UPDATED NORTH WALES GIG LIST inc. DnA : Galeri [Caernarfon] 13.09.18 & ALYS WILLIAMS : Pontio [Bangor] 24.11.18
- Benjamin Mason: Oi! Rapscallion!
Pembrokeshire based Ben Mason's head must teem with ideas, his new album - Oi! Rapscallion! - is as eclectic as it is delightful. The clear product of a restless and relentless musical imagination, the recordings range and experiment across genres, from acoustic folk through post-rock to electronica
- Daoiri Farrell / Elidyr Glyn : Galeri : 15.05.18
Award winning Irish folk musician Daoirí Farrell and support, singer-songwriter Elidyr Glyn, offered remarkable performances at Caernarfon's Galeri
- Mountainface : Dead Lake EP
Mountainface's first EP, Let's Play, was startling for its pure verve - alt. folk played with the intensity and fire of raw bluegrass. Two years on the Chester trio have recorded a follow up at Penylan Studios, Meifod that keeps the fervour of their debut and adds more emotional texture and soul to their sound.
- Blodau Gwylltion : Llifo Fel Oed
An exquisite, muted mix of folk and country influences, this debut album from duo Manon Steffan Ros and Elwyn Williams will be one of the first chiselled into 2018 end of year lists.
- Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage : Awake
English folk duo Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage, who released their acclaimed debut album Before the Sun in 2016 now have a follow up collection, Awake. Awake is stunning in its grace and flawlessness - with a brilliant, plaintive cover of Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key as a keystone.
- Live : Matthew Frederick @ 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.
- Benjamin Mason : Dogs N Yaaa
A re-release of Pembrokeshire experimental singer-songwriter Benjamin Mason's 2013 collection in very limited physical form should prompt a small stampede to Recordiau Prin's online till. Read the review to find out why.
- Aviator : Omni
Pete Wilkinson was in Shack, Cast and Echo & the Bunnymen. Omni, his fourth album with his current project Aviator, is a slow rolling, elating experience you would not want to miss.
- Casgliad Cae Gwyn
Cae Gwyn's third compilation album, released to mark Welsh Language Music Day and the label's tenth birthday, matches the enchantment and musical heft of the first two (Cynefin Cae Gwyn and Swooshed). It ranges from psychedelic space pop and alt-folk to classical guitar and grunge - and is available free as long as you are in the right place at the right time.
- Bob Delyn a'r Ebillion : Dal i 'Redig Dipyn Bach
Fourteen years after Dore, Bob Delyn a'r Ebillion have released a new album, Dal i 'Redig Dipyn Bach (Still ploughing on a little bit). From a band credited with putting fire into the 90's Welsh folk revival, the new album does their heritage full justice - it is a hypnotic triumph.
- Toby Hay : The Gathering
Released in March 2017, guitarist Toby Hay's debut album (after a series of evocative EPs) confirms he is emerging as a significant figure, taking the heritage line that runs from Davey Graham and Bert Jansch a compelling, creative step further forward.
- Colorama : Some Things Just Take Time
Worth the wait, this latest Colorama album shows Carwyn Ellis' vital force as a songwriter, arranger and performer is undimmed. Some Things Just Take Time is a burst of superb, elegant retro-pop. Like the collaborative Bendith project he spent some of 2016 so fruitfully on, the recording of this set of songs seemingly brought together extraordinary talent, and then delivered something more than the sum of the parts.
- Gai Toms : Gwalia
Blaenau Ffestiniog's Gai Toms plays guitar in Brython Shag, which makes him worthy of note even before six previous solo albums and his contribution to Anweledig are taken into account. A new CD, Gwalia, is due for release on 21st July - he has been inspired by everything from the haunting, hymnal O Gymru by Eleri Llwyd to a searing book on the history of Latin America; the result is an inventive, eclectic and brilliant collection of songs.
- Patrobas : Lle awn ni nesa'?
Two years after their notable debut EP, Dwyn y Dail, contemporary folk band Patrobas have released an album that fully delivers on their early promise
- Oblong : Briliant ... Gwd
Oblong have right the elements in place to be a great band, and this debut - with its melodic songs and wired, urban rock sound - is their first step to a full post-punk fuelled musical insurrection.
- Sera : RCA, Conwy : 17.12.2016
Caernarfon singer songwriter Sera delivered a spellbinding solo Christmas performance at the RCA, Conwy
- Bendith : Bendith
A collaborative project between Carwyn Ellis of Colorama and Snowdonia's Plu has produced a beautiful collection of songs.
- Band Pres Llareggub : Kurn
Band Pres Llareggub fuse hip hop and New Orleans brass with the influences from their North West Wales roots in a new release that it is impossible not to love - second album Kurn is quite superb: exuberant, joyful, inventive and full of life.
- Climbing Trees : Borders
Climbing Trees new album is a Cymrucana masterpiece
- 9Bach : Anian
'... challenging, experimental and a graceful triumph'.
