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Show notes for the 326th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Lyndsay – Daphne
Lyndsay Pace has just released this new single, along with a promotional music video. She continues to operate above the Eurovision circuit, which to many minds make her a more credible pop artist than some of her peers who seem to think that they should save their best material for that contest. I believe that, in time, will be respected as one of the more prolific Maltese pop singers of her generation.

Krokus – Dirty Dynamite
The 17th album from the next best Swiss export after clocks and watches is due out on 22 February 2013. Marc Storace fans will undoubtedly be flocking to get their hands on that album as soon as it’s out. Meanwhile, the title track from this forthcoming release has been made available to fans and all others as a free download.

Martyrium – Anpu Xent Neter Het
This black metal band has been around for over 10 years now and its quite refreshing to see this video release for a track from their album Awakening the Ancient. They are one of the more impressive local female-fronted metal bands and I believe that this video will attract an even larger fan following than they already have. In any case, glimpses of the lovely Undine LaVerve certainly make the video even more worth watching.

Loathe – Bucketlove
It really doesn’t get much more hardcore than this as far as metal goes. At the top of their game, this band continues to delight its many followers and other fans of this genre of music with their tongue in cheek material. While the style may sound anything but funny to those not used to this type of material, the video is a clear giveaway: these boys are in it for the fun of it…and clearly enjoy every second.

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 325th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

This podcast includes the results from the 2012 MMI Listeners’ Picks Poll:

Top Album:
Red Electrick – Unplugged Sessions

Top Overseas-based Release:
Joseph Calleja – Be My Love

Top Video:
Adie – Cry for You

Top Online Release:
Divine Sinners – Bipolar Overdrive

Top Single:
Angelcrypt – Eternal Conquest

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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* Vote for the Top 2012 Music Releases in Malta – poll open until 31 December 2012.

Show notes for the 324th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Andrew Zammit – Twieled is-Sultan
Following last year’s Paċi fl-Art, Andrew Zammit returns with this one for 2012. It’s a pleasant song that devoid of the saccharine sweetness that normally accompanies most mainstream Christmas songs. Over the past twenty years of so, Andrew has worked with many musicians who have broadened his muscial horizons and this is very clearly reflected in songs like this, which can only really come from mature pop rock musicians. It’s really a good way to open this year’s special Christmas edition of the MMI podcast.

DiCa – Milied Iswed
Diane Camenzuli has just joined Maltese metal band Weeping Silence as lead singer. This song is her collaboration with Marco Larski Ellul and shows her in formidable form as a solo artist. I’m sure that 2013 holds great stuff for her and the band she has just joined. I’m really looking forward to whatever they are about to produce together, and I’m sure I’ll be featuring it on a future edition of the MMI podcast.

Mistura – Diska tal-Milied
This duo has surprised many by appearing in the top 5 of the Online Releases category in the MMI 2012 Listeners’ Picks poll, which is open for voting via Facebook until the end of 2012. As you would expect, the lyrics are a social commentary about this time of the year, but I’m sure that their ever-growing fan base will really appreciate this song as an antidote to the empty cheer that permeates most of the festive season.

Mutt Ley & Gia with the Angel Pop Choir – Christmas Time
In 2008 the original version of this song was unleashed on the Maltese music scene as a collaboration with Gianni Zammit and Moira & Chris. Matt Ley and Gia have now reworked this song with a children’s choir and dedicated it to raise funds for the UK-based charity You Touch Africa. The song is available as a single download on iTunes.

L-Istrina – Stay
Another charity song comes from Malta’s now established annual campaign L-Istrina. With music by Toby and lyrics by Steve Compagno, this one features the voices of Kurt Calleja, Raquela, Marilyn Mifsud and Richard Edwards. It’s the kind of song that will either turn into an instant classic or will simply join the fray of countless other songs that have surfaced at this time of the year as part of the soundtrack of some heart jerking scheme or other, pushed by local television marathons…or should that be telethons.

