MUSIC NEWS EXTRA
Georgia Ruth Williams, or Georgia Ruth
as she appears on her records, has been
awarded the Welsh Music Prize for 2013
for her Week Of Pines album. The folkinformed singer and harp player becomes
the third act to scoop the award, and
differs from previous winners Gruff Rhys
(2011) and Future Of The Left (2012),
in that she’s yet to establish a strong
profile outside of Wales – this accolade
may be a catalyst to change this situation.
Giving credence to this notion, John
Rostron, one of the Welsh Music Prize’s
organisers, said: “This win comes at a
timely moment, as she will be showcasing
to an international audience at Womex [in
the last weekend of October]”
After a troubled summer for Cardiff
venue Buffalo, in which they entered
administration and battled against the
threat of closure, the two-floor bar on
Windsor Place has been purchased by a
former barman there. Dan Rickard teamed
up with Michael Griffiths to form 8 Bar
Blue Limited, taking over the company
from Beatbox Bars – which also owned
Fire Island until it closed in July, and
still owns 10 Feet Tall/Undertone. Both
venues remain open, with an (albeit
slightly sparse) programme of events – it
was suggested some weeks back that
Scottish craft beer trailblazers and faux
punk rockers Brewdog might be in line to
refit 10 Feet Tall in their own image, but
nothing’s been confirmed on that front
Trac Cymru, an organisation whose remit
is to keep alive the folk music and dance
traditions of Wales while presenting
them in a modern context, released and
toured their 10 In A Bus album last
month. It’s the culmination of 10 Welsh
musicians’ recent archival work, which
involved touring Wales in (yes) a bus
together, scouring libraries and speaking
to ethnomusicologists about this nation’s
musical roots, then bringing this to bear
on a collection of songs. Participants
play in a variety of styles – trad folk to
electronica – and everyone sings lead at
one point. The album is jointly released
by Sain Records and Trac themselves
Allan Yn Y Fan [pictured], tireless and
widely-liked performers of rollicking
Welsh folk, are celebrating 10 years as
recording artists around now, and have
a compilation to aid them in this. Cool,
Calm & COLLECTED (upper case theirs)
features re-recorded versions of selected
songs from their discography; the band
formed in 1996 but debuted on CD in
2003 with an album, Off The Map, and
have since released three more and an EP.
If you wish to see them in their natural
environment, the live gig, they play the
Memorial Hall in Usk on Sat 9 Nov
Until recently based in Cardiff Bay, A
Strings – a guitar shop whose name
refers to its specialist subject... strings
– has recently moved to Treforest, near
Pontypridd. This has given the store a
chance to expand its already impressive
range, which includes all manner of
‘mainstream’ string brands as well as more
specialist manufacturers. Notable among
these is Brian May Guitars – the Queen
axeman and badger’s rights campaigner
has had close ties with the shop and its
proprietor, Andrew Morgan, for some
years now. If you wish you can pop in and
have a go on an exact replica of Brian’s
setup, which unless you’re Brian May you
can’t do ANYWHERE else. facebook.com/
astringsuk will further inform you
ONE TO WATCH...
THE PEOPLE THE POET
The Narrator, the album which we are here today to discuss, was
previously highlighted on this page about two years ago. At that
time, twinkly anthemic rock quintet The People The Poet were called
Tiger Please, and in their three years or so together they’d already
gained a loyal fanbase, both in their south Wales locale (they say
they come from “south Wales”, rather than any particular town) and
further afield. They were canvassing these fans for lyrical subject
matter, the idea being that each song on The Narrator would be
drawn from a different contributor’s life experience.
Since then, they’ve gone through the rigmarole of the name change, had two lineup alterations, and completed recording on The
Narrator. Running to one hour and 15 tracks, subject matter tends towards the deeply personal, but the themes can be widely
related to: birth and death, in short, and the family bonds which relate to both. Three different studio heads claim production
credits: Straight Lines’ Todd Campbell, prolific tweaker of 21st century Britrock Peter Miles, and Gil Norton, famously behind
albums by the Pixies, Foo Fighters and Counting Crows. The latter two of those likely had much to do with TPTP hitting him
up, as The Narrator has an arena-ready polish and a gravelly rootsiness, with a ladleful ?????????Y???????????????1???)M??????e???????Q????????????)???1??????Q???M??????M????????????????????????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????? ???I???????????????????????????????????() Uih???()?????????)Q!%L???????A?????!?????????????????????????????)???????????????????I????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????????????????)??????$???q??????t?????????????????????????????)????????????????????I???????????????????e?????????)??????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????????I????????)?????????????????????????????????????????
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