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CaStLeS release their new single 'Amcanu' on the 4th of November , it’s followed by their debut album 'Fforesteering' on the 18th of November 2016
North Walian trio CaStLeS craft music that swirls between the sounds of Os Mutantes, Ennio Morricone and the mountains of Snowdonia: theirs is a unique sonic brew delightful voodoo grooves laced with psych riffs and hypnotic reverb soaked melodies.
Fforesteering is a continuation of the themes of 'PartDepart' EP which was released at the tail end of 2015, inspired and possessed by by the North Walian landscape and the location of the caravan within which it was recorded, many songs brought to life simply by being out and about in the country. The band say of the recordings: “nature is a place of comfort and reflection, to retreat to and hide from it all at times, as a subject, it can be used as an analogy to human society and our own personal nature.”
Formed in Snowdonia, Wales back in 2008 by brothers Dion and Cynyr Hamer, after various musical manifestations as a duo, they were joined by Derwyddon Dr Gonzo bassist Calvin Thomas. Early demo releases received radio plays on BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio Wales & Cymru as well as a TV appearance on S4C.
CaStLeS took a brief hiatus in 2011 whilst Cynyr and Dion were touring Europe and America with Welsh rock band We Are Animal. During this time CaStLeS were writing new material. In early 2015 the band released two Welsh language singles a week apart. Argau and Ar Agor were positively received and resulted in the band being asked to record a radio session for BBC Radio Cymru's C2 show and a live performance on S4C TV's Ochr 1.
These releases along with their debut EP 'PartDepart' as well as a live reputation earned by travelling up and down the country. Earned CaStLeS their debut performance on the BBC Introducing stage in August 2016 at Reading & Leeds Festival.
Dates
Swn Festival - 22/23rd of October
CaStLeS 'Fforesteering album launch" w/ Ani Glass, Winter Coat, Conformist at The Moon Club, Cardiff- 15th November
Links
https://www.castlesofficial.com" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.castlesofficial.com&source=gmail&ust=1476985899838000&usg=AFQjCNH4lBjfHtVo1Xmov1wsOhDKRtLMQQ"> https://www.castlesofficial.
https://www.facebook.com/
https://www.twitter.com/
CaStLeS's debut album 'Fforesteering' out November 18th https://t.co/I2S2lumACV pic.twitter.com/YWUlY9cP9o
— americymru (@americymru) October 19, 2016
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R.Seiliog announces his new single 'Cloddio Unterdach' available via digital service platforms on the 12th of October. It's lifted from his forthcoming 'Shedhead' EP released through Turnstile Music on the 18th of November.
“bold and beyond brilliant” Uncut Magazine
R.Seiliog is the alias of North Walian skewed musician/producer Robin Edwards. His forthcoming Shedhead EP is the latest bold futuristic release from a prolific outsider artist with a vivid imagination, to be released via Turnstile Music.
Through its five tracks Edwards forges together pulsing elements of Komische influenced electronics, skittering psych splattered samples, enveloping trance like ambience, underpinned by an appreciation of un-shifting Krautrock time signatures. This is the unique shapeshifting sound of imminent space and time travel, weightless and genreless, interjected by searing moments of revelation.
“It’s like the slipping clutch of a self combustion engine built from mirrors blackened by astral soot reflecting back the whole in each tarnished component. “ Says Edwards “Inspired by the shape of whispering solar winds or a Cage chance conservationist uttering “it looks deliberate, let it dry!"
“There's something for every-single-one unified in the omni shallow depths; A fast one, slow one, happy one, sad one - and another one.” notes Edwards “Instrumental meditations on cats chasing tails, autumnal trips to short sighted opticians and much more, or less”
R.Seiliog emerged from the pine coned hills of Peniel, North Wales.Releasing the warm analog psychedelia of 2012's Shuffles EP, and his debut long player 2013's Doppler which was a wide-eyed homage to Krautrock. Manic Street Preachers were so inspired by his debut album Doppler that the band entrusted Edwards to remix Manic Street Preachers’ single ‘Futurology.’