MCA – Ninni La Tibkix Iżjed
Released last year on the day (or so) after I had recorded my 2011 Christmas edition of the MMI podcast, this song has not only found its way into this year’s show but has also landed a nomination in the Top Video category on the MMI 2012 Listeners’ Picks poll. This is certainly an alternative way of look at (or listening to) Christmas, but this one is surprisingly respectful of the Indri Schembri original, which as become a classic (and certainly traditional) Maltese Christmas carol.

Sempliċiment tat-Triq – Ħrug (Riħa ta’ Milied)
If you’re looking for a sincere contemporary expression of Christmas angst, look no further than this fresh offering from Malta’s foremost underground hip hip act. Not quite appropriate for family listening, particularly where escapism is the order of the day. Gritty is probably how many people would describe this sort of thing, but then again it’s a reality that has been swept under the carpet for far too long, especially in the Maltese way of life. I think it’s a very fitting way to end this year’s MMI podcasts.

The next MMI podcast will appear on Saturday 5th January 2013 and it will feature the top picks by my listeners and others voting on Facebook for the favourite 2012 Maltese music releases.

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 323rd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Skimmed – Ronnie
Skimmed are finally releasing their first full length album Summer Lovers on the 23rd of February 2013 at the intimate British Legion Theatre in Valletta. To hold us over until then, or perhaps simply to promote this launch event, they’ve released a single from the album, which is a tribute to 1960s pop icon Ronnie Spector. Although the band has produced a string of impressive single releases over the past couple of years or so, I must say that this is one their most impressive tracks to date. If there’s more of this sort of thing in store on the album, I’m sure it’ll prove to be one the first significant debut albums to be released in 2013.

Clandestines – Try Too Hard
I lifted this track of the split cassette release Summer Camp for Pale Young Boys, which Clandestines share with Hey Sus, for two reasons. The first of these is the fact that I need to follow up on an M3P exploration with band member Daniel Abdilla, but more importantly to have a good excuse to provide a link for the MMI 2012 Listeners’ Picks Poll, which is open until Monday 31 December on Facebook. The split album is obviously nominated on this year’s MMI poll.

Mel Xkejfa – Storyteller
Former Chasing Pandora singer Melissa Portelli returns as a solo performer called Mel Xkejfa. She has just released this track to promote her debut solo album supported by a number of collaborators from her time with Chasing Pandora. There will be a video to promote this song in the coming days (you can see it here when it’s out) and a live show planned for 25th January 2013 at the St James Cavalier Music Room in Valletta. The album Who Me Mel Xkejfa? was officially released on 3 December 2012, so it’ll have to wait until next year to be nominated in the MMI Listeners’ Picks poll.

Xiola – Half A Day
I’ve made no secret of my admiration for Maltese singer-songwriter Adolf Formosa over the years. His songs have been featured on several editions of the MMI podcast. This year he has been collaborating with a couple of fellow kindred spirits operating under the name Xiola and recorded an album comprising 13 tracks called Bay of Pigs. This is certainly no commercial release and my only criticism is that I’d really love to hear Adolf do some songs in Maltese one day. Meanwhile, this new collection from Xiola will be among my treasured 2012 recordings from Malta, even through I failed to included in the list of nominations for the MMI 2012 Listeners’ Picks poll.

Ħolma Qattusa feat. Robert Farrugia Flores – Talba
Although not as sophisticated as I’d have liked it to be, this Maltese-language collaboration between Ħolma Qattusa and PDM frontman Robert Farrugia Flores is still quite a pleasing song. The video that accompanies it is not very imaginative, but you could argue that at least there’s a video for the song making it more palatable to spread through YouTube. If there are other similar collaborations in the pipeline, things can really only get better…so let’s hope that that’s what’s in store for 2013.

Mikiel Haber – Franco Waqqa’ l-Gvern
Following up on last year’s Diska Vili, which is among the nominations for Top Online Release in MMI 2012 Listeners’ Picks Poll, Mikiel Haber returns with yet another timely reworking of a classic song (The Beatles’ All Together Now from Yellow Submarine) to comment on a socio-political situation currently gripping the Maltese islands. This time it’s Franco Debono’s rebel rousing actions, which have brought the Gonzi government to an administrative cul de sac after many months of delaying the inevitable.

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: 20:36 — 18.9MB) | Embed

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