Stage 29, Wales

Stage 29, already and a little change of plans as i initially hadn't planned Wales, it would have been a mistake.

The Welsh cultural identity, is represented by elements such as monastic asceticism, a highly evolved secular legal system (Cyfraith Hywel), and a distinctive literary tradition which emerged after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century. Of the principal polities within Wales, only Gwynedd retained independence until the late 13th century, in 1282 the English conquest of Wales by Edward I permanently ended the rule of the Welsh princes, with Llywelyn's death and his brother prince Dayfdd's execution. Llywelyn's head was then carried through London on a spear; his baby daughter Gwenllian was locked in the priory at Sempringham, where she remained until her death fifty four years later..

From the 19th Century much of Wales became heavily industrialised, supplying the British Empire and its colonies with vast quantities of coal and steel and establishing a large manufacturing base. In the 20th century, Wales saw a revival in its national status. Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925, seeking greater autonomy or independence from the rest of the UK. A referendum on the creation of an assembly for Wales in 1979, led to a large majority for the "no" vote. However, in 1997 a referendum on the same issue secured a "yes". The National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) was set up in 1999 (as a consequence of the Government of Wales Act 1998) and possesses the power to determine how the central government budget for Wales is spent and administered.

Wales has four Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. These areas include Anglesey, Clwydian Range, Gower and Wye Valley. The Gower Peninsula was the first area in the whole of the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in 1956.Tor Bay and Three Cliffs Bay, Gower (Gŵyr), South Wales.The coastline of South and West Wales has more miles of Heritage Coast than anywhere else. The coastline of the Vale of Glamorgan, the Gower Peninsula, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion is particularly wild and impressive. Gower, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Cardigan Bay all have clean blue water, white-sand beaches and impressive marine life. Despite this scenic splendour the coast of Wales has a dark side; the South and West coasts of Wales, along with the Irish and Cornish coast, are frequently blasted by huge Atlantic westerlies/south westerlies that, over the years, have sunk and wrecked many a vessel.

Two thirds of the 3 million Welsh live in the valleys and coastal plain of the south, with a further significant population concentration in the north east. The remaining areas in mid Wales, the south west and west are predominantly rural and characterised by hilly and mountainous terrain. The Welsh call themselves Cymry, "compatriots", and named their country Cymru, which is thought to have meant "Land of the Compatriots" in Old Welsh. Wales is officially bilingual, with 21.7% of the population able to speak Welsh and a larger proportion having some knowledge of the Welsh language according to a 2004 language survey.

Well i had to make some adjustments, as i haven't been feeling very well, but i got thru this post on the planned time, if all goes well, next saturday part 2 on welsh musicians, and yes i promise ill skip Tom Jones...

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Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth (80)
Super Furry Animals - Love Kraft (05)
World Party - Goodbye Jumbo (90)
Jem - Finally Woken (04)
Cale, John - Music For A New Society (82)
Darling Buds, The - Erotica (92)
Sasha (DJ) - Airdrawndagger (02)

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Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth ( 80 flac 237mb)

Young Marble Giants was a Cardiff post-punk band, formed by a trio in 1978. Their style featured minimal, unmistakable instrumentation provided by brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham, supporting the cool, gentle voice of Alison Statton. Stuart Moxham wrote the majority of the band's songs, and his writing was often deceptively simple-seeming, giving the YMG's classic work a uniquely fragile yet powerful quality. Centered around a weird mix of Philip's steel-hawser bass, Stuart's haunting, rhythmic Galanti electric organ lines and punchy rhythm guitar (played on a rare John Lennon style blonde Rickenbacker), with Statton's vocals tentatively hanging in the space above, the sound was unlike anything anyone had heard before.

Their first vinyl release was on the compilation LP Is The War Over? on Cardiff DIY label, Z Block Records, in October 1979. While signed to UK independent record label, Rough Trade Records the YMGs released two EPs, Final Day and Testcard, and one acclaimed and very influential album, Colossal Youth (a reference to the Early Greek 'Kouroi' marble statues, from which the YMGs took the inspiration for their name.)

The band toured and played in the US and Europe, and played in San Francisco, Vancouver, New York, Berlin. Touring companions included the band Cabaret Voltaire.Musical influences included Eno, Kraftwerk, The Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, Can and others. The band were acquainted with Scritti Politti, the band of Cardiff native Green Gartside, and ended up signed to the same label, Rough Trade Records. It was revealed in the 2003 book Journals that the band were, along with Scotland's The Vaselines, Kurt Cobain's favourite band.

