Blogs
Colour Clash, Gwent's premier one-day festival is thrilled to announce its highly anticipated return to Tredegar Park, Newport on Saturday, 20th July 2024, with headliner ArrDee and special guests Ben Nicky and Shy FX
Early bird tickets for Colour Clash Festival have already sold out, showcasing the immense excitement surrounding this event. However, music lovers can access priority access to the next ticket release here https://www.colour-clash.co.uk/prereg/ UK rapper ArrDee heads up the bill with appearances from, Ben Nicky, and Shy FX, Nathan Dawe, Badger, Issey Cross, Oppidan, Darren Styles, David Rust, Sander Van Doorn, and many more artists will take the stage, ensuring a colourful and vibrant atmosphere throughout the day.
Brighton’s ArrDee is proving to be one of the UK’s most exciting MCs. Adorned with charisma, the self-confessed “cheeky chappy”, rose to instant fame with his feature on Russ Millions and Tion Wayne’s ‘Body (Remix)’. The viral hit became the first drill track to reach number one on the UK charts, soundtracks over a million TikToks, and has clocked up 200 million streams.
The young MC has cemented his place at the top of the charts. He bagged three UK Top 10s in just three months, with ‘Body (Remix), T2-sampling Digga D-collab ‘Wasted’, and the string-
laden ‘Oliver Twist’. Dropping hit after hit, his infectious charisma and witty wordplay have continued to shine through. His most recent, ‘Flowers (Say My Name)’, samples the iconic beats of Sweet Female Attitude’s ‘Flowers’ and Destiny Child’s ‘Say My Name’ behind a garage-heavy deep dive into his Casanova-lifestyle.
Making noise as one of the busiest electronic artists on Earth, Ben Nicky is poised to take on the world. Earning supreme accolades from industry trailblazers, Ben is recognized by Diplo as the “leader of a new movement” and by Armin van Buuren as “one of the hardest working DJs in the industry.” Reaching new heights with chart-topping hits across Beatport, Spotify, and iTunes, Ben has become a household name across the dance music spectrum with his penchant for fast-moving beats. Coined by Pete Tong as a “multi-genre specialist” and “one of the planet’s busiest DJs,” Ben continues to lead fans and artists alike on social media to millions of online followers.
Escape Records, the collective behind Colour Clash Festival, is no stranger to organizing Wales' most prominent music festivals. With a track record that includes successful events such as In It Together Festival, Inside Out, Party in the Park, and the beloved Escape Festival, they have consistently brought world-class entertainment to Newport. Previous events have featured exceptional performances by Example, Jax Jones, Wilkinson, Joel Corry, Professor Green, Lethal Bizzle, Sub Focus, Jason Manford, and Bill Bailey, leaving festival-goers craving more.
As Colour Clash Festival returns to Newport, it reaffirms its commitment to providing an unparalleled experience for music enthusiasts. With its diverse lineup, lively atmosphere, and the expertise of Escape Records, this festival is set to become a highlight of the summer calendar.
Colour Clash will take place in Tredegar Park, Newport on Saturday, 20th July 2024.
AmeriCymru: You have some news for the readers and members of AmeriCymru. Care to share?
John: After what turned out to be a 48-year, 3-month vacation in America, I’m packing up my books, socks, underpants, musical instruments, mementos and (did I forget something?) memories, in order to head back across the Atlantic Ocean to live again somewhere near Port Talbot, Swansea Bay, or as the locals call it–San Pablo on the Costa del Abertawe.
AmeriCymru: What are your predictions for 2024? Will Wales land on the moon?
John: We already did, but it was on the dark side at midnight, and nobody saw us. Predictions? Wales will have a wet summer in 2024. 25, 26, 27...
AmeriCymru: How would you rate the success of the AmeriCymraeg course over the years?
John: I’d have to say it has been pretty successful considering. Our online Welsh language classes are ongoing, and will have to adapt to time differences, but quite a few people have gone on to become fluent.
AmeriCymru: Will you continue to teach Welsh when you get home?
