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Show notes for the 345th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Xtruppaw – Il-Biskuttel
In case you missed it: Xtruppaw have launched their long-awaited second album a few weeks ago. Xtruppożitorju has been well-received by old and new fans alike, particularly those lucky enough to catch the band live at the launch concert or during their show at this year’s beer festival at Ta’ Qali. This song is one I know I’d be playing every single morning every day for some time to come, had I still been presenting a radio breakfast show, as I did for about three years more than 20 years ago.

Joe Roscoe – Side By Side
This new song from Joe Roscoe is rhythmically reminiscent of Xturppaw’s Ġenerażżjoni ta’ Meqrudin…but that’s where the similarities end. As you can see for yourselves from the promotional video below, this song is a very worthy follow up to Roscoe’s debut from a few months ago. I’m sure this will be picked up by a number of local radio stations, but I genuinely believe that he deserves to be heard even more broadly than that.

Lauren Aquilina – Sinners
Teenage sensation Lauren Aquilina is among the most social media savvy recording artists I’ve ever come across. It is therefore quite fitting that this song has been picked as the Single of the Week on iTunes in the UK. The eponymous EP, her second after the debut Fools from last year, is also doing well on iTunes in Malta, where it’s at the top of the download chart, ahead of her appearance at the same beer festival I mentioned earlier in relation to Xtruppaw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knzu1g-S0fI

Mauro Kitcher feat. Angie – Whiskey Lullaby
Regular listeners of the MMI podcast know that I normally shy away from cover versions. There are some notable exception to this, of course. This country song was fairly popular when it was first recording by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss in 2004. I don’t think I’ve every played anything from Mauro Kitcher on a previous edition of the MMI podcast, but his collaboration with Angie was a must play for me. The main reason for this is that aside from having a truly wonderful voice, Angie is also an old personal friend; back in the 1980s she supported Artwork, the pop rock band I played with, as hair stylist. I’d love to hear her record more songs. Her beautify voice is something I’d dare say she’s inherited from her mother, who was a well-known pop singer in the 1960s.

Voodoo Gurus – Bei Mir Bistu Shein
To Me You’re Beautiful is the rough translation of the old Yiddish song title from the musical I Would If I Could. Many well known recording artists have included this song in their repertoire since the 1930s, so it’s quite a pleasure to see this Gozo-based band record it too. You can probably catch them at one of their gigs at Żeppi’s Bar in Qala or somewhere else in Gozo. Sarah Hague’s voice pulls the band together beautifully but the band is quite tight and performs all the songs they play with relish and gusto.

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 enjoy listening to the podcast on the player right below this text.

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Show notes for the 344th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

PT etc – Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Funk Initiative keyboardist and songwriter Paul Torpiano seems to have filled the gap left by that band’s singer heading off to be a Eurovision star (climbing to the Top 10 of the UK charts in the process) by starting this side project. The ukelele is a (perhaps not deliberate) nod to the obvious but all in all the song is very pleasant. Fabian Bonello’s saxophone adds depth to the recording, which Niki Gravino has produced in a very clean way, including yoghurt pots and wine crates for percussion.

Adie – Feel
I had hoped that Adie would turn into a techno-country sensation by now. Instead she has worked hard to produce another well-crafted pop ditty, which she released on the 4th of July along with the promotional video you see here. I honestly hope she’s more adventurous next time. It’s probably because I’m really not a pop music fan, but I really think she has it in her to do even better than this on her next offering. Although some pop-oriented radio stations in Malta have not included this song on their playlists I”m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of her.

Carlo Gerada feat. Kristina Casolani – Never Let Go
Recently featured as a local warm-up act at the Isle of MTV concert at The Granaries in Floriana, Kristina Casolani is a standout pop performer in Malta. This collaboration with Carlo Gerada is many times better than the previous one I featured on the MMI podcast, even though that one was for a nobler cause.

Malcolm Pisani – Got Me Good
Most things come in threes, and so here’s another pop dance song on this week’s podcast. I prefer Malcolm Pisani’s voice on a different style of music. That’s obviously a personal preference and one I doubt everyone agrees with. Variety is the spice of life, they say. Some people (including me?) really need to take that into consideration more often.

Tact – Tremolando
Franco Tartaglia’s act, better known as Tact, features Paul Torpiano on piano. I didn’t really plan to bookend this week’s podcast this way. This is a long instrumental track and exactly the sort of thing I’ve come to expect from Tartaglia. It’s a pleasant way to end this week’s podcast.