After the band split up in 1980, Stuart Moxham formed The Gist, whose song 'Love at First Sight' became a major hit on the continent when covered by French pop singer Étienne Daho under the title 'Café de Flore'. Following a very severe motorbike accident Stuart concentrated on home recording, which bore fruit in the album "Embrace The Herd,"(1982)

Philip Moxham went on to play bass for The Communards and Everything But The Girl, Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn's group. He features on their fourth album, Idlewild. Alison Statton, Spike, and Simon Emmerson formed Weekend (with Phil Moxham on bass) and released the acclaimed La Variete (1982) and Live at Ronnie Scott's (83) .

In early 2003, Statton and the Moxham brothers reunited for a BBC Radio Wales radio special. They performed one new song, "Alright," on this special. It was rumoured that the band might stay together to make further new recordings, but this project has not yet surfaced. There are however plans for at least one 'reunion concert' in the spring of 2007.



01 - Searching For Mr. Right (2:58)
02 - Include Me Out (2:01)
03 - The Taxi (2:06)
04 - Eating Noddemix (2:02)
05 - Constantly Changing (2:03)
06 - N.I.T.A. (3:30)
07 - Colossal Youth (1:52)
08 - Music For Evenings (3:02)
09 - The Man Amplifier (3:15)
10 - Choci Loni (2:36)
11 - Wurlitzer Jukebox (2:44)
12 - Salad Days (1:59)
13 - Credit In The Straight World (2:28)
14 - Brand - New - Life (2:52)
15 - Wind In The Riggin (2:21)
Xs Testcard EP
16 - Clicktalk (2:41)
17 - Zebra Trucks (1:32)
18 - Sporting Life (1:01)
19 - This Way (1:40)
20 - Posed By Models (1:22)
21 - The Clock (1:38)


YMG @ FanBase
YMG @ Amazon

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Super Furry Animals - Love Kraft (05 *flac 366mb)

Super Furry Animals(SFA) coalesced in Cardiff after members being in various other Welsh bands and techno outfits in the area. Rhys, Leuan and Pryce had been together since the early 1990s and had toured the north coast of France as a techno group. After Bunford and Ciaran ( Leuan's younger brother) joined, they got to work on writing some songs, and in 1995 ended up signing to Ankst, the famous Welsh indie label. The band are considered to be part of the renaissance of Welsh Culture in the 1990s: other Welsh bands of the time include Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and the Manic Street Preachers... (next post)

The Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (In Space) EP appeared in June 1995 to general critical acclaim and has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest-ever title for an EP, followed in the fall by the Moog Droog ep. When performing their first gig outside Wales-in London, they were picked up by Creation boss Alan Magee and signed to his label, where they released their debut album Fuzzy Logic (96), to good response. It set the trend for them of releasing many singles. A year later followed by Radiator which got even better press .

Fall 98 Out Spaced was released, a collection of songs from the 1995 Ankst releases, the band's favourite B-sides, plus "The Man Don't Give A Fuck" and "Smokin'", a round up/ drawing a line under SFA's initial phase, in preparation for more ambitious work to come. In 99 they were chosen best band in a NME poll, a good step up for the release of their next album Guerilla. As Creation closed up shop SFA released their next album on their own label, Placid Casual, a deliberate sidestep from their recent work: a largely acoustic album of Welsh language songs entitled Mwng (mane).

Their next album the orchestral Rings Around the World (2001) was their first release thru a major-Sony subsidiary Epic, it got them nominated for the Mercury price 2001. Phantom Power(2003), relied less on sound experimentation and proved to be a more stripped-down, back-to-basics recording, which wasn't particularly appreciated at the time and SFA was caught in the press doldrums. In early 2005, singer Gruff Rhys released a solo album Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, ("The Stuttering Generation", all sung in Welsh. In august SFA released this, Love Kraft recorded in Brazil.The album shows a more coherent, warm style, much more then on their previous albums. This laid-back ambience with some heavy use of strings returned them to their familiar status of critically-acclaimed cult favourites. Love Kraft was also the last album released under Epic Records, as their contact ran out in 2006. Cian Ciara side project Acid Casuals released their debut album "Omni" in January 2006 on the SFA's Placid Casual label. Meanwhile SFA signed to Rough Trade Records during 2006, as has Gruff Rhys, he released a single on 7" vinyl and download entitled "Candylion" in late 2006 which preceded an album of the same name that was released during the second week of 2007,expect the new SFA album within 6 months.



