROI analysis, possibly including a comparative study, is the third on my areas of research interest around Eurovision. The first starts being articulated with the inaugural ERN symposium on Friday. Once that’s established, my next topic of research will be a performance studies approach to understanding Malta’s love-hate relationship with Eurovision, through an analysis of the songs Malta has entered in the contest since 1971, and how they compare to the songs that won and/or endured over the years.
While I was at the fabulous Oslo Opera House for the Georgian party, little Thea Garrett was singing a duet with Marcin Mroziński (this year’s singer from Polish) from The Phantom of the Opera at another venue where a smaller party by the Polish delegation was organized. I’m sure she enjoyed every minute of it but I wonder how many votes from Poland that will win her. 
I haven’t really buckled down to give the Maltese entry the attention it deserves yet. I’ll probably do that later today when I get ready for my first report for SBS radio in Australia. I’ll blog about that tomorrow, once attention on Malta’s 2010 entry starts approaching fever pitch in preparation for Tuesday’s do or die semifinal show. Die-hard Eurovision fans at the Telenor Arena in Oslo don’t think Malta will qualify to the final…but apparently the Google worm tells a different story. We’ll obviously know what’s what by Tuesday night.
We Rock
Show notes for the 213th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers in or from Malta:
Rage Against Society – Slaves of the Machine
It seems that an entire podcast dedicated to the harder side of the Maltese rock scene is becoming the traditional thing to do in the week before the Eurovision Song Contest. Lordi aside, it feels right to delve into a far side of the music spectrum at this point in time. R.A.S. strike me as one of the best Maltese acts that’s towards the very end of that range of genres I just mentioned. I really like the vocal contrast between Patti Pattex and Ray Il-Baħri’s on this particular track. If you don’t like your music heavy, turn away now; you have been warned.
Forsaken – Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)
Rage Against Society have been around for 15 years, but Forsaken have been together even longer. Their most recent album, 2009′s After The Fall, is still receiving critical acclaim all over the world among serious Metal aficionados. Regular listeners of my weekly podcast know that I played a track from this ATF when it first came out. Still, it should come as no surprise that I’ve picked another track from that collection for today’s show.
Shades of Chaos – Relentless Killing Machine
Moving away from the old timers, I’m struck by this relatively new band – they’ve been gigging under various formations since 2004. This is the freshest brand of metal to my ears. Growling is an acquired taste and even life-long headbangers from a previous generation (or two) find it hard to stomach sometimes. I have fond associations with this type of sound from the 1990s, so I’m always thrilled to hear a good growler over a fresh bed of metal.
Black Vulture – Cleansed by Fire
Among the more interesting collaborations that fit in well with this week’s podcast is a trio with a Maltese drummer called Martin Ciappara. Some of you will recognize that name as the man behind Prayer for the Dying. This is not Martin’s first international collaboration either: a couple of years ago he was involved in Lustre with Turkish guitarist Sarrum, who is also part of Black Vulture. Vocal duties here are performed by Richard Schierer. So, in some ways, this band could also be seen as a new version of Lustre.
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.
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Fool for You Anyway
Show notes for the 212th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers in or from Malta:
Bletchley Park – Waterfall
An excellent follow-up single to their debut release, Alien. I particularly like the chord progression on this one. If this is the direction Bletchley Park plan to go in over the coming months and years they’ll certainly be gathering more and more fans as they go along.
Winter Moods – My Neverland
Here’s a second single from the upcoming new album by one of Malta’s most popular and longest standing bands. If this song and Last to Know are any indication of the rest of the tracks on the forthcoming album, it really shows a Maltese AOR band in full maturity.
Mikaela – Condescending
From time to time I come across acts that escape my attention for a while. Mikaela falls squarely in this category and I’m not sure how and why she hasn’t been featured on a previous edition of the MMI podcast. Her MySpace page currently features three songs she has recorded, along with news that she is working new material with her band Mikaela’s Picture and the Blind Trash whose members include Nick Morales, Alan Portelli and Benji Cachia. This is most certainly a ‘watch this space’ situation.
