2007: Maltese Music
by Toni Sant, MaltaMedia's Creative Director
2007 may be remembered as a sad year for music in Malta, but there were still a couple of silver linings on the lingering clouds. The early demise of folklorist Ġorġ Mifsud-Chircop means that Malta has lost a very important figure in the preservation and popularization of traditional Maltese singing known as għana. Naasha's Events Lounge in San Gwann, arguably the most impressive of alternative music clubs to appear on the Maltese islands in recent memory closed down.
To brighten things up the alternative scene saw reunions for The Characters and Norm Rejection, along with several new albums, including the extraordinary Kakofonija by Danjeli. Concert goers had a glut of local shows. The less adventurous were rewarded with great gigs by Bryan Adams, Robert Plant, Marc Almond, Maroon 5, Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Marco Masini and Claudio Baglioni. Everyone else followed the spectacular disappointment for Malta's entry to the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, which didn't even manage to make it to the final round.
The steady stream of new albums continued from the previous year. Many of these albums are follow-ups to previous releases. Scream Daisy and Ira Losco dominated the local radio waves with tracks from their respective albums, along with Winter Moods who capitalized on their success from the previous year throughout 2007. Niki Gravino's Politics of Double Beds and Chasing Pandora's Mocking the Mocking Bird were the eagerly awaited album releases following each of their earlier EP releases.
The most outstanding debut albums included Peklectrick's Reclaiming Space from former Dripht guitarist Patrick Galea, Demis' Ethereal Travel from former Sidereal guitarist Demis Fenech, and ...Only The Beginning by Different Strings the one-man-band project by Chris Mallia. While Marc Galea's delightful My Journey rewarded Grimaud's fans with a splendid cover of the Hendrix classic Voodoo Chile, Ozzy Lino became Jewls Verse and released the outstanding album Taking It Easy on the 7th of July. Fans of harder rock were undoubtedly delighted with albums like Arachnid's Compelled to Destroy, Prayer of the Dying's Transmissions from the Chtonic Depths, Stillborn's Thy Feeble Soul, Recoil's The Great Divide, Thy Legion's Proclaimer of Chaos, and Subculture's Resist the Abuse. The foremost Maltese Christian music albums for 2007 include Fr Karm Debattista's Agħmillni Bħalek and Robert Galea's What a Day.
While there are a couple of other Maltese albums released this year that I like enough to consider as my personal top picks for the year, Danjeli's new album Kakofonija tops my personal chart for 2007, ahead of any other album by a mile. This is what new Maltese music sounds like now. Iż-Żufjett and Il-Festa tar-Raħal are simply blinding tracks. I never thought I'd hear anything like this from a Maltese musician. What's equally amazing is that the whole album is available as a free download from Pinkpube.com.
Singles and EPs were plentiful in 2007. Releases ranged from The Rifffs' Jack the Ripper and Monday Morning to Loathe's EP Darkest Night of the Soul. NV returned with Out of Love while The Characters titillated their fans with So Alive and One in a Million. Bitterside's Start Again received plenty of radio air time, but Drive's debut In Your Eyes didn't, even though it greatly deserved it. Other singles that received some airplay include Fade Away from The Monitors, RedThe New Harmonics, Mindstate's My Adrenaline, Stoned Joker's Alone, Thea Saliba's Bring It Up, Thomas Hedley's Just Your Picture On My Mind, and Carrie's Flooded Roads, which was Malta's entry on the web-based Eurovirtual Song Contest.
Kristina Casolani & Toby dominated the club scene, while other R&B, dance and electronica releases included Brian James' Micromekanik EP, Marilyn Mifsud's Evicted, Sixth Simfoni's Breakthru (featuring Rachel Fabri), and Dot's Aleagramma. I was very please to see Xtruppaw back on the scene after last year's outstanding debut album release, as I'm sure were their legion of fans. Their new football anthem Forza Malta (B’Ghajta Wahda) is not exactly what you'd expect from the Xtrupps, but as the Maltese saying goes fid-dezert kull ilma jaqta' l-għatx, or something like that.
MySpace continued to be the best place to find Internet releases from Maltese musicians in 2006. I was pleased to hear tracks form Club Murder, Franco Tartaglia, Jean Claude Vancell Sylvan Borg, Areola Treat, Skimmed, Mind's Eye Dub and Vinnie Vintage. Dean Saviour was stand-out Maltese act from MySpace for 2007. While playing guitar with Salt he also released some solo tracks on MySpace and collaborated with Jay Omaro on My World.
YouTube became a new outlet for Maltese music videos in 2007. Scream Daisy's Pretty and Winter Mood's Marigold received plenty of mainstream coverage, but alternative videos for songs by Uncharted, Arachnid and the Winona Riders. Also notable was the Virtual Rockstar context by Malta's XFM, which provided YouTube videos by Beige, Eliza Borg, and the delightful Deckchair Gurus. The contest was won by Ann De Gaetano under the name Slur, with the song Back To You. Also most welcome were live videos from Fakawi and White Crimson.
