I don’t really have much to say about this week’s selection other than the fact that most of these songs will receive (or are receiving) decent airplay on a number of radio stations in Malta right now. The notable exception is Marty Rivers song, which is an excellent specimen of country music by a Maltese performer. What follows is a list of the tracks as they appear on the podcast with links to the respective M3P page for each singer; in some cases there’s very little or nothing at all on the M3P so feel free to add whatever you know or can as needed.
Three Stops To China – The Courtney Effect
3S2C are back, as I had hoped when I first featured them on an earlier edition of the MMI podcast, and they certainly don’t disappoint. They are clearly poised to be the next big act in the local rock scene. The video they have produced for this track is all the evidence anyone needs that they are here to stay…at least for quite a while.
Cable 35 – Cow Head
The launch of the new Cable35 album has been postponed to Tuesday 28 June at V-Gen. 3S2C will be the opening act on the night and although I’m sure they will do an excellent job at warming up the crowd, I’m sure that Cable 35 will blow the audience away on their own steam. I say this because the new material I’ve heard from the new album so far, including of course this new track and accompanying video, show that the trio is maturing faster than teenage war veterans. I’m very much looking forward to hearing the whole album and I’m sure it’s going to be one of the strongest releases from Malta this year.
Airport Impressions – Retro Star
Following on from their recent gig at the Tierp Arena in Sweden, Airport Impressions will be performing a full live electric gig at Numero Uno on Saturday 25 June. They will also be releasing this new single on that day and you can be sure that it will be played on most, if not all, radio stations in Malta throughout this summer.
Toby feat. Errol Sammut – Tomorrow
Just in case you haven’t had enough of Errol Sammut’s distinctive voice from the previous offering on this week’s podcast, you can catch the Airport Impressions singer again on this tune by Toby. It was originally released on 20 November 2010 but it has only been making the rounds more broadly on the local scene in the last couple of weeks. I didn’t manage to get my hands on it before Christmas, but I heard it on Nathan D’s Top 10 on Bay Radio and thought it was the appropriate time to hunt it down and share it with my podcast listeners.
Andrew Zammit – My Everything
I’m always thrilled when podcast listeners’, particularly musicians and singers, contact me to tell me about their most recent work. This is exactly how I got my hands on this new song by Andrew Zammit, with lyrics by Keith Zammit. This is the same team behind Petra’s delicious All I Need from Malta Eurosong 2010. It’s really good when musicians, composers, and lyricists produce material that’s not for a song contest because it shows that they’re more than one-trick ponies.
Walter Micallef – Ħażin
On Friday 3 June 2011, the second ‘You Rarely Hear This On The Radio!’ event organized by M3P took place at V-Gen. This song was beautifully covered by Duo Kukkanja, which at that point comprised Justin Galea (from PDM and BBB) and Steve “Id-Delli” Delia (from Brikkuni). As they played this song, it struck me that it’s quite a shame that this song is not one that Malta’s younger generations identify with. I have my own theories as to why it is so (the title of the event is a dead giveaway!) but I’m hoping that including it at the start of this week’s podcast will start the process of redressing this vacuum.
Stalko – In A Hurry
I went to watch this band live at the original Wirdien event in Mtarfa last year, but it rained buckets before they even got on stage and the gig was postponed. This is their first new release since then and I heard that they’re still drawing attention to themselves in good ways, most recently with an appearance at the legendary Cafe Riche in Cottonera, where Charles Clews was a regular two or three generations ago.
Richard Edwards – You’re Gonna Thank Me
The Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2011 brought Richard Edwards to public attention (and acclaim) in Malta, as he placed second with just a few points behind Glen Vella. I believe that if he had taken part in the contest with this song he would have very possibly ended up as this year’s entry from Malta in Düsseldorf. I’m not sure if it would have made it to the final, but that’s actually irrelevant now. This song shows that this singer is not going away any time soon, and you can bet good money on his return to Malta’s Eurovision selection in 2012.
Freddie Castelletti – Malta Ħanina
Aquarius and the Johnny Mick Band were two of the foremost Maltese bands in the 1970s, and Freddie Castelletti was one common thread between them. He returned in 2009 with a CD album of songs written by Alfred C. Sant. However, it’s only recently that I became aware of all this and only managed to hear tracks from this CD just a few days ago. The song I’ve chosen to include on this edition of the MMI podcast sounds wonderful to my ears, particularly because it captures various elements of popular Maltese songs from the last century.
Malta’s Lost Voices: Ġiużeppi Burlo’ & Orkestra Carabott – Rigal F’Banju
Listening to Freddie Castelletti and Walter Micallef as I prepared this edition of the MMI podcast, I thought it was essential (and about time) that I include something from Andrew Alamango’s outstanding double-CD production Malta’s Lost Voices 1931-32. It was also the mention of Big Band Brothers reinterpreting a number of songs from these original recordings at this weekend’s Għanafest that led me to pick this particular track. Justin Galea tells me that this song was particularly well received as an encore. Thankfully the show was also recorded for television by PBS, which still manages to capture some of the more significant moments of live music in Malta from time to time.
Funk Initiative – Paris
I’m always amazed when a new Maltese band introduces itself to the world with a music video. When it’s a video like the one Funk Initiative produced for Paris I also realize what a long way digital video production has come in the last 20 years. You really no longer need a record company behind you to get a decent recording and accompanying music video out. This particular band and track are no different from most other out on the market right now and they certainly deserve to be noticed by a larger audience than they’ve reached so far.
Muxu – Love You Right
The Maltese master of slick pop is back with what to my ears sounds like a relatively mature departure from his humble beginnings just a couple of years ago. Here’s someone who is clearly head and shoulders above the fray and all the wanna be pop stars that grace the Maltese islands believing that the Eurovision Song Contest is the ultimate in show business. Muxu continues to earn my respect as he has since the very first time I heard him telling us to beat his drum. Now, where’s that album? Or is that sort of thing too old fashioned now?
Jean Claude Vancell – Music Box
I’ve always liked the songs created by this young Maltese singer-songwriter. They hold a great promise that he sometimes manage to achieve all on his own. He returns after what seemed like a two or three year long hiatus with a song that’s so well-crafted that you can’t but feel you’ve already heard it plenty of other times after the very first listen. I hope he’s back to stay this time.
Crowns – Memories
I’m never sure whether bands use a definite article as part of their name when they produce a logo without one. In any case, this new Maltese pop rock band seems to be attracting lots of airplay right now. I’ve been wanting to play their debut song for about two weeks but for some reason it remained in my pending folder along with a bunch of other tracks I plan to include in upcoming editions of the MMI podcast. I don’t know much about this band but their instant popularity with certain types of Maltese radio stations makes me believe that we’ll be hearing much more from them in the coming months and years.
Pupi tal-Logħob – Hagi SAK They’ve gone through a number of line-up changes over the past 10 years but Malta’s best loved old-school punk pranksters are thankfully still around thanks to Kuzza. I saw them live at Rookie’s a couple of months ago and now I’m extremely pleased to include them as the opening act for M3P’s You Rarely Hear This On The Radio 2: La Maltija, which will also include Duo Kukkanja (that’s Steve id-Delli from Brikkuni and Justin Galea from Plato’s Dream Machine) as well as Ċikku l-Poplu in what should turn out to be a memorable evening at V-Gen in Paceville. This is just one of four live music events associated with the inaugural M3P conference, which will be taking place at St James Cavalier in Valletta on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th June 2011.
