New Welsh music you may have missed in July, from war metal mania to rambling acid memories
Noel Gardner has a bag and in it are 10 musical releases that hail from Wales’ broad underground and came out in the last few weeks.
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Psych-rock academic JACK HUNTER on “ecology, spirituality and extraordinary experience”
The final part of Julia Deli’s weekend at the Workhouse Party in Llanfyllin reports on a talk by bass-playing anthropologist Dr Jack Hunter.
East Midlands emo rockers MOUTH CULTURE top a brooding midweek bill in Cardiff
When Leicester band Mouth Culture take to the stage, their first chord rings out with such sudden force that it genuinely catches me off guard.
Support Local: why Welsh independent festivals need us more than ever
Behind the atmosphere, the stages and the crowds, independent festival promoters in Wales are operating under immense pressure.
GNOD head up a heavy, hypnotic three-act bill on their return to Cardiff
Whoever’s on stage in Gnod and whatever musical mode they happen to be in, they remain one of the most reliably thrilling live bands in the UK.
Ireland’s AMBLE bring an authentic night of storytelling to Cardiff’s Tramshed
Back on (almost) home turf from their world tour, Amble are glad to be back amongst their Celtic kin with “bad weather and good beer”.
MARIAH, ARIANA and DYLAN are all BARBRA STREISAND’s duet partners
Some releases have to be judged on their own terms, and if you want to listen to a Barbra Streisand duets album, then this is pretty near to perfection.
DAVID HURN’s photos focus on manmade landscapes for WALES AS IS
David Hurn’s new photobook Wales As Is aims to strip back the misty-eyed myth and scythe through the romanticism surrounding the Welsh landscape.
PROTEIN and more: the new wave of Welsh horror film
Welsh horror is a varied mode of cinematic storytelling with something for everyone – and thanks to movies like Protein, it’s enjoying something of a moment.
Seasoned storyteller DANIEL MORDEN on facing mortality and “re-weirding the world”
Storyteller Daniel Morden returns to the stage for A Figure Of Speech, a performance of grizzly and gory folktales with Olivia Armstrong. Hari Berrow talks to him about the show.
New Welsh music you may have missed in April, from bisexual glam rock to Squidward’s flute
Noel Gardner is risen, from bed that is, to write up a report on April’s most interesting new subterranean Welsh sounds and drop it on you just in time for Easter.
SEND IN THE CLOWNS make musical theatre gay again
The cast of Send In The Clowns returned to Cardiff, bringing hilarious queer musical comedy and incredible operatic voices with them in Cock Of Ages.
A lost album by Hollywood icon JEFF BRIDGES proves a fine late-70s time capsule
Almost half a century after it was recorded, we get to hear the lost album by Jeff Bridges – a greatly respected actor and, it transpires, a surprisingly individual singer-songwriter.
Take 5: SUGABABES
The original Sugababes trio of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy are playing Cardiff this month. Joshua Williams helps get you ready.
Wellness tech: the case for and against
From smartwatches to grounding mats claiming to connect us to the earth, wellness technology is everywhere. Megan Ingram-Jones considers the bigger picture.
Modern prog icon STEVEN WILSON ponders the vastness of space on THE OVERVIEW
Across two songs each the length of an LP’s side, Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson explores the cognitive shifts astronauts experience whilst observing the earth from space.
THAT DOUGHNUT PLACE: keeping Glynneath’s streets sweet
Customers have travelled hours to Glynneath to queue for That Doughnut Place's wares. But when they welcomed a new member to the family last summer they came to a crossroads – continue to grow, or scale down and simplify?
Mother Monster is back: LADY GAGA drops album seven, MAYHEM
Mayhem is everything long-time Gaga fans could want: an artist reaching back through time only to find that nostalgia has a dark side, and leaning into that realisation.
BDRMM swap dreampop for electronic pop in bold if imperfect fashion
Hull’s BDRMM, a band previously labelled shoegaze, allow that style to take a backseat, with electronic and ambient elements brought to the forefront.
OLD SOUL: a surreal, chilling tale of a strange, deadly photographer
An excerpt from Old Soul won a Northern Writers’ award for fiction in 2020, and digested as a whole this is an intelligent, nuanced, globe- and era-spanning horror epic.
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE & TRIVIUM share the headline spoils in Cardiff
Celebrating the 20th anniversaries of BFMV’s The Poison and Trivium’s Ascendancy, these metal heavyweights start their co-headline world tour in the Welsh capital.
UK jazz whiz XHOSA COLE tackles Thelonious Monk to fine effect
Saxophonist Xhosa Cole and his quartet are establishing themselves as a major force on the British jazz scene with this bold interpretation of the work of Thelonious Monk.
UK pop institution SAINT ETIENNE offer bitesize pleasure on album 12
All 14 songs on Saint Etienne’s 12th studio album are meditations in their own right, but feel like tasters and leave you wanting more.
TWIN ATLANTIC bring Saturday night energy to a dreary Tuesday night gig in Cardiff
Twin Atlantic lit up Cardiff’s Tramshed even on a less than favourable day with indie-alt-rock warmth and vigour.