John: Yn bendant/definitely. I’ve already contacted pro-active types in the area, and hope to contribute to the local efforts and also teach music in Welsh. Particularly Welsh Traditional. There’s increasing interest in both language and folk music in South Wales. Relearning and helping people learn Y Gymraeg/The Welsh Language was an act of love for me, as well as a political statement. Being able to speak to my mother in her native language, as well as showing the middle finger to the naysayers and the old enemy across Offa’s dyke, is the gift that keeps on giving.
AmeriCymru:. What can you tell us about life in Port Talbot?
John: AAAH! I love the smell of the Steelworks in the morning!! I grew up in the shadow of the blast furnaces, and the romance of unbounded emissions has never left me. It’s the classic “Dirty ol’ Town” that everyone born there loves. Most–unlike myself–never leave, or certainly not for long. But I’m looking forward to the strange industrial beauty of the rolling mill on a balmy summer evening, the sweet coughing of the songbirds, and startling contrast of the nearby seashore, gorse-covered hills, rivers and valleys. So, to answer your question directly, life in Port Talbot is contradictory.
AmeriCymru: Are you for or against Marmite?
John: I would remind you that I’m a part-time vegan (cockles, Mrs Evan’s pies, cod and chips excluded)!
AmeriCymru: Have you missed proper bacon?
John: I didn’t know he’d left.
AmeriCymru: Any musical recommendations? Current Welsh bands/artists?
John: Adwaith, The Gentle Good (no relation). An oldie but goody (no relation), if you can find recordings, the Rocking Sikh with his big local hit “My Poppadom Told Me”, “Turbans Over Memphis”, and “Who’s Sari Now”?
AmeriCymru: What's next for John Good? Will we be hearing from you in Port Talbot?
John: I’ll still be contributing short stories and poetry to Ninnau, and you can always see what I’m up to at my website: https://tramormusic.com
AmeriCymru:. Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
John: People have asked me over the years why I had left such a beautiful place as Cymru/Wales. My stock answer was that it was a slow Wednesday. It’s certainly not been slow living in San Francisco, LA, Phoenix and now Prescott Valley, Arizona. Now, people ask me why I’m leaving such a beautiful place as the high grasslands of Yavapai County. Well, I don’t have a trite answer this time. The tug of war of many close friends in both countries is intense, but in the end adventure, family, language, culture and hiraeth have won out. Strange to say these days, having been gone so long, Cymru/Wales is something of a foreign country to me, but is simultaneously my home, an old friend, a half forgotten lover, no one can turn down. I’m thankful for all my American playmates, friends of disaster and fellow dreamers. It has been a hell of a three month trip, and before I change my mind, I’ll just say Hyd y tro nesa/Until the next time.
Aaronson release stunning post-rock single 'Shipwrecks' out now via Dirty Carrot Records
By Ceri Shaw, 2024-02-02
Cardiff based post-rock band ' AARONSON' today release their brand new single 'SHIPWRECKS' via Dirty Carrot Records.
Taken from last year's acclaimed debut album 'The Great Swells That Carry Us Will Pull Us Under' which was a sonic marvel filled with beautifully arranged ambient post-rock and grabbed the attention of numerous corners of the music press and Radio including Adam Walton , BBC Radio Wales , A Closer Listen , Where The Music Meets , Buzz Magazine , Destroy Exist, Amplify The Noise, Ear To The Ground Music, and many more.
AARONSON are a post rock band from South Wales, whose towering layers of melody and epic crescendos have seen them share a stage with NORDIC GIANTS , COLDBONES , A-TOTA-SO and FALSE HOPE FOR THE SAVAGE , finished runners up at The Big Gig Wales 2020, be nominated for a Cardiff Music Award and release their cinematic EP 'YOU ARE NOT A STRANGER HERE'.
"exceptionally adept at what they do!"
Destroy Exist
Amplify The Noise
"brilliantly craft a near perfect post rock sound"
Ear To The Ground
“Songs that incorporate plenty of slow burn and build up,
The Razor’s Edge
Welsh Band 'Three Smiles Wide' release brand new single 'Warm Ice Cream' with all proceeds to My Big Cancer Fundraiser
By Ceri Shaw, 2024-02-02
WELSH band Three Smiles Wide will donate all the money raised from their latest single to help pay for treatment for a 38 year old with cancer.
