Diska Cool għar-Radio

I didn't want to go another week without publishing another edition of my Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast. So because I knew I wouldn't actually be able to record this week's podcast today, I prepared one just for today before I left Scarborough last week.

Since the Eurovision Song Contest is on tonight, I figured I should do a podcast that references this crazy event without actually playing songs from the show, or almost. This week's podcast starts with a song from Maltese band 8 Ugly, who I discovered via MySpace. I play their song Your Eyes on the podcast, but they actually submitted another song, called Head in the Clouds for this year's selection of Malta's entry for the Eurovision. Do I need to add that they never made it through the prelimiary rounds of the Malta Song for Europe?

If there's a Maltese band I'd really like to see rock the Eurovision, that's most certainly Xtruppaw. They're in final preparations for the launch of their debut album on 2 June at the Luxol Sports Club in St. Andrew's. They've released a single for the album called Diska Cool għar-Radio. You can hear it on this week's podcast, of course. Please call your favourite Maltese radio station (on the off chance that you actually have one) and ask them to play the new single from Xtruppaw. One day my Eurovision dream may come true after all. More about that in a minute.

Eurovision dreams come and go. No one knows this more than Chris and Moira who first represented Malta at the annual contest in 1994, after appearing with William Mangion the previous year. Their low point has to the Times 3's 1999 performance in Israel. However, they've more than redemed themselves with people like me but putting together a band called Krave featuring Billy B on bass and former Brainstorm drummer Roberto Calleia. Listen to the title track Night to Day and see what you think.

I'd be totally amiss if I disregarded Fabrizio Faniello completely. No, I'm not playing one of his songs on my podcast, but I met him face-to-face a couple of times in Athens this week and I believe he's a genuinely level-headed, nice guy. What you'll hear on Mużika Mod Ieħor this week is Alvin Gee's remix for I Do, which makes the song acceptable to anyone who can take dance club music at any dose. Alvin Gee's other work is also accessible through MySpace and that's how and why this track ended up gracing this week's podcast.

As I write this, in the Eurovision Press Centre in Athens' Olympic Complex, the final contest hasn't started yet, so I have no idea if Lordi managed to do what I predicted and hoped they would do ten day ago. In any case, did you imagine that I could not include their Hard Rock Hallelujah on this week's Mużika Mod Ieħor. If you did, then I guess you're not one of the Lordi voters.

To vote for Lordi in Malta tonight call 5004-3217 (landline) or 5061-5517 (SMS).

Anyway, more later...but until then I should add that I'll be all over the place over this coming week, so my blogging may be erratic, but I promise you another cracking Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast next weekend.

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