Show notes for the 238th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta. This edition features songs from L-Għanja tal-Poplu 2010:
Danjeli & Justin Galea – L-Għanja tal-Għażżien
I’ve always been a great fan of Danjeli. He dan do no wrong by me. I’ve met Justin in person a number of times during my recent visits to Malta and he struck me as one of the most decent people I’ve ever encountered: someone I know I could call a true friend in different circumstances than the ones we live in that separate our lives by a few thousand miles. So you can imagine how delighted I was to see that the two have collaborated for this year’s Għanja tal-Poplu. Must you ask why I’ve opened this week’s podcast with their song?
Justin Galea & Antonio Olivari – Bażar
Antonio Olivari is one of the oldest friends (and listeners) that this podcast has. I’ve included his music on the series whenever I could. He collaborated with Justin at last year’s L-Għanja tal-Poplu, doing better in the final vote count than they did this year. Still, this is a decent song from them, so I see absolutely no reason not to include it as my second pick from this year’s Għanja tal-Poplu.
Rita Pace – Indunajt
It’s no secret to any of my regular podcast listeners that Rita Pace is one of my favourite Maltese singer-songwriters. It was such a thrill having her perform live at the launch of the M3P last September. She did well in the Indifest this year, and it’s no suprise that her song has placed among the top three at this year’s Għanja tal-Poplu. This particular song has some very interesting moments, and as solid as the unplugged version proved to be in the contest, I really live the production on the studio version of this song.
Petra Zammit – Rakkont ta’ Omm
Slowly but surely Petra Zammit is proving to be the Maltese blues singer. Now that I’ve heard her sing blues in Maltese, she reigns supreme as the queen of Maltese blues in my mind. She’s quite young and gives me no reason to believe that she has the blues in her heart, but she certainly has the vocal chords and the feeling for it. I’d love to hear her sing more blues in Maltese…and something tells me that this is inevitable in the coming years. She has made an impact at other contests, so she certainly deserves second place at this year’s L-Għanja tal-Poplu.
Corazon & l-Ħbieb tal-Qalb – Mill-Għajnejn ta’ Tifla
Joining other Għanja tal-Poplu notables like Manwel Mifsud (a judge on this year’s contest) and Walter Micallef (the special guest at the 2010 show), Corazon has managed to win 3 out of the last 4 edition of L-Għanja tal-Poplu. She is well-known to One TV daytime viewers of course, but she’s made little impact on the local music and/or entertainment scene outside this festival. There’s nothing wrong with that, or rather it’s a shame that this song contest seems to be relegated to anything less than year round media attention. Unlike Malta’s annual attempts to send entries to the Eurovision Song Contest, this contest yields a substantial number of songs that I (and others) certainly wouldn’t mind hearing again and again for years to come.
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.
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Power to the People
- Vote for the Top 2010 Music Releases in Malta – poll open until 1 January 2011.
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Fade Like a Shadow
- Vote for the Top 2010 Music Releases in Malta – poll open until 1 January 2011.
Show notes for the 237th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:
Scar – Untenable
Scar front man Konrad Pulé was in the news this week due to a failed murder attempt on him while working at his office with fellow traffic expert Peter Ripard. Major Ripard has series injuries from the bomb that exploded in Konrad’s office at Malta Transport in Sa Maison, but thankfully Pulé sustained no substantial physical harm. I take this opportunity to wish them both a speedy recovery.Cable 35 – Boogie Man
One of the very first tracks featured on this year’s MMI podcast was a video by Cable 35 for their song Harry. Now they return with a new video for another song from their Hygene EP, Boogie Man. I believe they’re working on new recordings, which I expect they’ll release sometime in the new year. When that happens you can rest assured that I’ll be featuring them in a future edition of the MMI podcast. Meanwhile, if you like this band you can vote for them on the 2010 MMI Listeners’ Picks poll via Facebook.The Meteors – They Call Me Creepy
I’ve been wanting to including something by the kings of psychobilly for quite some time. They qualify for inclusion of the MMI series by virtue of the fact that the band’s lead singer and guitarist P. Paul Fenech is of course of Maltese origin. They’ve maintained their raw spirit for over thirty years and this may explain why they are not better known in Malta. This song is from their 2009 album entitled Hell Train Rollin’.For The Godless – Save Our Strength
I saw Max Vassallo play drums during the M3P launch concert during Notte Bianca last September when he temporarily filled in the vacant drummer’s seat for Loathe. He struck me as an amazing force and the band was enriched by his precence, even though they are quite tight anyway, particularly in terms of their rapport with their die hard fans. Here we can hear him playing drums and providing vocals for his own band on a track that comes with an excellent video to showcase his talents.Stefanos – Don’t Fall Off the Edge
Preparing for his second CD album to follow up on Zero Plus, guitarist Stefanos has released this track as a taster. He contacted me a few days ago to tell me that he’s also recording an acoustic number, which should be more to my taste than some of his MIDI-driven material. To be honest, I’d really like to hear him play with a live band as I think it would highlight his guitar playing skills even better than plonking along to a fully quantized drum machine. And the same goes for his producer Demis Fenech.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.
