Blogs
'My Name Is Ian' collaborate with HMS Morris on brand new 'Where Is The Time?' single
By Ceri Shaw, 2021-04-13
We are delighted to welcome My Name Is Ian back onto our release schedule after an uncharacteristically long development period for their latest album, Fantastic Company , out via Bubblewrap Collective on 4 th June 2021 .
The band’s standard ‘prolific-and-terrific’ approach, culminating in no less than 18 releases since 2010, has been put to one side, with their latest being written and recorded over two years, with time spent in four different locales (Cardiff’s Rat Trap and King’s Road Studios , the pop-up Snowbird Studios in Riofreddo, Italy and Axe and Trap Studio in Wells). The resultant LP takes a substantive shift from the garage-pop of previous records and leaps double-footed into a charmingly wonky, indie-dance parallel universe where almost anything seems possible.
Placing centrally the multi-layered, pre-programmed beats of in-house production guru, Joseph Coleby, live instrumentation including electric guitar, four different keyboards and synths, smooth funk-soul bass and hand percussion are also liberally sprinkled throughout.
Flanking Reginald Foxwell’s ever-incisive lead vocals are over 20 other singers including members of The Burning Hell, Quiet Marauder, HMS Morris and more. The aggregated effect of this production methodology, musicianship, and spirit of sonic adventurism is a warming, texturally deep and irresistibly catchy set of tracks straddling pop, hip-hop and experimental soundscapes.
The next single to be released from Fantastic Company will be Where is The Time? Featuring HMS Morris on 16 th April 2021 . The album will be available on limited edition heavyweight black vinyl and across all the usual digital streaming and retail platforms.
Links:
https://mynameisian.com
https://twitter.com/goodmynameisian
https://bubblewrapcollective.co.uk/artists/my-name-is-ian/
https://mynameisian.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/mynameisianmusic
It’s been 10 years since Little Arrow emerged with their debut album, ‘Music, Masks & Poems’ way back in 2011. In marking this monumental milestone, we also celebrate the life and music of frontman, William Hughes, who we sadly lost to cancer in December 2018.
The release charts some of the many aspects of Will’s artistic life with a ‘Words & Art’ booklet showcasing his sculptures and lyrics; all accompanying the heavyweight, marbled blue vinyl of music. The digital reissue will also include bonus live recordings spanning Little Arrow’s career alongside interpretations of the album tracks re-recorded by some of Will’s closest friends. The first of these bonus tracks to be released is a live performance from Four Bars, Cardiff, in 2014. The track stands as a juxtaposition between the folk roots of the album version and the final live lineup of Little Arrow.
Brimming with themes of hope, love and community, the album remains an expansive, airy and understated folk-tinged gem. Label owner and Little Arrow drummer Rich Chitty elaborates in his accompanying liner notes:
“From the tranquil opening of ‘Bitten Blues’ to the vivid imagery in ‘Aeroplane’; the lyrics felt old-worldly but familiar. Full of hope, but tragic. Wetting its toes amongst the mayhem, as Will puts it in ‘Poetically Diseased’. It was intimate, strange and personal yet somehow relatable, as though it talked of your pain and your joy, all through metaphors nearly lost to time. ‘Easy Now’ and ‘Beneath the True Blue’ were haunting and heart-breaking. ‘People of the Volcano’, ‘Boat’ and ‘Poetically Diseased’ were optimistic but borne of that same curious cloth. To this day, it remains my favourite part of Will’s back catalogue.”
All proceeds from the album will be donated to Paul Sartori - Hospice at Home.
https://www.facebook.com/littlearrowmusic/
https://bubblewrapcollective.
Bandicoot’s description of their new single FUZZY perfectly incapsulates its timeless, joyful energy ... “FUZZY is a deranged attempt at seduction which draws on 70s ‘Top of the Pops’, glam rock and memories of misguided adolescence.”
Following hot on the heels of the bands successful debut single on Libertino ‘Dark Too Long’, FUZZY shares DTL infatuation with the decade where you cycled to catch your dreams on your trusted ‘chopper bike’ and ‘glittered teenage anthems filled the airwaves as much as your imagination’.
With FUZZY Bandicoot are Gene Vincent’s lustful, greasy-haired, leather-jacketed rebellion channelled through Bolan and the New York Dolls infectious boogie. As they sing FUZZY is their Vitamin C, now let FUZZY be yours!
