Music Archives - Page 11 of 29

PODCAST: Show Me Magic Special with Aderyn

For the latest new music podcast Bill Cummings and Jim Auton are joined by the emerging Welsh artist Aderyn, who picks up the Triskel Award for new acts at the Welsh music prize ceremony tomorrow. They chat Welsh music, podcasts, the Swn Festival, punk pop, lounge pop, grunge pop, film soundtracks. How expensive it is to be a self-funded artist, the major labels block booking vinyl production, why the Pitchfork 90s albums list is revisionist, shouty pop men and the randomness of the streaming algorithms. They round off chatting about some classic tracks.

Guava Rockets – Faith in the Animal (Official Video)

Faith in the Animal is the second song on Guava Rocket’s debut six-song EP, Where the Sparks Collide. Megan Angharad Hunter, vocals; Dave Hunter, instruments/production. Released by PYST / Dim Byd Mawr Recording © Guava Rockets 2022 Song © Dave Hunter 2022 (BMI)

PYST MEWN MIS – Hydref/October

22 singles, 5 EPs and 3 albums were distributed by PYST in October. Here’s the full list below. Buy, stream and save your favourites!

Blearz – Changes (Official Music Video)

Flintshire’s Blearz talks life lessons and goals on debut track ‘Changes’.

Hot off the heels of his first live performance at LARYNX LINKED, Blearz’s hopes of rectifying his past and achieving his ambitions are rapped throughout this tracks verses. Documenting his failures and falls, we get someone at a turning point in life who wants more than he’s seeing before him as he raps “I weren’t brought up seeing money, I’ve been fiending a cheque”.

The hook carries the same sentiment as the artist expresses his want for change and how he’s using music as a means to avoid the pitfalls that may await him otherwise.

Blearz’s ‘Changes’ releases to streaming platforms October 28th 2022 on LARYNX LICENSED with a music video shot by Hamnett Films.

Llais 2022

Introducing our line up for Llais 2022.

Parisa Fouladi – Lleuad Du (Mission Gallery)

Parisa Fouladi – Achub Fi (Mission Gallery)

Parisa Fouladi – Cysgod yn y Golau (Mission Gallery)

“We’ve piqued people’s interest. Welsh music is here!”

Huw Stephens on the Welsh Music Prize

by Cath Holland

SŴN FESTIVAL 2022

Here are some of the artists that will play Sŵn Festival 2022!

21.10.22-23.10.22

Tickets

Mix Mis Hydref: FRMAND

An inviting journey through house, bassline and techno

Mwldan

Mwldan is an arts centre and independent cinema in Cardigan. It is a co-producer of Other Voices Cardigan (with South Wind Blows and Triongl) and programmes the summer season of large-scale outdoor events at Cardigan Castle in conjunction with the Castle. Mwldan is also one half of bendigedig record label (with Arc Music) and produces […]

IN CONVERSATION : YNYS “‘More is more’ is the album’s mantra – you only make one debut

When Welsh indie outfit Race Horses went their separate ways, Dylan Hughes largely took a break from music-making. Life and adulting took over, but creativity is a stubborn beast and quietly nudged at him. He took note of the ideas, words, phrases mounting up, storing each carefully on his phone, here and there, all for […]

Blank Face

Blank Face is a musical canvas, that fuses different sounds like Singer/ Songwriter Acoustic music, Hip Hop, Rnb, Soul and Afro.

He believes in the idea of creating vibes and not genres and although predominantly a singer is a genre-less artist and so far no two songs are of the same genre. He is particularly known for his quick lyricism and freestyling capability and calls himself the “One Take God”.

Born and raised in Nigeria, Blank Face says he is influenced by his surrounding from Afro legends like Fela Kuti to modern-day influences across genres like Tay Iwar, Miguel, Masego, Anderson Paak, Logic and many others. The vast contrast in his artistic influence alongside his varying tastes has allowed him to create unique sounds that represent him as a true Blank Face.

Aisha Kigs

Aisha Kigs is a singer songwriter based in Cardiff, Wales. Aisha has been involved with the TuWezeshe Akina Dada fellowship programme in 2017 – 2018. She was also the creative director of G.I.R.L. exhibition, where she curated and showcased Wales’s young black artists through the theme of black female individuality.

Aisha is working on writing songs that elebrate the beauty and complexities of black femininity. Her song writing is inspired by her personal experiences as a dark skin black woman, having grown up in an environment where she felt she had to defend her own femininity against Eurocentric beauty standards. aiming to decolonise the black women tropes and spin them on their head.

Y label sy’n rhoi cyfle i leisiau newydd

“Dw i jest eisiau i bobol fwynhau’r gigs a’r gerddoriaeth a chael hwyl”

gan Elin Owen

We’re Just the Bomb – Guava Rockets (Sengl allan nawr!/Single out now!)

The single is out now on Dim Byd Mawr!

