The 4th edition of Xirka Rock - Stairway to Xmas is going to be held at Sky Club in Paceville on Friday 16th December at 9.30pm. Xirka Rock brings together Maltese men and women of all ages and description who love rock in all its forms. From classic to pop rock, from unplugged to reggae, from soft to heavy rock, from rock & roll to progressive rock. And beyond. Xirka Rock is a network set up to exchange views and opinions and to make it easier for promoters to organise and market rock concerts.

At the heart of Xirka Rock is the idea that through facebook, its members have a direct say in how it works and what it does. Tickets for this event cost just 5 Euros (pre-booked) or 7 Euros at the door. Pre-Booked tickets can be purchased from Ministry of Music Birkirkara or from Malta Ticket. Line up for Xirka Rock’s upcoming event includes : Errol Sammut (), Matthew James Borg (), , , Frank Calleja (Beheaded and Slit), Leo Stivala (Forsaken), , , Kenneth Calleja (), Chris Grech (26 Other Worlds), Jotham Saliba () and many more guest musicians. So make sure to be there to enjoy a great ‘rock’ night out!

Source: Press Release

The 8th edition of the 89.7 Bay Music Awards preparations are in full swing now, with the event set to take place on Monday 12th December, eve of a public holiday. The Bay Arena will be the venue for the show, whilst this year’s hosts are the ‘breakfast’ man, Drew, Drive time’s Nathan and the station’s newest addition, Ben Glover. This year’s slogan “Are you ready to SCREAM” highlights Bay’s continuous commitment to providing the best show possible, with this year’s edition promising to be ‘simply the best’!

Plenty of surprises are in store during the event and also leading up to it; ESCFlashmalta will surely keep you updated throughout the coming weeks. In the meantime, during last Tuesday’s press conference, all nominations were officially presented. Each category has 5 nominations and a respective sms voting number. Here are the nominations:

Best Newcomer

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

SMS Number to vote: 50 615 301

Best Dance Tune or Remix

1.

2.

3.

4. Alvin Gee & Wayne Micallef – ‘Hold on to Me’

5.

SMS Number to vote: 50 615 302

Best Band

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

SMS Number to vote: 50 615 303

Best Solo Artist

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

SMS Number to vote: 50 615 304

Best Song

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. Ivan Filletti – ‘Sticks and Stones’

SMS Number to vote: 50 615 305

Source: Bay Radio

Here are we once again to update you, fellow local scene followers, updating you with this weeks’ top hits from the Maltese islands! Nathan D continues to count down the local hits on his show through Bay Radio on Saturday afternoon between 13:30 and 14:30.

Fellowfish’s ‘All the way madness’ seems to be making its way to the top 10 positions of the chart. A mellow song, good lyrics, and magnificient blend of voices. A top favourite indeed and I guess it can make it in the top 10 by next week. Just the perfect song to listen to after a hectic day at work. Great work Fellowfish! Another listen to Jean-Claude’s ‘April Symphony’ this week, which unfortunately lacks to make it to the top positions of the chart, underlying the fact that’s it’s been three weeks in a row since this song has been played on Maltese radios. It’s a simple song, which lyrics blend perfectly with the simple ‘symphony’.

A new single this week from the playlist, from Mathematikal. ‘’ from their new work; Nightbreakers. “It’s the title they choose as most appropriate for a new 5-track EP. It denotes the severely broken sleep patterns, the drawing inspiration from the darkest hours of night, and the striking a balance between feeling cosmopolitan and living in the middle of nowhere. It incorporates the mandatory nods of acknowledgement to funky melancholia, the persistence in treating synths and guitars as equally powerful riff-machines, and the vocal lines from outerspace”

New entry, ‘’, sung by Cheess and Vandroo, has reached position number #10 this week after being quite popular in the last weeks. It has a very clubby sound, which seems to be popular with the Maltese and maybe one of the last club hits this year. Another new entry this week at position number #9 is ‘’ sung by Nosnow/Noalps. They have just been awarded ‘Best Image’ award and ‘Best CD Sleve’ at the recent Malta Music Awards and they are also nominated for ‘Best Band’ award for next week’s Bay Music Awards. Their single strucks you immediately and I hope that this song rises even more in the chart in the coming last weeks of the year.

New entry three weeks ago, the best male artist of the 2011 Malta Music Awards in the form of Aaron Benjamin, whose track entitled 'Let's Dance', makes its mark at position number #8, going down two positions. And here’s my current favourite song; The group Funk Initiative, who have changed their style completely with their second track entitled '', have gone up another position this week and it seems that the Maltese are enjoying this kind of twisted classical musical with that modern touch. This week, position number #7 is all theirs! A band who is nominated for the Best Band award in this year’s BMA’s. Three Stops to China with their latest track '', have dropped down position number #6, after two weeks enjoying the top position and last week’s position number #3.

Talitha & Jesper Ejrup have managed to rise to position number #5 this week after entering the chart last week at position number #8 with the single “”. A catchy song with simple lyrics. Perhaps it can have an instant drop-down if the entries of this week rise or far more, if new entries reach the chart. We’ll wait and see. Red Electrick in collaboration with Ray Mercieca of the group ‘The Riffs’, have continued to rise in this weeks’ chart, making it to position number #4 with a track which bears the name ''. This rock song was a new entry three weeks ago. One should point out that Red Electrick are nominees for Best Band and their song ‘Elusive’ is also amongst the nominees for Best Song in the upcoming Bay Music Awards. Great rock song indeed!

Corina ft. Toby with the track '', which has been in the chart for quite some time, has gone down one position this week. ‘Someone New’ is in position number #3. Two weeks’ ago only new entry, which was already enjoying position number #9 goes up another three astonishing positions and this week occupies position number #2. ‘Reach out’, sung by Lindsay Pace, in collaboration with Toby is Bay’s official song for this festive season, dedicated to ‘Bay Kids’, especially putting forward the importance to aid others during these particular days of the year. Lindsay is nominated in this year’s Bay Music Awards for the Best Solo Artist and also for the Best Song (with her song ‘Lovesick). The Bay Music Awards will this year be held on the 12th December, eve of a public holiday.

Having come into the chart four weeks ago, the group Dolls for Idols manage to keep position number #1 with their new track '', after being in position number #4 two weeks ago and position number #2 two weeks ago. They are Best New Comer nominees in this year’s BMA’s.

Bridget Bone and Of the Owl have lacked to keep their respective positions and were replaced by the new entries this week. Will they make a return or will the new ‘listen-to’s’ make their way up the playlist? So stay tuned to ESCflashmalta for the latest updates in Malta’s top 10 chart and also regarding new hits from the Maltese scene.

Source: Bay Radio