Had this mad dream about these organ pipes I saw at the Agora exhibit in Penarth last August, a piece by Molly Harcombe, they’re originally from St Tyfodwg’s Church. Anyway, they all sprouted these long, spindly arms and legs and went clattering about, utterly disorientated having been disassembled, and they all had these valley accents, asking penetrating questions about the Welsh condition, e.g. ‘what the fuckin hell is going on here then boys myup’
Anyway. Special thanks this month to Svartitt, whose SHIFT residency produced some excellent performances and whose workshop, ‘Democratisation and Dequantization of Sound’, gave us all a lot to think about. If you’re into weirdo sound, or you want to have a go making it, can I recommend Koala for your iPhone / Android; a fun, simple-to-use and really quite powerful sampler which you can immediately freak out the squares with
GIGS
WED DEC 6: PLUG JAM @ Paradise Garden, Cardiff, sign-up / mixer at 19:00, music from 20:00
Not a gig as such but a brand new get together for offbeat bedroom producers based in Cardiff to meet irl and try stuff out on a big-ish system, whether solo or in brand new combinations with your brand new best friends. You’re also certainly welcome to get involved if you’re a vocalist of any description. Performances open to all
SAT DEC 9: RANDOLPH & MORTIMER, BEAUTY PARLOUR, CAN KICKER, ENABLING BEHAVIOUR, ESTHER & DAVID J BULL @ Inkspots, Cardiff, 19:30
Spooky shit in Cardiff East’s clattiest gaff; after a strong showing alongside Andi Harriman at Paradise Garden, Sheffield’s Randolph & Mortimer returns with a live set of body stompers and skin-on-skin electronica. Also on the menu: local-flavour beatings from Can Kicker, tuneful indie-post-punk scrappage with Enabling Behaviour, and afterhours action with PG dons E & D. I am also doing my Press Play set, y’know, as a treat; new material guaranteed
SUN DEC 10: RICHARD DAWSON, TRULY KAPUT & THE MIDNIGHT TREMBLERS @ The Bunkhouse, Swansea, 19:00
Will be amazed if there’s tickets on the door for this one and I’m sure you all know who Richard Dawson is, but still, what an absolute coup; can’t imagine a better way to spend a Sunday night than with UK folk’s premiere funnyman, whose wiki I am now reading for fun. Turns out he really admired Mike Patton as a kid. Very funny, very cool. Support from ‘Townhill transgender vocal-terror’ Truly Kaput’s Midnight Tremblers duo; short, sharp, shock-treatment punk
SUN DEC 10: THE BRACKISH, HAUL, FERAL COPS @ The Moon, Cardiff, 19:00
Elbows out with sharp angle-rockers The Brackish. Haul is the project of Charlie from Bristol’s Liquid Library, who last surfaced in Cardiff at the Lo Egin show at SHIFT. They’re calling it ‘Dawn Metal’, a handle that makes more sense when you listen to it; glittering Orcutt-style ruminations that grow, grow and grow some more. Feral Cops is a new ‘vapourwave industrial stoner doom’ project from Cardiff’s Lloyd Markham, posing important questions like ‘what if Ministry just slowed things down a bit, or what if MFDOOM lifted all his samples off Melvins records?’
