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Show notes for the 253rd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Bridget Bone – Monkey Role
During my most recent visit to Malta I meant to attend the filming of what is presumably the upcoming video for this song, one Saturday afternoon. However, I was caught up in all sorts of other meetings, mostly relating to the M3P in one way or another. This is a cracking pop rock song and I’m sure it will receive considerable airplay on Maltese radio stations – possibly even making it to the very top of one or two top 10 charts. It’s exciting enough that I’m more than pleased to open this week’s podcast with it.

KulTural – Irraprezenta
Here comes what is probably only the second band from Malta to include a didgeridoo. Unlike the other ethnic appropriation of this indigenous Australian instrument, KulTural marries this sound (and others) with the Maltese language in a delicious way. While this new sound comes from Malta, or rather Gozo (produced by Keith Anthony – of Chasing Pandora fame), it can be classified as a very Maltese-Australian vibe, but that’s only because of the distinctive sound of the Aboriginal instrument of choice. Even without that, KulTural is one of the most exciting new things to come out of the Maltese islands this year.

Marc Galea – Innu Malti
Equally exciting, but only for slightly different reasons, is a new recording by guitarist Marc Galea, which is a cool jazz take on Malta’s national anthem. This track is lifted from his forthcoming CD album, which is set to be released on the evening of the next M3P conference at St James Cavalier on Friday 3 June 2011. More about that in the coming weeks, of course, but meanwhile listen to this wonderful recording and you’ll never hear the national anthem in the same way ever again.

Footprints – My Saviour
When the album 777 came out earlier this year from one of Malta’s foremost Christian rock bands, I played the track that was released to promote it, which appeared with an accompanying music video. To mark the Easter celebrations this year, Footprints are releasing this track from the album. This is quite appropriate for obvious reasons, but I would have liked to see a companion video too…but maybe I just missed it and it’s out there, or the song is simply too long for a video. In any case, Happy Easter y’all!

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 252nd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Ellie & the Oscars – Dancing in the Rain
Last year Ellie & the Oscars debut on the Malta music scene with a solid release that some pundits felt could catapult them firmly into the hearts and minds of their audiences not only locally but also overseas. Now they return with this new song possibly to have another stab at the unfulfilled potential from last year. I may be reading more than there is in terms of the fortunes this group seeks but perhaps 2011 will be the year when they get noticed by a broader audience, which will certainly find their songs enjoyable.

Sounds United (Malta) – Life Goes On
I’m not a great fan of songs that seek to replicate the original formula made famous by Geldolf/Ure with Band Aid back in the 1980s. This new song in aid of Red Cross relief efforts in Japan following this year’s devastating earthquakes and tsunami, however, may prove to be an exception to my dislike of songs cobbled together quickly featuring various singers pushing a cause that someone else thought would be good to add their names to for the purpose of attracting attention to the (good) cause. Perhaps what has made this outing a little more palatable for me is the choice of singers featured for the Malta (not Maltese, mind you) version of this song: Thea Garrett, Mel Portelli from Chasing Pandora, Jotham from Scream Daisy, Matt from Red Electrick, Mike Spiteri, Eleanor Cassar, Thomas Hedley and Aaron Benjamin, among others.

Ivan Filletti – Sticks and Stones
One of Malta’s most prolific singer-songwriters in relatively unknown, even though he has been gigging for over 20 years. Filletti is known to many followers of Malta’s varied music scene and his songs have been receiving good radio airplay ever since he started recording. However, for someone who’s a marketing man by profession, it’s surprising to see that he doesn’t sell himself and his brand of music more actively. I say this mostly because I hardly saw any promotional material coming my way to inform me about his latest album from which this track was released as a single.

Freddie Portelli – We’ve Got Music
It would seem that Freddie Portelli’s thirst for good old fashioned rock ‘n roll is unquenchable. His first release for 2011 is a two-track EP, from which the song We’ve Got Music is lifted. His vocal bravado and rockabilly guitar style is unmistakable. Here is a veteran doing what he knows best and in the process delighting his thousands of fans across the world in the process.