CV/Gate – MW
SoundCloud is slowly but surely taking it’s place along with MySpace, Facebook and Reverbnation as an excellent resource for Maltese recordings. It seems to be the preferred platform for the more experimental acts. Still, CV/Gate (a duo comprising Justin Meli and Christopher Buhagiar) also manage to maintain a strong Facebook presence. Their brand of electro, techno, acid house tinged tracks are among some of the most refreshing new sounds in this genre that I’ve heard from a Maltese duo in recent years.
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.
Mużika Mod Ieħor podcasts are brought to you by Vodafone.
Saturday Sun
Show notes for the 211th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast.
Retrophytes – Paranoia
Today is the day the long awaited EP by this young band is launched at the Black Pearl in Ta’ Xbiex. The official release gig for Open Beta has two bands supporting the Retrophytes: For Strings Inn and Dolls of Idols. All in all this promises to be an unmissable night for anyone who cares to hear three of the most energetic alternative Maltese bands to emerge in recent years.
Sasha & Sam – Choices
Regular listeners of the MMI podcast know that I really like this duo. They released a their debut CD not so long ago and they’re already producing new tracks. Choices is one of the new songs they’ve written and recorded since the album launch. Apparently more new tracks are on the way, so you can bet I’ll be featuring Sasha & Sam again on my podcast sooner or later.
Wayne Micallef – Breaking Down
Of all the singers who took part in this year’s Malta EuroSong festival Wayne Micallef is the only one who really has an unrelated track record. He is a singer and songwriter who releases songs that are not only better than the drivel contest but are also testament to the fact that he will most probably still be around long after he has given up on a Eurovision dream. While I will be among the first to appreciate his stepping back from that particular scene, I’ll also miss his relatively alternative approach to the possibility of having his songs heard by the largest television audience in Europe.
Silent Strings – First Grain of Sand
Facebook is turning into a worthy source for discovering Maltese music. The FB group Maltese Bands, created by James Vella, is an excellent initiative. Others, like Silent Strings, simply use FB the way countless others use MySpace or Reverbnation to publish their recordings. This first outing by this new duo – Luke Bonavia (guitar and percussion) and Andrew Tonna (bass guitar and harmonica) – makes me want to hear more. Hopefully it’ll come in a matter of weeks. If, or rather when it comes, I’m sure it’ll be on their FB page.
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.
Mużika Mod Ieħor podcasts are brought to you by Vodafone.
Maybe Baby
Show notes for the 210th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast.
Tribali – Nanda Devi
Yesterday’s concert by The Prodigy in Malta give me a good excuse (if I needed one) to play a track from last year’s CD The Elephants of Lanka, since Tribali was one of two opening acts for the evening. The other was South Central, which regular listeners of the Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast will know are a regular feature on the current tour by The Prodigy across Europe. Marvic Lewis voice is the highlight on this track, which happens to be one of the stronger numbers in the band’s repertoire.
Rita Pace – Forgive Me
At the same time that two generations of ravers were enjoying what is undoubtedly the loudest gig to ever hit the Maltese Islands at Ta’ Qali’s MFCC, pop lovers endured this years slew of songs that made it to the final of the 2010 Malta Hit Song Contest. This festival has found its own niche in the local music scene and the organization seems to get better each year. However, I’m sad to say that the level of songs does a great disservice to some of the excellent singers on the bill. This song by Rita Pace is one noticeable exception, to my ears and very subjective taste. It’s the only one I’d gladly hear again from this year’s crop of drivel. Perhaps singers will learn to be a little more picky in the coming years.
Aaron Benjamin – Stranded
Mercifully, Malta’s pop scene goes beyond song contest and the new song by Aaron Benjamin is testament to this. He has been consistent in his delivery of very radio friendly pop ditties over the past few years that he has graced the local music scene with his presence. Even if pop is not your bag, you’re surely can distinguish between good pop (likle this) and the rest of the rubbish that is presented to us as if it’s god’s gift.
