Blogs
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
Jac by Sam Adams (Y Lolfa) is a novel of boyhood novel set in a south Wales Valley during the Second World War (1939-1945).
Described as “a lyrical and beautifully crafted story of growing up in the Valleys in the shadow of World War II” by poet, essayist and editor John Barnie, the novel follows Jac, a young boy at the start of the story, as he grows in awareness of the world beyond his home and family.
Author Sam Adams says:
“I wrote the novel to recall a lost age – wartime and the era of coal production in south Wales; the realities of the time. I also wanted to explore and commemorate the first steps in life outside the home, first friends and first boyhood adventures.”
The novel explores how war affected everything, including the play of children.
“The novel is semi-biographical, as I was a boy during the Second World War and grew up in a mining valley in south Wales. I have tried to recapture a time and a place which I know well,” said Sam Adams.
Jac by Sam Adams is available now (£9.99, Y Lolfa).
Here is the famous Rhondda Cross in Trealaw, Rhondda Cynon Taff, South Wales. 83 year old founder Glyn Thomas has given his first ever video interview to Sonny Davies AKA Teacher Sonny D explaining why he built it and his hopes for it to be maintained in the decades to come.
BRAND NEW EDITION OF BESTSELLING BEGINNERS’ WELSH COURSE PUBLISHED / CYHOEDDI ARGRAFFIAD NEWYDD SBON O GWRS POBLOGAISS I DDYSGWYR CYMRAEG
By Ceri Shaw, 2024-01-15
A new, updated version of the classic beginners’ Welsh course, Welcome to Welsh , has been published by Y Lolfa. Written by Heini Gruffudd, bestselling author of materials for Welsh learners, the content of the new edition has been completely revamped and the book has been redesigned to bring it up to date.
“Forty years have flown by! I would never have thought in 1984 that the book would be so popular. The grammar, stories and conversations needed updating, and humour has changed. The success of materials for learners show that there is an ever-growing wish for Welsh to be increasingly used as a spoken language. I hope this new version will still be around years after I’m gone!” said author Heini Gruffudd.
First published in 1984, the original edition has sold over 70,000 copies. Carolyn Hodges, now Head of English-Language Publishing at Y Lolfa but formerly in charge of creating market-leading language coursebooks at Oxford University Press, said: “The original edition is an absolute classic and has helped tens of thousands of learners to take their first steps in learning Welsh. This edition builds on that success, with the content overhauled to teach up-to-date Welsh that you’ll hear around you in the real world today, and a fresh new design that will appeal to a brand new generation of learners!”
Ideal for self-study, the course has 16 units, using engaging new strip cartoons by Welsh illustrator Osian Roberts to present sentence structures and grammar points. There is also a dictionary section at the back of the book, and free MP3 audio files to accompany the lessons are downloadable from Y Lolfa’s website.
Swansea-born Heini Gruffudd has spent his life teaching Welsh to children and adults. He has for many years been at the forefront of the campaign for Welsh-language education, and is a prolific author of successful and popular materials for Welsh learners. Other titles written by him include Welsh is Fun (which has sold over 200,000 copies) , The Welsh Learner’s Dictionary , Welsh Rules and Talk Welsh .
Welcome to Welsh by Heini Gruffudd (£9.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.
Mae’r Lolfa wedi cyhoeddi argraffiad newydd o’r cwrs poblogaidd i ddysgwyr Cymraeg, Welcome to Welsh . Wedi’i ysgrifennu gan Heini Gruffudd, mae cynnwys yr argraffiad newydd wedi’i ddiweddaru a’i ail ddylunio er mwyn ei wneud yn addas i ddysgwyr heddiw.
Mae’r adargraffiad hwn yn cynnwys nodiadau gramadeg gwerthfawr, ymarferion defnyddiol, sgyrsiau cartŵn a geiriadur cyffredinol ar gyfer dysgwyr.
“Mae pedwardeg o flynyddoedd wedi hedfan heibio! Bydden i byth wedi meddwl yn 1984 y byddai’r llyfr mor boblogaidd. Roedd angen diweddaru’r gramadeg, y storïau a’r sgyrsiau, ac mae’r hiwmor wedi newid. Mae llwyddiant y deunydd ar gyfer dysgwyr yn dangos bod yna ddymuniad i siarad Cymraeg sydd yn parhau i dyfu. Rwy’n gobeithio bydd y fersiwn newydd yma ar gael ymhell ar ôl i fi fynd!” meddai’r awdur Heini Gruffudd.
Cyhoeddwyd am y tro cyntaf ym 1984, a gwerthwyd dros 70,000 copi o’r fersiwn wreiddiol. Meddai Carolyn Hodges, Pennaeth Cyhoeddi Saesneg Y Lolfa sydd hefyd wedi bod yn gyfrifol am greu llyfrau cyrsiau iaith gydag Oxford University Press: “Mae’r fersiwn wreiddiol yn glasur ac wedi helpu degau o filoedd o ddysgwyr i gymryd y camau cyntaf i ddysgu Cymraeg. Mae’r fersiwn newydd yn adeiladu ar y llwyddiant yma, gyda chynnwys cyfoes, gyda Chymraeg fyddwch yn clywed ar strydoedd Cymru, a dyluniad ffres a fydd yn apelio at genhedlaeth newydd o ddysgwyr!”
Mae’r gyfrol yn ddelfrydol ar gyfer dysgu ar eich pen eich hun, Mae’n cynnwys 16 uned a chartwnau gwych gan y dylunydd Cymraeg, Osian Roberts, sy’n cyflwyno strwythur brawddegau a phwyntiau gramadegol. Mae yna hefyd eiriadur, a ffeiliau sain MP3 am ddim i gyd-fynd â’r gwersi.
Mae Welcome to Welsh gan Heini Gruffudd ar gael nawr, £9.99.
