Black Hole Sun

Yesterday I got back from being on the road for almost a whole week. After a couple of days in Bournemouth for the inaugural Media Education Summit I spent three days in Leeds for the 4th Theatre and Performance Research Association annual conference. Such events are excellent opportunities for academic networking. Add to this several high quality presentations and you have yourself a great recipe for professional rejuvenation, just in time before the start of a new academic year.

Now that I'm back in Scarborough I know I'm home because I can easily slip into the production of the 130th edition of my weekly Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast. I cherish this weekly appointment with my listeners as I discover more new music from Malta.

HeartBeat and Footprints are two Maltese christian rock bands who have just released debut singles. HeartBeat is quite new on the scene but Footprints have already appeared on a previous edition of the MMI podcast. I particularly like the vocal combination on HeartBeat's Someway Someday between Dorienne Cachia, Bernard Bonnici, and Allen Gatt. The southern town of Żejtun has been know for its singers for many decades. Footprints' Red Line is a promising debut release, which has also appeared on the recently released CD compilation Malta Rocks, sponsored by the Malta Tourism Authority.

I haven't acquired a copy of the Malta Rocks CD but I do have a copy of another compilation CD released in Malta this year. Last week I played a track from Stagedive's Alternative Sounds From Malta Vol 1. This week I'm playing another track from it. It's pleasure to bring back to the MMI podcast the music and voice of Adolf Formosa. Does She Dream is the song by Adolf on the Stagedive CD and it is a great track to introduce this singer-songwriter to anyone who hasn't been lucky enough to hear him before.

Although I've never really been a huge fan of dance music I appreciate good music regardless of genre. The Vagabond Project's Time of Your Life shares it's title with Green Day's anthemic Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)...but there's where the similarity ends. Gavin Borg has produced an excellent dance number which is also a strong pop tune. I've always known that Gavin's sister Coryse has a solid singing voice but this recording shows her vocal prowess in full force. Comparisons can be odious but for me this new release by The Vagabond Project feat. Cor is up there with the best of the recent stuff released by Madonna. In another time in another place it would achieve the same kind of acclaim. As far as I'm concerned, it certainly deserves it.

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