As far as Maltese artists based abroad, 2007 was a remarkably more active year than any in recent memory. This is supplemented by foreign acts that have (apparently permanently) moved to Malta. The first of these is Aaron Benjamin from Brighton who released his debut single In My Head on the 1st of August. Crimean rapper Dimal is another foreigner who has made his presence felt on the local scene. Mathematikal have become a force to reckon with on the local scene, even though they are official based abroad. Aside from Mario Cordina (Ambulanza, Cordin Sky, etc.) who remains active in Poland and Aidan Zammit (Italy), other Maltese acts based abroad active in 2007 included Bomba, Carra, Renee Cassar, Andre' Camilleri & the Broken Hearts and David Agius (in Australia) and Fraser Gregory, South Central, The Starbrights, Charlie Calleja, John Galea, Muttley, and Caligula (in the UK) Meanwhile, jon lukas/WOODENMAN's Fade Away made it to number 6 on a Spanish radio station.
The most outstanding Maltese overseas release from where I stand is Skorba's Temples of Devotion, a debut album from an Australian band featuring at least two musicians of Maltese descent: Andy Busuttil and Angela Grima. Also in Australia, Manuel Casha's Tifkira is a fitting tribute to Frans Baldacchino "il-Budaj".
In what can only be called a parallel universe to all this there's a phenomenon called the Eurovision Song Contest. Inexplicably deluded by illusions of grandeur, the Maltese pop music scene is dominated by this event.
Being a keen observer of all things that shape the Maltese cultural identity I following the Eurovision Song Contest quite closely. In May 2007 we went to Helsinki to see Olivia Lewis attempt to bring Malta back to the finals after last year's abysmal result by Fabrizio Faniello. Malta's hopes and dreams fell victim to the complex voting system and a stoke of serious bad luck. Serbia and the Ukraine duked it out on the final night, which was the first without a Maltese entry since 1991. As I've always been a fan of Olivia, I was hoping she would do well. Now my hope is that the terrible nightmare she lived through will help he purge the Eurovision from her system and focus on what she does best.
My weekly podcasting series Mużika Mod Ieħor continued without interruption throughout 2007. The 100th edition will appear within the first few weeks of 2008. The podcast is a great way to keep abreast of the Maltese music scene, even if my personal taste sometimes plays into the selection of what's featured on the series.
by Toni Sant, MaltaMedia's Creative Director
2007 may be remembered as a sad year for music in Malta, but there were still a couple of silver linings on the lingering clouds. The early demise of folklorist Ġorġ Mifsud-Chircop means that Malta has lost a very important figure in the preservation and popularization of traditional Maltese singing known as għana. Naasha's Events Lounge in San Gwann, arguably the most impressive of alternative music clubs to appear on the Maltese islands in recent memory closed down.
To brighten things up the alternative scene saw reunions for The Characters and Norm Rejection, along with several new albums, including the extraordinary Kakofonija by Danjeli. Concert goers had a glut of local shows. The less adventurous were rewarded with great gigs by Bryan Adams, Robert Plant, Marc Almond, Maroon 5, Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Marco Masini and Claudio Baglioni. Everyone else followed the spectacular disappointment for Malta's entry to the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, which didn't even manage to make it to the final round.The steady stream of new albums continued from the previous year. Many of these albums are follow-ups to previous releases. Scream Daisy and Ira Losco dominated the local radio waves with tracks from their respective albums, along with Winter Moods who capitalized on their success from the previous year throughout 2007. Niki Gravino's Politics of Double Beds and Chasing Pandora's Mocking the Mocking Bird were the eagerly awaited album releases following each of their earlier EP releases.
The most outstanding debut albums included Peklectrick's Reclaiming Space from former Dripht guitarist Patrick Galea, Demis' Ethereal Travel from former Sidereal guitarist Demis Fenech, and ...Only The Beginning by Different Strings the one-man-band project by Chris Mallia. While Marc Galea's delightful My Journey rewarded Grimaud's fans with a splendid cover of the Hendrix classic Voodoo Chile, Ozzy Lino became Jewls Verse and released the outstanding album Taking It Easy on the 7th of July. Fans of harder rock were undoubtedly delighted with albums like Arachnid's Compelled to Destroy, Prayer of the Dying's Transmissions from the Chtonic Depths, Stillborn's Thy Feeble Soul, Recoil's The Great Divide, Thy Legion's Proclaimer of Chaos, and Subculture's Resist the Abuse. The foremost Maltese Christian music albums for 2007 include Fr Karm Debattista's Agħmillni Bħalek and Robert Galea's What a Day.
