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Brave New Wales II

by Various Artists

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ISG - Trio 08:20
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about

Pedair Awr yng Nghymru Fydd / Brave New Wales was a landmark 3CD compilation of contemporary experimental music from Wales, released in 2008. It was a snapshot of some of the remarkable things that were happening around the country at the time that we felt were under-appreciated; a celebration of exploration, DIY and art untainted by commercial factors.

Predictably, given that it was dedicated to under-the-radar music, the compilation itself flew somewhat under the radar. Some were sold, some were given away, some were accidentally destroyed in a storage incident and some remain tucked away in a loft. A not insignificant amount of money was lost.

A lot has happened in the 12 years since this came out. Some of the artists featured are still making music, some aren't, some have disappeared, some are sadly no longer with us. There were of course many artists making similarly uncompromising music that we didn't know about at the time, and we apologise to them for not being better at research. Excitingly, though, it seems that many more artists are now pushing boundaries around the country. It's a fertile time for adventurous music generally, but especially so in Wales, and further volumes in this series are long overdue. Firstly though, we thought it was time to bring the compilation into the digital domain, hopefully to reach new ears, and who knows, maybe even to inspire someone else to start creating.

For this 2020 edition, the original discs have been expanded to include some of the material that originally only appeared on the bonus disc, given away with the first 100 copies. Recipients of the bonus disc were quick to note that the cardboard sleeve was too big to fit into the main box, a production error that was entirely our fault. No such size trouble now, though, thanks to the miracle of bandcamp.

As is customary, the original sleeve notes, reproduced below, are in Welsh first. The English version can be found below those.

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Croeso i Pedair Awr yng Nghymru Fydd, detholiad personol o’r gerddoriaeth newydd orau sydd yn cael ei chynhyrchu ar hyn o bryd gan gerddorion arbrofol Gwlad y Gân.

Er bod llawer iawn o gerddoriaeth Gymreig wedi ennill sylw a chlod yn rhyngwladol, ychydig iawn o sylw fu yna hyd yn hyn i feysydd mwy arbrofol neu heriol – ac i’r cerddorion hynny sydd yn torri’r rheolau arferol neu, yn fwy diddorol efallai, yn llwyr anymwybodol o’r rheolau hynny. Mae yma gryn amrywiaeth: o nodau bariton gitâr Chuch i recordiadau amgylcheddol Eirwyn Llwyd Roberts; o swn digyfaddawd Stereo Minus One, Rose Heyworth ac Edwin Pang i brydferthwch cyfareddol deuawd Angharad a Rhodri Davies i’r ffidil a’r delyn.

Nid chwilio ‘Cymreictod’ fel y cyfryw yw’r bwriad, nac archwilio cysylltiadau rhwng sain a thir – mae’r nod yn fwy syml o lawer: rhoi llwyfan i gerddoriaeth na fyddwch chi’n gyfarwydd â hi; rhoi ychydig o sylw i’r bodau creadigol hynny sydd yn creu cerddoriaeth er eu mwyn eu hunain yn y lle cyntaf – a dangos bod yna lawer iawn i’w ddathlu yn y Gymru hon sydd ohoni.

Y gobaith yw y byddwch chi’n mwynhau’r gwrando cymaint ag y gwaeth y cerddorion fwynhau’r creu. Ac os byddwch chi’n hoffi tipyn o’r hyn glywch chi, yr ewch chi ati i ddod o hyd i fwy. Mae’r casgliad hwn yn bell o fod yn derfynol; mae hi’n hollol debygol bod yna lond gwlad arall o gerddoriaeth yn aros i gael ei darganfod.

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Welcome to Brave New Wales, a personal selection of the best new music being made under the radar and off the grid by musicians from and/or living in the Land Of Song.

Despite many areas of Welsh music being celebrated and well documented, little publicity has so far been given to the more experimental or challenging avenues being pursued by the rule breakers, or perhaps more interestingly, those blissfully unaware of the rules in the first place. There’s great variety here: from the murky baritone guitar smears of Chuch to the environmental recordings of Eirwyn Llwyd Roberts; from the brick-in-the-face noise of Stereo Minus One, Rose Heyworth and Edwin Pang to the strange beauty of Angharad and Rhodri Davies’ violin and harp improvisations.

We make no attempt to search for Welshness within the music, or to investigate parallels between land and sound - our intention is more simple: to showcase music that you are unlikely to have heard before; to give recognition to the creative souls tucked away in bedrooms and studios (and forests) up and down the land making music primarily for their own pleasure, and to show that in this tiny and bewitching country of only 3 million people, there’s much to celebrate.

We hope you enjoy listening as much as the contributors enjoyed making. And if you like what you hear, spend some time seeking out more. This is a far from comprehensive survey; there are likely volumes more material as yet undiscovered.

credits

released October 2, 2020

Compiled by Simon Proffitt // exoticspresm.bandcamp.com
Design by A Happy Line // ahappyline.com
Translation by Owen Martell // owenmartell.com

Many thanks to all the artists for their patience, generosity and creativity, without which the original release would have just been an empty box, and this page would just be a photo of a some caravans.

Further listening:

Simon Proffitt // exoticspresm.bandcamp.com
Angharad Davies // www.angharaddavies.com / angharaddavies1.bandcamp.com
Rhodri Davies // www.rhodridavies.com / rhodridavies.bandcamp.com
Steve Hubback // www.stevehubback.nl
Gorwel Owen // fionagorwelowen.bandcamp.com
Richard Bowers SAAB // richardbowers.co.uk
Jacob Whittaker // www.jacobwhittaker.co.uk
Traw // confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/cwymp-y-d-r-ar-ganol-dydd
Jim Knight, Fiona Owen and Gorwel Owen // fionagorwelowen.bandcamp.com
ISG // www.ashleyjohnlong.co.uk

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