Blogs

Pigeon Wigs are band newly sprung from Cardiff’s most fertile soil. Formed from the writing partnership of Harry Franklin-Williams & Louis Jugessur, the band's music ranges from the bombastic and unrelenting, to the sombre and fragile. 

Indulging in whatever genre best suits their aim, they continue to maintain the soon to be unmistakable sound that one can only describe as Pigeon Wigs.

Released today (Wednesday 6th October),  Near The Knuckle  is a blindingly rambunctious debut single full of hearty guitar riffs, sleek vocals coupled with colossal drums and an instant sing-along chorus.

"Near the Knuckle embraces reckless abandon" explains Cardiff born lead singer and front-man Harry. "It's the urgent frustration of knowing you're with the wrong person and the desperate compulsion to not be alone dressed up in doozie rocker.". 

Pigeon Wigs recently announced that they've joined the Clwb Music family. They're already gearing up for their next release and if  Near The Knuckle  is anything to go by, there's just no stopping this relentless 6-piece.

Remarkably, this morning,  Cry-Baby  already received it's  debut radio spin on BBC Radio 6 Music from Huw Stephens  (29.09.2021).

A song full of pop melodies and danceable hooks, Alice Low is making a habit of writing uplifting, fun and left-field music while highlighting important issues. The accompanying video also showcases Alice's wry humour and visual identity. 

Alice explains;  "Cry-Baby was the last recording I made before growing breasts. I was afraid, not only of the changes I was about to face, but also of the loss of self and the grief of my manhood. As a man I had subconsciously exuded my privilege my whole life, and it wasn’t until I was about to lose that privilege that I began to acknowledge it. Those fears manifest so clearly in Cry-Baby. The closer I got towards comfort in my womanhood, the further I got from feeling comfortable in the supermarket, or the pub, or walking home at night." .

Alice's transition gave her the space to hone her talents as a musician and as a producer.  "My work took on a new singularity, something more dynamic, more engaging, and totally mine"  she says.

"After writing Cry-Baby and beginning further transition treatment, suddenly I was taking a greater sense of value from how I attractive I felt, and how much attention I was getting, and that made me question how I had viewed women in the past, and whether I was just projecting my own misogyny onto myself. As you can imagine, being the recipient of your own male gaze is some Freudian nightmare energy, even if it is at times fun and sexy."

With Alice's debut  Ladydaddy  receiving high praise from both Huw Stephens and Tom Robinson on BBC Radio 6 Music, and  Cry-Baby  already getting its BBC Radio 6 Music debut within just a few hours of it's release, it's no surprise that Alice is about propel to the top of everyone's 'must see' list. 

"There's so much to love about that!"
- Adam Walton, BBC Introducing

"The harmonies are sharp and the energy levels are through the roof" 
- Frank Henessy, BBC Radio Wales 

"Excellent vocal harmonies, It's an enjoyable journey from start to finish" 
-  The Indy  Review

"Lights is an absolutely gorgeous track!"
- The Sounds Won't Stop

Swansea Folk-pop aficionados ‘Lost Tuesday Society’ have announced a brand new album entitled ‘Bee Skin Rug’ which will be released independently on Friday 22nd of October. 

‘Lights’ is the feature track to be taken from the ‘Bee Skin Rug’ album and this terrific uplifting signature tune and has been very well received. Harmony flooded and certainly becoming a real automatic-earworm, ‘Lights’ excels and shows off ‘Lost Tuesday Society’s new material and future sound intentions to a T, and accompanied with the production of acclaimed long-time friend and producer Joe Gibb, LTS are kitted out to establish themselves as a tour de force in their respected genres.

Lost Tuesday Society are Jay Browning (bass) Alfie Scheinman (guitar, flute, vocals) Sarah Birch (guitar, vocals) Darran Browning (guitar, vocals) Simon Jones (drums) Kate Ronconi (violin, vocals)
Lost Tuesday Society are a 6 piece band who have collectively come from a variety of differing musical backgrounds and therefore bring with them a range of personal influences; from traditional and alternative folk, grunge and shoe-gaze, funk, psychedelia and rock.