Ethnamorte – Silenzio (Il Cuore della Morte)
This UK-based band qualifies to appear on the Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast, from time to time, by virtue of the fact that their guitarist Malcolm El Gool is actually Malta-born Malcolm Callus. They released a CD album in London last month (on April 3) entitled Sombra de um Mundo atras do Vidro, which is Portugese for ‘Shadow of a World behind Glass’. These sounds give today’s podcast half an air of world muzak fusion but I honestly find Ethnamorte’s quirky approach quite mesmerizing.
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.
Mużika Mod Ieħor podcasts are brought to you by Vodafone.
Endlessly
Show notes for the 209th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast.
Nina Wright – Waiting
Maltese and Canadian born and raised in Canada but now living in Arizona. This R&B singer clearly deserves to grace the line up on the MMI podcasting series. I’ll be keeping a look out for new material from her and promise to play it on future editions of my weekly podcast.
The Myth – Crazy
One of Malta’s longest running bands returns with another radio-friendly pop rock song. It seems that they’ve now found their sound and even though (to my ears) it sounds a little too 90s Brit pop there’s still room for this sort of thing on the Maltese music scene.
Manwel T – Tonight
Following up on 2009′s Virtual Dub, Malta’s dub master Manwel T has just released Virtual Dub 2 through his Dubkey Records net-label. This free download should go down well with all lovers of reggae and roots music. I’ve selected a track written and recorded by Germany-based Phil Harmony with Boomrush Backup. Manwel T’s remix is quite delightful and it’s among the highlights on this collection.
Carrie Haber – You Need to Reconsider
ReverbNation.com is fast becoming the online network of choice for many Maltese musicians, even if MySpace remains a strong presence on the scene and Facebook continues to be the most excellent way to reach and audience. After enjoying the music of many local acts through this relatively new website, I’ve finally been drawn to register my own account on it by Carrie Haber who seems to be working her mojo through her RN pages. It’s also the only place online where you can hear some of Carrie’s new songs in full. The one I’ve picked is one of them, of course.
Paul Giordimaina – Voyage (Part 1)
It’s Paul’s birthday on the 28th of April. This year he turns 50, so I think it’s appropriate to pause for a minute and wish him many happy returns. Although he is best known as a pop singer, he probably prefers to be remembered as a jazz musician. So I’ve picked a track off last year’s Letter To Bernie double CD to sample his keyboard style. Happy Birthday Paul!
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.
Brand New Day
Blogger is about to stop letting its users publish their blogs via FTP. This is how I’ve used Blogger for my blog since the very first day I started blogging back in April 2004. So now it’s time to move on, or rather move it all to WordPress. By contrast, WordPress not only lets its users publish their blogs via FTP but it also allows users to host their own WordPress engine on their server or private web hosting account. The two companies simply have a different philosophy on who owns what.
Anyway, I guess this is the first proper blog entry on Toni Sant’s Blog driven by WordPress. The main address remains the same. You’ll always find me at ToniSant.com – and I hope that it will be some time again until I even need to think about whether this is one of the few constants in my life or not. All previous posts and comments remain online too, of course. I have chosen not to import them into the WordPress database, simply because they already exist as flat HTML files under the tonisant.com domain and I prefer to leave all web pages as close as possible to the way they were to when they were originally published.
My blog’s design and layout had hardly changed since I first created it, so I think it’s about time to refresh it all, especially it’s still very alive and it’s much clearer (at least to me) what blogging is really all about after all these years.
Moving blog to WordPress
This is the very first post I’m writing on WordPress for my blog. It’s actually just a little note to say that Toni Sant’s Blog will soon be driven by WordPress. ToniSant.com is now driven (almost entirely) by WordPress, so it makes sense that the Blog is also on WordPress.
Blogger has served me well since April 2004, and I have a feeling I’ll still be using it for several other projects for quite some time to come.
UPDATED (February 2010): Blogger is discontinuing its FTP service. This means I’ll have less use for it and will be moving my entire blogging activities to WordPress very very soon.
Meanwhile, Toni Sant’s Blog remains here.