In 2014 the release of his critically acclaimed second album ‘In Hz’ a masterful work of convoluted drone and electronics. Which led Thump to herald it as “So good it hurts” and Mojo Magazine to say “R.Seiliog presides over a subtle, imaginative record that transcends many genres.” R. Seiliog’s work has received airplay from the likes of Huw Stephens, 6 Music - Mary Anne Hobbs, Radcliffe and Maconie and Lauren Laverne.
To coincide with the release of the Shedhead EP, R.Seiliog is set to perform at a number of Welsh shows this Autumn and Winter, with more UK shows to be announced shortly for the new year.
R.Seiliog’s forthcoming dates:
Oct 14 - Carmarthen, The Parrot
Oct 21 - Newport, Le Pub
Oct 22 - Cardiff, Swn Festival
Nov 12 - Aberystwyth, Rummers
Nov 25 - Pontypridd, Clwb Y Bont
Links:
http://www.turnstilemusic.net/rseiliog-1/
@turnstilemusic
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Glyndŵr: Son of Prophecy by the late Moelwyn Jones is an imaginary novel based on the real life and battles of Owain Glyndŵr.
The year is 1401, Owain Glyndŵr and his growing forces are still no more than a thorn in the side of the English crown. But when a force of some forty men succeed in taking the prestigious castle of Conwy from under the nose of King Henry IV, it marks a dramatic shift in the fortunes of Glyndŵr’s great Welsh rebellion.
The book follows a cast of vivid characters – from Rhys ap Tudur on the Welsh side to Hotspur on the English – as they dream of securing glory for their masters.
Author Moelwyn Jones was raised in Bancffosfelen, Carmarthenshire, and had a career as a Welsh teacher in Cardiff before joining the BBC as an Information Officer. He then became Head of Public Relations for Wales and the Marches Postal Board and following his retirement worked in the Welsh Assembly.
Glyndŵr: Son of Prophecy is the first in a trilogy and was completed before the author’s death in 2015.
‘Moelwyn had a great interest in the history of Owain Glyndŵr,’ says Delyth Jones, Moelwyn’s wife ‘He conducted extended research into Owain’s story. He was quite the hero to Moelwyn’.
The cover art was illustrated by Machynlleth based artist Teresa Jenellen.
The book will be launched at the Salem Chapel vestry on Market Road in Canton, Cardiff on the 24 th of October at 7pm.
Glyndŵr: Son of Prophecy by Moelwyn Jones (£6.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.
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He also reveals all about what happened to that crossbar that was stolen from Twickenham in 1958.
Terry Davies - Wales’s First Superstar Fullback by Terry Davies with Geraint Thomas is a tale of a typical working-class upbringing and coming of age before finding glory on the rugby field – is as much a social commentary as a fascinating insight into the heydays of amateurism.
The post-war period saw top rugby players in Wales achieve the kind of fame once associated with Hollywood movie stars and few captured the headlines more often than Terry Davies. The boy from Bynea, who combined the good looks of a young Robert Redford with silky skills and tough as teak tackling, went on to wow crowds across the rugby playing world through his displays for Wales and the British and Irish Lions.
The book tells of the remarkable life story of the Lions star, encompassing his childhood in Llanelli, learning rugby in Strade School, making his debut as a schoolboy for Swansea, entering the Royal Marines and winning his first cap before going on to become a household name.
From the highs of touring New Zealand and beating the All Blacks in their own back yard to the lows of a career-threatening shoulder injury, his rugby journey, which began as a nervous 17 year old one rainy day up in Ebbw Vale and ended with universal acclaim, is real Roy of the Rovers stuff .
Terry also remains one of the few living Welshmen to have won a test match in New Zealand.
‘Terry is a natural storyteller,’ said co-writer Geraint Thomas, ‘His book is packed with humour. He typifies the Welsh humour once so prevalent amongst the working class,’
‘His tale is both a social commentary and cultural account of Welsh life pre and post war as well as a priceless account of a bygone age of rugby union’ added Geraint.
‘As a young inspiring player he left a huge impression on me due to the way he stood out from the rest.’ added Sir Gareth Edwards, who wrote the introduction to the book.
The book is presented in memory of Terry’s brother Len, who was caped for Wales before Terry, but died in his 20s of leukaemia.