The result is a unique blend of music with intricate compositions, strong hooks and melody lines combining in a huge dynamic sound that has people up on their feet.

With four vocalists (Sarah, Kate, Darran and Alfie) in the band the harmonies are interesting, beautiful and an important element to the Lost Tuesday Society sound. With a heavier back line and driving rhythm section ( Jay and Simon) and two accomplished guitarists (in Alfie and Darran) the new material presented today has a maturity and edge which is beautifully enhanced by weaving strings (Kate),flute(Alfie) and melodica (Sarah).

HISTORICALLY 

In around 2011 Darran and Sarah formed the first murmurings of Lost Tuesday Society with a different line up of excellent musicians joining and contributing over a period of years. ( Darren Beynon, Ian Coote, Julian Clark and Simon Parsons) Alfie Scheinman joined around the time of writing and recording the first self titled album and adding an extra layer of flute, guitar, vocals and songwriting that gave the album it’s own uniqueness. The first album was very well received being more in the style of an alternative folk album with elements of blues and rock thrown in. However the LTS ‘sound’ was well and truly born from this.

In 2019 The final song on this debut album ‘Universe’ was used in a  Crime drama in Russia called Maxop. The result was a large following in that part of the world, many Russian messages ( google translated) and shazam and you tube viewings going through the roof.

 A few years after the first album, members Simon Jones, Jay Browning and Kate Ronconi joined Lost Tuesday Society and the final lineup was complete;  With Kate's incredible violin playing and a much heavier, technical back line (Jay and Simon); the sound has progressed to another level again. The band write collaboratively together as well as individually yet all 6 members contribute to the arrangements and over all flavour of the tracks. With this the second album “Bee Skin Rug’; many of theses songs have already been gigged live far and wide.  

LTS have secured their status as festival stalwarts  playing Green Man, Shambala and Kendell Calling as well as regular headliners at The Swansea Fringe Festival. To date, the band have graced the stage with the likes of Paolo Nutini, Lianne LaHavas, Pete Doherty, Sister Sledge, Alabama 3, Moulettes, Big Sir, The Real Thing and Mica Paris, Fairport Convention to name but a few. They have played the Acoustic Festival of Britain, Nozstock, Big Cwtch, Kaya Festival and in venues all over south Wales as well as Cardiff, Devon and The Paimpol Festival in Brittany.

Bee Skin Rug is the new album release from Lost Tuesday Society and this album is a far cry from the gentle musings of the first one.

‘Devil in a B and B’ was the first single from the album. Accompanied by the usual self made video. This one was filmed in The Elysium Gallery in Swansea with a ‘talent show’ theme and a queue of volunteers. It is a small taster of the albums direction and is perhaps the most playful and surreal.
The next single to be released is called ‘Lights’ and is perhaps the most fitting song to be released in these strange times. It is up beat and harmony driven (“Haven’t seen light in a while”) and endlessly positive. Something we all need at the moment.

Intertwining violin, flute and guitar with the occasional synth thrown in gives all the music a cinematic, atmospheric landscape; with a darker more foreboding edge in songs like DMT and Propane.  ‘Knowing what you are’ and ‘Spaniard’ fuse elements of almost jazz with what can only really be described as Russian Choir-esque.

I suppose giving pertinence to describe LTS as having psychedelic leanings. Subtleties and dynamics play a part in the first track ‘Bee Skin Rug’ where after the huge introduction vocals are simple and delicate leading seamlessly into the second song (the afore mentioned Knowing what you are).

While it sounds on paper like this album shouldn’t work it’s actually very cleverly composed, well played, well sung beautiful music. Often times the lead vocal being taken by different members of the band however still maintaining its very distinct sound. You know you are listening to Lost Tuesday Society!

Recorded and produced by Joe Gibb (David Bowie, The Kinks, Catatonia, Leftfield, Moulettes) at Mwnci Studios (Joe also produced the first self titled album). Joe is basically the 7th band member;  knowing the sound and songwriting so well and understanding it. The whole bands efforts and Joe Gibb's production and input has been a huge part of the writing process and the band are hugely proud and excited about people hearing this album.

www.losttuesdaysociety.com

Available for weddings, divorces, births and funerals.

