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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.

Mużika Mod Ieħor podcasts are brought to you by Vodafone.

Show notes for the 234th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Mikaela – Call Me
I first featured this singer a few months ago, during MMI podcast 215. I said that the sort of things she was up to made her one to watch in the coming months…and here we are again. It feels like she’s on a journey of self-discovery or something like that. I’m sure that her best work is still ahead of her but its not surprising that she has been nominated for Best New Artist and Best Female Artist in this year’s MMA. I wonder how she’ll do on the MMI Listeners’ Picks poll, when voting opens on that via Facebook in a couple of weeks time.

Doreen Galea – Inti ma Tarġax
The CD album Ommi was one of the most underrated music releases from Malta last year. I’m thankful to its executive producer, Steve Borg, for sending me a copy of this album, featuring some of the best romantic poems in the Maltese language, which have been set to music by Dominic Galea. I don’t doubt that in years to come, this will be seen as Doreen Galea’s best work ever.

Vince Fabri – Il-Fatat ta’ Strada Stretta
Last March, Vince Fabri turned 50. To celebrate this milestone in his life, he presented a live (semi-private) concert of his songs at the MITP. We met casually this summer, as we always do whenever I visit Malta, and he promised to send me a recording from that night, but I forgot to remind him so I remain with it. Fortunately he has apparently uploaded several songs for what appears to be that show to Reverbnation and a couple of other places online. I hope he’ll read this and take it as a reminder to send me the entire recording from that 50th birthday concert, or perhaps he’ll uploaded it to the M3P.

Chris Radium – Synchro
Chris Farrugia has been active for a whole decade in the Maltese live electronica scene so I’m a little surprised that this is the first time I’ve really heard of him. He tagged me on a video for this track, which he uploaded to Facebook a few days ago. I hate it when people tag me on their uploaded videos or pictures when I’m not really in them. However, I’m glad that I discovered Chris Radium this way. I guess that every cloud really has a silver lining.

Eugene Baldacchino – Deep
This outstanding Maltese guitarist has been active in the local scene since the 1980s but never really received much public acclaim, for one reason or another. I was mighty pleased when I discovered that he is not only uploading video clips of himself playing some cool covers on his guitars, but also a small number of original tunes, which also appear on the OurStage website. In the new age of easy access to self-publishing, people like Eugene Baldacchino are finally beginning to reach the audiences they’ve always deserved.

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.

Mużika Mod Ieħor podcasts are brought to you by Vodafone.

Show notes for the 233rd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

Indigo – Rip It Down
This is the second single from Indigo’s album These Are The Roots which was released last July and it comes with an appropriate music video produced by No Sweat Productions. I’ve always found Marvic Lewis’ metal musings quite mysterious because I’m never sure what she’s actually up to. At the same time I get the feeling that she is very focused and the lack of comprehension is all due to my never having seen her live or closely followed what she been getting up to in recent years. Her previous album, Stuck, is on my iPod but perhaps it’s time to augment it with the tracks from the new album.

Jesper Ejrup – Sebastian
During my most recent visit to Malta I bumped into this Danish singer-songwriter as he was leaving a radio interview with Michael Bugeja. He seemed like a very nice guy who was genuinely interested in the Maltese music scene. The more I found out about him (later) the more this first impression seemed to be spot on. When we met he had just release his latest CD single, entitled I Will Be (Right Here), which also features the track I’ve picked to play during this week’s podcast.

Lord Adder – Childhood Land
A few days ago I came across a new band called The Gut Lads, with frontman Mark Spiteri. I first met Mark when he was in the  trash metal band Vandals back in the 1980s. Drummer Ray “Il-Ħamiemu” Micallef was also playing with him in Lord Adder and so I thought it would be appropriate to include this band on my podcast because, for some strange reason, I hadn’t managed to include them before. This song was released on YouTube along with a video recorded at Rock Cafe in Paceville back in 2007.

Sandmist – The Inquisition
Oliver Grech has been experimenting with ideas as Sandmist for several years but it was only in the last year or so that his work began to crystallize in such a way that it came to my attention. I am particularly impressed by the growling from Vanja Plavic Obscure’s growling on this track. Listen to it closely and keep in mind that the growling comes from a teenage female voice.

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.

Mużika Mod Ieħor podcasts are brought to you by Vodafone.

Show notes for the 232nd Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

South Central – Demons
Following on from months of touring with The Prodigy and others, including two summer show’s in Malta, our native sons’ live electronica duo release a single that not only features one of the most memorable tracks from their live shows but also make the same track available for anyone to remix through an iPhone app called Fireplayer. A full-length album will follow soon.

Rumbull feat. Simply Ill- Lordz of War
Rap and hip hop in Malta have grown very popular over the last couple of decades. More recently we’ve also seen a considerable number of local acts in this genre. Some are better than others, of course, and the ones that stand out are usually ones that recognize that Maltese rappers are best off making rhymes about things that Maltese fans can really identify with. A smaller number of acts collaborate with others from overseas, and Rumbull’s work with Simply Ill clearly falls in this category.

Dimal – I C U Like Me
Dimal has been featured on the MMI series of podcasts several times. To my ears, he seems to be turning himself into more of a radio-friendly recording artist than the cutting edge dance floor magnet he proved himself to be when he made his first splash on the Maltese music scene. To my ears, his latest song has him extending his repertoire in a way that may very well help him reach an even broader audience.

Francesca Borg – Sejħulna
This young Gozitan singer has one of the most outstanding voices of her generation. This song by Jason Cassar is one of the best things I’ve ever heard her sing, but to be quite honest I think she’s still to sing the song that will make her standout with the Maltese public the way she truly deserves. When that happens, remember you heard it here first.

Luisana Bartolo – Kif Jista’ Jkun?
On the local music scene, Luisana will forever live in the shadow of her sadly departed father, Sammy Bartolo. The fact that he was one of the most wonderful Maltese pop singers of the 1970s and 80s, makes him a very hard act to follow. However, if you ever listen to Luisana’s voice carefully, you’ll immediately realize that she is a gorgeous talent in her own right. Just as Nathalie Cole has done (more famously) before her, she obviously needs to go through this phase of full identification with her legendary father, but once she finds her own voice she’ll really make her father proud because, just like him, she has a voice that stands out in the crowd.

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.

Mużika Mod Ieħor podcasts are brought to you by Vodafone.