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Station to Station
Show notes for the 236th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:
Duo Blank – Stars on Mars
Frank Cachia and Edwin Balzan are the members of this dynamic duo and they never disappoint. Playing this recent track from them on my podcast means that it is now on the list of nominations for the 2010 MMI Listeners’ Picks poll. The list of nominations is quite long this year but I never expect it to be shorter from year to year. If you’re reading this before the end of 2010, you can cast vote now for your top picks from this year. Once again, voting via Facebook has been made possible by Kenneth J. Vella.Wayne Micallef – The Parade
I’ve already played all the singles this singer-songwriter released this year so it should surprise no one that I’m including this one too. Since it came to my attention after I had closed the nomination process on the 2010 MMI Listerers’ Picks poll I haven’t included this one, but I have included all the others. If you really like this singer now’s the time to really show it by casting your vote from him.Stolen Creep – Lector Spector
I’ve been wanting to play something by this all-girl band ever since I first heard of them some months ago. When Nick Morales from No Sweat Productions contacted me to say that they’ve released this single with an accompanying video I knew that I had to not only included on today’s podcast but also make sure it made it to the 2010 MMI Listerers’ Picks poll. If you want to vote for this band/song you’ll find them in the videos category.I’n’I – Dubid ByeBye
Reggae bands are not plentiful in Malta but this one seems to be made up of three people who want to embrace the whole culture that comes with the genre. This is fairly evident from the name of the band, which is a Rastafari term for the togetherness of the almighty Jah. This particular dub is relatively trippy and tend to make the sound more classifiable as psychedelic trance than anything else.Manwel T – This Is My Dub
Following on the success of the Dubkey Records’ album Virtual Dub 2, Malta’s foremost dub master returns with Virtual Dub 3. This too is available as a free download from the Dubkey Records website. And, as you would expect, both these albums are nominated in the album category on the 2010 MMI Listerers’ Picks poll.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.
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You Take Me Up
Show notes for the 235th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:
Mystic Diversions – Lifestream
Less than two years after Francesko Puccioni (aka Mike Francis) passed away, Mystic Diversion return with a new album. Aidan Zammit and Francesko’s brother Mario continue where they left off with their deadly departed fellow musician to present what sounds like another pearl in the string of albums they’ve produced together. Angel Soul is actually the sixth album from Mystic Diversion, and as much as Francesko will be missed, let’s hope that this will not be their last.Jason Sherri – My Spirit Flies
I’m not sure how this singer-songwriter has managed to escape my attention on previous years of the MMI podcast. My good friend Mario Axiaq passed me a copy of this song, his latest, as he prepares to release an album of many of the songs he has previously released in Maltese and English in German. This is quite understandable seeing that he has made Germany his country. Since he is actually based in Düsseldorf, I wouldn’t be too surprised if I get to met him in person too when I visit that city next year.Relikc – Rollercoaster
Grabbing the top spot on two categories in last year’s MMI Listeners’ Picks poll, Relikc return with a new release, seemingly in an attempt to grab the top spot on another category in this year’s MMI Listener’s Pick’s poll. They are yet another band to use BandCamp to release their new material, which gives me reason to believe that this online audio distribution site is about to become even more popular next year with Maltese acts.The Does – You
Dirk Farrugia and Owen Grech have created what, to me, remains one of the most enigmatic acts aiming to get on the radio in the Maltese Islands. Their latest song You was released a few days ago along with a video on YouTube. It’s good enough to merit a place in the Top Music Video category on this year’s MMI Listeners’ Picks poll, which will open for voting by this time next week.Effetti Kollaterali – EK Nitolbu
I’m really glad that Estelle Used (whose voice I believe is featured on this track from EK) contacted me via Facebook a couple of weeks ago to draw my attention to the most recent work by this hip-hop collective. I had included something from them on a previous edition of the MMI podcast last year, so it was high time that I featured one of their new releases. By the sound of things, they’re quickly becoming a force to reckon with in the local hip-hop scene, and so it should be. Explicit lyrics warning aside, they pack a mighty punch and certainly reflect the best that the contemporary vernacular has to offer for this genre or any contemporary use of the Maltese language in song.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.
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