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Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage + David Cronenberg’s Wife

Sunday 08 September 2024

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Jeffrey
Lewis & The Voltage will now be joined at CWRW by David Cronenberg’s Wife.
Advance tickets are now on sale!
 

“Weird?
Very… but also downright inspiring” **** – Rolling Stone

The
mind-spinning indie-rock/folk/art of Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage developed
when songwriter and comic book artist Jeffrey Lewis began recording homemade
cassettes in New York City in 1998. His critically acclaimed, unusual and
word-dense songs lead to Jeffrey signing to Rough Trade and the project evolved
into a live touring cult sensation around the world. Creating a brilliant style
of scuzzy urban indie-rock-folk, like a 21st Century mash-up of Sonic Youth,
Pete Seeger and R. Crumb, Jeffrey’s band has played countless gigs all over the
world, including as opening act icons like the Mountain Goats, Daniel Johnston,
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Dinosaur Jr, The Fall, Dr. Dog, Pulp, Roky
Erickson and The Vaselines.

 

“Jeffrey
Lewis is an amazing musician, and if you don’t know his songs you probably have
a hole in your heart that can only be filled by his words… I did!” – Regina
Spektor

Their most
recent official album is Bad Wiring on Don Giovanni and Moshi Moshi, garnering
rave reviews, but Jeffrey has also digitally self-released four DIY albums from
his apartment. Jeffrey continues to wring folksy spiel and garage bohemianism
from his ramshackle guitar, while incorporating his often politically
subversive visual artwork and cartoons into live appearances. Some of
these audio/visual projects have been hosted online by the History Channel and The
Story of Keith Haring was commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in 2021.

“Hands
down my favorite contemporary songwriter” – Ben Gibbard (Death Cab
for Cutie)

“Jeffrey is
the best pure songwriter I know of… ‘Sad Screaming Old Man’… is one of my
favorite songs ever written” – David Berman (Silver Jews)

“Ramshackle
and beautiful noise… Lou Reed’s natural successor as punk poet of the New York
streets” – Louder Than War
 
“Bizarre
but brilliant” – Uncut
 

“Dazzling” –
MOJO

“Jeffrey
is the only artist I’ve sent fan mail to.” – Jens Lekman

Neil Collins: International Velvet book launch (free)

Thursday 12 September 2024

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We’re excited to be hosting Neil Collins in conversation this September, marking the publication of his new book on Welsh music, International Velvet: How Wales Conquered the ’90s Charts. If the story of Wales in the 1990s was a movie plot, it would all seem so far-fetched. Thankfully, it was all true…

This is a free, ticketed event featuring Neil in conversation about the book, followed by an opportunity to purchase the book itself. Neil is a Cardiff-based writer and known as co-host of Welsh Music Podcast. He is the author of the Liverpool FC books Make Us Dream and Red Mist.

The 1970s and 1980s were a bleak time for much of Wales: the closure of steelworks and mines led to mass unemployment while the country’s culture and language was disregarded by politicians and the music industry alike. Some bands even travelled across the Severn Bridge to make sure their records arrived at the London offices sporting an English postmark.

The 1990s changed everything. Wales was already known for Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Male Voice Choirs. But suddenly bands such as Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Super Furry Animals, 60ft Dolls and Gorki’s Zygotic Mynci exploded into the charts and showed the UK population the breadth of what this small but inherently musical nation could offer. Meanwhile, S4C – the Welsh-language television channel – became increasingly prominent and a new Welsh Assembly was on the horizon.

Featuring fresh analysis and new interviews, International Velvet charts the UK in a decade where ‘Cool Cymru’ won over the masses and shows how it inspired the still-vibrant Welsh music scene into the 21st century and beyond. This summer marks 25 years since the peak of the Cool Cymru scene including No 1 albums, huge gigs and the paid finale to the 90s with Manic Millennium. Other key moments discussed include the Stereophonics 1999 gig at Morfa Stadium, the Manics’ landmark 1994 album The Holy Bible and their Glastonbury headline set five years later and, not to be outdone, Tom Jones’ 1999 renaissance with Reload!

Aisha Kigs – Llygaid Cudd

Part of the AffriCerdd project –  Tŷ Cerdd’s partnership with the National Eisteddfod, supporting artists of colour to work
in Welsh.

Video funded by Lŵp x PYST’s music video fund.