According to Bandicoot “FUZZY is a strutting statement of intent, fizzing with energy, rolling relentlessly on. It captures the energy that we’re bursting with, cooped up in our homes, awaiting the return to the stage. And a triumphant, ferocious return it will be”
Described as “Lively, entertaining, and valuable – a real gem” by the journalist, presenter and newsreader Huw Edwards, the book considers the influences of key figures such as William Williams Pantycelyn and Ira Sankey also examines rhythmic elements in Welsh preaching.
Author, Ronald Rees, said:
“Two particular incidents led to the writing of this book. The most recent was my reading of Barbara Ehrenreich’s Dancing in the Street . Her book is about the need, manifested throughout human history, for communal expressions of feeling – in dance, parade and song. The other incident was a combined concert and cymanfa ganu held at St David’s Hall, Cardiff about forty years ago. The concert performers were members of Rhondda’s peerless Pendyrus Choir, led by the late Glynne Jones. The singing was hair-raising. As the final repeated chorus died, a deeply moved Glynne Jones let the hall grow silent and said quietly and reverently: ‘This is who we are.’”
Painstakingly researched in libraries and archives in both Wales and America, and encompassing information from emigrant letters and diaries and local newspapers of the period, this definitive history tells how hymns and the religious movements and revivals spread via Welsh emigrants to religious communities of the USA. For example, it was a group of Welsh migrants to Utah, led by John Parry, who formed the nucleus of the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
“To engage their audiences, Welsh preachers at home and in America often delivered their sermons with a discernible cadence or rhythm in which sound could be as important as meaning. By combining the persuasive power of the word with the emotive power of music, assemblies could be brought to states ranging from spiritual readiness to hysteria. In our own times there are echoes of the mesmerizing, cadenced style in the recorded speeches of Dr Martin Luther King and the poetry readings of Dylan Thomas. Thomas’s great-uncle, Gwilym Marles Thomas, was a Welsh Congregationalist minister.”
“My objective was to explore how hymns, and the religious movements and Revivals of which they were part, fired the Welsh imagination. The chapels may have emptied but hymns remain our tribal songs,” said Ronald Rees.
Quiet Marauder Feat. Kadesha Drija - 'Let's Run Into The Flames Together' Single | Out Friday 19.03.21
By Ceri Shaw, 2021-03-18
Following swiftly on from last year’s Tiny Men Parts EP, Quiet Marauder re-enter the sonic fray with their latest Bubblewrap Collective long-player, The Gift, on 9th April 2021. Taking a strong divergence from the bombastic pop-punk of its predecessor, The Gift sees backing vocalist Kadesha Drija step to the foreground for the majority of the album, standing afront a richly crafted, multi-instrumental acoustic-folk backdrop.
Recorded pre-pandemic, January 2020, in The Burning Hell’s (Canada) pop-up Snowbird Studios, aka an art deco villa in Riofreddo, near Rome (Italy), this release marks another chapter in the ongoing international collaboration between the bands. For this album, Quiet Marauder’s (Wales) contributions of acoustic guitar, bass, trumpet and layered lead and backing vocals are granted further textural depth from their Canadian counterparts. These include minimalist harmonic splashes of flute, piano, organ (Jake Nicoll), electric guitar, bouzouki (Darren Browne) and bass clarinet (Ariel Sharratt).
Returning to the conceptual songwriting approach of previous releases MEN and The Crack And What It Meant, The Gift charts the narrative of a troubled teenage girl (Willow) haunted by visions of a mysterious house fire. Willow’s path is traced through well-meaning foster parents, teenage love interests, time-bending superpowers, distrust of domestic appliances and, ultimately, her own memories; covering themes of self-identity and the fallibility of human recall. Though the album marks a more overtly serious tone for the band, the sensitive subject matter is delicately handled through their trademark low-key, observational and, sometimes, darkly humorous lyrics.
The Gift will mark the second Quiet Marauder vinyl release via Bubblewrap Collective and will come on a heavyweight 180gm, purple marble 12-inch adorned within bespoke, Sims-based artwork designed by Carlota Nobrega. Each vinyl also comes with a lyric fold-out and sew-on ‘house fire’ patch. Alongside the vinyl release, The Gift will also be available to stream and download via all standard digital retailers and streaming services.
