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  • Little By Little

    Show notes for the 246th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

    Friday PM – Milky Way
    The M3P is slowly but surely becoming a place for me to discover material to include on my podcast. The years during which this band was active coincide with the first few years of my departure for Malta. During those years (before I started doing the MMI podcast in 2005) I had lost touch almost completely with the local music scene. I’m so glad to have discovered the music of Friday PM and the various recordings they made during the years they were together. This genre of music has rarely been recorded by Maltese musicians, and it makes it even more special just for that.

    Zamphyre – Princes of Psychedelia
    I was delighted to hear this relatively long track from a new band whose sound and musical style hark back to the late 1960s and early 1970s when Pink Floyd made this type of music obligatory listening for a whole generation. The song has a befitting title that almost fits this band because they are certainly not kings of psychedelia, even though they may have the potential to raise the genre to a notable status in the spectrum of music recordings made in Malta.

    Ruben Zahra & MPO – Pastorale Pastiche
    Again harking back to another time when unusual instruments were combined with orchestras, Ruben Zahra has finally managed to do what no one else before him really did with any success: introduce the Maltese traditional żaqq (bagpipe) into a piece of contemporary orchestral music as a solo instrument. Zahra’s Pastorale Pastiche is presented here from a video released recently of the concert given my the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra on 9 January 2011, better known as the President’s New Year Concert.

    The Granules – The Gut
    A few months ago I placed a track from the defunct Maltese rock band Lord Adder. I also mentioned that their singer, Mark Spiteri, is now working with a new group, which back then was working under the name The Gut Lads. That band has now become The Granules and one of their very first recordings, released with a YouTube slideshow featuring photos from the glory days of Strada Stretta/Strait Strett in Valletta, certainly embodies the name the band had originally adopted. This is all marvelous stuff for the M3P and I’m sure others will enjoy it too in other contexts, for which it is actually intended.

    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: 20:30 — 14.1MB) | Embed

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  • Looking For Somebody

    Show notes for the 245th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

    Airport Impressions – Elusive
    Last year’s runner-up on three of the MMI Listeners’ Picks categories returns to delight fans with another single from their album Minutes of  a Lifetime. The album is packed with memorable melodies and very enjoyable pop rock, which is undoubtedly made even more palatable with Errol Sammut’s distinctive voice, which makes every song by this band unmistakably theirs.

    Daniel Genuis – Listen To Me
    Better known on the local music scene as Bitterside’s frontman, this singer has now released a number of songs as a solo act. The one you can hear on this week’s podcast is the one that’s currently doing the rounds on radio stations in Malta. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from Daniel Genuis in the coming months and years, with or without Bitterside.

    Footprints – The Long-Lined Road
    After 10 years together, this Christian rock band has produced an album called 777. The song they’ve released from it as a promotional single comes with a nicely produced video that showcases some of the unique scenery of Malta without being too touristy. To my ears, the band has never sounded better than this either.

    South Central – The Day I Die
    Now that they’ve managed to capture a fan base in their native Malta, this electronica duo continues to remind everyone of their unusual take on life and the universe through the video produced for this track by director Steve Glashier. I found the video quite disturbing on first viewing but I’m pretty sure that this is the effect that our dynamic duo are after.

    Dimal – She The Party
    Dimal is a familiar name to regular listeners of the MMI podcast. His tracks often have an unusual twist that helps make them standout among the many other similar sounding club tracks from all over the place. This one sees him feature American vocalist TuneSmith76 along with backing vocalist Dominic Cini.

    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: 19:58 — 13.8MB) | Embed

    Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

  • What Makes You Think You’re The One

    Show notes for the 244th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta. This is a special edition to coincide with the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2011.

    I was a judge on the official panel selecting last year’s entry from Malta to the Eurovision Song Contest, so I couldn’t comment publicly about any of the songs nor did I present any of them in my Mużika Mod Ieħor series of podcasts, ahead of the contest. In any case, it was hard to pick enough decent songs for a whole podcast last year. However, I’m glad to say that it’s certainly not the case this year. Mercifully, there are several songs I’d happily include on any edition of the MMI podcast. So here are five I’ve picked for this week’s podcast. I’ve already commented on each of these songs on my blog, so I don’t really have anything to add…at least not just yet.

  • Kurt Calleja – Over and Over
  • Wayne Micallef – Everybody Sing
  • Amber – Catch 22
  • Baklava – Moon Dance
  • Kelly Schembri – Love Me Like You Love Your Money

    • Pressed to pick the other 11 singers/songs I think will make it to next Saturday’s final, my list looks like this (in order of appearance at the semifinal):

    Claudia Faniello – Movie in my Mind
    Klinsmann Coleiro & Ben Darmanin – This Love
    Eleanor Cassar – Hypnotized
    Raquela – If I Could Do It All Again
    Sophie – Love to Love You
    Petra Zammit – Unintentional
    Glen Vella – One Life
    J.Anvil – Topsy Turvy
    Fabrizio Faniello – No Surrender
    Ally – Numb
    Richard Edwards – Finally

    Although the next MMI podcast will be a “normal” edition, featuring some of the new releases coming my way from musicians from or in Malta, and therefore not related to the national Eurovision selection, I’ll most probably post an entry in my blog with some comments ahead of or immediately after the final. The place to look for my Eurovision related blog entries is right here.

    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: 18:10 — 12.5MB) | Embed

    Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

  • All You Need Is Now

    Show notes for the 243rd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

    Jon Lukas – This Time
    A few days ago I was very pleasantly surprised to see a video recording of a clip from an Iran television show, which originally aired in 1972, featuring Malta’s best 1970s pop music export Jon Lukas. This vintage video clip was uploaded to Facebook by Shahram Doodman, an Iranian man who lives in London. The show was called Cheshmak and it was hosted by Iranian pop superstar Googosh. This clip is now being used to explore with the very first inclusion of video on the M3P.

    Natalie Gauci – Sad Eyes
    The former Australian Idol is still going strong, even though she is now no longer under contract with Sony. Away from the pressure of producing pop hits, she’s still writing delightful songs such as this one, which she has chosen to share in its demo stage through her personal YouTube channel. There’s no denying that Natalie has a beautiful voice, and this song showcases it quite nicely.

    Phyllisienne Brincat – Stop the Traffic: Human Slavery
    Another video that caught my attention a few days ago consists of found footage edited together by Phylisienne Brincat for her new song about human trafficking, which is quite a dreadful crime. The song was co-written with Nick Partis, who is also responsible for the lyrics. Kyle Drakard, the singer’s son, provides some smoking guitar work on this recording. He’s only a young teenager, but at this rate he’s bound to be a major force on the local music scene, if not beyond, in the coming years.

    Vince Fabri – Kull Sekonda
    When Annabelle Vassallo succumb to the cancer that has brought her to public attention in Malta, it was quite evident to anyone interested in contemporary culture within the Maltese islands that a major public figure had died. To mark her passing, I think it’s most appropriate to play Vince Fabri’s song inspired by her exceptional zest for life in the face of the painful adversity that eventually led to her death. This version of the song comes from the concert Fabri gave to mark his 50th birthday at the end of March last year. Annabelle was present for that show, so it’s doubly fitting to feature this recording during today’s podcast.

    Dylan Debono – Nervous Wreck
    From time to time I discover new songs that seem to come out of nowhere. This one appeared on Facebook from a student of neuroscience who simply needed a good break from his studies during this mid-year exam period. It’s quite a good song even though the DIY production quality is very evident on the recording. To my mind this only makes the song more authentic.

    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 click here or listen to the podcast on the player right below this text.