Cyn Cwsg – Gwranda Frawd

Fideo gan Aled Victor. Yn cynnwys fideos a lluniau gan Aled Victor, Lleucu Jenkins, Twm Ebbsworth, Jake Rowles a Klust.

Pennod 45 – ‘Cymraeg iawn i’r Cymry i gyd’: Beibl 1588

‘Proper Welsh for all of the Welsh People’: The 1588 Bible 

In this chapter we discuss William Morgan’s amazing achievement, the 1588 Welsh Bible. Not ignoring its obvious religious significance, we concentrate on the significance of this milestone from the point of view of the history of the Welsh language and its literature. 

One of the things which makes Welsh such an incredibly rich language is the variety of registers available to authors writing in Welsh, and it was the 1588 Bible above all else which ensured that it has an enduring elevated literary register. This linguistic unity has proven to be extremely important in the context of Welsh identity as well. We all get a chance to note the reactions of some contemporary Welsh people, include a poem of praise by the bard Rhys Cain which draws attention in a memorable fashion to William Morgan’s linguistic feat.

Seren Esgynnol/Rising Star: featuring Phil Jones

Seren Esgynnol/Rising Star is a focus on early career talents from the world of poetry. Phil Jones is a poet, writer, and musician. His debut pamphlet “Summer’s Work” has been published by Green Bottle Press. His band plays under the name Dusty Cut.

Seren Esgynnol/Rising Star: featuring Laura Sheldon

Seren Esgynnol/Rising Star is a focus on early career talents from the world of poetry. Laura Sheldon is a spoken-word performer, poet and writer from Llantwit Major. She is also one of the organisers of the These3Streams arts festival (https://these3streams.uk/). As a children’s author, she has published several titles with Firefly Press and Gomer Press.

Alffa – Pwythau

Mae Alffa, deuawd o Gymru sydd wedi cyflawni ymhell dros 8 miliwn o ffrydiau, yn ôl gyda’u sengl gyntaf ers Mehefin 2023. Mae ‘Pwythau’, yn ddychweliad pwerus i’r sîn gerddorol. Mae’nt hefyd eisioes wedi mynd a ‘Pwythau’ yn rhyngwladol yr Haf yma, gyda ymddangosiad yng Ngŵyl Morborock yn yr Eidal a taith lwyddianus i wyl NXNE Canada ym mis Mehefin.

Wedi’i gynhyrchu gan Gethin Pearson, mae ‘Pwythau’ yn garreg filltir newydd i Alffa a’r iaith Gymraeg, gan barhau â’u harger o greu cerddoriaeth ddylanwadol ac arloesol.

Creative Non-Fiction – Sarn Helen, Tom Bullough (Granta Publications)

Tom Bullough grew up on a hill farm in Radnorshire, Wales, and lives in Bannau Brycheiniog with his children. He is the author of four novels – A (Sort Of Books), The Claude Glass (Sort Of Books), Konstantin (Penguin Books Ltd), and Addlands (Granta). Sarn Helen is his first work of nonfiction. Tom is a climate activist and a freelance tutor in creative writing, and runs regular courses on climate.

Sarn Helen is illustrated by Jackie Morris.

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Pennod 44 – Yr Hen a’r Newydd, Y Gwir a’r Gau: Rhagymadrodd Richard Davies

The Old and the New, The True and the False: Richard Davies’ Introduction 

‘I am really floored by this’ is one of the things which Richard Wyn Jones says after hearing about Bishop Richard Davies’ amazing introduction to the Welsh New Testament published in 1567. Here is a lively literary piece which is incredibly interesting – and incredibly significant – in terms of Welsh identity in the period. It’s also a piece of Protestant propaganda which turns the truth inside out by portraying the Ancient Britons as some kind of proto-Protestants and claiming that the Protestant Reformation was returning their old faith to the Welsh rather than presenting them with a new one. But it also presents a kernel of truth of some kind while discussing the old wars between Wales and England, and it’s extraordinary to see Richard Davies discussing the English crown in such a negative manner, considering the fact that he was serving that crown as a bishop in the Church of England!

PODCAST: Show Me Magic with Minas

For the latest Show Me Magic new music podcast, Bill Cummings and Jim Auton, are joined by Minas, the Welsh music prize nominated artist, and producer is fantastically talented, he turns his raw eperiences into intense songs that wrestle elements of post punk, electronica and hip hop.

They talk new music, the Cardiff music scene, local venues, Focus Wales, the differences between seeing a band live or listening to them on record, post punk, 90s trip hop, hyper pop, hip hop, fan funding, writers block and much more.