01 - Zoom! (6:53)
02 - Atomik Lust (4:53)
03 - The Horn (3:01)
04 - Ohio Heat (4:07)
05 - Walk You Home (4:00)
06 - Lazer Beam (4:55)
07 - Frequency (4:40)
08 - Oi Frango (2:23)
09 - Psyclone! (4:20)
10 - Back On A Roll (3:46)
11 - Cloudberries (5:04)
12 - Cabin Fever (6:21)

SFA @ Base
Placid Casual
SFA @ MySpace
SFA @ Amazon

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World Party - Goodbye Jumbo (90 flac 319mb)

Karl Wallinger (born 1957 in Prestatyn, Wales), he was immersed from a young age in the music of The Beatles, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and Love. Echoes of these childhood heroes permeate the record he was to release thirty three years later (Goodbye Jumbo). His musical career began in the 1970s with a couple of unsuccessful bands and a brief job in music publishing, after which he became musical director of The Rocky Horror Show. He joined The Waterboys as a keyboardist from 1983-86. Whilst working on his World Party material, he also worked on Sinéad O'Connor's 1987 debut album The Lion and the Cobra - O'Connor. Wallinger's first release under the World Party banner, Private Revolution (1987), was a studied, if somewhat over-polished, combination of folk, funk and soul. Its title was a nod to its creation by Wallinger working alone in a home recording studio. It spawned a minor hit single in "Ship of Fools". It was on Goodbye Jumbo that Wallinger attained what – despite another decade in the music industry – is regarded as his creative peak.

The third album, Bang! (1993), was a bigger success in chart placing terms, reaching number 2 in the UK. Even so, the fourth album, Egyptology (1996), written following the death of Wallinger's mother, was commercially disastrous, although "She's The One" won an Ivor Novello award and was subsequently recorded by Robbie Williams. The album Dumbing Up was released in 2000 on the band's own label, and was a real return to form, arguably Wallinger's best work since Goodbye Jumbo. Shortly afterwards, however, Wallinger was struck down by an aneurysm that left him unable to speak. After a long rehabilitation, Wallinger returned onto the scene in 2006. as he played his first live show in a decade at the Austin South by Southwest festival.



01 - Is It Too Late? (4:24)
02 - Way Down Now (3:49)
03 - When The Rainbow Comes (4:58)
04 - Put The Message In The Box (4:16)
05 - Ain't Gonna Come Till I'm Ready (5:05)
06 - And I Fell Back Alone (3:57)
07 - Take It Up (4:37)
08 - God On My Side (4:14)
09 - Show Me To The Top (5:15)
10 - Love Street (4:21)
11 - Sweet Soul Dream Voc.Sinéad O'Connor (4:39)
12 - Thank You World (3:47)


World Party @ Base
World Party @ Amazon

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Jem - Finally Woken (04 flac 287mb)

Born June 18, 1975 in Penarth, Wales, Jemma Griffiths, better known as Jem, is a singer-songwriter known for her eclectic musical stylings. Although she began singing and writing songs at age thirteen, she decided to head into law and attended Sussex University. However, she spent less time and energy on studies and focused on being a DJ agent (although she did eventually receive a degree in law). There in Brighton, she spent a lot of time promoting club nights, and helped set-up and run the specialist breaks label Marine Parade. Jem left everything behind in November of 1999 and assembled a mobile studio where she further developed her songwriting and music production skills. During this period, she completed four demos that would eventually setup her career in the music industry.

Her debut album has defied the categorization of some music critics with a fusion of genres. While some of her songs are straight up rock ballads, some of her tracks verge on electronica and trip-hop. Her throaty, mellow voice draws immediate comparisons to Imogen Heap, Beth Orton and to a lesser extent Dido. However, Jem herself prefers to let her musical work stand on its own, rather than be compared to other artists. Along with electronic producer Guy Sigsworth (Bjork, Frou Frou), she wrote the song "Nothing Fails", which was later reworked by Madonna and appeared on her 2003 American Life album



01 - They (3:16)
02 - Come on Closer (3:47)
03 - Finally Woken (3:58)
04 - Save Me (3:34)
05 - 24 (3:55)
06 - Missing You (4:01)
07 - Wish I (3:56)
08 - Just a Ride (3:21)
09 - Falling for You (4:18)
10 - Stay Now (3:44)
11 - Flying High (4:08)

Jem @ Base
Jem @ Amazon

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John Cale - Music For A New Society (82* flac 297mb)

John Cale was born in Garnant in the heavily industrial Amman Valley, and Welsh is his first language. Having discovered a talent for piano, he studied music at Goldsmiths College, the University of London, then he traveled to the USA to continue his musical training.There he met a number of influential composers, John Cage among others. Cale played in La Monte Young's ensemble the Theater of Eternal Music, the heavily drone-laden music he played there proved to be a big influence in his work with his next group, the Velvet Underground. He joined up with Lou Reed in the newly-formed Velvet Underground in 1965, but left in 1968, due in part to creative disagreements with Reed. When Cale left, the experimentalist tendencies largely went with him, noticeable comparing the noise-rock experimental White Light/White Heat that Cale co-created with the calmer The Velvet Underground, recorded after his departure.