'The Gift' Tracklisting
1. Pilot: The Fire
2. Will I Remember To Remember?
3. My New Foster Parents
4. No Friends, Just Visions
5. Her Love Interest
6. His Love Interest
7. The Future Is Bright, The Future Is Orange 8. I, Robots
9. The Ballad Of Loss And Self-Doubt
10. The Domestic Accomplices
11. Mastering My Powers
12. Infinite Versions Of Myself, Same Old House Fire
13. Let’s Run Into The Flames Together
14. Epic Plot Twist: Extinguished
So what if he'd won big on X Tractor
that night with the other grinning hopefuls
of the combined Young Farmers of his county
but fame and its fickle flame didn't burn long
with the fattening catalogue of demise
and enough freshly signed death certificates
to fill a library of uncomfortable learning
he should have been sated
busier than ever with
the practiced condolences
the pressing of the flesh
and the liaising with
the dependables of the funerary industry
despite this unexpected windfall
Tomb Jones was restless
seeing no end to a career
of infinite possibility and beginning
to despair even as his ISA multiplied
he spoke granite rather than Italian marble
and his wife complained that he was not urbane
enough for this stage of their union
fretting that she had not succeeded
in niggling and nibbling away
all the burrs and bumps that constituted him
as ever he completely misheard her
confusing "urbane" with "urban" and snorting
"of course not dear we live down a farm track!"
he who had thought that Cinzano Bianco
was somehow linked to that stranger Quixote
hamboned enough to charge at a windmill
but when the day was over
the battered container of gossip emptied
and Death and his wife put to bed
his thoughts turned to a change of career
a new dawn a higher calling
on the reverse of a large used envelope
propped up by the lectern of his pyjamed thighs
he began to draw the outlines of a combine harvester
sketching the insignia of the Red Cross on its flanks
and pencilled in military grade syringe-cannon
that could fire small darts of vaccine
accurately into the unsuspecting arms
of anyone within a hundred yards
doing away with the need for any sort
of organisation other than a simple timetable
and allowing thousands of health workers
to return to their wards to relieve their colleagues
whilst ensuring that everyone was vaccinated
whether they wish it or not
he fell asleep satisfied that if he put his mind to it
he could harness his agrarian past
to a bright pharmaceutical tomorrow
and help broker a sort of medicated peace
a freedom that no one would suspect existed
BEACONS LAUNCHES SUMMIT A MUSIC INDUSTRY CONFERENCE BY YOUNG PEOPLE BY YOUNG PEOPLE
By Ceri Shaw, 2021-03-15
FRIDAY 9 APRIL – SATURDAY 10 APRIL – SUNDAY 11 APRIL
Beacons has announced a brand-new free online Welsh music industry conference for young people by young people (16-25) called Summit which will take place online from Friday 9 April to Sunday 11 April. Tickets are free and available from www.beacons.cymru Beacons Summit is a digital Welsh music industry conference curated by young people, for young people. Its purpose is to get you started on your creative journey, to visualize your career and to offer you guidance through the thrilling labyrinth of the Welsh music industry. The weekend long event will provide diverse educational material surrounding the music industry and illuminate the journeys and stories of inspiring Welsh based professionals.
Summit will cover a wide range of subjects including songwriting with two of Wales’ leading young songwriters Violet Skies & Alex Stacey, Social Media tips from Hansh, starting up a record label with Rose Parade Recording Company and Libertino Records, becoming the next generation of tastemakers with Sophie Williams (NME/The Guardian/Dork) and Rebecca Llewellyn (Becky and the Bands), Side Hustling with Tumi Williams, Simon Parton, What is A&R with Lily Beau Conway and more to be announced which appear on www.beacons.cymru
Young people are the driving force behind Beacons, and a key strand within Beacons has been the establishment of a ‘Young Consultants’ team. Since November, our Young Consultants have been designing Beacons’ first public offer: an online music industry conference by young people for young people, called ‘Summit’.
Beacons Summit will aim to create a platform that unites the Welsh industry through inspiring talks, visual art, interviews, live performances and video content.
