It’s a new dawn, a new day, a new life.. etc etc… I used to like Muse until my 10-year-old son developed a neurosis about them. Such is his condition I have to hide my entire Muse collection for fear of myself going off them… Anyway I digress from the reason I’m writing… A new year.. New hopes, new beginnings and so on…
I spent most of 2009 in a tent, or at least that’s how it felt, with the bulk of the summer taken up by Festivals, drinking, travelling, drinking and, well, drinking. This had a detrimental effect not only on my liver, but also on my up-to-date knowledge of Welsh music (as in music from Wales in both languages). So praise the Lord for Adam Walton, and praise him even more for kindly collating his best of 2009 into an all killer no filler 3 hour radio show last week. Listening to it cost me £20 in online purchases, where on hearing certain bands I was instantly compelled to buy their stuff. Most of my Walton listening is done during the week on the BBC iPlayer; it’s a case of home from work, Walton on, get the tea on and eat it while he witters away and plays exciting new music. That’ll take about 40mins and I’ll repeat the feat the next night and so on until I’ve heard the full 3 hours. On the Sunday evening occasions I do get to listen in live, it’s a case of a bottle of red and PC at the ready and I’ll update the link2wales website as I hear and learn of new stuff.
Talking of new stuff; this week I have mostly been listening to The Docfeistr compilation album out now on Ankst Music, which is a bizarre concept album about a seaman-monster who terrorises and seduces the population, and although mainly hip-hop orientated, does feature the delights of Tew Shady a Cofi Bach, Mr Huw, MC Mabon, Stilletoes and Yr Ods.
Also knocking on the door of my in-box are the much improved Leucine – who’ve regrouped, got their songwriting heads together, hit the studio and are about to hit your senses with a new EP. Stand out tracks are The Fuse is Lit (which has been knocking around for a while) and the excellent Hospital Driver Please. Now, I’m no fan of emo and find screamo a bit tiresome (it’s my age!), but Leucine manage to find a decent balance in the never-never land between the two genres. Superbly recorded and crafted work that even had Steve Sync nodding in the car the other day! Oh, add Where is The Diamond to that list just for the sheer energy of the song.

Dockrad Records of Cardiff is having another burst of activity, releasing singles by Sweet Fontaine and Howl Griff this week… Amazingly I got hold of both copies by chance via an old address I lives in 7 years ago.
Dai (he of Dockrad) is never one to act spontaneously, so when I told him over 7 years ago that I’ve moved house (5 times since then!), he hasn’t quite got round to updating his records. By what I thought was strange coincidence; the new Klaus Kinski single also showed up at that address, sent to me by Ankst Music. I emailed Emyr Ankst and he told me he got the address off, yes, you’ve guessed it; Dai Dockrad.
I digress… Sweet Fontaine’s single Evermore is a punchy two minute 30 secs of US punk inspired TJs Newport stuff that wouldn’t sound out of place on that label from South Wales that I can’t for the life of me remember was called, but it used to release loads of obscure American punk albums.
Howl Griff are no strangers to my CD player and the new single Crash & Burn is not quite like it’s Manics namesake, but has a poppy and almost country feel to it. Unoffensive, nice use of brass and easy to hum after one listen. The flipside is Bluebirds, not sure if it’s a reference to Cardiff City’s quest for Premiership football, maybe, and again, lovely production and easy on the ear. Not out of place on Radio 2 or 6 and thankfully, it’ll never make daytime Radio One cos Howl Griff haven’t been on X-Factor. Jesus! I hate that station and that show; although how can I say I hate something I NEVER listen to or watch…?
One thing you’re guaranteed from Ankst is something different from the norm, be it the surplice clad bonkersness of Anne Matthews in the guise of Annalogue or those natives of the People’s Republic of Rajasthan, Wendykurk. So if you put those two in a blender, added the diesel engine of a Vauxhall Chevette that had done over 150,ooo miles in reverse and then poured the lot down the pan, you may get an inkling of what Klaus Kinski sound like. Their new single Happiness Happiness is about sticking things in themselves and/or other beings; as are most of their songs. For this reason, I have a strange and definitely morbid fascination with all things Klaus Kinski, which is probably very unhealthy. The songs are as if the aforementioned contents of that blender have been splattered onto a wall in a Rhyl police cell on New Year’s Day and then a class of 5 year old children have told to write about it… Believe me, this is probably true..!!
www.ankst.co.uk
www.myspace.com/recordiaudockradrecords