THU DEC 14: PHAME, JAKE HEALY, ORDEAL BY ROSES WITH SLOW MURDER, THE DAWN PROJECT @ SHIFT, Cardiff, 19:30
The Los Angeles / Birmingham connect: Phame are the transatlantic noise duo of Jessica Schwartz and Simon Paton, whose commitment to improv and free-form fuggin’ about makes for intoxicating no-wave malaise. Support from Jake Healy of Sugarhorse, whose last time out at SHIFT bought a fearsome blend of corrupt male voice choirs and dank basement industrial, really good stuff. Also for your consideration: another meeting of Ordeal by Roses & Slow Murder—surely edging closer to the noise-wrestling performance this is supposed to be, my friends tell me this sort of thing is called a ‘shoot’—and young-blood noisekin The Dawn Project, who was recently kind enough to gift me a heavily graffitied Simon and Garfunkel cassette which turned out to contain some forty-five minutes worth of his ultra-processed solo guitar work. It was great, real blackened silent hill vibes
FRI DEC 15: ACOUCHRISTO @ Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, 20:00
An evening with Cardiff based sound-designer Chris Young, upstairs at Chapter. Young has done a lot of work in theatre, where he is interested in composition that mirrors the movements of those on stage to create fluid, immersive experiences. Truly amazes me that the only space of its kind in Cardiff, perpetually on the verge of going bust, doesn’t use this wonderful little room for more gigs. But what do I know, it’s not like I used to work there or anything
FRI DEC 15: CERI RHYS MATTHEWS, ROWAN COUPLAND @ Tangled Parrot, Swansea, 19:00
Back to the record store for NAWR’s last gig of the year. This is a launch event for the latest ‘Betwixt and Between’ release, a wonderful contemporary folk tape series curated by improvising banjo player Jacken Elswyth with previous releases including the likes of Shovel Dance Collective. Don’t know about you, but I was disappointed not to hear much in the way of actual flutes on that Andre 3000 record (but then what is an actual flute? Sigh). If you’re feeling the same then why not investigate Ceri Rhys Matthews, a much celebrated Welsh folk acolyte who uses the wooden concert flute, the Welsh pipes and the pibgorn, which is a traditional reed-horn sort of instrument. Joining him is Rowan Coupland, a Berlin-based ‘folk noir’ multi-instrumentalist whose arrangements straddle a unique line between glittering sophistication and ghostly lo-fi
SAT DEC 16: CATHEAD, HELEDD C EVANS, JOSHUA JONES WITH JIM GIBSON & HOWL HUBBARD, ORCHESTRE TOUT PUISSANT MARCEL DUCHAMP, YAKKIDA!, IVOR WOODS @ SHIFT, Cardiff, 16:00
Something like an avant-pop all-dayer in the basement with a superb mixture of queer, DIY artists working across ambient, electronica, improv, drone, field recordings and more, including homegrown talents Heledd C, Howl Hubbard and Ivor Woods. Loads going on so you’re best getting the details on the SHIFT website
DEC 31: DJ GUY @ Paradise Garden, Cardiff, 18:00-03:00
Certainly the best Cardiff NYE party I’ve seen so far; all night long with the big boss. Advance tix only, includes a drink!
QUICK REVIEWS OF WEIRD WELSH STUFF
Megzbow & Vinegar Tom – Welsh Noise Vol. II
This wicked set of heat-treated field recordings from Pembrokeshire captures what I’m calling the deep, spiritual agitation that pervades West Wales. Warbling drones, infernal humming and the clatter and clang of some alien barnyard set us square among that churning, liquid landscape. It’s heady stuff that bristles with life; creaking gates, animal grunts, perturbed felines, the farmer’s distant call, all of these may or may not feature. I can’t tell you a thing about Megzbow or Vinegar T, but anonymity feels appropriate: it’s a thoroughly depersonalised listen, with everything (and everyone) sinking beneath the mulch. One of my favourite releases of the year, the artists have done a great job of answering a question they set for themselves; ‘if you made a noise record for your mum, what would it sound like?’
Wren BC – Intervals
Discreet Archive is a wonderful West Wales-based label I’ve recently discovered, whose raison d’etre is to amplify the quiet things. They’ve had six releases to date from a range of artists including experimental soundscape collective SubPhonics, French electro-acoustic artist DAFAKE, and Jacob Calland, who has created a cool piece for flue pipes. But I really love this from one Wren BC: four pieces written for just intonation, in which roots (and as such, the entire set of relationships between the different notes) evolve across the 15 or so minutes of slow, royal resonance
THINGS I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO:
- Love this from saxophonist Darius Jones, ‘fLuXkit Vancouver (its suite but sacred)’; four compositions for sax, drums and string quartet; mutant chamber music with a sax tone that elicits terror, tension and heartbreak in equal measure
- DJ RAMON SUCESSO: SEXTA DOS CRIAS, don’t mess about, just get it on. Now!
Xavier Boucherat is a Cardiff-based musician, promoter and writer. Check out Sgarab Tapes on Bandcamp. Through the Night is published whenever there’s time on Substack. You can subscribe below
If you are a recording artist in Wales or from Wales making anything freaky, I’d love to hear your stuff, particularly if you’re from a group that traditionally lacks representation. You can email me at throughthenightwales@gmail.com
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