Dim Byd Mawr

Guava Rockets is the new musical partnership between Megan Angharad Hunter and Dave Hunter, which is released via the label Dim Byd Mawr. Megan Angharad Hunter is a Welsh-speaking author, screenwriter, and musician from Dyffryn Nantlle, North Wales. She is best known for her debut novel published in 2021, tu ôl i’r awyr, for […]

Guava Rockets – We’re Just the Bomb (Official Video)

Like the eclectic match-up of Guava Rockets’ personnel themselves, the debut single “We’re Just the Bomb” weaves diverse influences and sounds into a rousing indie-electro-pop anthem that’s simultaneously energizing and ethereal, and resolutely uplifting throughout. Musically, the song is compelling and infectious, from the juxtaposition of its burbling synth lines and dreamy vocals, to its stompingly infectious beat, […]

News: Sweet Baboo announces new album ‘The Wreckage’ & UK tour

Sweet Baboo is back! Stephen Black, the most unique of songwriters, with his playful sense of fatalism and humour, brings out a new album in the New Year. ‘The Wreckage’ is his first long player in five years, after working on his Group Listening project, touring with Gruff Rhys, and Cate Le Bon, and playing […]

Forté 8

Music Development Scheme Launches to Support Young Artists In Wales. Applications now open!

Awen BRO: Cyfrinach y Brenin

Diwedd mis Medi aeth Opra Cymru ar gylchdaith o amgylch Gymru yn llwyfannu eu Opra i deuluoedd o’r enw Cyfrinach y Brenin.
Roedd hon yn libretto gyffroes, yr Opra gyntaf i blant!

Mae wedi ei gyfansoddi gan gyfansoddwraig Mared Emlyn o Lanrwst gyda help gan ysgolion gynradd wedi i Patrick, Mared a Huw Ynyr cynnal gweithdai ar draws Gogledd Cymru.

Dyma fideo yn siarad ychydig amdano pan daeth y sioe i Ysgol Y Moelwyn.

Gwobr Gerddoriaeth Gymreig 2022: Enwebiadau | Welsh Music Prize 2022: Nominees

Announcing the Welsh Music Prize 2022 nominees! Stream the albums below.

Adwaith – Bato Mato (Libertino Records)

Four years after Carmarthen band Adwaith’s first album release, the band has now returned with their much-anticipated record ‘Bato Mato’. Taking its name from their trusty guide while aboard the Trans-Siberian Express, the album possesses a seemingly cosmic connection to their journey across the frozen outer-reaches of Russia; an allegory for the sonic character of its material, while foreshadowing the glimpses of isolation upon their return home.

Art School Girlfriend – Is It Light Where You Are (Fiction)

‘Is It Light Where You Are’ is the debut album from Art School Girlfriend, moniker of Wrexham producer, multi-instrumental musician and songwriter Polly Mackey. Mostly written over a two-week period of 14-hour solo studio sessions, the bulk of her album is torn straight from a journal kept throughout 2019, chronicling the end of a US tour, the tumultuous ending of a six-year relationship and Mackey’s journey back to London from Margate, where she lived and co-owned a book shop with her then girlfriend.

Breichiau Hir – Hir Oes I’r Cof (Libertino Records)

Breichiau Hir’s debut album is a nostalgic exploration of growing up in an ever-changing city and losing touch with reality and yourself through nostalgia. The Cardiff six-piece blend cathartic intensity, enormous walls of sound and fragile melancholic moments with a sole mission to move and connect to their audience. They tackle hard-hitting themes with poignant lyrics, self-deprecating humour, and surreal wordplay in their native Welsh language.

Bryde – Still (Easy Life)

Sarah Howells from Pembrokshire is Bryde, and this is her second WMP nomination. Still is an album about the different kinds of love as hinted at in the bracketed song titles. As Sarah explains, “So many lovesongs glorify the idea of throwing yourself at someone, the drama, and the pain of love. I wanted to own up to doing that but acknowledge that there are many other healthier ways to think about love and then start a conversation about it.”

Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard – Backhand Deals (Communion)

With Backhand Deals, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard are ripping up the rule book. A rejection of rock music’s more archaic ideals, their debut album plunges into Tom Rees’ exploration of honesty and authenticity and untangles what it means to be a ‘rock star’. The key to this demystification is Rees’ sharp wit – using sarcasm and humour to keep the listener in limbo, and in turn, leading their audience to face their own thoughts.

Cate Le Bon – Pompeii (Mexican Summer)

Pompeii is Cate Le Bon’s sixth full length studio album and follow up to her 2019 album, Reward. This album was created in the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic and as a result this album is a much more introspective record. In this album Le Bon collages the saxophones and bass grooves of Pompeii into a heady harmonic mix of psychedelia and pop, awe and bewilderment. From Newcastle Emlyn originally, Cate was based in Cardiff for years, and now lives in Joshua Tree, Los Angeles, USA.

Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 and The National Orchestra of Wales – Yn Rio (Legere Recordings)

Yn Rio is very much another chapter in Carwyn’s continuing Latin American musical journey. However, on this release Carwyn Ellis has teamed up with the BBC National Orchestra Of Wales to provide beautiful orchestral accompaniment to his collection of Welsh language songs which draw on the Latin American musical flavours of Bossa Nova, Cumbia, Samba and Tropicalismo. Starting as a project for BBC Radio Cymru, the album was performed live at live years’ Green Man Festival.

Dead Method – Future Femme (Future Femme Records)

Produced by Edward Russell (Inside The Groove), the album is a reinvention of Dead Method’s signature witty pop motif that explores his experiences as an LGBTQ+ artist. Dead Method is a pop star for the new age, whose music plunges deep into the depths of alternative electro pop with a dark edge as he explores life itself.

Danielle Lewis – Dreaming In Slow Motion (Red Robin Records)

Originally hailing from the West coast of Wales, Danielle Lewis emerges with her stunning album ‘Dreaming in Slow Motion’. With compositions of the spectral to the serene, underpinned by her singular, saintly vocal stylistics; Lewis’ evocatively titled debut collectively offer a collage of her life as she navigated her early adulthood. 10 songs of breath-taking tenderness and ethereal presence that pioneer between the realms of dream and reality.

Don Leisure – Shaboo Strikes Back (First World Records)

Cardiff producer Don Leisure has evolved considerably in the decade or so he’s been releasing music. ‘Shaboo Strikes Back’ is a follow on from the first ‘Shaboo’ album which documented the road trip of Don’s youth – featuring hip hop music interspersed with Asian radio station jingles of old, dedicated to Bollywood actor, Nasser ‘Shaboo’ Bharwani – Don Leisure’s late uncle. The album was a favourite of Lauren Laverne on BBC 6 Music.

Gwenno – Tresor (Heavenly Recordings)

Tresor is Gwenno Saunders’ third full length solo album and the second almost entirely in Cornish (Kernewek). Written in St.Ives, Cornwall , just prior to the Covid lockdowns of 2020 and completed in Cardiff during the pandemic along with her producer and musical collaborator, Rhys Edwards, Tresor reveals an introspective focus on home and self, a prescient work echoing the isolation and retreat that has been a central, global shared experience over the past two years. Tresor is also nominated for this years’ Mercury Music Prize.

L E M F R E C K – The Pursuit (Noctown)

Newport rapper L E M F R E CK’s ‘The Pursuit’ is about the pursuit of love, happiness and community in their broadest forms. He is one of the most exciting artists on the scene. As L E M F R E C K explains, “The year I started writing was a horrendous one for myself and community. A pandemic that showed how little we were loved. Protests that made us confront our past. And from that I realised how little I loved myself. ‘The Pursuit’ explores what happens when you are in a constant chase for things that you don’t necessarily know want you back.”

Manic Street Preachers – The Ultra Vivid Lament (Sony Music)

‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’ is the Manics 14th studio album and entered the UK charts at No. 1 on its release in September 21. It’s eleven tracks perfectly marry introspection, quiet rage and sublime, irresistible tunes, and were recorded at Rockfield in Monmouth and the bands’ Door to the River studio in Newport. The Sunday Times said “…the new album is prime pop Manics: killer choruses, with unapologetically literate songwriting that plugs you straight into the emotional mains”. The Blackwood band’s album also features the late Mark Lanegan.

Papur Wal – Amser Mynd Adra (Libertino Records)

With members from Ynys Mon, Caernarfon and Cardiff, Papur Wal’s debut album was the culmi-nation of years of gigging and releasing melodic indie singles. One of the busiest bands on the Welsh language scene, it earned them a nomination for Welsh Language Album of the Year.

Sywel Nyw – Deuddeg (Lwcus T)

Sywel Nyw is Bangor musician Lewys Wyn. Deuddeg won the Welsh Language Album of the Year at this year’s National Eisteddfod in Tregaron, and is a collaborative album. Featured vocalists include Dionne Bennett, Mark Robers, Lauren Connelly and Endaf Emlyn. According to Lewys, the project was a way of creating music outside the “formulaic” and “monotonous” album process, whilst simultaneously tapping into Wales’ diverse music scene with the album featuring both established and upcoming Welsh artists from far reaching genres.

Gwobr Triskel Award: Aderyn

An indie pop singer from Senni Bridge, Brecon Beacons, Aderyn has released a handful of shimmering singles to date. Starting as a drummer in a grunge band, her honest, up-front lyrics matched with slamming punky pop creates something very special.

Gwobr Triskel Award: Minas

Born in Athens, Greece and growing up in Wales from a young age, producer and rapper Minas has made an impressive name for himself on the Welsh scene. Personal struggles and mental health are forefront in his lyrics. Ferocious live, his work as producer with ither artists is highly regarded.

Gwobr Triskel Award: Sage Todz

Rapper Sage Todz is from Penygroes originally, lived in London and is soon moving home to Wales, to Cardiff. A rap, hip hop and R’n’B artist, his unique bilingual lyrics caught the attention of FAW who asked him to collaborate on a song for the Wales World Cup qualifiers.