I’ve been writing the goddam thing for two years… yes, admittedly intermittantly! It seemed like a good idea at the time; collate all the info I have on all these bands that have breathed life (however briefly) into the music scene on the North Wales coast. Put it all into some semblance of order for your reading pleasure.
What I didn’t realise was the amount of information I actually had, and the endless numbers of new avenues I opened up when I sought new info.
The starting point was easy, and the bulk of significant events from 1976 to 2003 are done, edited and locked down – all 187 pages of it..!!! So I can guarantee you it’ll be a detailed, and hopefully good read.
There have been a couple of notable absentees who have ignored requests for info or thoughts or contributions, so they may be misrepresented in the book; but I guess that’s their perogative, and the vast majority of people have been extremely helpful as I tried to piece together their histories.

This Patch of Land has a publishing deal in place and I’ve promised myself to finish it as soon as possible…
Coming to an Amazon bookstore near you next spring…!!!!!
Maybe…

In a world that seems to have gone Twitter mad, it’s refreshing to see it’s taken me a whole eight months to add to my blog (still think Twatter is a better name). I should’ve been a rastafarian considering the amount of time it’s taken to put finger to keyboard, and the amount of reggae I’ve consumed these past few weeks.
Done a bit of updating to the site, as well as continually adding and correcting the A-Z entries, I’ve also started sticking on old interviews, biographies and listings (eg; Adam Walton sessions). You can access these through the main A-Z menu, click on a letter and a sub-menu will appear. The idea of building up a comprehensive archive of bands’ thoughts and memories of their Walton Sessions has also sprung up, it’d take a lot of work and effort, but one I think would be worth it for prosperity (or my anorak). So if any bands are reading who have done a Walton seesion for BBC Radio Wales, please get in touch via the Contact link (on the left) and share your thoughts, the tracks recorded (MP3 if possible) and what it felt like hearing your stuff and any reactions etc.
Nice one…

Is it me? Is it my ignorance? The fact I’ve spent most of summer away from the scene? The fact I’ve not seen any live music for a while or listened to the radio or really been online during the blistering holiday months…
Perhaps the break has done me good and the great music has always been out there, but I’ve suddenly come back from recent escapades and thought, ‘Right, let’s kick start the music scene again.’
Perhaps I should rephrase that, cos I don’t really do anything apart from get excited by what I hear and then jump up and down like a little kid at christmas and feel the need to tell you and everyone about it…
It’s people like Steve Rastin (Blood & Lipstick promoter), Dave Cox and Co. and Adam Walton who tirelessly fly the flag much to their inconvenience to bring you music and help those that make it. So when I say ‘Let’s kick start the music scene again’ I really mean, ‘Right, let’s help Steve, Dave and Adam kick start the music scene again.’
Something clicked inside me, things had been stagnating and I guess a break was the best tonic. On a local level, the shennanigans of last year when Blu and Billy’s fucked up the local live scene between them just about killed off any life in the locale. But hopefully Steve Rastin’s latest venture at The Zu Bar in Rhyl will sprout the shoots of recovery. I’m under no illusion, and neither is he that this won’t be an overnight success, but let’s keep talking, let’s keep reviewing, let’s keep attending, let’s keep enjoying.
Dave Cox was described on the link2wales forum as a local legend.. And quite right… He and his team, by hook and by crook have force fed the area with punk rock, and we’re a better race because of it. The Dirty Weekend on Friday and Saturday 19, 20 September is by far their biggest event in their 5 year history and I hope they pull it off…
Adam Walton was shoved into the furthest broadcasting corner that the BBC could find, 10pm on a Sunday night for 3 hours, not exactly prime time listening, and I curse the the beeb, cos usually by midnight and the prospect of getting up at 6am on monday, my head gently sinks into the pillow and the great new welsh music that Adam plays is subliminally broadcast directly to my receptors (I guess…) – thankfully the listen again button on the Radio Wales website allows me and you to, well… Listen Again… That’s Listen Again to Adam’s relentless championing the unchampionable, battling the cause of those who wouldn’t stand a chance in a world saturated by myspaced wannabes and NME brown tonguers. Some of it’s ok and some of it is absolutely fucking mind blowing…
I’m listening right now to Cardiff’s Sicknote – they call themselves electro-punk, I’d call them fucking superb, it’s brilliant stuff. Tag them onto the abso-fan-fucking-tastic new LP by Perfect Blue out now on Northern Star, chuck in some brutal brain bashing Bastions from Bangor along with the nail-bombing Anti-Virus from Colwyn Bay and you have a recipe hot enough to blow your stinking socks off.
But why stop there? Denbigh’s Streams are the ice cream sundae, a little soft in places but coated with nice crunchy bits, then you have the taste bud jerking Genod Droog who fizz in your mouth like space dust.. and fizz is what it’s doing – the scene is fizzing into life..