Clandestine – She’s the One
Cover versions of Maltese songs are not very common unless they’re old-time pop hits (like Xemx from The Tramps) or Eurovision songs. The occasional exception is therefore often greeted with some relish from the sophisticated connoisseurs of the local music scene. She’s the One is a Bark Bark Disco song, which makes it quite an obscure choice for a cover, but perhaps not so much from a band that’s fronted by one who may soon become the new darling of the alternative music scene in Malta. This recording is among the first that any one has heard from the Clandestines but I have a distinct feeling that they’re poised to hit the local scene with noticeable impact quite soon.

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 251st Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Eve Ransom – Shine
The dependable sound of Brendan Jackson’s band returns once again with a relatively short song packed with all the goodness we’ve come to expect from Eve Ransom. They are foremost in the Maltese exponents of this genre and I seriously doubt there will ever be a strong enough contender to take that away from them.

nosnow/noalps – Far Into the Night (Without You)
Nick Morales returns along with the other members of this formidable Maltese alternative rock band to release this single ahead of their debut album launch. ROMANTIKPOLITIK is set to hit the public on Saturday 16 April 2011. Although I’ll miss the official launch by a few days, I’m sure I’ll be playing more tracks from the album on upcoming editions of the MMI podcast.

The Areola Treat – Nothing There
Another debut album launching in April is Pleasure Machines, featuring one of Malta’s most outstanding rock vocalists: Lisa Micallef-Grimaud. The album will be released officially on Saturday 23 April 2011 at The Black Pearl in Ta’ Xbiex, with a guest appearance by Clandestines. This album too will undoubtedly feature again in future segments of the MMI series.

Festen – Ed’s Night Out
I’ve always been impressed by Oliver Degabriele’s prolific career as a bass player. Any Maltese music connoisseur surely knows his name or at least has seen/heard him play double bass at least once. It was therefore a great pleasure to discover that Festen, the France-basaed band he plays double-bass with regularly has released a live album (recorded at Périscope in Lyon on 12/2/11) and released it as a download on Bandcamp for just €2.99 It’s wonderful to hear this type of music played live and this recording seems to do great justice to the sound of the band.

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Show notes for the 250th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Thomas Hedley – Back in Time
There’s a small number of Maltese pop musicians who don’t fall into the “Eurovision” category and this makes them quite an anomaly where that category is almost a synonym for pop music. Hedley has always impressed me not just for this reason, but also because he writes catchy, radio-friendly songs, which he delivers in his distinctive voice. This new release is just another in what could be an international pop radio hit. If there’s a pop musician who deserves a greater audience it’s Thomas Hedley.

The Sylvan Aaron Massacre – Come On (Come On)
I’ve enjoyed the music of Sylvan Borg for a number of years now, as anyone who listens to the MMI series can testify. I’m glad he’s teamed up with Doll 4 Idols drummer Aaron Sammut to come up with this new duo. This debut song, released tomorrow 20th March 2011, is certainly the most exciting sound he has ever produced, even if I still like his older (solo) material quite a lot. If radio stations in Malta don’t give this song plenty of airtime, the Maltese general public may never get to enjoy this young musician as we have been doing on the MMI podcast for several years. I believe there’s also going to be a promo video released with this song, and that should undoubtedly attract more attention to the debut from this duo.

Silent Strings – On the Road
About 10 months ago I introduced MMI podcast listeners to First Grain of Sand from another duo, made up of Andrew Tonna and Luke Bonavia. They’ve recorded some new material recently and sent me a couple of tracks to consider including on the MMI podcast. It’s quite amazing what you can do with home recording these days.

Joe S. Grech – Ir-Raħal
This veteran Maltese guitarist, who is best know as a member of the band New Cuorey throughout the 1970s and into the 1990s, has released a CD album entitled New Cuorey Instrumentals. It features new recordings of all the songs he wrote for the band as well as all their other hits written by others. The track I picked is quite a special one because it highlights his collaboration with his two sons Chris and Julian who are familiar names and faces on the rock and metal scene, through their bands Frenzy Mono and Nomad Son.

New Cuorey – It-Tunnara
While Joe S. Grech’s CD album of New Cuorey Instrumentals is currently the talk of the town for Maltese music lovers of all time, it’s obvious that listening to the original New Cuorey songs remains as delicious as ever. I picked on of the less known songs Joe co-wrote with Cuorey lyricist Anthony Fenech, showcasing his favourite theme: Mellieħa and the sea. Although written in 1979, to my ears this song remains as fresh today as it was over 30 years ago.

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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