Blog

Show notes for the 307th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Thingybob – The Man I Used To Be
Robert Carbonaro has reinvented himself as Thingybob and produced this track in collaboration with Keith Anthony and a few other friends. I liked the song so much that I picked it to open my podcast this week. Thingybob will also be playing his debut gig at Coach and Horses in Valley Road on the 24th of August, so if you like this song go see him live.

Alex Alden – Seeds of Change
I’ve had this song in my inbox for many months but for some reason or other I have put off playing it until today. It’s certainly not because I don’t like the song – quite the contrary, it’s a lovely song and this is a good singer-songwriter I’d really like to hear more from. If you like trivia, you’ll also be interested to know that Marc Storace is her uncle and Marie Borg Alden from Stolen Creep is her cousin. Now how about some more songs. Was there mention of an EP?

The Myth – Sadness in Your Eyes
They’ve been active on the local scene since 1990 and in recent years they’ve matured into a recording band. So now comes this song along with a shoddy looking video that fits the song rather well. It’s exactly the sort of thing I’ve come to expect from this band and if their history is anything to go by we should expect them to be doing this until they’re older than the Rolling Stones.

Clinton Paul – Robot
Although he is not everyone’s cup of tea, particularly because he is too camp even for most people who like mainstream dance music, Clinton Paul frequently impresses everyone with his music video. This song is taken from his debut album I Know Who I Am, which is a very fitting title for such a dedicated pop performer. The resources he seems to have at his disposition certainly make up for the lack of international success, which seems relatively elusive. Then again, you really never know! The next big Europop sensation could be just a few months away among his next offerings. Don’t write off Clinton Paul, even if you can’t appreciate what he has had to offer us so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFLY_VvLV7I

Jay Zinga – Thirteen
Most recently known as half the duo Mathematikal, who have been featured regularly on the MMI podcast, Jay Zinga has recently uploaded this track to his YouTube channel along with video clips taken from Ti West’s 2009 movie The House of the Devil. Johnny boy has certainly come a long way since the days of Hidden Sun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5CWRlwBO4sThe

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: 20:29 — 18.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Show notes for the 306th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Ħolma Qattusa – mewtafranka
I had hoped they’d be back and here they are! Martha Vassallo and Antoine Vella’s new offerings are as delicious as expected. This time there seems to be a grouping in the making (for an album?) and the theme appears to be inspired by Goya’s Capricios. Il-Kappriċċi is the name by which this track is grouped with another called Żifna tal-Ħmar (Donkey’s Dance). I hope that more are in store in the coming days/weeks.

Three Stops To China – Monkey Does
Another track from 3S2C’s recent debut EP Rise. Following last week’s My Robot Monkey Army Is Better Than Yours from Funk Initiative, this is another monkey song. How delightful! The video for this one is even wilder than the one for the other song…and I stand behind my previous statement that this young band is set to give Cable 35 a good run for the foremost grunge band from Malta currently active. Perhaps I’m a little bitter because that other band has not shown me any love or respect recently. Right? 😉

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9IgVnXKiWs

Explicit – Train
This song is planned for an official release at a gig taking place at Zion in Marsascala on Wednesday 8 August 2012. Milk Mi will also be performing that night so it should be quite a worthwhile evening out. The video for the song will also be released on that day too. UPDATE: The video has now been released and so here it is…

Stimulus Timbre – Distance Lives
A new full-length album from local label Complex Sound Sagacity find Keith Farrugia in full swing as Stimulus Timbre, or should that be euphoric, since the album is called Euphoria. I’ve always found ST’s brand of electronica pleasant to the ear, which is why I look forward to including his stuff on the MMI podcast, as I’ve done over the past few 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 enjoy listening to the podcast on the player right below this text.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:27 — 17.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Show notes for the 305th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Scar – White Lies
Few Maltese bands manage to milk as many radio “singles” from an album as Scar have done with their 2009 release Breaking Radio Silence. Perhaps they’re taking the title of the album rather literally. Then again, this eighth offering is not only worthy of radio airplay in Malta but certainly good enough to open this edition of the MMI podcast.

Funk Initiative – My Robot Monkey Army Is Better Than Yours
This is one of the more inventive Maltese rock bands that have appeared in recent years. Their videos are rather different from the usual stuff you expect from a band playing the sort of music they do. I have a feeling that one of these days they’re going to produce one which will attract a massive YouTube following, providing them with the sort of global exposure bands like this really crave.

Marmalja – Risposta
Rather than clump all the good/new Maltese hip hop tracks into one podcast I think it’s better to spread them out one or two at a time on (almost) every edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor. This new offering from Marmalja shows them maturing at a speed others should most definitely be envious of. They struck me from the very first time I heard them. They rarely disappoint…and especially not this time.

The Lost Sound – Miriam
Formed in 1966 from the ashes of a band called Mustang, this beat group (as bands were called in Malta back then) went on to record and release a 45 rpm single on vinyl featuring two songs written by Freddie Ellul. This one is sung by Manny Cefai who went on to have quite a checkered life in music over the subsequent decades. I must thank my friends Lawrence Magrin and Mario Axiaq for bringing this band to my attention again over the past few days. It may not be classic rock but the band’s name is quite remarkable in that the music of those 60s bands from Malta is indeed a relatively lost sound.

Carrie Haber – I’d Rather Die
The opening track from Carrie Haber’s 3-track Taurus EP finds her in full force, doing what she does best. Slowly but surely Carrie is finding her own voice and style in ways that can make her attract attention beyond Maltese shores. She deserves all the attention she can muster…and more.

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: 21:03 — 19.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Show notes for the 304th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Manwel T – Love You More
Malta prime dub master returns with a fresh sound built on this track from Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad. I love opening the MMI podcast with this type of sound, so much so that you’ll find I’ve (almost) always so whenever I’ve included Manwel T’s dub’s on previous editions of the podcast.

Ira Losco – What I’d Give
In preparation for her next album, expected for release in time for the Christmas shopping spree of 2012, one Malta’s best known pop performers has released this track as a single. Ira Losco has come a long way since her previous dalliances with pop rock. Her latest incarnation shows her maturing into the worthy world class entertainer she should be recognized as.

Sarah De Bono – No Shame
Fresh from her success on the Australian version of hit television talent show The Voice, this young Maltese-Australian singer has just released both a single (on 29 June) and an album (on 13 July entitled No Shame. Surely Maltese pop fans will soon discover her the way they did with Natalie Gauci a few years back.

Sempliċiment tat-Triq – Iswed Tnejn Zokkor
Closing off this week’s podcast with some of the outstanding Maltese-language hip hop from S.T.T., which has become a force unto itself in the local rap scene. The video produced in collaboration with No Sweat Productions shows that although certainly not attempting to appease mainstream tastes in any way, there’s more to these guys then mere explicit rhymes. If not the new poets, these performers are at the very least the rightful heirs of the spritu pront mantel, which they’ve swiped from traditional għannejja without much fuss.

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: 18:52 — 17.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More