Find out more about Minas here.

People’s Choice – In Orbit, Glyn Edwards (Seren)

Glyn Edwards is a PhD researcher in ecopoetry at Bangor University. His first poetry collection, Vertebrae, was published by the Lonely Press. He edits Modron, a journal for environmental writing, and the Wild Words feature for North Wales Wildlife Trust. He is a former winner and trustee of the Terry Hetherington Award for Welsh young writers, and works as a teacher in North Wales.

Prynwch nawr.

I Think We’re Alone Now, Abigail Parry (Bloodaxe Books)

Abigail Parry spent several years as a toymaker before completing a PhD on wordplay. She is currently a lecturer in creative writing at Cardiff University. Her poems have been set to music, translated into Spanish, Serbian and Japanese, and widely published in journals and anthologies. She has won several prizes and awards for her work, including the Ballymaloe Prize and an Eric Gregory Award. Her first collection, Jinx (Bloodaxe Books), was named a Book of the Year in The New Statesman, The Telegraph and Morning Star. I Think We’re Alone Now is also shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2023.

Poetry – Cowboy, Kandace Siobhan Walker (CHEERIO Publishing)

Kandace Siobhan Walker, a writer and artist of Jamaican-Canadian, Saltwater Geechee and Welsh heritage, is also the author of Kaleido (Bad Betty Press). In 2021, she was the recipient of an Eric Gregory Award and the winner of The White Review Poet’s Prize. In 2019, she won the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize.

Cymdeithasu gyda’r Mentrau Gymdeithasol – Antur Stiniog

Croeso i’r gyfres newydd gyffrous sy’n ymchwilio i waith dylanwadol mentrau cymunedol Ffestiniog. Yn y gyfres hon, byddwn yn trafod brosiectau ac ymdrechion gymuned Ffestiniog i sicrhau newid cadarnhaol i’r gymuned. Ymunwch â ni wrth i ni ddarganfod y straeon y tu ôl i’r mentrau hyn a’u heffaith ddofn ar y gymuned leol.

But, gays just wanna have fun

Welcome to the final episode of Season 2 of Memories from the Dance Floor, where we’ve left the bright lights of London and headed straight up the M4 to Wales. Over the series, we have celebrated LGBTQ+ venues, shone a light on their history and met the revellers taking us through the velvet curtain and into the queer chaos and joy within.

In this final episode, I’m taking us up to the present day. We’ll see how the value of our venues has changed, ask how the land of song – Wales that is – has influenced our music, weigh up the importance of regional drag and see what it means to be Welsh and proud in 2024.

It’s a biggie – let’s go!

Seremoni Llyfr y Flwyddyn | Wales Book of Year Ceremony

The event will start streaming here from 7.10pm onwards.

The Wales Book of the Year Ceremony will be streaming live from Galeri, Caernarfon on AM! Join us on July 4th for a thrilling evening to celebrate the achievements of talented Welsh writers!

Comedian and presenter Tudur Owen will be presenting the evening as the winners of the Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction and Children and Young People categories will be revealed, as well announcing the winners of the People’s Choice award and the Overall Winner, claiming the title of Wales Book of the Year 2024.

Wales Book of the Year is our national literary awards which celebrate the achievements of Welsh writers who excel in diverse literary forms in both Welsh and English. There are twelve prizes in total, with a total of £14,000 of prizes awarded to the successful authors.

Llyfrau’r Haf | Summer Reads

Looking for new book to read this summer? Browse our new Summer Reads catalogue.
All books available now from your local bookshop.

Brilliant Black British History, Atinuke (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Atinuke was born in Nigeria and moved to the UK when she was a child. Her first love was performing stories and she now pours her creative talents into writing children’s books. Many of her books, such as Africa, Amazing Africa (Walker), which won the 2020 School Library Association’s Information Book Award, are inspired by the beautiful continent of Africa.

Brilliant Black British History is illustrated by Kingsley Nebechi.

Children & Young People – Skrimsli, Nicola Davies (Firefly Press)

Nicola Davies writes children’s non fiction and fiction about the natural world and our relationship with it. Also a zoologist, Nicola was one of the original presenters of the BBC children’s wildlife programme The Really Wild Show. She has been shortlisted for the Branford Boase and the Blue Peter Book Awards. Nicola lives in West Wales.

Skrimsli is illustrated by Jackie Morris.

