Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Wales watching

Play it: Hooray for Wales: A playlist of Welsh Artists
Download: "Throw" Scritti Politti

Wales has a great music tradition, most people just aren't aware of it because many Welsh artists are mistaken as English. Artists like Tom Jones, Badfinger, John Cale, World Party, Super Furry Animals, Stereophonics, Mclusky, The Alarm, Shirley Bassey, and Scritti Politti represent a deep and diverse musical community for such an unassuming British Isle.

Speaking of Scritti Politti, they have a new album out over here called White Bread Black Beer on their old home Rough Trade. It's due to hit stateside July 25th (on Nonesuch.) Download: "Throw"

As far as travelling in Wales, what I found most interesting is that there's a freakin' castle at nearly every exit. I mean, we saw a lot of castles in Ireland, but this was a ridiculous wealth of ancient towers. In the town Hay-on-Wye, they have a castle that's a bookshop. Which begs the question - what do you do if you own a castle and there's three better and bigger one's down the road? Well, the one closest to where we stayed (Cwmdu) let sheep graze on the land, which I guess is appropriate, because if there's one thing that Wales has more of then castles, it's certainly sheep. We really loved Wales, specifically the area we stayed in the Brecon Beacons... it's mostly undiscovered by tourists and is both beautiful and full of great things to do outdoors.

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6 comments:

Shawn Anderson said...

Hooray for Wales! - A Playlist of Welsh Artists

"It's Not Unusual" - Tom Jones
"No Matter What" - Badfinger
"Total Eclipse Of The Heart" - Bonnie Tyler
"Ship Of Fools" - World Party
"I Knew The Bride" - Dave Edmunds
"Rain In The Summertime" - The Alarm
"Goldfinger" - Shirley Bassey
"Turn The Lights On" - John Cale
"Faraway Eyes" - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
"To Hell With Good Intentions" - Mclusky
"Perfect Way" - Scritti Politti
"Pan Ti'n Cyredd Y Stesion" - MC Mabon
"(Drawing) Rings Around The World" - Super Furry Animals
"Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do" - Goldie Lookin Chain
"Superman" - Stereophonics
"Coastline" - Crosbi
"Feeling A Moment" - Feeder
"If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" - Manic Street Preachers
"Don't Just Stand There (Come Out In The Rain)" - Man
"Those Were The Days" - Mary Hopkin
"Five" - Murry The Hump
"They" - Jem
"The Tragic Story" - Brave Captain
"(The Continuing Adventures Of) The Girl About Town" - Helen Love
"Habanera" - Charlotte Church
"Road Rage" - Catatonia
"Gwn Mi Wn" - Gruff Rhys
"Nobody" - Skindred
"Crossing The Stone (Tros Y Garreg)" - Catrin Finch
"Breichiau Hir" - FFA Coffi Pawb
"Long Way Home" - The Heights
"Gimi Gimi" - Llwybr Llaethog

Andrew said...

Great to hear Scritti Politti again. Thanks for the track.

AC

Andrew said...

Oh, and re: Tom Jones, stop me if you've heard this one.

Man walks into the doctor for a checkup. Doc tells the man he has "Tom Jones Disease."

"Tom Jones Disease, Doc? Is it rare?"

Doc replies: "It's not unusual."

Rimshot, please!

AC

Shawn Anderson said...

Ha! A knee slapper even at it's cheesiest ;)

How about this one:

Breichiau hir?
Pan ti'n cyredd y stesion...
Gwn mi wn!

Sorry... that's Welsh music title gibberish actually - amusing no one but myself I'm sure. You have to admit, though, it sounds like it could be a joke, or, at the very least, an interesting Haiku ;)

Rhys Wynne said...

Glad you enjoyed Wales, and the music. I'm a huge Gruff Rhys/SFA fan.

You might like Radio Luxembourg, Euros Childs (from Gorky's), Sibrydion (formerly Big Leaves) and Brigyn. Try searching these with Google, YouTube and MySpace.

There is a reason behind all the castles in Wales (and Ireland for that matter)

Shawn Anderson said...

Good to know! I'll take a look at the other Welsh artists you recommend. Thanks...

Can't wait to go back there.