Hot Stuff

Show notes for the 345th Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast featuring music by performers from or in Malta:

XtruppawIl-Biskuttel
In case you missed it: Xtruppaw have launched their long-awaited second album a few weeks ago. Xtruppożitorju has been well-received by old and new fans alike, particularly those lucky enough to catch the band live at the launch concert or during their show at this year’s beer festival at Ta’ Qali. This song is one I know I’d be playing every single morning every day for some time to come, had I still been presenting a radio breakfast show, as I did for about three years more than 20 years ago.

Joe RoscoeSide By Side
This new song from Joe Roscoe is rhythmically reminiscent of Xturppaw’s Ġenerażżjoni ta’ Meqrudin…but that’s where the similarities end. As you can see for yourselves from the promotional video below, this song is a very worthy follow up to Roscoe’s debut from a few months ago. I’m sure this will be picked up by a number of local radio stations, but I genuinely believe that he deserves to be heard even more broadly than that.

Lauren AquilinaSinners
Teenage sensation Lauren Aquilina is among the most social media savvy recording artists I’ve ever come across. It is therefore quite fitting that this song has been picked as the Single of the Week on iTunes in the UK. The eponymous EP, her second after the debut Fools from last year, is also doing well on iTunes in Malta, where it’s at the top of the download chart, ahead of her appearance at the same beer festival I mentioned earlier in relation to Xtruppaw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knzu1g-S0fI

Mauro Kitcher feat. AngieWhiskey Lullaby
Regular listeners of the MMI podcast know that I normally shy away from cover versions. There are some notable exception to this, of course. This country song was fairly popular when it was first recording by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss in 2004. I don’t think I’ve every played anything from Mauro Kitcher on a previous edition of the MMI podcast, but his collaboration with Angie was a must play for me. The main reason for this is that aside from having a truly wonderful voice, Angie is also an old personal friend; back in the 1980s she supported Artwork, the pop rock band I played with, as hair stylist. I’d love to hear her record more songs. Her beautify voice is something I’d dare say she’s inherited from her mother, who was a well-known pop singer in the 1960s.

Voodoo GurusBei Mir Bistu Shein
To Me You’re Beautiful is the rough translation of the old Yiddish song title from the musical I Would If I Could. Many well known recording artists have included this song in their repertoire since the 1930s, so it’s quite a pleasure to see this Gozo-based band record it too. You can probably catch them at one of their gigs at Żeppi’s Bar in Qala or somewhere else in Gozo. Sarah Hague’s voice pulls the band together beautifully but the band is quite tight and performs all the songs they play with relish and gusto.

The RSS feed for the Mużika Mod Ieħor podcast is available here or you can simply click here to subscribe directly with iTunes. You can also follow each new episode through the MMI Podcast: Facebook Fan Page or on MySpace. If you have no idea what any of this means, just enjoy listening to the podcast on the player right below this text.

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