New York Minute

My last podcast for 2005 appeared online a few hours ago. Since I'm now in New York again I thought it would be a fun idea to have a special edition of the podcast. So I've selected tracks that in some way or other have a link with New York. This week's podcast features four different styles of music and in some ways that's also indicative of the vast array of genres of music associated with this great city.

New York 6pm is the title of the first piece I selected for this week's podcast. It comes from a recording made recently in Paris, France. A smooth-sounding fusion of cool jazz and hip-hop is an inaccurate way to describe the sound of the Julien Daïan Quintet featuring DJ Borz. The Maltese connection here comes in the form of Oliver Degabriele on double bass. Oliver writes a fascinating blog in Maltese too, and through it you can download several other tracks from the Julien Daïan Quintet. Not exactly Christmas music, but than again the festive season will be over soon enough.

The first cover version I've ever played on this series of podcasts comes from The Boys. Their version of the Bee Gee's New York Mining Disaster is quite an interesting variation on the original. It has hints of the band's final days in the early 1970s before The Boys became Cinnamon Hades. Although there's a saccharine tinge to this song from The Boys (recorded during a brief comeback a couple of years ago) it easy to hear what the earliest rock bands in Malta sounded like some 35+ years ago.

I could not produce a special New York podcast in this series and not feature Benna. This Maltese-American singer/songwriter is sadly not known as much as she should be in Malta. She has already released three CD albums and anyone who appreciates her style of music will soon become a fan. Not exactly music for the masses, but still quite pleasant and a must-hear for any fan of Maltese music.

The final tune for this week's podcast comes from an act that has no connection with Malta other than the fact that I'm a fan. People who know me often asked me, "so what are you listening to these days?" One clear answer to this question in recent months is Queen V, at least in terms of the alternative New York scene. An official press release describes the sound of Queen V like this: "It's as if Joan Jett revamped her band, got a little more aggressive with her vocals, obtained an even tougher attitude and took a militant lyrical style from Pat Benatar. Mix that up with some funk, swish it around with some pure rock guitar licks and a dash of punchy drum tracks, and you have the first full-length album from New York-based rockers Queen V." And it's actually quite an accurate description.

This special podcast from New York is the last one I'll be producing for 2005. The series will return in the first week of 2006. MaltaMedia will present a two-part Christmas podcast between now and then. An interesting recording of traditional għana produced by Ġorġ Mifsud Kirkop.

The RSS feed for the podcast is available here or you can simply click here to subscribe directly with iTunes. You can also add the lastest episodes to your My Yahoo! page.