While there are a couple of other Maltese albums released this year that I like enough to consider as my personal top picks for the year, Danjeli's new album Kakofonija tops my personal chart for 2007, ahead of any other album by a mile. This is what new Maltese music sounds like now. Iż-Żufjett and Il-Festa tar-Raħal are simply blinding tracks. I never thought I'd hear anything like this from a Maltese musician. What's equally amazing is that the whole album is available as a free download from Pinkpube.com.
Singles and EPs were plentiful in 2007. Releases ranged from The Rifffs' Jack the Ripper and Monday Morning to Loathe's EP Darkest Night of the Soul. NV returned with Out of Love while The Characters titillated their fans with So Alive and One in a Million. Bitterside's Start Again received plenty of radio air time, but Drive's debut In Your Eyes didn't, even though it greatly deserved it. Other singles that received some airplay include Fade Away from The Monitors, RedThe New Harmonics, Mindstate's My Adrenaline, Stoned Joker's Alone, Thea Saliba's Bring It Up, Thomas Hedley's Just Your Picture On My Mind, and Carrie's Flooded Roads, which was Malta's entry on the web-based Eurovirtual Song Contest.
Kristina Casolani & Toby dominated the club scene, while other R&B, dance and electronica releases included Brian James' Micromekanik EP, Marilyn Mifsud's Evicted, Sixth Simfoni's Breakthru (featuring Rachel Fabri), and Dot's Aleagramma. I was very please to see Xtruppaw back on the scene after last year's outstanding debut album release, as I'm sure were their legion of fans. Their new football anthem Forza Malta (B’Ghajta Wahda) is not exactly what you'd expect from the Xtrupps, but as the Maltese saying goes fid-dezert kull ilma jaqta' l-għatx, or something like that.MySpace continued to be the best place to find Internet releases from Maltese musicians in 2006. I was pleased to hear tracks form Club Murder, Franco Tartaglia, Jean Claude Vancell Sylvan Borg, Areola Treat, Skimmed, Mind's Eye Dub and Vinnie Vintage. Dean Saviour was stand-out Maltese act from MySpace for 2007. While playing guitar with Salt he also released some solo tracks on MySpace and collaborated with Jay Omaro on My World.
YouTube became a new outlet for Maltese music videos in 2007. Scream Daisy's Pretty and Winter Mood's Marigold received plenty of mainstream coverage, but alternative videos for songs by Uncharted, Arachnid and the Winona Riders. Also notable was the Virtual Rockstar context by Malta's XFM, which provided YouTube videos by Beige, Eliza Borg, and the delightful Deckchair Gurus. The contest was won by Ann De Gaetano under the name Slur, with the song Back To You. Also most welcome were live videos from Fakawi and White Crimson.
As far as Maltese artists based abroad, 2007 was a remarkably more active year than any in recent memory. This is supplemented by foreign acts that have (apparently permanently) moved to Malta. The first of these is Aaron Benjamin from Brighton who released his debut single In My Head on the 1st of August. Crimean rapper Dimal is another foreigner who has made his presence felt on the local scene. Mathematikal have become a force to reckon with on the local scene, even though they are official based abroad. Aside from Mario Cordina (Ambulanza, Cordin Sky, etc.) who remains active in Poland and Aidan Zammit (Italy), other Maltese acts based abroad active in 2007 included Bomba, Carra, Renee Cassar, Andre' Camilleri & the Broken Hearts and David Agius (in Australia) and Fraser Gregory, South Central, The Starbrights, Charlie Calleja, John Galea, Muttley, and Caligula (in the UK) Meanwhile, jon lukas/WOODENMAN's Fade Away made it to number 6 on a Spanish radio station.
The most outstanding Maltese overseas release from where I stand is Skorba's Temples of Devotion, a debut album from an Australian band featuring at least two musicians of Maltese descent: Andy Busuttil and Angela Grima. Also in Australia, Manuel Casha's Tifkira is a fitting tribute to Frans Baldacchino "il-Budaj".
In what can only be called a parallel universe to all this there's a phenomenon called the Eurovision Song Contest. Inexplicably deluded by illusions of grandeur, the Maltese pop music scene is dominated by this event.
Being a keen observer of all things that shape the Maltese cultural identity I following the Eurovision Song Contest quite closely. In May 2007 we went to Helsinki to see Olivia Lewis attempt to bring Malta back to the finals after last year's abysmal result by Fabrizio Faniello. Malta's hopes and dreams fell victim to the complex voting system and a stoke of serious bad luck. Serbia and the Ukraine duked it out on the final night, which was the first without a Maltese entry since 1991. As I've always been a fan of Olivia, I was hoping she would do well. Now my hope is that the terrible nightmare she lived through will help he purge the Eurovision from her system and focus on what she does best.My weekly podcasting series Mużika Mod Ieħor continued without interruption throughout 2007. The 100th edition will appear within the first few weeks of 2008. The podcast is a great way to keep abreast of the Maltese music scene, even if my personal taste sometimes plays into the selection of what's featured on the series.