The Only Way Is Up

I'm still in Malta for another couple of days. Scarborough beckons and not a minute too soon. I miss my monkey and my dog but for the first time in years Malta doesn't feel the same way it has to me since I left the country in the early 1990s. I wonder whether this feeling will linger on in the coming months. Perhaps it's because this visit has turned out to be quite different than ones in recent years.

Whatever it is, there are thankfully some things in life I know I can depend on. My weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast is one of them, even if I'm tempted to take a brief Easter break next week. To prepare myself for the brief rapture (although I seriously doubt that this is the right word to describe it) podcast number 106 is held together by divine intervention (and again I very much doubt that the proper term to describe it).

The Y4J Band appears to enjoy a strong following among the Maltese charismatic movement in the Pembroke/St. Julians area. In The House is the theme song used by the group in what can only be described as an excellent example of Christian branding. If you think Christian worship in Malta is too stuffy for your taste, just check out this band and the group they pray with.

Lest you think that I plan to simply play contemporary Christian music during this week's podcast, I should mention that there's always more than one predominant perspective I'm (more than) happy to take into consideration whenever looking at anything. About 35 years ago, Maltese rock legend Freddie Portelli released what to my mind is the most outstanding devotional song to emerge from Malta in my lifetime. Mulej remains an amazing testament of the singer's spiritual side and it has hardly dated after all these years. He recently released a new CD album entitled Viva it-Tewmin. Although this album has an unlikely title, it contains what can be considered a follow-up to Mulej called Nitolbok Illum. While it bears the hallmark of all the best laid-back tunes in the Freddie Portelli songbook (including a spoken interlude and some delightful whistling) only time will really tell if this new song will become as memorable as Mulej.

Chris D'Alfonso is undoubtedly one of the brightest star of Maltese Christian rock. Broken, on the tracks from his 2006 album Blueprint was recent voted the top song for Eucharistic adoration on the Top Catholic Songs website. The available of Blueprints on iTunes has certainly contributed to this accolade. Well done Chris!

The contemporary Maltese Christian music scene is growing at a steady pace. Footprints and Quicksand are two new Christians bands currently gracing the local scene. The final two track for this week's podcast from these two bands. The first offering is Footprints' debut song I Need You, followed by Quicksand's Silence. Although the latter is a pleasant instrumental track, the band has also just released a song called Hu Magħna Llum, specially made for the Maltese World Youth Day 2008 and selected as the theme song for the upcoming Maltese Pentecost celebrations.

That's probably as far as the series will go before Easter. As I return home to Scarborough in the coming days, I know I'll be wading through a mountain of chores that have accumulated in my absence. This coupled with the sacred idea that rest is an essential part of life, it's most probable that the next MMI podcast will appear during the weekend after Easter. In spite of this, I promise to post non-podcast-related blog entry before then.

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