the Wales, part 4

Finally getting round to writing about the band that first inspired my "the Wales" posts, but it's taken me so long to get round to it that the band has broken up in the meantime!  That band was Racehorses, who I first heard on 6 Music.  I was immediately captured by their sound -- a very clean indie sound that sounded like it could be from 1986 except it was just too clean.  I got fooled the first few times I heard them on the radio, thinking it was a band from the past, only to be told it was Racehorses.   I'm going to post the two songs I heard on the radio somewhere below.  Sadly, they really have broken up, as of a few weeks ago, boo hoo.

The two songs I heard are both tunes I really like, 'Mates' and 'Sisters'.  Both have a sad quality that appeals to me, hidden beneath the pop, and the latter reminds me a bit of Pulp.  I think that has less to do with the sound of the song and more to do with the content and the use of the word 'sister'.  If you've heard 'Babies' you may understand what I'm talking about.





Another Welsh artist I heard recently is Sweet Baboo.  Not much info on the lad from me, you can check out the link if you'd like to know more, but I heard him singing 'Cate's Song' on the radio and enjoyed it so here you go.  Could only find this link to it, which is to a British Council session (had no idea they do those), but the first song is the one I'm talking about, which makes things easier.

Things I've heard recently (including the Wales, part 3)

Even at the height of my musical fandom, back in my late teens and early 20's, I was never a true obsessive, or completist, like some people can be.  Even with my favourite bands, I might've listened to some of their albums repeatedly, but I didn't always get round to hearing everything.  There was a time, a fairly decent stretch of time, when the Clash were my favourite band, and I listened to 'London Calling', 'Black Market Clash', and 'the Clash' multiple times, til I knew all the songs.  I even tracked down the UK version of 'the Clash', cos I'd read it had different tracks on it, and a 10 inch vinyl version of 'Black Market Clash' -- and where did I read about those albums?  Probably not on the internet, cos back then I'd even read books about bands I liked, and I owned a few books on the Clash.  Those multiple listens were great though, and it's probably cos I did that that those albums mean so much to me, and probably always will -- just like 'Achtung Baby' will, or 'Definitely Maybe' will.  But there were some Clash albums that I didn't properly get round to, despite owning them, one of which is 'Sandinasta!', from 1980.  I heard a track off that on the radio today, and while it did sound familiar, I don't think it's a song I really had heard a lot before.  I liked it when I heard it today but I realised that the way I'll listen to it, pay attention to it, and process it now, is totally different from how I would've when I was younger.  I may listen to it a couple of times today, and now and then when I look back at this blog, but it's not going to enter that part of my brain where my musical memories are kept -- it won't define a time period or anything for me, or go down in my thoughts as a great song because it's by the Clash;  it'll just be a good song I heard today.  Which is a bit of a shame, cos it's a good song, and it's by one of my favourite bands -- I'm just not hearing it during the right period of my life.



Next up is another track from young whippersnapper, Jake Bugg.  What I'm gonna write now is different from what I thought I was going to write.  I was going to ask, again, about what does this young person know about anything? and I can't take him seriously, etc etc.  But I re-listened to his song and you know what, he's singing about normal things, things he probably does know about -- and he plays an instrument, writes the songs himself, and so on, which is more than you can say for most crappy teen-pop artists.  I think his singing style is a little too throwback and contrived, but maybe that'll change with time.



Last up, Bodhi, from the capital city of Cardiff -- a town I wish I knew better than I do.  Came across Bodhi yesterday, kind of randomly, but  I'm glad I did as I think one can always use some euphoric dance music in one's life.  Plus their beanies are cool!

the Wales, part 1 -- H. Hawkline

I'm hoping this will be the first in a series of posts from me highlighting Welsh music I've heard and liked recently.  There's definitely something about certain Welsh acts that ties them together -- a wistfulness, a taste for the psychedelic, and definitely a singing style -- when you listen closely you can tell when a singer is Welsh; not all the time, but a lot of the time.

My first taste of Welsh bands was in the 90s when I got into Manic Street Preachers, Super Furry Animals, Stereophonics, and, to a lesser extent, 60 Foot Dolls and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.  The act I'm going to highlight today reminds me a bit of the Magnetic Fields, at least in his singing voice; there's also a similar hint of folk and psychedelia, and a similar accent, to Gorky's frontman (and current solo artist), Euros Childs.  I quite like this track, which I heard on the radio the other day, not only for it's sound but also for it's lyrics.  It's by H. Hawkline, and I believe he's a solo act:

I looked up the other tracks from this EP on t'web and was similarly charmed by them -- I wouldn't mind getting the vinyl but it's adding up to a bit too much after currency conversion and shipping.  If only I was in some indie record shop in the UK....