Geraint Thomas is a Swansea Valley based journalist, writer and playwright. After graduating from Cardiff University's School of Journalism he secured a position as a news reporter on the South Wales Evening Post where he is currently still employed. He also writes the occasional feature for Swansea Life magazine.
His play, the comedy Roofless, which is set around the Welsh rugby Grand Slam of 2005, played in the Grand Theatre Swansea in March 2008.
The book will be launched officially at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli at 7pm on Thursday the 20 th of October.
Terry Davies: Wales’s first superstar fullback by Geraint Thomas (£9.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.
It has been brought to our attention that some members are having difficulty finding the WCE Competition entry pages. Just as an FYI here are the urls:-
Short Story:
https://americymru.net/community/forum/west-coast-eisteddfod-online-short-story-competition-2016
Poetry:
https://americymru.net/community/forum/west-coast-eisteddfod-online-poetry-competition-2016
These urls can also be found in the 'About' section on the AmeriCymru - West Coast Eisteddfod Facebook page.
The competitions are in the forum now (since the platform migration). SO....take a look at the pic below. You can reach the FORUM dropdown from any page on the site:-
BUT please remember you MUST be logged in to post. The + icon can be seen here (The lower one of the 2, where it says 'create') Click the + icon to post a new entry:-
The year is 1953, and a private investigator takes on a tail job in New York City. His quarry is a newly-arrived visitor from the UK ̶ the private eye has never heard of him, but he will. The mark is the legendary Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, and in three weeks’ time, he’ll be dead.
As far as the poet Dylan Thomas is concerned, n othing that happens in this story is invented,” explains author Rob Gittins, who published his first novel Gimme Shelter last year. “All of the events in the novel actually happened.
In October 1953, Time magazine hired a private detective to shadow Dylan Thomas during what turned out to be his last visit to New York. Dylan had taken out a libel suit against Time because of a less-than-flattering profile the magazine had published about him some months before. Time intended to use any new material gathered by the detective to defend its portrait of Dylan who, they alleged: ‘… dresses like a bum… drinks like a culvert… smokes like an ad for cancer… sleeps with any woman who is willing… is a trial to his friends and a worry to his family…’.
“To shape the events into a fictional form, however, I have taken liberties in mixing events from different trips, as Dylan Thomas visited America four times in total. So taken as a whole, the story presents an accurate account of the poet’s time in the US. As little is known about the private eye, his character, background and history is, necessarily, entirely my invention.”
The Poet and the Private Eye tells a tragic, but ultimately life-affirming story. It also engages with an issue: how an artist can change the life of even the most hard-bitten and cynical onlooker – and how an artist’s work can then live on to change the lives of countless others.
Wales Book of the Year winner Wiliam Owen describes the novel as “…a gripping story which takes a highly original look at the unravelling of Dylan Thomas’s chaotic life and ultimate death. But central to the novel is the power of Dylan’s poetry and how it’s ultimately a force for hope, reconciliation and even redemption in the lives of the people it touches.”
Rob Gittins is an award-winning screenwriter who has written for numerous top-rated television drama series – including EastEnders, Casualty and The Bill – and film as well as creating and writing original drama series of his own. He lives in Rhydargaeau near Carmarthen. The Poet and the Private Eye will be launched in Newton House at Dinefwr Literature Festival this Saturday, 5.45pm and at Waterstones, Carmarthen on Thursday 17 July at 6.30pm .
Gimme Shelter by Rob Gittins - Award-Winning Screenwriter Rob Gittins Publishes Breathtaking First Novel
By Ceri Shaw, 2013-04-09
Gimme Shelter pits a young, female, Witness Protection Officer against one of the deadliest psychopaths imaginable as she fights to keep her latest witness safe; but is that witness all she claims to be? And, in a world in which nothing can be taken on trust, is the Protection Officer all she seems?