Social Links & Websites

https://twitter.com/losttuesday?lang=en
https://www.instagram.com/losttuesdaysociety/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/ltslosttuesday/
https://losttuesdaysociety.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/lost-tuesday-society

'A Human Being is the Best Disguise’ is a reworking of Ritual Cloak’s self-titled, largely instrumental debut release, except now with added lyrics and vocals by writer, comedian and spoken word performer Autumn Juvenile. The resultant hybrid takes the glacial electronica of the original album, before injecting it with a cocktail of dark narratives, observational detail and social commentary.

Autumn Juvenile describes the process:

“All lyrics are a mix of real-life lies, workplace gossip, online flirtations and (most unforgivably) pure imagination. They were written on stifling summer nights working in secure mental health units across Cardiff, in between rolling cigarettes for rapists. This is music you can smugly share on your social media; working class fictions for middle class listeners”

The album was recorded at Kings Road Studios, Cardiff, produced by Ritual Cloak and Autumn Juvenile and mastered by Charlie Francis. It also features vocals from Jemma Roper, as well as Ritual Cloak’s Daniel and Andrew. The cover photography is by Daniel Barnett.

Ritual Cloak is comprised of Daniel Barnett, formerly of the band Samoans, and drummer / producer Andrew Sanders. The duo met in 2013 after Daniel answered an ad for a guitarist to join the backing band for singer Jemma Roper. An instant kinship was struck, with both Daniel and Andrew embracing experimentation and a shared love of electronic music. After the split of Samoans in 2018, the pair began playing around with instrumental textures and piano-led ambient soundscapes, all resulting in their well-received self-titled debut in 2019. They followed this with their second album, ‘Divine Invasions’, released on Bubblewrap Records in 2021.

Nationwide talent development scheme, Forté Project is giving young artists in their early music careers the opportunity to receive professional industry support and career progression opportunities through its 2021/22 programme. Applications are now open until 18th October.

Ten Wales-based acts between the ages of 16-25 will be selected for the twelve-month programme.

They will work closely with Forté Project and its impressive roster of music industry talent through a series of masterclasses in live performances, 1-2-1 mentoring, recording opportunities, career and business guidance plus professional well-being support.

Now in its seventh year, the prestigious talent development model has a track record of success with young artists in Wales...

Past success stories include BBC Radio Two darling, Otto, who recently supported music legend, Tom Jones. Public Order from Merthyr, who have been chosen to appear on the soundtrack to the best-selling video game, FIFA 22. Pop starlet, Hana Lili, who has recently been tipped on Spotify's 'Radar First Listen' playlist, and her song featured on Love Island 2021 and many more.

Spike Griffiths, project development officer   says “We’re so pleased to be bringing the Forté Project back for its seventh year and we’re ready to uncover, support and celebrate a new group of upcoming artists in Wales over the next twelve months.”

Jac from Public Order from Merthyr says, “Forté helped us to buckle down and start making music seriously. That’s when we gave ourselves a name and an identity.”

Pontypridd band CHROMA said, “It’s difficult as an artist starting out, to navigate all the elements that are at play in the music industry. Forte supported our goals and believed in us as artists when we needed to believe in ourselves. Over the pandemic, we have been working on our debut album. We wouldn’t have been able to get the album to the standard that it is at without the early support from the Forte Project.”

Applications for the project are now open via  www.forteproject.co.uk   until Monday 18 October.

This project has been made possible by the support from the PRS Foundation and Arts Council of Wales.

forteproject.co.uk   facebook.com/forteproject10 twitter.com/forteproject10     instagram.com/forteproject10  

'A Human Being is the Best Disguise’ is a reworking of Ritual Cloak’s self-titled, largely instrumental debut release, except now with added lyrics and vocals by writer, comedian and spoken word performer Autumn Juvenile. The resultant hybrid takes the glacial electronica of the original album, before injecting it with a cocktail of dark narratives, observational detail and social commentary.
 