Where the River Takes Us, Lesley Parr (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Lesley Parr is the author of three novels for children. Her debut, The Valley of Lost Secrets (Bloomsbury), was published in 2021 and was both a Waterstones Book of the Month and longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. It won the Tir na n-Og Award, the King’s School Chester Book Award and the North Somerset Teachers’ Book Award, as well as being shortlisted for many others. Lesley’s grew up in South Wales and now lives in England with her husband. She shares her time between writing stories, teaching at a primary school and tutoring adults. Apart from books, rugby union is her favourite thing in the world, especially if Wales is winning.

Y Nendyrau, Seran Dolma (Gwasg y Bwthyn)

Mae Seran Dolma yn byw ym Mhenrhyndeudraeth gyda’i phartner a’u dau fab ac yn gweithio fel Curadur Profiadau ym Mhlas Brondanw, Llanfrothen. Yn ei bywyd blaenorol, bu’n gweithio ym maes yr amgylchedd, ac mae’r diddordeb hwn yn parhau yn ei gwaith ysgrifennu. Hon yw ei nofel gyntaf.

Plant a Phobl Ifanc – Jac a’r Angel, Daf James (Y Lolfa)

Mae Daf James yn un o ddramodwyr, sgriptwyr, cyfansoddwyr a pherfformwyr amlycaf Cymru. Yn ogystal â phortreadu’r cymeriad cerddorol ‘Sue’, Daf yw awdur y dramâu arloesol Llwyth a Tylwyth. Bydd ei gyfres ddrama Lost Boys & Fairies yn cael ei darlledu ar BBC1 yn 2024. Mae’n byw yng Nghaerdydd gyda’i ŵr a’u tri phlentyn. Jac a’r Angel yw ei nofel gyntaf.

Mae Jac a’r Angel yn cynnwys darluniau gan Bethan Mai.

Astronot yn yr Atig, Megan Angharad Hunter (Y Lolfa)

Mae Megan Angharad Hunter yn awdur a sgriptiwr o Benygroes, Dyffryn Nantlle ond mae bellach yn byw yng Nghaerdydd. Ers graddio yn 2022, mae hi wedi bod yn gweithio fel awdur a golygydd llyfrau plant. Cyhoeddwyd tu ôl i’r awyr (Y Lolfa) – ei nofel gyntaf yn 2020 – aeth ymlaen i ennill Prif Wobr Llyfr y Flwyddyn 2021, a chyhoeddwyd Cat (Y Lolfa) fel rhan o gyfres arobryn Y Pump yn 2021. Yn 2023 cafodd gyfle i gymryd rhan mewn gŵyl lenyddol yn India ac yn Ffair Lyfrau Llundain. Astronot yn yr Atig yw ei nofel gyntaf i blant.

Pride has its definitions

In the last episode we talked all things super clubs, exploring the legendary Tunnel Club in Cardiff, and finished with the broadcaster and drummer Owain Wyn Evans, but don’t think that’s all he had to say.

In this episode, we discuss how Pride Cymru established itself and its ongoing challenges to represent our community and from Rahim El Abashi, a refugee who shares his story of how he came to settle in South Wales.

It’s going to be a good one, but first back to Owain.

Originally from the town of Ammanford in West Wales, Owain explains the lasting effects of a lack of representation to a young LGBTQ+ person growing up in rural Wales and so much more! Who remembers Adam and Eve? IYKYK

Pennod 43 – Testament Newydd 1567

In this episode we begin focusing on a subject which is of the greatest importance to the history of the Old Language and its literature – publishing the Bible in Welsh.

We begin this time with the Welsh translation of the New Testament published in 1567, explaining that one needs to understand the political context as well as the religious context in order to understand this milestone development. Although some like to see the Welsh Bible as ‘compensation’ given by Elizabeth for that which her father, Henry VIII, did to the Welsh language with the ‘Acts of Union’, we argue the opposite and suggest that both developments stemmed from the same political desire to centralize power and ensure uniformity in the realm. It’s interesting to note that political and religious uniformity were important to Elizabeth, not linguistic uniformity.

We discuss the contribution of Bishop Richard Davies and raise a topic which will also get attention in the next episode – the pseudo-history which Saunders Lewis called ‘The Protestant Church’s propaganda’.

Heaven

When London’s Heaven opened in the winter of 1979, it changed what we knew to be gay clubbing forever. Europe’s first super-club, Heaven has played a central role and had a major influence in the development of London’s LGBTQ+ scene for the last 44 years.