Over the past year, we’ve been developing Beacons - a new bilingual suite of online resources designed to empower the next generation of the music and creative industries in Wales. Beacons will be built and delivered by young people for young people seeking knowledge, opportunity and networks to illuminate future career paths.
There will be distinct areas of Summit to help young people:
1) DIY SERIES:
A bullet point video series of quick insights, hacks and top-tips. Video content delivered by industry professionals who have mastered effective ways to overcome challenges and get things done/achieve results. Ranging from ‘beginners’ videos for those who are new to the industry to ‘advanced’ videos for those who are looking to polish skill sets they already possess.
2) ‘HOW TO’ GUIDES:
A deeper dive into the world of the music industry. First-hand accounts from professionals who have been determined to carve careers in the sector they love. They will be guiding the listeners along their own professional experiences, and giving insights into the kind of challenges that will inevitably have to be faced within the industry, and how to overcome them, whilst also teaching which skills are essential to a career in this competitive sector and how to develop them.
3) WELLBEING / PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:
An area devoted to the promotion of wellbeing and mental health of young people.
Join us for the journey.
Beacons Summit will take place between Friday 9 April – Sunday 11 April, online and free tickets are now available at www.beacons.cymru
Beacons is made possible by funding through Creative Wales, Youth Music and Anthem
“For the third time this Morning… 11.00 am!” replied her Partner-in-Crime, Joe Boxer.
“ I am the one that suffered multiple blows to my head not you!” he said hands shaking violently.
“Sorry, but it’s this Long-Covid…it’s a bugger with your memory!” said Hannah.
“ And I am nervous too!” she continued.
Hannah checked the letter headed by a green Westminster Portcullis.
“I never thought that I would get to meet the Health Secretary, Mr Handjob, in person!” she squealed excitedly.
“It’s not Hand-job -It’s HanCOCK !” scolded Joe “And don’t call him that for F***’s sake or he will definitely stop our funding!”
Following his retirement from the ring, due to the early onset of Parkinson’s disease, Joe and his business partner, Delroy Boyd from the house clearance business, they had turned into a pair of entrepreneurs.
Movers AND shakers if you like.
Their latest venture had been to turn the former Green Boxing Hall at Eighth Avenue into a vaccination centre for the local population on the Galon Uchaf Estate.
It was known locally as Jabber the Hut.
The Secretary of State for Health was so impressed with their reported performance levels in administering the vaccine shots that he wanted to see the place for himself.
Wales was ahead of England yet again and not just in terms of Six Nations Rugby and he wanted to understand why.
It was also an opportunity to turn yet another traditional Labour heartland into a Tory Blue voting area.
After all, Merthyr Tydfil had voted on a majority basis for Brexit – principally because they believed the Conservative lie that they would be able to stop immigration.
If there was one thing the residents of the Estate did not want, it was Foreigners coming over here and taking THEIR benefits.
Considering there were only a thousand residents within Motability scooter battery distance, they had done very well in their returns to the Department of Health.
Especially as there was only 500 people actually living on the Estate.
To ensure they were AL L inoculated within a week was extremely impressive and worthy of praise from Central Government.
After all, large swathes of the Country were misled into believing that the vaccine was made up from a combination of dead baby stem cells, Bill Gates Spunk, Arsenic and a tracking device.
Certain sections of the great unwashed didn’t believe that there was in fact an invisible germ that was killing them just because they were all obese.
Besides who wanted to live to the age of 35 anyway?
These people didn’t want any microchips, unless of course they were from McCain that is.
Nor did they want anyone checking on their every movement, whilst they were on Facebook or their Mobile Phone.
How else could they moonlight as a window cleaner, painter, hairdresser or nail beautician otherwise?
Their employee-Hannah was a large lady indeed.
Like most ex-nurses that had actually survived the pandemic, she was grossly overweight.
Her arse was so big that you could balance a cup of coffee on it without her knowing.
In contrast, Joe being an ex-pugilist was built like a split-pin.
His body was his temple and his claim to fame was that he had once had a part as body double for World Champion Merthyr boxer Johnny Owen – in the film ‘Snitches get Stitches’.
Both Joe and Delroy had been forced to live by their wits.
Dodging and weaving in the Business World just as they had in the ring.
It was strange how close the two former boxing rivals had become after retiring from taking low blows, and had both come up with joint ventures that had kept them one step ahead of the local rent collector.
