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Show notes for the 265th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Indigo Darkpsych – Not the End
Taken from the album These Are The Roots which was released earlier this year, this track comes with an accompanying music video (see below) that clearly establishes a very particular look for this Maltese rock singer. I’m surprised not to see her on the Xtreme Metal Assault bill for this year, but then again perhaps she’s trying to reach a broader audience.

ClubMurder – That Which Makes Me
It wouldn’t really be an Xtreme Metal Assault festival without this band, would it? I don’t know how I missed out on including them on a previous edition of my podcast, or perhaps I haven’t. There are so many edition of the MMI podcast now that I can barely keep such things straight any more. Their album Where Everybody Dies… must be one of the most exciting new metal albums to grace the Maltese rock scene in a while. The track I’ve picked to include this week comes with another outstanding Dirty Iris music video. Here it is…

Ruin – None Shall Remain
They appeared at last year’s Xtreme Metal Assault as Tripwire but they now return with this new bandname and a fairly strong debut offering with a groove that will certainly go down well with any new followers they’re hoping to acquire at the XMA2011. Clearly, their best work is still ahead of them, even if they’re already making quite a stand on the local metal scene.

ReBorn – Female Hero
When I first featured their music on the MMI podcast I had hoped that this band would be a little more prolific than they’ve been.  I believe they’re still together and active, judging by their Twitter feed, but I don’t think they’ve produced any more recordings in recent months. They’re quite a solid sounding metal band and I really hope to hear more from them sooner rather than later.

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 264th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Mikaela – Hear Me Out
The fire engine red headed singer return on the local scene with this song before she heads out the the Berklee College of Music in Boston along with her sister Yorika. Fans who caught them at their farewell gig at Rookie’s at the end of last month said they were great and full of energy.

Adam Bonello – Permanently Personal
Now that the ashes of The Lesser Gods have cooled off, Adam Bonello return hot from The Character return with a bunch of tracks he recorded with drummer Antoine “Il-Gaġġu” Grixti and Andrew Christie. To my ears this material sounds like what would have been the follow up to the previous band’s ill-fated debut. In any case, I’m glad we’ve been able to hear this material because it not only reminds us (or at least those who need reminding) how prolific a composer Adam actually is, but also that there’s more to the contemporary rock scene in Malta than playing live with bands. His soundtracks for television and other audiovisual documentaries are well worth a listen too.

Andre Camilleri – Guitar Man
The Delusions of Grandeur is the name of Andre’s latest band, which accompanies him on his new album entitled Nothin’ Left To Lose; his sixth since moving to Australia at the turn of the century. Guitarist Charles Vandenbelt and singer Bree Barclay stand out on this particular song and it struck me as the standout track on this new album from the Melbourne-based Maltese musician.

Franco Tartaglia – The Ruling
I was hoping for some new material from TACT but I’m happy to make do with this new track from this Maltese guitarist. I find his work quite enticing and I never know what to expect next from him. I’m honestly looking forward to whatever will be the next track I play from him on my MMI podcast.

Sandro Zerafa – Grey Light
Fresh from the success of his third edition as artistic director of the Malta Jazz Festival, Paris-based Maltese guitarist has also released a new CD and download album with his jazz quintet. Rather than one of the more sophisticated arrangements, I’ve chosen the final track from Urban Poetics to close this week’s MMI podcast. Malta has certainly ever produced a finer jazz guitarist than Zerafa.

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 263rd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Risis – Some Day
I first heard Jodi Heckenlaible sing when she was still young teenager. I was struck by her strong voice and hoped she would get the appropriate opportunities to develop it. Several years have passed since then and I’m quite glad that she didn’t go down the obvious pop route like so many of her contemporaries. She contacted me a few months ago to say she was looking for a band. I encouraged her to post a message on one of the pertinent Facebook groups. And now we have Risis. The fact that bassist James “Jelly” Attard is also in this band fills me with hope that something really good make come about from this young singer in the coming months and years.

Danjeli – Ġurnata Famuża
It’s no secret that I’m a great fan of Danjeli. He is one of the foremost new composers from Malta. I’m thrilled to bits whenever he releases, well anything. He regaled us a electro punk pop ditty that rivals his earlier masterpiece Iż-Żufjett, which first appeared in his album Kakofonija and was later revisited by Brikkuni in their album Kuntrabanda. I seriously doubt that this new song will see any airplay on any of the local radio stations.

Id-Delli – Id-Drinu L-Għasfur
Another Brikkuni member whose songs get no radio airplay is guitarist Steve “Id-Delli” Delia. He teamed up with Justin Galea for last month’s M3P gig at V-Gen under the guise of Duo Kukkanja. I’ve never really featured him on the MMI series, so I think it’s more than appropriate to include one of his delightful songs on this week’s podcast. He actually played a live version of this song at the V-Gen gig a few weeks ago, and I’m pleased to say that we’ve captured that on video, which will be released through the M3P website in the coming weeks.

Dry Connections – Walking Alone
This band only came to my attention a few weeks ago but apparently they’ve been at it for a while. They have a nice raw sound but they sound a little to wet behind the ears to be taken too seriously by anyone outside their immediate circle of support. However, I honestly believe they have the potential to make their sound attractive to a larger appreciative audience in the near future, particularly because they seem to be quite determined and even prolific.

Adie – Reaction
Like many of the singers and musician who attended the inaugural M3P conference at St James Cavalier last month, Adie gave me copies of her CDs to take home with me. I’m glad she did because I’m thus able to close this week’s podcast with her new single. There’s also a very decently produced video for this song, which I think deserves more attention that it has received so far, particularly by fans of her particular genre of music and associated styles.

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 262nd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

TwoTimeShooter – Heather’s Rope
I’m not sure whether this is the recording that this band were expected to record in Ibiza after their success at the Rookies’ Battle of the bands last September. Regardless of this, they’ve also managed to produce an accompanying music video that’s really appropriate for this song. Still, I’m not sure I understand what the song is about but I’m quite pleased that this band has pushed on with their plans to leave their mark on the local music scene.

In The Name Of – Murderabilia
One of Malta’s foremost new black metal bands is delighting their fans with a well-crafted music video for a track from their debut album Deafen the Blind. The video is produced by Dirty Iris who also gave us other eye-catching clips for Lyndsay’s Going Under and Club Murder’s Order from Chaos among others. Incidentally, In The Name Of will be appearing with Club Murder, Indigo, Loathe and Norm Rejection at the Farsons Great Beer Festival on Monday 25 July 2011.

Insurgence – Unable To Heal
For those who like hardcore metal, today’s podcast offers a good selection of the genre (and its related styles) from relatively new acts. Insurgence is the more established of the bands featured in this edition of the MMI podcast. This recording comes from a live show the band did on the 19th of March 2011 at Remedy. If you want to catch them live, they will be appearing at Xtreme Metal Assault 2011 summer festival along with several other metal bands in mid-August. I’ll be featuring that festival again in an upcoming edition my podcast, so I’ll leave it at that for now.

ShadowBorne – The Beginning
The new styles of metal work really well to my ear when they are mixed with melodic elements. Newcomers ShadowBorne handle this really well by having two vocalists. Their debut release is appropriately titled and I came across it as a demo on SoundCloud. With a start like this, the band can only really get better. When they produce more recordings I’m pretty sure I’ll be featuring them again on the MMI 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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