Back to Black

Things are now back to normal, sort of. Normal is a funny word but it's also how I feel now that I've finally shaken off my recent visit to Malta almost completely. Just in time for my upcoming trip to Finland. More about that in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile it's back to another edition of Mużika Mod Ieħor.

Maltese-Australian singer-songwriter Luke Caruana, better known as Carra, has a new album coming out on Monday called Be Yourself. The bluesy title track opens this week's podcast. Be Yourself sounds like an adequate follow-up to his debut EP Travelling Solo, released last year. A track from that EP appeared on an earlier podcast last November, when I was marking the one year anniversary of this series.

I haven't done a catching-up podcast in a while. There's been at least one band whose music I've been wanting to include for several months. That band is Momento Nostri and their album Decimation at the Gates: The Battle of Santa Margerita sounds like a very interesting concept album based on the 1565 Ottoman siege on Malta with a Metal and Medieval aura. I haven't actually heard the whole album because I don't know that it's available, but the band has a fairly informative website about the project. Interestingly, actor Manuel Cauchi does the narration on the one track I play on this week's podcast. I'd really love to hear more of this.

The same goes for another band that sounds quite delightful but hasn't really clearly released an album. Breathe is a symphonic rock combo a la early 1970s Pink Floyd. The track Lost in Thought could very well be a discarded Floyd outtake but it also shows that this band has a keen ear for this style of music. Pleasant listening indeed, if you're into this sort of sound.

Since the Music Festival at Simon's Pub in Sliema is now in its 9th year, I felt it was most appropriate to include a mention for it on this week's podcast. The 2007 event takes place between Friday 27th and Sunday 29th April and promises a stellar line-up that's almost a who's who of the Maltese rock scene. German band Age of Orange are also scheduled to play at Simon's Pub this weekend, so I've chosen one of their songs, Caught in Thoughts, to end this week's podcast.

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