Spent 3 days in the searing scorching heat of rural France last weekend – it was the first time they had had sun in a fortnight so I was lucky enough to burn my pen moel (bald head to you non-Welsh) heathens. The barbecue smoked, the Crudlets and Frenchlets played and the Jack Daniels flowed (wine drinking is a myth, the French are strictly hardcore!) -
Celine had her iPlayer on random, rattling out all kinds of weird and wonderful sounds, until something very familiar pulsed across the Gallic countryside, ‘I know this… what is it?’ I enquired.
‘You should do, it’s The Racketears.’ She replied, well, perhaps not in such good English, but I understood. She had heard them on my podcast and downloaded as much of the Colwyn Bay band as was legally possible.
The power of radio…

Crud and Crudlet do a catalogue pose in Jeaumeville, France

Let’s hope we all go out to see, not only The Racketears, but whoever Blood & Lipstick promoter Steve Rastin puts on at the Zu Club in Rhyl. We need to support this new venture and do so regularly; not just those who live in the town, but the bods from Colwyn Bay, Holywell and inland. The opening night is on September 10th (Wednesday of course!)
Zu Bar

27.09.09 - Mafafi, Impaled Existence @ Speakers Corner, Colwyn Bay

26.09.09 – Napalm Death, Die Leitzen @ Backstage, Munich

25.09.09 - Raised By Drunks, Revenge of The Psychotronic Man @ Madocs, Colwyn Bay

04.09.09 – Drederick Tatum + Burn The Skyline + Coryphaeus @ Caskeys, Rhyl

28.08.09 - Race Horses @ Telfords Warehouse, Chester

01.08.09 – Babar Luck, Anonymous Tip, Minus Society, A War Against Sound, Gandhi’s Cookbook, The Mephs @ Madoc’s, Colwyn Bay

19/20/21.06.09 - Hellfest @ Clisson, France

11.06.09 - Ether + After An Alibi + Daniel James @ Grapevine, Rhyl

10.06.09 - Prong @ Music Box, Manchester

06.06.09 – The Shadowcops + The Stilletoes + Like I Care? @ Dudley Arms, Rhyl

25.05.09 – Subhumans, Meinhof, Refuse All, War Coma, The Rebel Conspiracy @ The Star And Garter, Manchester (and another one!)

24/25.05.09 - Hammerfest @ Pontins, Prestatyn

22.05.09 – Global Parasite, Martha Beck, Haywire, In Her Ruin, Smokey Bastards @ The Hobbit, Southampton

22.05.09 – The Stilletoes, I Am Austin, Son Capson, Irma Vep, Endaf Presli @ Rascals, Bangor

21.05.09 – Star Fucking Hipsters, Moral Dillema, 2 Sick Monkeys, Dead Subverts @ The Star & Garter, Manchester