After throwing in the towel, they had become designers of men’s underwear- and marketed a brand of men’s underpants that stretched automatically as they bent over.
It was named after a ‘left/right combination’ of famous people.
A Labour politician and a millionaire boxer.
It was goodbye to Builder’s cleavage when you owned a pair of ‘Wedgie Benn’s’.
Facebook had afforded them the business opportunity their parents and grandparents never had.
But the pair never rested on their laurels.
They were always looking to their next big venture and they realised that the time was right, just like everyone in the Government to cash in on the Tax-Payer during the pandemic.
They saw it as a way of getting some tax money back from Central Government -even if they hadn’t actually paid any themselves.
It was surprising what a bout of hysteria in the media could do to drum up business.
They had tried their hand at creating PPE out of old boxing head guards and gloves, but found that no-one in the local Queen Camilla hospital wanted to go into work looking like Muhammed Ali.
Not even Doctor Muhammed Ali.
The next best thing was to create their own supply of vaccine to the Third World – or Galon Uchaf- as it was known locally.
They had an insider in the hospital- a friend of Hannah, who was happy to smuggle a phial of the experimental Oxford Vaccine out and a Sixth- Former in the local Penydre School with a C at O Level in Chemistry to create their own knock-off version.
They could then undercut the competition by reducing manufacturing costs and jump the waiting list by purchasing directly from the pair under their Company name of Jabber the Hut Limited.
The advert on Facebook for their product boasted of a special ‘Happy Hour’ deal.
They had even added their own ingredients to help fight off the different variations of the germ that had developed in the former United Kingdom.
The Government recommended that a person be given a first shot of the vaccine which could provide up to 75% cover for six months and a further jab within twelve weeks to bring up immunity to 93%.
With the Jabber the Hut vaccine- which contained coffee and diet-coke and crystal meth- two shots was never enough.
Some people just coming back for more as they had become addicted.
Now in Galon Uchaf money had gone by the wayside.
They had reintroduced the barter system, as it didn’t affect their state benefits.
There was no Universal Credit level cut-off when it came to the number of chickens that you kept in the garden.
Outside the hut, queues were starting to form- all two metres apart that had been spray painted onto the pavement like a Premiership referee marking a wall from goal.
The fear of the Kent variant, meant that long queues just like that of the HGV lorry drivers near Dover were forming all the way down First Avenue.
A black limousine, now missing one of its wheel trims, arrived at the Hut and out stepped a weasel looking man surrounded by more bodyguards than Maria Carey.
He was ushered into the Hut to meet the owners but obviously to avoid shaking their hands.
‘Good Morning….said Hancock swiftly changing into a white lab coat for the photo opportunity before adopting the Tory Power stance which made him look a politician desperate to hold onto his deposit.
“Welcome Matt!” said Joe hands already shaking but not making contact.
Hannah curtsied and the sound of ripping of material could be heard in the street.
“I always wanted crotchless panties Mr Cock…!” she blurted out without thinking.
The glare from both Joe Boxer and Delroy Boyd was worse than the face-off at the Nigel Benn and Cwis Eubank fight.
Hancock then point up at the Price Tariff Board and enquired if it was a joke designed to raise spirits.
He read aloud:
‘One shot of Astra Zenaca for £3.00 or two for a Pfizer’.
He was surprised to also see a list of vegetables underneath and their vale on the Galon Uchaf equivalent of the FTSE index.
He then enquired as to where the vaccine was stored as it had to be below minus 80 and minus 60 degrees.
Joe opened the door and proudly displayed his storage area.
It was a former ice-cream van marked on the side as ‘Crony-Bell’.
“If you are a good boy you can have a ‘Moonshot Rocket Ice’ with it in exchange for one turnip- thanks to you we have lots of lolly!!!!” said Anna trying to be helpful.
“What about people who do not possess green fingers?” chuckled the Health Secretary.
“Then we have a watered-down version of Astra Zenaca for them…in Wales -we call it the ‘Poor Dab’!” replied Del.
“We do however warn them that there are some potential side effects- such as not being able to ever work again but strangely enough most people in this area are happy to accept such a risk!” interjected Joe.
“Who administers the vaccine?” asked Hancock.