Three Smiles Wide were recording the single at Sonic One Studios in Llanelli when they heard that Luke had suffered a seizure whilst walking in central London. Luke Thomas, from Kidwelly in the Gwendraeth Valley, found out he had seven metastases in his brain – type four cancer.
He was originally diagnosed with skin cancer in 2014 and has raised more than £65,000 for Melanoma Focus while walking the entire Welsh coast. The treatment he received originally worked and doctors classified Luke as ‘NED’ or ‘no evidence of disease’.
However, with the new diagnosis, options are beginning to run out and once he builds resistance to the targeted treatment he has been receiving for the past three years, there will be no more alternatives on the NHS.
Luke’s family and friends are now raising money to pay for immunotherapy as he doesn’t meet the criteria for it to be paid for by the NHS. They’ve managed to raise nearly £25k already.
Three Smiles Wide are hoping they can add to that and help Luke exceed the £100k needed for one round of immunotherapy. Drummer Sam Peric went to school with Luke and the trio are all from the Kidwelly area. The three-piece band also played at ‘Luke Fest’ in 2019 to raise money for Melanoma Focus.
The song, called Warm Ice Cream, will be available to buy from Friday, 2nd February 2024 and coincides with a sold out Party for Luke event taking place on Saturday, 3rd February.
'Silent Forum' brand new 'Domestic Majestic' Album Out 23rd February via Libertino
By Ceri Shaw, 2024-01-31
With tongue-in-cheek humour throughout, the themes of ‘Domestic Majestic’ revolve around self-care in the face of the difficult and mundane early-2020s. Here’s the Email is the band at its angriest and mostdestructive - presenting the perspective of the disgruntled office worker, now working from home, juxtaposing corporate life lyrics with jagged post-punk chaos. “Here’s the email / Hope you are safe and well / Hope your family’s well.”
On the other end of the spectrum you have Petrol Station Flowers , perhaps the most different and defiant song on the album which could be described as ambient chamber pop. The ghostly slide guitar, reverberating synths and crisp percussion join together as a monumental cloud. It would be the band’s most romantic statement yet if it wasn’t for Better With You, a song which started life as a synth line run through various bass guitar pedals, forming the backbone of the melody. The guitars, trying to find a
way in, pull from classical music tropes rarely heard in rock music. This results in a bombastic, spy movie feel.
1. Yes Man
2. Here’s the Email
3. Treat Yourself
4. Better with You
5. Me but not Tired
6. Cat Pose
7. The Grand Burstin Hotel
8. Petrol Station Flowers
9. U OK?
10. Little Bird
“Silent Forum are a combination of shadowy post punk and the more accessible side of indie rock. Theymove from cold and brooding to nervy, and almost overbold.” Destroy//Exist
“Silent Forum provide a cinematic take on broody indie rock… The band melds thrumming guitar linesand emphatic vocals with an unwavering beat.”
“There is something really interesting, almost PIL-like with those guitars." Adam Walton, BBC Radio Wales
AmeriCymru St David's Day Playlist
Croeso/welcome to our St David's Day Playlist. We will be adding more in the next few days. Below we have assembled some of the most traditional and patriotic Welsh songs with which to celebrate St David's Day. Enjoy/Mwynhewch!