Autumn Juvenile describes the process:
 
“All lyrics are a mix of real-life lies, workplace gossip, online flirtations and (most unforgivably) pure imagination. They were written on stifling summer nights working in secure mental health units across Cardiff, in between rolling cigarettes for rapists. This is music you can smugly share on your social media; working class fictions for middle class listeners”
 
The album was recorded at Kings Road Studios, Cardiff, produced by Ritual Cloak and Autumn Juvenile and mastered by Charlie Francis. It also features vocals from Jemma Roper, as well as Ritual Cloak’s Daniel and Andrew. The cover photography is by Daniel Barnett.
 
Ritual Cloak is comprised of Daniel Barnett, formerly of the band Samoans, and drummer / producer Andrew Sanders. The duo met in 2013 after Daniel answered an ad for a guitarist to join the backing band for singer Jemma Roper. An instant kinship was struck, with both Daniel and Andrew embracing experimentation and a shared love of electronic music. After the split of Samoans in 2018, the pair began playing around with instrumental textures and piano-led ambient soundscapes, all resulting in their well-received self-titled debut in 2019. They followed this with their second album, ‘Divine Invasions’, released on Bubblewrap Records in 2021.

It feels fantastic to have Bandicoot back with a brand new single, ‘Life Death and Other Things’ after a summer of re-establishing themselves as one of Wales’s most exciting live bands. Taking its influence from Randy Newman, Bowie’s ‘Station to Station’ and Scott Walker, ‘Life Death and Other Things’ is yet another bold move from a band who are steadily building an envious back catalogue on their journey towards a remarkable debut album.

Vocalist Rhys Underdown explains the story of ‘Life, Death and Other Things’ creation:

“Life, Death and Other Things is a song about songwriting. It captures the frustrations that come with compressing the whole world and all living experience into three minutes and a few words. It describes the surreality of waking up in unrecognisable nightmarish places, and the impossibility of really saying what you mean. It tries to bridge the overwhelming feeling of distance separating yourself from the world around you, an attempt to understand life, death, and everything in between”

Swansea Folk-pop aficionados ‘Lost Tuesday Society’ have announced a brand new album entitled ‘Bee Skin Rug’ which will be released independently on Friday 22nd of October. 

‘Lights’ the first single to be taken from the ‘Bee Skin Rug’ album is a terrific uplifting burst of energy that works as a fantastic preview of what we can expect from their new works. Harmony flooded and certainly becoming a real automatic-earworm, ‘Lights’ really excels and shows off ‘Lost Tuesday Society’s new material to a T, and accompanied with the production of acclaimed long-time friend and producer Joe Gibb, LTS are kitted out to establish themselves as a tour de force in their respected genres.

‘Lights’ will be released on Friday 1st of October. 

Lost Tuesday Society are Jay Browning (bass) Alfie Scheinman (guitar, flute, vocals) Sarah Birch (guitar, vocals) Darran Browning (guitar, vocals) Simon Jones (drums) Kate Ronconi (violin, vocals)
Lost Tuesday Society are a 6 piece band who have collectively come from a variety of differing musical backgrounds and therefore bring with them a range of personal influences; from traditional and alternative folk, grunge and shoe-gaze, funk, psychedelia and rock.

The result is a unique blend of music with intricate compositions, strong hooks and melody lines combining in a huge dynamic sound that has people up on their feet.

With four vocalists (Sarah, Kate, Darran and Alfie) in the band the harmonies are interesting, beautiful and an important element to the Lost Tuesday Society sound. With a heavier back line and driving rhythm section ( Jay and Simon) and two accomplished guitarists (in Alfie and Darran) the new material presented today has a maturity and edge which is beautifully enhanced by weaving strings (Kate),flute(Alfie) and melodica (Sarah).

HISTORICALLY 

In around 2011 Darran and Sarah formed the first murmurings of Lost Tuesday Society with a different line up of excellent musicians joining and contributing over a period of years. ( Darren Beynon, Ian Coote, Julian Clark and Simon Parsons) Alfie Scheinman joined around the time of writing and recording the first self titled album and adding an extra layer of flute, guitar, vocals and songwriting that gave the album it’s own uniqueness. The first album was very well received being more in the style of an alternative folk album with elements of blues and rock thrown in. However the LTS ‘sound’ was well and truly born from this.

