TOBY: DIGI KINDA LIFE
August 2006
The first thing that strikes you about Digi Kinda Life, Toby’s new album, is how different he sounds compared to the fresh-faced vibe of 2003’s Journey Beyond The Sun. During the relatively short time since his debut, the young Maltese DJ/producer has, through working on a variety of projects, acquired much more experience and a broader sense of vision. Composing, recording and producing the soundtrack to Angli, remixing William Mangion’s Cloud single, writing the theme tune to Net TV’s Virus and handling the audio production and musical score for historical documentary The George Cross are just four of them. His weekly radio show on Bay 89.7 has also been a vital source of inspiration, but what really makes Toby tick is the studio, and you can feel it in every one of the 14 tracks on offer here.
Sidestepping the breezier house groove of his debut, Toby’s second
outing relies on heavier doses of breakbeat, open forays into electro-lite
and a fair share of melodic grooves, the result being a blend that is
chilled in places, funky in others, but a 100% groovy all over. Opening
track Away on Three Hills for example, is a great example of both, but
it’s the meatier cuts, such as Greedy For Life, Nitty Gritty, God Made
Me Funky, Get Up and Queen of Funk that give this record much of its
energy. On the other hand, the fact that new single, On Your Mind isn’t
quite your stereotypical catchy tune is possibly a pointer that Toby’s
scope has indeed extended way beyond club country and rooted itself
deeper into the composition and experimentation of tracks like Cover
Your Eyes and closing track From The City!
QUEEN OF FUNK (CD single review)
March 2007
Largely synonymous with the clubbing crowd for his choice of dance cuts
as well as his original productions, Toby continues to build on his
popularity and portfolio with another release off his most recent album,
Digi Kinda Life. The new single is Queen Of Funk, and before you start
thinking of any female soul icon, bear in mind that the main inspiration
is none other than England’s very own Elizabeth!
The idea for the track came via another project that Toby was working
on, involving Her Majesty and our own little island – a documentary
called ‘The Malta George Cross’ which was recently released in DVD
format. Approaching the original theme from a different perspective,
Toby’s knack for crafting flowing breakbeat grooves resulted in the
Queen of Funk. Realising that the radio edit is comparatively laidback
for a dance track, Toby has also produced an Electroclash remix of the
original version, lacing it with a stronger dancefloor vibe, breezy
guitar interludes and a hint of warm, retro synthwash for added effect!
Read our August 2003 review of Toby's debut CD
here!
Recommended weblinks: www.tobymusic.net and www.myspace.com/tobymusic