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 enjoy listening to the podcast on the player right below this text.

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Show notes for the 343th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Brikkuni – L-Assedju ż-Żgħir
The subject of this song is rather topical in Malta right now. Obviously none of the radio stations are playing this, nor are ones who have previously ventured to champion this great Maltese band even bothering to give it the occasional airing. Inspired by Noel from Xtuppaw to contemplate my favourite ice cream flavour through a brillian Facebook status update, I’ve also seen it most fit to open this week’s podcast with this track from Brikkuni’s debut album Kuntrabanda!

War Trigger – Brutalizing Hordes of Death
The rest of this week’s podcast contains metal songs. This new band has still to make a significant impact on the local scene, but I think that there debut recordings are an indication that they’re more than just a bunch of kids with instruments that can make a loud noise. There’s playing at the Xtreme Metal Assault 2013 in Paola today, to perhaps those who managed to catch them live can confirm or deny my initial impression of this band.

Prayer of the Dying – The Desert Inside
Martin Ciappara’s projects have been featured on the MMI podcast for many years. This is one of his most recent collaborations with Daniel Bezzina. This stuff is as underground as it gets and although Martin has certainly performed live with other bands, it’s unlikely that Prayer of the Dying will be seen on the live circuit any time soon. Then again, I’ve been known to be colossally wrong about these things before.

Loathe – Guttermouths
When we launched the M3P in 2010, I produced a hard rock and metal stage at Hastings Garden for what also happened to be that year’s Notte Bianca. I was very pleased to include this band in the line up, but I’m still disappointed that they haven’t really connected with the M3P idea. I’d really like to see them share much more about their great work on the M3P site than they have managed to do so far. Perhaps my inclusion of this track from their most recent album Lambs to the Slaughter will be a good opportunity for this gap to be filled, even if ever so slightly. If not, we’ll always have the music…won’t we?

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 enjoy listening to the podcast on the player right below this text.

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Show notes for the 342nd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Xtruppaw – Frutsalad
After what feels like the longest wait ever, my favourite Maltese band of all times returns with its second album. This song from it is released ahead of the official launch which takes place next week. I’m pretty sure I’ll be playing more from it in the coming weeks, so there’s little point of saying much else at this point. To my mind, this is the bound to be the album of the decade. Sadly there’s not proper music video for it (yet?) but at least there’s a teaser in the launch poster and the accompanying promotional photo for the song. I heard demos of almost all the songs on Xtruppaw’s second album and I can safely say that it’s easily as good as, if not better than, their first album from 2006.

Clinton Paul – Amazing
Taken from his recently released second album Unbreakable, this is Clinton Paul’s second single from this album. As he’s done so many other times before, it is accompanied by a relatively lavish promotional video, which has managed to attract substantial attention on YouTube, especially through Facebook shares. I remain impressed by his creative stamina and fortitude, even if less so by his aesthetics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPWIR1Qf2RE

Davinia Pace – You Are My Home
I’m rather pleased to see that the team that brought this singer to this year’s Malta Eurovision Song Contest has ploughed on regardless of that scene, or propelled even further by that scene. After all, this video received an official launch of sorts on ESCflashmalta.com. I like Davinia very much as a performer and I believe that she has what it takes to be an international star, whatever that means for an act lacking a substantial and systematic marketing strategy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1xtX__KB_w

Ria feat. Toby – I Am Only Me
Maria Carabot is not a well known singer, but she should be. She has a very pleasant voice, which is showcased very nicely on this collaboration with Toby. I like that she’s calling herself Ria, as this can possibly endear her to an even larger audience than the one she has already managed to reach so far. I hope this is the beginning of something bigger and better for her. MMI podcast listeners can be sure that I’ll be playing her next offering if this level of production is maintained.

Footprints – Stick No Bills
Footprint are undoubtedly the most prolific Christian rock band from Malta. Their music has matured to a level that makes their tunes very listenable, even if you’re not particularly keen on the lyrics. I have no qualms with their brand of Christian rock, but I’d prefer more poetic lyrics where needles, overdoes and coffin are depicted in a more effective way. Incidentally this song is part of an EU-funded Youth in Action programme related to substance abuse and other social ills. The video you can see here was officially launched on 11 May 2013.

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 enjoy listening to the podcast on the player right below this text.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:19 — 18.7MB) | Embed

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