Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1281593
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 AUGUST 2020 11 The grey plover (M. pluviera griza) is one of our less common visitors, turning up in small numbers during spring and autumn migrations. They usually stop for short stints on their marathon journeys north to the arctic tundra to breed, or south to tropical Africa, where many spend the winter. Others, especially males, skip the terrible Sahara crossing and do their winter stint in lands around the Mediterranean. Some try to do this in Malta but the grey plover is on the official hunting hitlist, so any grey plover stopping here for the winter generally also stops for good. As the name suggests, grey plovers are not particularly colourful but despite the monochrome palette they still sport an eye-catching pattern, as did the one that turned up at Ghadira nature reserve some days ago. Here's hoping it resumed its journey safely. Text: Victor Falzon Photo: Aron Tanti 725. GREY PLOVER Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 618 Try our delicious meat free recipes: http://foemalta.org/recipes Go Meatless this Monday Tomorrow, let's do Meatless Monday! It's a good start to have a healthier life and to protect animals. Eat more vegetarian/vegan dishes. Instead of meat, use other protein sources such as legumes like beans, chickpeas, lentils or soy. Go local and support Maltese farmers and if not available try the next best option of sourcing from regional and the EU for alternatives. If you don't know where to buy your fresh local veggies from, check out the Malta Farm Map on our website. https://foemalta.org/maltafarmmap/ Alexandra Alden and Jim Hickey team up to Remix 'Pilgrim' FOLK singer and X-Factor Malta judge Alexandra Alden has joined forces with Mal- tese-American music producer Jim Hickey to remix her most recent single, 'Pilgrim'. The collaboration began while Alden and Hickey were in lockdown in the Neth- erlands and Germany, re- spectively, and is a first for the singer-songwriter as it gives her music a more par- ty-friendly vibe. To Alden's 'Pilgrim', which is a song that explores the jour- ney a person takes towards finding enlightenment, be it spiritual or physical, Hick- ey has added more up-beat rhythms that work incredi- bly well with Alden's voice. The looser, more organic feel gives the song pulsing, swirl- ing synths that move around Alden's yearning vocal perfor- mance, while retaining all the power of the original, particu- larly that of its lyrics. "I've wanted to hear my mu- sic in a different way for a long time," Alden explains. "That is why I'd been looking for someone to do remixes with. The moment I heard Jim's lat- est song, 'Love in Rewind', I knew we had to collaborate." Hickey, who is based in Ber- lin and has worked on music by Australia's Joshua Teicher, as well as German bands FINN and AKA AKA, was only too happy to oblige: "Alex's voice and musicmaking techniques are incredible. Indeed, the re- mix just literally poured out of me the moment I sat down to work on it." The duo also worked on a music video to accompany the new electronic remix of 'Pil- grim'. Filmed in the Netherlands by emerging visual artist Julia van der Molen, the music vid- eo features Alden on a half-so- ber, half-drowsed journey through Rotterdam, where she has been living for the past few years. "We used the UNESCO World Heritage site of Van Nelle Fabriek [Van Nelle Factory], which has been de- scribed as a 'poem in steel and glass' and is a place that is close to my heart," Alden says. "We wanted to create a con- trast between the cold, rig- id lines of the factory space and that of the fading light in the dunes, as I simultane- ously wake up in these two completely different places. As these worlds intertwine throughout the video, they suggest the possibility of the existence of multiple realities, or perhaps, of dreams and re- alities merging into one, so that the song and the journey of the pilgrim is the one thing that binds them together." 'Pilgrim (Jim Hickey Remix)' is now out on all international streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music and Am- azon Music, while the official video can be viewed on You- Tube. Alexandra Aleden (left) and Jim Hickey (right)