Hannah stepped forward wearing a pair of Alan Titchmarsh gardening gloves and a phantom of the opera mask autographed by Michael Crawford covering her eyes only.
“Me!” she said proudly.
“I used to be a nurse and I had the pleasure of training under my good friends Baroness Munchausen Beverley Allitt and Dr Harold Shipman in Manchester!” Hannah continued.
“So that is how you got on the approved supply list….a Baroness!....of course!” said Hancock.
“Of course, I only put this gear on not to frighten the kids, as I tell they that I am really the ‘Masked Syringer’ off the Saturday Night Show of the same name!” continued Hannah.
“Although a lot of them already know how to find a vein, lots of them have seen their parents chasing the Welsh Dragon!” she continued in a matter of fact fashion.
“That was why we set up this Gym in the first place…interrupted Joe Boxer…to teach the females in the families how to dodge punches in the ring….otherwise it would be a bloodbath in this pandemic!”
“ A regular Quentin Quarantino!” if you like!” interrupted Del pleased at his comedic ad lib.
“Do people REALLY live like this in the 21 st Century?” asked Hancock of one of his aids horrified at the prospect.
“Never been to Merthyr before then Butt have u?” said an elderly woman sticking her head around the door.
“Who the Hell are you?” asked one of the Bodyguards from Serco.
“Mrs Paula Grady!” fired back the resident.
“Who wants to know?” she spat back with all the viciousness of a cat in the middle of a cat fight.
“Her Majesty’s Health Secretary” came the reply.
“Look…replied Paula….I queued up overnight to make sure that I was first in line for the jab…to give you an idea of what it was like - imagine the queue for Wimbledon or outside Harrods on Black Friday before Christmas….except with more Police sirens and Fire Fighters being pelted with stones!”
“Or in Merthyr the queue for the Dole Office!” she continued.
“Please let her in Officer….she has been outside since 5am in sub-zero temperatures…she will be our first guinea pig of the day!” said Hannah.
Joe tried to distract the Health Secretary from that comment.
“Before we inject them with the vaccine…we try to put the patient at ease by asking a few simple questions!” Joe said showing his authority.
“Name?” asked Joe shaking whilst holding the clipboard giving the appearance of the former football scores vidiprinter.
“Paula Grady!” replied the elderly woman.
“Address?” asked Joe.
“53 Thirteenth Avenue!” she replied.
Joe raised an eyebrow suspiciously as the Avenue count only went up to Twelve.
“Age?” Joe questioned further.
“Eighty years of age!” replied the old crone.
“Date of Birth!” he continued left eyebrow raised higher than Everton manager, Carlo Ancelotti.
“01/04/1991…sorry I meant 1941!” said Paula.
Joe reached across and snatched at the elderly woman’s beard sharply.
It revealed a much younger woman in her early thirties.
“Well Mrs Doubtfire…where do you think this is?..... America?” he said booting the woman up the arse out through the door of the hut.
“I thought it was suspicious….no-one has all their OWN teeth at that age on this Estate!” said Joe triumphantly.
“When can I have my vaccine? Because I am in category Ten!” moaned Paula (whose real name was Dani La Rue).
“Come back after Meghan Markle gets accepted back into the Royal Family with open arms!” said Joe.
“Come back any sooner and you will get a different jab!” shouted Delroy, as the attempted fraudster slunk down the street.
“So near…. so Spar!” Paula moaned shaking her head to the next imposter in the queue.
“I think we have seen enough!” said Hancock signalling to his lackies.
“What about our licence….will it be renewed?” asked Joe nervously.
“Can you make a donation to the Conservative Party?” asked the Health Secretary.
“Will a sack of turnips, some prizes from Castle Bingo and a chicken do?” asked Hannah.
“ I think we already have enough vegetables in the Cabinet already!” came the reply.
viA fAntAsticA's debut album '2 any 1' a voyage of synths, loops, samples inspired by grassroots arts movements of Cardiff and Manchester
By Ceri Shaw, 2021-03-09
viA fAntAsticA release their new album '2 any 1' on the 29th of March. It is preceded by the lead single ‘Onstage, right now....’ a tapestry of percussive loops, synth waves and found sound samples that reassembles early 90s rave culture and echoes of 60s pop, and makes it vital, it's an intriguing introduction to the aural voyage viA fAntAsticA will take you on throughou t ‘2 any 1’. Watch the accompanying video here.
viA fAntAsticA is J.T. and Gaia de Voxx on a DIY synth pop journey. J.T. is Justin Toland, erstwhile purveyor of loops and found sound on Recordiau Peski and self-released cassettes under the name Location Baked. Gaia de Voxx is his droid vocalist.
