From the Margins ...

  • FOCUS WalesMAY GIG GUIDE
    Our May Gig Guide has fourteen essential music and comedy dates for the month, with FOCUS Wales and Daoirí Farrell / Elidyr Glyn (Galeri, 15 May) as the pick of the set. Read why here.
  • Horizons LogoNEWS : SEARCH FOR ACTS TO JOIN HORIZONS 2018 BEGINS
    Applications open today (23.04) to find the 2018 tranche of artists to join the exemplary BBC Wales / Arts Council of Wales Horizons scheme. Over the next twelve months the successful musicians can expect to access genuine industry experience and contacts, raise their profile and have a potentially life changing set of opportunities - all the details and how to apply can be found here : English I Cymraeg. South Wales based music writer Kevin McGrath has posted a brilliant personal piece this morning on what Horizons means to people who love to hear new music.
  • Mountainface LiveMOUNTAINFACE EP LAUNCH : LIVE REVIEW
    Chester band Mountainface and support CF Boneslum played brilliant, barnstorming sets at Telfords Warehouse to launch the former's new EP, Dead Lake. Review and pictures.

  • Alex DingleyAPRIL VIDEO OF THE MONTH : ALEX DINGLEY : NOT ALONE IN THE DARK
    Libertino Records are to release Alex Dingley's Cate le Bon and Tim Presley produced third album, Beat the Babble, as limited edition vinyl and download on June 15th. It was previously only available on US label Birth Records. A single, Not Alone in the Dark, is being released to mark the occasion; Casey Raymond directed an accompanying film for the song, which features a disconcerting, theatrical performance by Dingley. The perfect choice for our inaugural video of the month.

  • Phalcons : Swim AwayPHALCONS : SWIM AWAY (SINGLE)
    Phalcons second single picks up where the exquisite psych-folk of their first, Idle Ways, left off. Although this time around songwriter Ben Ellis was inspired by a dream, Swim Away confirms the reality that Phalcons are on course for a very special debut album. Read more & listen.
  • OblongPREVIEW : FOCUS WALES 2018 : OBLONG / ALFFA : 12.05.2018 [Wrexham]
    For our second FOCUS Wales 2018 preview we have scanned through the programme looking for the best hour of raw musical energy and elation - and the pairing of Llanelli's Oblong and Llanrug's Alffa at Saith Seren on Saturday, 12th May is the obvious place to to go for that. Read more.
  • Galeri ComediREVIEW : CLWB COMEDI : DANNY McLOUGHLIN et al. : 11.04.18 : GALERI [Caernarfon]
    Ably marshalled by MC Lukas Kirkby, and headlined by Danny McLoughlin on fine form, the April edition of Galeri's new comedy club demonstrated that it is already one of the best intimate venues to watch comedy in North Wales. Read the review.
  • Car GwylltCar GwylltCAR GWYLLT : 14.07.2018
    Car Gwyllt potentially offers one of the most exciting condensed musical celebrations of 2018 - if you like your creativity served with energy and edge, then the line-up for this two stage / one day event is spectacular. Headed by the semi-legendary Anweledig in a hometown re-union, the bill also features Adwaith, Y Reu, Estella, the superb Breichiau Hir, Gwilym Bowen Rhys, Jamie Bevan, Pasta Hull & more. It is being held at the Bro Ffestiniog Rugby Club, Blaenau Ffestiniog, 2pm-midnight on Saturday 14th July. Advance ticket : £14.85 (which includes the booking fee).
  • Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage Album ReviewHANNAH SANDERS & BEN SAVAGE : AWAKE
    English folk duo Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage, who released their acclaimed debut album Before the Sun in 2016 have a follow up, Awake, out in May. Awake is stunning in its grace and flawlessness - with a brilliant, plaintive cover of Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key as a keystone. Read the review.

  • FOCUS Wales 2018PREVIEW : FOCUS WALES 2018 : 9BACH / GINTIS / ADWAITH & More : 10.05.2018 [Wrexham]
    FOCUS Wales has over three hundred performances slated from 200 bands and artists for 2018 - in anticipation you can now download the full programme (PDF). Scan through the assembled delights, and the first evening offers one of the clearest highlights - as 9Bach appear with a fascinating set of North & West Wales artists and a trio of Korean bands at Wrexham's newest venue, Tŷ Pawb. Read the preview. Details & tickets (£12).
  • ElfenFROM THE ARCHIVE : AN INTERVIEW WITH ELFEN
    Released late in 2016, folk trio Elfen's debut album, March Glas, has two striking characteristics. First it has a sheer, mood altering joy and animation to it. Second, from its first notes the level of musicianship makes the album distinctive; the sound is quite unique. Our interview with the band's fiddle player Helina Rees maps out Elfen's hinterland - read it here.

  • ColossousCOLOSSOUS : SOLSTIS Y GAEAF (WINTER SOLSTICE)
    Written during a sleepless winter solstice night, this new release from Colossous is a long way musically from the project's recent Vanarchy in the UK EP, as Solstis y Gaeaf is a dance track fully chilled in the mountains of Snowdonia.

    Colossous' Rich Eardley made the accompanying video with John Lawrence - you can sense the fun it was to make, yet it is also reverential in the beautifully filmed fragments that pay homage to North Wales' landscape.

    Ten listens in, the track itself is obviously superb.

  • Matthew Frederick Live LIVE REVIEW : MATTHEW FREDERICK SOLO @ 3rd SPACE
    Performing solo in Llandudno, Climbing Trees' frontman Matthew Frederick used keyboard, guitar, kazoo and vocal to conjure up a minor-key delight of a show - read more.