In 2019 The final song on this debut album ‘Universe’ was used in a  Crime drama in Russia called Maxop. The result was a large following in that part of the world, many Russian messages ( google translated) and shazam and you tube viewings going through the roof.

 A few years after the first album, members Simon Jones, Jay Browning and Kate Ronconi joined Lost Tuesday Society and the final lineup was complete;  With Kate's incredible violin playing and a much heavier, technical back line (Jay and Simon); the sound has progressed to another level again. The band write collaboratively together as well as individually yet all 6 members contribute to the arrangements and over all flavour of the tracks. With this the second album “Bee Skin Rug’; many of theses songs have already been gigged live far and wide.  

LTS have secured their status as festival stalwarts  playing Green Man, Shambala and Kendell Calling as well as regular headliners at The Swansea Fringe Festival. To date, the band have graced the stage with the likes of Paolo Nutini, Lianne LaHavas, Pete Doherty, Sister Sledge, Alabama 3, Moulettes, Big Sir, The Real Thing and Mica Paris, Fairport Convention to name but a few. They have played the Acoustic Festival of Britain, Nozstock, Big Cwtch, Kaya Festival and in venues all over south Wales as well as Cardiff, Devon and The Paimpol Festival in Brittany.

Bee Skin Rug is the new album release from Lost Tuesday Society and this album is a far cry from the gentle musings of the first one.

‘Devil in a B and B’ was the first single from the album. Accompanied by the usual self made video. This one was filmed in The Elysium Gallery in Swansea with a ‘talent show’ theme and a queue of volunteers. It is a small taster of the albums direction and is perhaps the most playful and surreal.
The next single to be released is called ‘Lights’ and is perhaps the most fitting song to be released in these strange times. It is up beat and harmony driven (“Haven’t seen light in a while”) and endlessly positive. Something we all need at the moment.

Intertwining violin, flute and guitar with the occasional synth thrown in gives all the music a cinematic, atmospheric landscape; with a darker more foreboding edge in songs like DMT and Propane.  ‘Knowing what you are’ and ‘Spaniard’ fuse elements of almost jazz with what can only really be described as Russian Choir-esque.

I suppose giving pertinence to describe LTS as having psychedelic leanings. Subtleties and dynamics play a part in the first track ‘Bee Skin Rug’ where after the huge introduction vocals are simple and delicate leading seamlessly into the second song (the afore mentioned Knowing what you are).

While it sounds on paper like this album shouldn’t work it’s actually very cleverly composed, well played, well sung beautiful music. Often times the lead vocal being taken by different members of the band however still maintaining its very distinct sound. You know you are listening to Lost Tuesday Society!

Recorded and produced by Joe Gibb (David Bowie, The Kinks, Catatonia, Leftfield, Moulettes) at Mwnci Studios (Joe also produced the first self titled album). Joe is basically the 7th band member;  knowing the sound and songwriting so well and understanding it. The whole bands efforts and Joe Gibb's production and input has been a huge part of the writing process and the band are hugely proud and excited about people hearing this album.

www.losttuesdaysociety.com

Available for weddings, divorces, births and funerals.

Social Links & Websites
https://twitter.com/losttuesday?lang=en
https://www.instagram.com/losttuesdaysociety/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/ltslosttuesday/
https://losttuesdaysociety.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/lost-tuesday-society

John MOuse celebrates almost a year since The Goat was released by offering the final single, Buy to Let Industry Expert, up on all streaming sites with an accompanying T Shirt, designed by Welsh International Artist Bedwyr Williams . 

A fitting collaboration on the artwork for the single and T Shirt as the lyrical content for the track was inspired by Bedwyr’s Instagram posts at the time, which went onto be part of the MILQUETOAST touring exhibitions. 

John MOuse will also finally get to promote the 2020 album live this Autumn at: Clwb Ifor Bach , Cardiff, Oct 28th - Full band and solo sets 

And then solo sets supporting Piroshka at 

Chalk , Brighton, Nov 2nd 

Brudenell Social Club , Leeds, Nov 3rd 

Deaf Institute , Manchester, Nov 5th 

Brudenell Social Club , Leeds, Nov 3rd 

Garage , London, Nov 6th