2 any 1 is the debut album by viA fAntAsticA. It’s about songs, tunes, accessibility, reaching out. Influences range from mass market and under-the-radar 80s synth pop ( Yazoo, Human League, Fad Gadget ) to contemporary Puerto Rican electronic indie ( Los Wálters, Buscabulla ).
2 any 1 began as an imaginary soundtrack to a 21st century kitchen sink drama set in the faded seaside resort of Porthcawl. That was the inspiration for the Italo disco stylings of ‘Meet me at Sidoli’s', the electronic surf rock of ‘Never surf again’ , lover’s lament ‘Not waving but crying’ , and the incidental noir of ‘Fog and mirrors’ . When Covid scuppered those plans, the album began to take a different shape: less conceptual, more personal, more free-ranging.
So there are songs and tunes about Cardiff communities and community action, including ‘Row Town’ (Roath), ‘Rebuild the Poets’, and ‘Agents of Change’ , which nods to Toland’s found sound roots, with its field recording from a Save Guildford Crescent demo.
There are tracks based around loops and inspirations, including ‘Must be built’, which searches for the essence of the Hacienda nightclub, ‘Swim-up bar blues’, ‘Cowley’, and lead single ‘Onstage, right now…’.
And above all, there are things that just sound good and sound right, like ‘Gwawr' , like ‘Stomp stomp’ . So we’re releasing them, releasing this album – 2any1 – in '21. Are you listening?
"chuntering machine-driven backing somewhere between early 80s minimal synth and mid-80s electro...expansive array of semi-ambient keyboards and proto-techno rhythms." Buzz Magazine
Described as “Lively, entertaining, and valuable – a real gem” by the journalist, presenter and newsreader Huw Edwards, the book considers the influences of key figures such as William Williams Pantycelyn and Ira Sankey also examines rhythmic elements in Welsh preaching.
Author, Ronald Rees, said:
“Two particular incidents led to the writing of this book. The most recent was my reading of Barbara Ehrenreich’s Dancing in the Street . Her book is about the need, manifested throughout human history, for communal expressions of feeling – in dance, parade and song. The other incident was a combined concert and cymanfa ganu held at St David’s Hall, Cardiff about forty years ago. The concert performers were members of Rhondda’s peerless Pendyrus Choir, led by the late Glynne Jones. The singing was hair-raising. As the final repeated chorus died, a deeply moved Glynne Jones let the hall grow silent and said quietly and reverently: ‘This is who we are.’”
Painstakingly researched in libraries and archives in both Wales and America, and encompassing information from emigrant letters and diaries and local newspapers of the period, this definitive history tells how hymns and the religious movements and revivals spread via Welsh emigrants to religious communities of the USA. For example, it was a group of Welsh migrants to Utah, led by John Parry, who formed the nucleus of the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
“To engage their audiences, Welsh preachers at home and in America often delivered their sermons with a discernible cadence or rhythm in which sound could be as important as meaning. By combining the persuasive power of the word with the emotive power of music, assemblies could be brought to states ranging from spiritual readiness to hysteria. In our own times there are echoes of the mesmerizing, cadenced style in the recorded speeches of Dr Martin Luther King and the poetry readings of Dylan Thomas. Thomas’s great-uncle, Gwilym Marles Thomas, was a Welsh Congregationalist minister.”
“My objective was to explore how hymns, and the religious movements and Revivals of which they were part, fired the Welsh imagination. The chapels may have emptied but hymns remain our tribal songs,” said Ronald Rees.
Born in Skewen and educated at Neath Grammar School, Ronald Rees taught historical geography at the University of Saskatchewan and, as adjunct professor, at Mount Allison University, New Brunswick. He has written books on the Canadian prairies, the Maritime provinces of Canada, garden history, and on science and industry in south Wales. He lives in St Andrews, an historic resort on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick.
A Nation of Singing Birds: Sermon and Song in Wales and Among the Welsh in America by Ronald Rees (£12.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.