“Gimme Shelter is a crime novel that didn’t actually begin with a crime,” explains author Rob Gittins. “It began with a question and that question was simple. If someone gave you the chance to start again, to wipe the slate clean, erase all that had been and all you’d been in the past, would you take it? And if so, could you handle it? “That question arose out of a stray sentence I read in a report a year ago on the growing number of protected witnesses in the UK. Over three thousand witnesses are now taken into that protection scheme each year. This startling statistic fascinated me at first, and then began to haunt me. Thousands of people living a life in the shadows, leading a life that isn’t their own, having to memorise a life story that isn’t their story at all.
“It’s all forced upon them by crime, of course - and some gruesome and harrowing crimes are at the heart of Gimme Shelter. But it’s the psychological impact and effect of the protection programme that completely compels me, and that was the starting point of the story that’s now become Gimme Shelter. ”
The author has revealed that a sequel will be ready for publication by this time next year. “ Gimme Shelter is only the first in a number of stories I want to tell, because as I did more research into this whole field, I was presented with more and more questions that needed answering.”
Rob Gittins will be launching Gimme Shelter in Waterstones, Carmarthen night the 10th of September at 6pm, where limited edition hardback copies will be available. He will also be launching the novel in Waterstones, Cardiff on Thursday night the 10th of October.
Rob has written for numerous top-rated television drama series including Casualty, The Bill, EastEnders, Soldier, Soldier and. Rob’s also written over twenty original radio plays for BBC Radio 4 and over a hundred episodes of The Archers.
Praise for Gimme Shelter
...
‘What a brilliant book… crying out to be a major bestseller and a major film… mesmerizingly written. Superb!’ Katherine John
‘Visceral, strongly visual and beautifully structured… powerful, quirky characters.’ Andrew Taylor, Winner, Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger
‘…utterly compelling, the psychological impact on the individuals enrolled on the Witness Protection scheme that forms the basis of the book is fascinating… highly recommended for those looking for a crime novel that is that bit different.’ Newbooks magazine
Interview With Dave Lewis - Welsh Author of 'Ctrl-Alt-Delete'...."good old fashioned sex and violence"
By Ceri Shaw, 2011-11-03
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AmeriCymru: Hi Dave and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. Your first novel 'Ctrl-Alt-Delete' is currently available on Kindle. Care to tell us a little more about the novel and what inspired it?
Dave: I guess it's a crime thriller. A Facebook, cyber-stalking, murder mystery, love story with some good old fashioned sex and violence thrown in for good measure.
I've always wanted to follow in the footsteps of someone like James Patterson and be a successful commercial writer, if only to allow myself time out from the day job to develop my writing skills more.
Having worked in IT for 17 years I am always amazed at how innocent to the dangers of the web people can be and whilst I had the idea of linking a number of very different local characters together in a very fast, filmic novel, I imagine my computer knowledge helped inspire the main thrust of the book.
One of the reviews says: ‘Could do for Wales what Stieg Larsson did for Sweden!’ which is a great compliment and hopefully true.
Amazon link - Ctrl+Alt+Delete
From Amazon.co.uk:
When beautiful Jenny Morris uses Facebook to get her ex-boyfriend Hal Griffiths to stalk her she has no idea what a dangerous game she is playing - for someone else is watching from the murky shadows of cyberspace.
And when an horrific murder in a sleepy Welsh village stirs a seasoned reporter, a conceited detective and an overweight IT expert into action, they too always seem to be one step behind the mysterious killer - Hagar.
Against the backdrop of a tangled web of deviant sexual practices Hal must rescue his lover before the killer strikes again. In the wilds of the Brecon Beacons National Park an electrifying climax is played out when Hal is forced to confront his deadly rival.
Social and political commentary within a close-knit community has never been so honest. Pornography morphs into technology and we are forced to ask ourselves the question - will man’s lust for instant gratification ultimately be his undoing?
A full-throttle thriller effortlessly blending violence, eroticism and suspense, Ctrl-Alt-Delete is both a modern love story and a prophetic tale of intrigue in our ever-distracting machine driven world. A truly gripping debut novel by Dave Lewis.
AmeriCymru: How intrusive and how dangerous do you think modern social media/networks are? Can technology go too far?
Dave: Very dangerous (just read the book). I'm sure that we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg at the moment and things will get much worse before people wake up. I read one study last year that some young people spend five times more time 'socialising' online than they do in the real world - this is very sad when there is a great big beautiful world out there to explore.