Tracks
1 Yma o Hyd – Dafydd Iwan (English & Welsh lyrics and phonetic guide) Luca
2 Suo Gan ( Lullaby ) - Lyrics - Anthony Way and St. Paul's Cathedral Choir Somewheremaybe
3 Men of Harlech — Fron Male Voice Choir Anthems & Honors Music
4 Glan Mor Heli Carreg Lafar
5 Only Boys Aloud - The Welsh choir's Britain's Got Talent 2012 audition - Britain's Got Talent
6 Treorchy Male Voice Choir (Côr Meibion Treorci) - Myfanwy
7 Adra - Gwyneth Glyn (geiriau / lyrics)
8 Môr o Gariad, Meic Stevens - Penrhyn Gwyr (Gower Peninsula. Wales)
9 Welsh National Anthem - "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (CY/EN)
10 Welsh sing Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau in front of a packed Principality! | Guinness Six Nations
Silent Forum announce exciting new 'Domestic Majestic' album released 23.02 and unveil next single via Libertino
By Ceri Shaw, 2024-01-25
With tongue-in-cheek humour throughout, the themes of ‘Domestic Majestic’ revolve around self-care in the face of the difficult and mundane early-2020s. Here’s the Email is the band at its angriest and mostdestructive - presenting the perspective of the disgruntled office worker, now working from home, juxtaposing corporate life lyrics with jagged post-punk chaos. “Here’s the email / Hope you are safe and well / Hope your family’s well.”
On the other end of the spectrum you have Petrol Station Flowers , perhaps the most different and defiant song on the album which could be described as ambient chamber pop. The ghostly slide guitar, reverberating synths and crisp percussion join together as a monumental cloud. It would be the band’s most romantic statement yet if it wasn’t for Better With You, a song which started life as a synth line run through various bass guitar pedals, forming the backbone of the melody. The guitars, trying to find a
way in, pull from classical music tropes rarely heard in rock music. This results in a bombastic, spy movie feel.
Whilst they wear many hats it all fits neatly on one record.
1. Yes Man
2. Here’s the Email
3. Treat Yourself
4. Better with You
5. Me but not Tired
6. Cat Pose
7. The Grand Burstin Hotel
8. Petrol Station Flowers
9. U OK?
10. Little Bird
“Silent Forum are a combination of shadowy post punk and the more accessible side of indie rock. Theymove from cold and brooding to nervy, and almost overbold.” Destroy//Exist
“Silent Forum provide a cinematic take on broody indie rock… The band melds thrumming guitar linesand emphatic vocals with an unwavering beat.”
“There is something really interesting, almost PIL-like with those guitars." Adam Walton, BBC Radio Wales
Leeks And Beets - An Alternative Four Way Split Single LP Starring Acid Alchemist, Bad Shout, Monet, The Monoliths OUT NOW via R*E*P*E*A*T Records
By Ceri Shaw, 2024-01-25
R*E*P*E*A*T Presents
Leeks and Beets
A four way split single LP on limited 12” re-ground vinyl
for little more than the cost of a 7”
featuring
Leeks from South Wales
Bad Shout and Monet
Beets from East Anglia
Acid Alchemist and The Monoliths
Available on Bandcamp and digitally from December 1 st
and in record stores nationwide via Shellshock distribution from January 2024
Long standing underground DIY label R*E*P*E*A*T celebrate its dual Swansea / Cambridge heritage with a record showcasing uproarious talents from both East and West
Bad Shout
“Unhinged in all the best ways. I utterly love it. Sounds like someone left a cassette of Supergrass' debut album on the dashboard in the sun with Husker Du's Zen Arcade for just a little too long and it mutated into this”.– Adam Walton, BBC Radio Wales.
“Ones to Watch” Buzz Magazine
instagram.com/badshoutuk
Monet
“a stomping, melodic cry for change that fuses a raw barrage of caustic guitar riffs and surreal screams of the likes of the Dead Kennedys with the twisty turny relentless energy of early At the Drive-In” . God is in the TV. “fast becoming the enfant terrible’s of the South Wales music scene “ Clash Music.
instagram.com/monetbanduk
Acid Alchemist
Debut garage recording from furious, feather boaed and frantic cross dressing face painted rock upstarts from a sleepy village in Cambridge.
instagram.com/acid_alchemist_band
The Monoliths
Teenage psychedelic post-punk metal mayhem with an ear for unexpectedly massive sounds and unlikely time signatures. Their healthy disrespect for their elders and lessers hasn't stopped them packing out venues across London and the South East.