Damian speaks to founder Jeremy Norman on the inspiration behind Heaven as well as Amy Lame, London’s Night Czar, to understand the problem facing our venues today and that Urban Laboratory report.

All this and more as Damian uncovers the stories of epic nights, from the real lives of the community behind closed doors and memories that will last a lifetime.

The Nightingale Club

Leaving the bright lights of London, Damian travels to Birmingham to The Nightingale Club. From humble beginnings the Nightingale has grown into one of the UK’s most successful queer superclubs – well known in the city and nationally.

Not only has the club far outlived the typical lifespan of a nightclub, but it has transformed itself from a members only club, to a club which can hold 1,500+ people.

With Birmingham one of the first ‘super diverse’ cities in the UK where citizens from ethnic minorities make up more than half the population Damian caught up with DJ Dolly and current owner Lawrence Barton to find out how the Nightingale has stayed relevant and catered to the family and community they create, nurture and serve, remaining a lifeline for some, a home for all.

The Black Cap

Back in London Damian turns his attention to The Black Cap. A Camden landmark for over 250 years and one of London’s biggest and most famous LGBTQ+ spaces for more than 50, which closed abruptly in April 2015, due to the ambitions of the owners to redevelop the building into luxury flats. But what they didn’t account for was our community’s resistance.

#WeAreTheBlackCap has been campaigning since to save the Black Cap given its place as one of the few remaining landmarks of historical, cultural, and artistic importance for the LGBTQ+ community, and ensure it is reopened as a safe, vibrant place of queer entertainment once again.

Speaking to Alex Green, the founder of the #WeAreTheBlackCap campaign and the gorgeous drag legend herself, Mrs Moore, Damian unpicks the history of The Black Cap and what was it about this local boozer that left the community wanting more.

Growing up gay in Wales

I promised you Season 2…and it’s HERE!

Please like and share as Memories from the Dance Floor Season 2 is now live! A new episode will drop every Wednesday throughout June for Pride, so get it in your diaries. I can’t quite believe it.

We are still exploring LGBTQ+ nightlife, but we’ve left the mega clubs and punk bars of England behind, and we’re headed straight to Wales for Series 2.

London, you’ve been a blast, but the reality is, you’re not the Emerald City at the end of the Yellow Brick Road for everyone. There are communities out there thriving, and dare I say it, having even more fun.

The sense of community and pride here is insane, so I can’t wait for you to wrap your ears this. We’re meeting those who worked, performed, propped up the bar, and most importantly, slayed the dance floor.

In this episode, I’m taking you back to the 70s and 80s to explore the early venues, the wider scene, and the community who were ready to take centre stage in their fight for equality.

You in?

From Cardiff to Swansea and back again

In the first of our four-part series, we heard what it was literally like growing up as the only gay in the village. We also heard how the lesbian and gay community supported mining families in South Wales and how queer discos and dances were springing up in towns and cities across the country.

Back in Cardiff though, something seismic was about to happen in the life of one young twink, finding his feet on the scene.

Want to find out more? I’ve popped a link in my stories, but you can tune in wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Birdsplaining: A Natural History, Jasmine Donahaye (New Welsh Rarebye)

Jasmine Donahaye’s work has appeared in the New York Times and The Guardian, and her documentary, ‘Statue No 1’, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Her books include the memoir, Losing Israel (Seren), winner of the nonfiction category in the Wales Book of the Year award; a biography of author Lily Tobias, The Greatest Need (Honno), the basis for ‘O Ystalyfera i Israel’, broadcast by S4C; the cultural study Whose People? Wales, Israel, Palestine (University of Wales Press), and two collections of poetry: Misappropriations (Parthian Books) and Self-Portrait as Ruth (Parthian Books). She is a part-time professor of Creative Writing at Swansea University, and a fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.

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Overall Winner – Sarn Helen, Tom Bullough (Granta Publications)

Tom Bullough grew up on a hill farm in Radnorshire, Wales, and lives in Bannau Brycheiniog with his children. He is the author of four novels – A (Sort Of Books), The Claude Glass (Sort Of Books), Konstantin (Penguin Books Ltd), and Addlands (Granta). Sarn Helen is his first work of nonfiction. Tom is a climate activist and a freelance tutor in creative writing, and runs regular courses on climate.

Sarn Helen is illustrated by Jackie Morris.

Buy now