There are security/identity issues with online use, health issues and outright dangers, especially when you delve into the world of internet dating and pornography.
Technology is neutral I guess and will just continue to develop to enable more people to participate and therefore consume, it's a capitalist world and the masses of India, Africa and China are not even in the game yet - it's Christmas for sellers!
AmeriCymru: Are you planning a sequel to 'Crtl-Alt-Delete'
Yep! I can't say too much but it's half written in my head and whilst the first book is set almost entirely in Wales, the second will be in Kenya and... Nah, that would be telling.
AmeriCymru: What are the advantages of publishing digital editions? How easy (or difficult) is it to publish on Kindle?
Dave: Hopefully, budding writers can by-pass the traditional and outdated agent/publisher route and just get on with it. It's about 2-3 years quicker, very easy if you have a few computer skills and some very basic html knowledge. You also get to control commissions etc. I used the least commission / hopefully more sales option, e.g. my novel is just 86p or 99cents and already in less than 2 weeks I've sold nearly 100 copies (in UK).
AmeriCymru: You have also published three anthologies of poems and short stories. Your third collection Sawing Fallen Logs For Ladybird Houses is accompanied by photographs on your website. How do the two media work together?
Dave: Yeh, the poetry is always a constant and I'm sure I'll continue to publish poetry for many years to come. Sawing Fallen Logs... was a concept I had a few years back. I applied for a bursary from 'Literature Wales' to enable me to get a publisher in Wales but as they only seem to give money to the same old faces... I do what I always do if they are not willing to support grass roots art of this kind - I just do it anyway. To publish full-colour images alongside the poetry as was envisaged would have been better but in the end was just too expensive to do. Luckily the poems stand alone anyway, but for those that have bought the book and given me feedback they don't see it as such a drawback having to have the images open on a laptop or iPad.
AmeriCymru: You were a runner up in the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition 2009 with your short story 'Onions'. Can you tell us more about the story? Do you plan to write more short stories?
Dave: 'Onions' was a challenge to the politically correct mainstream literary world and they seemed to fall for it hook, line and sinker! Very satisfying. Many thought it highlighted the racism within a working class valleys culture but actually all it shows is that there is good and bad everywhere and that people just get too hung up on clichés, stereotypes and jumping on the BBC bandwagon of over-the-top political correctness.
The story is set in a south Wales valleys curryhouse and I take the stresses and strains we all face to extremes when an Al-Qaeda recruit (a pubescent, confused young lad who is neither one thing nor the other) blows up a restaurant. The story highlights culture within culture by means of jumping between tables in the room and from the waiters’ point of view rather than the customers.
I've got two more stories in Urban Birdsong and have a couple of others ready for a future book.
AmeriCymru: In addition to writing you have also organised the Welsh Poetry Competition for the past five years. How has the competition grown and developed since 2007?
Dave: It's been fantastic! We went from a few hundred entries mostly from within Wales in the first year to becoming truly international a couple of years later and get entries from all over the world now. I think the success has been down to our great judges, John Evans , Mike Jenkins and Sally Spedding and the fact that the competition is judged fairly, unlike many I won't mention.
AmeriCymru: Who is the judge this year?
Dave: It's a secret, but OK then, John Evans.
AmeriCymru: What are you reading at the moment? Any recommendations?
Dave: My favourite book of all time is 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' but at the moment I'm reading Gary Snyder - Turtle Island, a Patricia Cornwell book, a Sandy Denny biography and Crash by JG Ballard, plus anything else lying around...
AmeriCymru: Favourite pub in Ponty?
Dave: Always was the Llanover Arms, but a new watering hole has emerged recently in the form of The Patriot - award-winning real ales, great landlord and always packed! The 'Llan' will always have a special place in all Ponty peoples' hearts of course, I've been drinking there myself since I was 15 or 16.
AmeriCymru: What's next for Dave Lewis?
Dave: I've got a book of haiku half done plus bits and bobs, photography to catch up on, but I guess I really should start on a sequel to Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then the third...
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Dave: Merry Christmas of course, does time fly as fast in America as it does here in Wales? Oh, and buy my book of course (is that allowed Ceri?)
