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.