03.05.09 – The Specials @ Manchester Apollo

25.04.09 – Isaac Birchall @ Dudley Arms, Rhyl

22.04.09 – Stilletoes, Zebedy @ Grapevine, Rhyl

17.04.09 – Propagandhi, Random Hand, CopOut @ Sheffield Academy

13.04.09 – Palehorse @ Retro Bar, Manchester

27.03.09 - Sona, Grand Park @ Skerries, Bangor

28.02.09 – Insentia, Apogee, Bastions, The Mephs @ Rascals, Bangor

26.02.09 – Metallica @ Manchester Evening News Arena

19.02.09 – Out From Animals, Carjack Mallone, The Brakes, Trader @ Tivoli, Buckley

19.02.09 – Day Before Mortality, Vehicle Field, Slightly Generic @ M cLeans, Queensferry

16.02.09 - A Day To Remember, Azriel, Elias Last Day, For The Fallen Dreams @ Music Box, Manchester

15.02.09 - A Day To Remember, Failsafe, Honeymoon Suite @ Roadhouse, Manchester

13.02.09 - Iris 3, Valleum, Get out Clause, DeMask, Love Truncheon @ Hendre Hall, Bangor

12.02.09 – Testament, Zaprinski Connection, The Inquisition @ Academy 2, Liverpool

07.02.09 – Anti Virus, Down To Kill, Autonomads @ Dudley Arms, Rhyl

05.02.09 – Thyrd Eye, Calling Shotgun, Good Syrs @ McLeans, Queensferry

05.02.09 – Chiodos, Exit Ten, Sonny Moore @ Manchester

01.02.09 – Wolves in the Throne Room, They Are Cowards, Hammers, Stuntcock @ Star and Garter, Manchester

31.01.09 – Napalm Death, Theoktony, Nekkrosis @ The Asylum, Birmingham

30.01.09 – Extreme Noise Terror, Disorder @ Bierkeller, Bristol

15.01.09 – Video Nasties, Threatmantics, Swantonbombs @ Central Station, Wrexham

02.01.09 - Parking Non-Stop, Duncan Black, Wrightoid, Facefish, Factory Star @ Anglesey Arms, Menai Bridge

‘He’s got a pineapple on his head, he’s got a pineapple on his head.’ Whether Paul Claxton’s dreadlocks are intented to resemble the exotic fruit is open to debate, but the tunes are certainly exotic enough.
‘They’re tight as fuck.’ Exclaimed Fatman Slim. And so they should be considering the number of gigs these 3 boys have done, but they should also be playing bigger places (full disrespect to The Bistro) as they’ve been around long enough, are still young enough & are talented enough to be a bigger band (a 4 piece!).
I saw the aptitude within Claxton many years ago when he was the frontman / guitarist he is now, but in Florescent Wetdream – who were around in those heady PSST days in Rhyl.
So a bigger than average crowd remembered the high points, particularly Pineapple’s ability to throw in a token cover version, minced up, grunged up & spat out, indie-fied; Lionel Richie’s shite Hello ballad was played the way it should’ve been the first time, as was A-HA’s Take Me On.
BLUE also had a bash at the cabaret bit doing Pink Floyd’s Predictably Numb, but played to the letter, a lesson from Pineapple wouldn’t go a miss.  The name drew up the anticipation of a rockabilly band in my Stella Artois poisoned mind for some reason, so when I was faced  with a progressive type genre I was pleasantly surprised
OK, these lads are barely out of school, they still had acne on their unstubbled cheeks & braces on their teeth, it was only their 2nd gig, they weren’t ‘tight as fuck’ & they weren’t loud enough.  But I sensed a spark, the ideas within the songs show the promise of better things to come & I would like to say that I may have witnessed the dawning of a new era.  Bold words for a 5 piece band who are still eating rusks for breakfast & aren’t particularly brilliant at choosing a name for themselves (if they’d have called themselves Gammon, we could have had Gammon & Pineapple tonight, fnarr fnarr) – however in years to come you’ll be able to say you read it here first.
Both Fatman & myself woke up (not together) with the most vicious of hangovers the following day which was only shook off by drinking again on the way to watch Wales be taught a footballing lesson by the Italians. (A COLD JASON LEE)