instagram.com/themonoliths/
Launch Gigs
Saturday December 16 th Elysium Swansea
(Bad Shout, Monet and special guest headliners Llanelli's disco punkers, Stickman)
Thursday December 28 th The Portland Arms Cambridge
(Acid Alchemist and The Monoliths plus support)
A R*E*P*E*A*T DIY Punk Rock East West Rebel Alliance Production 2023
CRINC RELEASE NEW 'CRACHACH' SINGLE / CRINC YN RHYDDHAU SENGL NEWYDD 'CRACHACH' 26.01.24
By Ceri Shaw, 2024-01-24
Mae Recordiau Noddfa yn falch iawn o gyhoeddi bydd y trac 'Crachach ', sy'n ymddangos ar albwm 'Cig Cymreig' Crinc ddaeth allan fis Medi 2023, yn cael ei ryddhau fel sengl ddydd Gwener yma 26ain Ionawr.
Eglura Llŷr Alun o'r band: "Neshi 'sgwennu’r gân yn ganol lockdown yn Bangor a recordio’r demo i albwm 'Cofi-19'. Oni’m yn licio’r final product gyda electric drum kit o GarageBand felly nath' ni ail recordio yn y Buarth, yn fyw gyda Dafydd Ieuan ag Kris Jenkins, ar ôl fi symud i Gaerdydd."
Mae'r sengl yn cael ei ryddhau mewn ymateb i'r hyn sy'n digwydd yn Gaza ar hyn o bryd lle bydd unrhyw elw yn mynd tuag at UNICEF.
Noddfa Records are delighted to announce that the track 'Crachach' , which appears on CRINC's 'Cig Cymreig' album that came out in September 2023, will be released as a single this Friday 26th January.
Llŷr Alun from the band explains: "I wrote the song in Bangor during lockdown and recorded the demo for the 'Cofi-19' album. I didn't like the final product with the electric drum kit from GarageBand so we recorded it again at the Buarth, live with Dafydd Ieuan and Kris Jenkins, after I moved to Cardiff."
The single is being released in response to the Gaza crisis at the moment and any income generated from the track will be donated to UNICEF.
North Walian newcomers Sister Envy debut with woozy psychedelic rock of their new single 'Mourning Sickness'
By Ceri Shaw, 2024-01-24
Sister Envy hail from the North Wales coast, a place of mystery, harshness, and beauty, a place where opportunity is blocked for younger people yet dreams can break through. It’s here that Sister Envy met at college, this fast-emerging Alternative Psychedelic rock quartet are a brand new signing to North Wales label Yr Wyddfa Records, Snowdonia (home to Holy Coves).
Their first single ' Mourning Sickness ' released on all streaming platforms on the 23rd of February eases you into their world. Woozy psychedelic-tinged guitars and enveloping vocals that detail the bleary moments after you wake. North Walian singer-songwriter Kameron Jolliffe vividly captures the wistful memories of growing up. With his infectious vocals burrowing their way into your head. Possessing a carousel of percussion, a tapestry of beguiling rock sound, that takes influence from the sounds of the 60s and 70s but also the early 90s indie and gaze scene of bands like, My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Spiritualized.
Kameron Jolliffe says of the bands debut single; “ Mourning Sickness was the first song I ever wrote when I was 16, and it feels like it makes sense for it to be released first, almost like an ode to my past self and what was happening in my life at that time.“
Sister Envy have been busy honing their sound in the studio with Welsh producers Owain Ginsberg (Hippies Vs Ghosts) & Scott Marsden (Holy Coves) over recent months getting ready for ‘ Mourning Sickness ’ their debut single release this February.
Their initial three singles were recorded in Liverpool at the famous Motor Museum Studio with Ben Harper. Mixed in France by Welsh legend Owain Ginsberg and mastered in Austin Texas by American producer Erik Wofford (The Black Angels). Over the next twelve months, Sister Envy will invite you into their fascinating world over a series of singles releases and shows including a debut performance at Focus Wales in May. Gradually revealing the different faces of their tapestry of sound and fledgling experience.
Sister Envy band
Kameron Jolliffe - Vocals and Lead Guitar
Matty Waring - Guitar
Callum Jones - Bass
Ryan Roberts - Drums
http://www.facebook.com/sisterenvyband
http://www.instagram.com/sisterenvyband
http://www.twitter.com/sisterenvyband
