When Butterflies Leave

Now that the Mużika Mod Ieħor series is on its second year, there's a slight change in the way each podcast opens. Change is good. It shows that something is alive.

Maltese rock fans were delighted to see Krokus finally play live in Malta this weekend. I couldn't let this historical event pass without a mention. I played something off Hellraiser, the new album, when it came out, so I was keen to pick something different this time. An unplugged version of Screaming in the Night does the job beautifully. Thanks to Kenneth Hall for pointing it out to me on YouTube via MySpace.

Marc Storace is undoubtedly the most successful Maltese rock musician based overseas since the 1970s. Still, he's not the only internationally acclaimed Maltese rocker who has been active for more than three decades. Joe Camilleri may not be as well-known as Storace outside of Australia but he's certainly just as prolific. His band The Black Sorrows have recently returned with a new album called Roarin' Town. Joe Camilleri appeared on this series a couple of months ago with fellow Maltese-Australian artist Bomba. Now you can hear him with his own band on a song called Lonesome Road.

Hellraiser and Roarin' Town are among the 2006 releases you can vote for on the Mużika Mod Ieħor poll, in the overseas-based artist releases category. The voting started last week and it will continue until the end of the year. The other categories are: Maltese Album, Single/EP, and Internet Release for 2006. You can vote for one title from each category, so you can vote up to four times, as long as you pick titles from each of the lists. Your top picks will be announced on my first podcast 2007.

Andre Camilleri is among the Maltese overseas-based artists on the poll. This is because his new band has just released its debut album. The Andre Camilleri Band seems to give the singer the edge he's been looking for for quite some time. You can hear one of his solo songs on an earlier edition in this series but now you can listen to a track from his band's new album entitled Long Black Train. If you like it you can vote for it among your picks for 2006.

Since this week's podcast turned out as a showcase for overseas-based Maltese artists, I thought it would be fitting to end with something by someone who can be classified in this category. John Galea was born and raised in Norfolk. He is a young singer-songwriter who is currently gigging in London. I came across his music on MySpace not too long ago and I picked his song I'm Not an Angel to introduce him to people who may not have heard him yet. He may not be an angel, but he's no devil either.

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