AmeriCymru: Certainly is...BUY DAVE'S BOOK: Ed.
Prologue
August 2010…
Jenny had drunk far too much white wine. It was an easy mistake to make and now she was going to die.
How long had she been unconscious? She had no idea. No concept of time. Struggling hard not to panic as she felt herself begin to hyperventilate Jenny instinctively knew she must absorb and assimilate every detail, something somewhere might save her. She also knew she must act immediately if she wanted to escape.
She struggled for breath and forced herself not to give in to the gagging reflex as her desert-dry mouth filled with burning bile. Jenny’s swollen eyes strained to become accustomed to the murky gloom. She tried to shake her long, curly brown hair away from her face but dried sweat held it tight as the cold metal of the handcuffs cut into her wrists. Her whole body was aching and her pulse throbbed relentlessly in her head.
Thinking back to earlier that evening she vaguely remembered her vision blurring and the muted sound of words slurring, like holding your head underwater in the bath. Then her stomach had tightened and warm flushes had begun to spread out all over her body. A distorted Daliesque clock face slowly slithered down the wall. As Jenny’s coordination flew off into the evening her knees buckled. She headed for the carpet in slow motion. A small, rough hand expertly plucked the free-falling wine glass from mid-air and delicately placed it on a low wicker table.
Terror can manifest itself in different ways but all Jenny could visualize at this moment was Hal’s grinning face staring back from the centre of a computer monitor. In the first brief seconds of consciousness she searched for reassurance. She tried to reason with herself, to tell herself it would be OK.
She tried to justify her actions, to make sense of it, to make it alright. It wasn’t her fault. What else could she have done? Stalkers don’t just stalk anybody do they? You have to give them a reason. You have got to make them want to do it.
Oh shit! What have I got myself into? The thought of being a lonely old spinster was suddenly very appealing… then unexpectedly, off to the side, a long penetrating torch beam flashed across her body and in a nanosecond she was catapulted back to the present. The harsh light settled on her pale face and blinded Jenny for a brief moment before an echoing click plunged her back into silence and darkness.
With her senses heightened by fear she could taste the damp, musty smells of straw, onions and potatoes. The odour of mouse droppings mingled with the stink of rotting, wet vegetables. She desperately searched the dim recesses of her prison. Her funeral-black pupils frantically scanned the darkness for hope.
Penetrating, probing. Looking for anything that could offer her a way out of this nightmare… and then she saw them.
Laid out purposefully in a neat line on the small wooden bench in the corner of the barn. Almost out of sight. Not placed in front of you – for effect. Not staring you in the face, not carefully arranged like pretty glass ornaments on a living room shelf. Not meant to shock or terrify. These had been put there for a purpose. Practical. To be used.
Jenny shivered, her big brown eyes grew to saucers, her face became china-white as the adrenaline kicked in and coursed through her blood. She tried to jerk free but the restraints held firm as she slowly traced the metallic shapes in perfect clarity. Her screams were muffled by the crimson scarf tied tight around her mouth, and an earthy taste of silk mixed with her briny tears as they streamed into her mouth.
Suddenly and without warning she felt warm liquid flow down her legs as her bladder opened involuntary. She stank of fear. She missed her daddy.
Then, slowly but surely, the same rough hand emerged from the shadows and reached for a shiny, clean scalpel that glinted sporadically in the half-light. It edged closer to her, leaving the rest of the knives, dissection instruments and power tools set out clinically in the dark.
One
April 1st 2010…
Hal Griffiths had been fast asleep. His head submerged deep in a pillow, Egyptian cotton sheets wrapped around his lean but muscular torso.
A thick winter duvet lay in a pile on the floor next to a pair of old Levi jeans and a faded blue Billabong tee shirt. Bridgedale light-weight walking socks and a pair of Merrell trail shoes were close by. Smiling to himself, semi-conscious now, he kept his eyes closed tight.
These were the precious minutes just before waking when your mind knew it was time to face another day but your body craved another hours rest, or was it the other way around? Either way he wasn’t going anywhere, the voluptuous super-model Elle McPherson was with him.
