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Live It Up

Show notes for the 284th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Jane Doe – Shivery
Introducing the first of new female-fronted band for 2012 in the guise of Margherita Bonello, I’m sure this band will be on high rotation on some of the local radio stations, but only time will tell whether they’re here to stay. I like their softer moments and the singer has hints of great potential. It’s definitely a watch-this-space scenario as far as I’m concerned.

Athelstone – Jaaz
Another new band features Funk Initiative guitarist Daniel Cassar (yes, there’s another one by that name on the local scene) who has released an impressive album called The Quiet Before the Storm, which is available as a digital download here. This particular track (from this 3-track album) features the vocal presence of Dana McKeon. It’s quite lovely and I dare say very good too.

Mimi Paris – Bittersweet Goodbye
Michelle Paris is well-known in certain musical circles as a harp player, but she has also been performing less traditional music in recent months as this recording demonstrates. Mimi Paris was brought to my attention by a fan of hers late last year and I had hoped to include her music on a 2011 MMI podcast, but as it happens I’ve finally managed to get a copy of this demo recording, which is hopefully a mere harbinger of things to come.

Martina Borg feat. William Thorne – Dear Mother
I had never heard of William Thorne until a few days ago, but Martin Borg is one of the few Maltese pop singers who stands out as much more than a Eurovision wannabe, which she isn’t. Music is in her (paternal) genes and it would seem that with this song she’s giving a reverential nod to her mother. Not sure about the full provenance of this song, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t receive some serious radio airplay in Malta…and hopefully elsewhere too.

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: 19:44 — 13.6MB) | Embed
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21 January 2012
All Bets Are Off

Show notes for the 283rd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Brikkuni – Tiddi x-Xemx Fuq Din L-Għodwa Moħlija
The long awaited second album from Malta’s foremost alternative Maltese-language band will be released in Valletta on 11 February, so ahead of the release we’re given a preview with this track and an accompanying brief promo video (voiced by Kevin Drake) to promote the launch gig.

Errormantics – Finale
Sven Bonnici and Mauro D’Amato return in full force on the local scene with this new duo and a debut song with an attention grabbing promotional video. People who have seen them live over the past couple of months say that they’re an interesting act and one, I’d add, we’ll certainly be hearing more from this year.

Cable 35 – Saturated
Taken from last year’s album Louder, this track not Cable 35 not only comes with another music video, but also accompanies them on their UK tour which spreads well over these first two months of this new year. Their next (and only announced) gig in Malta will be at V-Gen on 24 February 2012.

The Violent Violets – Fantasy 3
The opening act during that Cable 35 gig at V-Gen I just mentioned, will be this new band. The Violent Violets released an eponymous 5-track EP just a few days before Christmas, so, just like the rest of the stuff of this week’s podcast didn’t manage to make it to the MMI 2011 Listeners’ Picks poll. Rest assured that it’ll be included in the 2012 list of nominations. The EP is also available as a free download.

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: 19:25 — 13.3MB) | Embed
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14 January 2012
Until the End of the World
Show notes for the 282nd Mużika Mod Ieħor series of podcasts featuring music by performers in or from Malta.

This is a special edition featuring the results from the 2011 MMI Listeners’ Picks Poll:

Top Single:
- Big Band Brothers – Rain or Shine
Top Online Release:
- Danjeli – Ġurnata Famuża
Top Video:
- Adie – Reaction
Top Album:
- Danjeli – KontroNatura
Top Overseas-based Release:
- Joseph Calleja – The Maltese Tenor
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: 21:40 — 14.9MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More
7 January 2012
Happy This Christmas

* Vote for the Top 2011 Music Releases in Malta – poll open until 1 January 2012.

Show notes for the 281st Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring Christmas music by performers from or in Malta:

Andrew Zammit – Paci fl-Art
This song was actually released last year but it reached me before I started producing the final podcast for 2010, aside from the fact that I didn’t really do a Christmas special last year. Anyway, this sees Andrew at the peak of his creative powers with an adult oriented rock song from the festive season complete with non-cheesy Maltese lyrics. He is fast becoming the most prolific non-household-name musician in Malta.

Ludwig Galea & Chiara – Ħelu Bambin
Andrew Zammit has written the music for this new Maltese Christmas song with lyrics by Fr George Ocar Buttigieg. The video, produced by Angie Laus from shots by Charles Ahar, makes it a very special release this yuletide, particularly as it features two of the most widely loved Maltese pop singers, Chiara and Ludwig Galea. Members of the Maltese community club in Melbourne are certainly looking forward to the upcoming show they’re planning to deliver in Australia along with John Gee’s country stylings. I’m sure this will be one of the songs they sing on that occasion.

Divine Sinners – Another Lonely Christmas
No everyone has the same perspective on Christmas, of course. The rest of this podcast presents alternative viewpoints rather than the conventional religious or celebratory songs. The first of these comes from the wry Gozitan duo that has captured the public imagination of the cognoscenti this year. This song was actually recorded/released a couple of years ago but only really came to my attention this year. The accompanying video explains where it comes from and what it’s really all about.

Kyle Pace – Ninġabru il-Bus Stop
Few Maltese songs ever really capture the zeitgeist of the country. Norm Rejection’s Malta Not For Sale and Marmalja’s Uniformi Blu are obvious exceptions. So I was quite thrilled to hear this little ditty based on Adeste Fideles from someone who is virtually unknown except to his friends. The Arriva fiasco in Malta is undoubtedly one of the most omnipresent 2011 topics of discussion, along with divorce, across the Maltese islands.
Sadly, the very entertaining YouTube video that accompanied this song on its release a few days ago has been removed from public view, but hopefully we’ll be able to archive it in the M3P repository in good time.

Joe Demicoli – Santa Klaws Mhux Riesaq Lil Hawn
The undisputed king of humorous and satirical songs in Maltese released no fewer than five Christmas songs on his 2008/09 CD album Assedju3. He performed this on the Christmas edition of Xarabank when the CD was issued and you can see that performance on this YouTube video clip right here. It hasn’t dated much, as yet, but I’m sure it will in good time…and that will make it even more delicious than a generous slice of Christmas log covered in dark chocolate and dripping in seasonal spirits.

The next MMI podcast will appear on Saturday 7th January 2012 and it will feature the top picks by my listeners and others voting on Facebook for the favourite 2011 Maltese music releases. Until then, over the coming days we will once again be releasing Ġorġ Mifsud-Chircop’s special christmas editions of his Tisqifa għall-Għana Tagħna featuring Karmnu Debono l-Pikipakk (from Birkirkara) and Frans Mifsud ta’ Żaren ta’ Vestru (from Żejtun).

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.