Judging by the care packages arriving from PE HQ of late, it would appear I’ve been assigned to the Welsh desk. Despite some initially trepidation, like the Italian soldiers in the film Mediterraneo, I’m starting to appreciate the charms of my neglected outpost. Mim Twm Llai is a project of a young singer songwriter Gai Toms, who serves up lively, engaging, gravely vocaled folk rock that wouldn’t be out of place in an Austin club. Drymbago is Fela-styled Afrobeat from Bangor. While lacking the personnel (they are a sextet) and the musicianship to pull it off completely, it’s an admirable effort. Individual judgements aside, it’s great to experience these young artists confidently exploring other musical traditions on the road to producing work that – by virtue of it’s use of the Welsh language – is ultimately a expression of a vital national consciousness.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Mim Twm Llai - Staeon y Cymdogion (Sian Wales) / Drymbago - Dyddiau Da (Rasa)
Judging by the care packages arriving from PE HQ of late, it would appear I’ve been assigned to the Welsh desk. Despite some initially trepidation, like the Italian soldiers in the film Mediterraneo, I’m starting to appreciate the charms of my neglected outpost. Mim Twm Llai is a project of a young singer songwriter Gai Toms, who serves up lively, engaging, gravely vocaled folk rock that wouldn’t be out of place in an Austin club. Drymbago is Fela-styled Afrobeat from Bangor. While lacking the personnel (they are a sextet) and the musicianship to pull it off completely, it’s an admirable effort. Individual judgements aside, it’s great to experience these young artists confidently exploring other musical traditions on the road to producing work that – by virtue of it’s use of the Welsh language – is ultimately a expression of a vital national consciousness.
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