Buzz Magazine August 2014 | Page 40

MUSIC NEWS EXTRA MARTIN CARR by MARY WYCHERLEY The Welsh Music Foundation, a development agency and source of music industry advice for people in Wales since its formation in 2000, closed its doors at the beginning of July. Funded by the Welsh government, attempts in recent months to secure a continuation of their £160,000 annual grant were unsuccessful. While much of WMF’s work took place behind the scenes, many people involved in Welsh music credited them for their assistance over the years. They’ve also acted as cultural ambassadors of a kind, and played a major role in 2013’s Womex showcase/festival coming to Cardiff – plus, it might be noted, the reputed £3 million boost to the local economy   Swansea nightclub Escape, meanwhile, is still standing after 19 years in the game. However, due to the general downturn in clubland revenue, it’s now only going to open for one-off events. Billed as a ‘superclub’ in its heyday, perhaps a little fancifully, Escape rode the trance wave in the late 90s and early 00s with success, and spawned outdoor festival Escape Into The Park. Its rollcall of guest DJs has thinned out in the last couple of years, however. “Escape will open once a month for special branded events,” they promise, with Egyptian trance duo Aly & Fila in town on Sun 25 Aug   A period without full-time employment has paid off creatively for Andy Falkous, vocalist of Future Of The Left, in the form of an extracurricular project called Christian Fitness. Visitors to christianfitness.bandcamp.com can get the lowdown on I Am Scared Of Everything That Isn’t Me, a self-released 12-track album; its gestation began in March when Falkous was made redundant, recording taking place at home and predominantly solo. Understandably, it’s more lo-fi and less accessible than FOTL, but still has enough punchy song structure and lyrical idiosyncracy to charm that group’s fanbase. It’s available to buy digitally now, with a CD version to come once enough cash has been ponied up to pay for it Martin Carr, once of 90s indie favourites The Boo Radleys and resident in Cardiff since early last decade, was also on the self-release wagon for his last album, 2009’s Ye Gods (And Little Fishes). Its overdue followup, however, comes courtesy of Germany’s Tapete Records. The Breaks, released in late September, is the singer’s strongest nod to 60s pop classicism for a long time – perhaps since Wake Up!, the Boos’ dalliance with the grown-up charts. This relationship with pop-friendliness is alluded to in Mainstream, perhaps the album’s height of melodic charm; other subject matter includes Senseless Apprentice, a song about Katie Hopkins   The latest band to emerge from the vacuum of Super Furry Animals inactivity is Zefur Wolves, who were formed by SFA’s Cian Ciaran and feature his girlfriend Estelle Ios on vocals. They debuted in idiosyncratic fashion in July, performing live at Cardiff Bay’s Wales Millennium Centre behind a piece of interpretive dance, The Bomb In My Pacific. Oftend credited for SFA’s proverbial ‘dance element’, Zefur Wolves follow the lead of Cian’s two solo albums, in that there’s no recourse to electronics. However, it’s more wilfully rocking than those, with songs variously recalling the Pixies, the Velvet Underground and other indie staples one to watch... no devotion Bearing in mind that 80% of No Devotion have been put through the wringer in a highly visible manner, their first month in public has been smooth and unblemished. The quintet announced their name, full lineup and debut single on 1 July; three weeks later, they’d played their first (sold out, sweaty) gig in Cardiff Students Union coffee shop. In between, they conducted interviews and attempted the impossible balancing act: talking frankly about the circumstances of their livelihoods collapsing, pic: SIMON AYRE while pressing on with the promotional grind. When Ian Watkins was sentenced last November for multiple child sex offences, it was suggested that Lostprophets’ remaining members Mike Lewis, Lee Gaze, Stuart Richardson and Jamie Oliver would be so toxified by association, they would never again work as musicians. A theory countered, though, by the goodwill sent their way: Lostprophets, as a band, had the proverbial haters almost from day one, but the non-incarcerated individuals have attracted far more sympathy than suspicion. So it was that when Geoff Rickly, ex-vocalist of American band Thursday, spoke ambiguously in April of “working with” the four south Walians, he turned out to be describing No Devotion, whom he fronts. Their initial setlist features nine songs, two from their debut single.