After leaving the Velvet Underground, Cale produced a number of albums, including Nico's The Marble Index and The Stooges' debut, and began to make solo records. His first, Vintage Violence came in 1970 . His solo record of 1973, Paris 1919, is regarded by many as a classic. It is made up of elegantly crafted and tastefully arranged songs with arcane and complex lyrics. Cale also continued to work as a record producer. In 1974, he joined Island Records, and worked in that capacity with Squeeze, Patti Smith, and Sham 69, among others. He produced a number of important protopunk records, by Patti Smith, The Stooges and The Modern Lovers.

Moving back to the UK he produces a trilogy of albums - Fear, Slow Dazzle, and Helen of Troy which were recorded with other Island artists including Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno of Roxy Music, and Chris Spedding . His often loud and confrontational live performances fitted well with the upcoming punk rock developing on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Cale took to wearing a hockey goalie's mask onstage; see the cover of the Guts compilation (1977). It was a very odd and menacing look, utilized several years before the fictional Jason Voorhees first appeared on screen and made the goalie's mask all but synonymous with evil. During one gig he chopped the head off a dead chicken with a meat cleaver, and his band walked offstage in protest.

In 1982, Cale released this Music For A New Society. Seeming to blend the refined music of his early solo work with the threatening music that came later, it is by any standard a bleak, harrowing record. It's been called "understated, and perhaps a masterpiece.", and in ways his answer to Lou Reeds Berlin. Afterwards Cale took a long break to spend time with his wife Rise Irushalmi and daughter Eden.

He returned in 1990 with Brian Eno on Wrong Way Up, this wasn't the best of moves as Eno meanwhile had gained much status since their previous collaboration, two captains caused the album to become a split (certainly on the album). The following years Cale contributed to diverse projects notably two Zazou albums. In 96 in honour of Andy Warhol he recorded an album with Lou Reed again, Songs For Drella. Cale worked on several soundtracks and his autobiography, What's Welsh for Zen ?, was published in 1999.
With music influenced by modern electronica and alternative rock John Cale returned as a regular recording artist, 2003's E.P. Five Tracks and the well recieved HoboSapiens. That record was followed with 2005's album BlackAcetate, which consolidated John Cale's reputation as a versatile and tirelessly innovative music auteur.



01 - Taking Your Life in Your Hands (4:45)
02 - Thoughtless Kind (2:45)
03 - Sanctus (Sanities) (5:56)
04 - If You Were Still Around (3:24)
05 - Close Watch / Mama's Song (3:07
06 - Broken Bird (4:43)
07 - Chinese Envoy (3:11)
08 - Changes Made (3:12)
09 - Damn Life (5:11)
10 - Risé, Sam And Rimsky Korsakov Voc.Risé Cale (2:12)

11 - Library Of Force (Unreleased) 4:47
12 - Chinese Envoy (Outtakes) 3:39
13 - Thoughtless Kind (Outtakes) 2:34

John Cale @ Base
John Cale @ Amazon

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Darling Buds - Erotica (92 flac 302mb)

The Darling Buds was an indie band from Caerleon near Newport, Wales. The band were formed in 1986 and took their name from a British novel called The Darling Buds of May, They were considered part of the short lived "Blonde" movement (indie rock band fronted by blonde female singer) along with the like of The Primitives and Transvision Vamp. .

After releasing their debut single on their own label, the group signed to Native in 1987. They received a lot of airplay on John Peel's Radio 1 show, and were championed in the press by Chris Roberts of the Melody Maker. At the height of "Blonde" in 1988 the band were signed up by by Epic and had moderate chart success with a top thirty single and album. They even managed a few appearances on Top Of The Pops. They released Pop Said (89)

Bloss left in 1990 and was replaced by Jimmy Hughes who had previously been the drummer in Black. The band then decided to go for a more sophisticated style with their second album, Crowdaddy, but didn't really regain their previous popularity. This the third and final album "Erotica" was released in 1992 but caused hardly a ripple amongst the music press, who seemed uninsterested in the layered and stylistic, semi-techno pop, and deep toned emotive vocals of Andrea. The band then toured the States for a year but decided to call it a day after getting throughly fed up with the music business.

Blonde..Andrea has since moved into acting and has toured with a local theatre company. She has also presented a music show called "The Slate" for BBC Wales.



01 - One Thing Leads To Another
02 - Sure Thing
03 - Off My Mind
04 - Gently Fall
05 - Please Yourself
06 - Angels Fallen
07 - Isolation
08 - Long Day In The Universe
09 - Wave
10 - If

Darling Buds @ Amazon

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Sasha (DJ) - Airdrawndagger (02 flac 403mb)

Sasha, Alexander Coe,  was born in Bangor, Wales in 1969, but spent most of his youth with his mother in the Welsh town of Hawarden. Sasha's early musical taste was primarily Top 40 pop music like The The and The Police, Instead of continuing his schooling, Sasha moved to Bangor to live with his father and stepmother. Sasha's stepmother forced him to take piano lessons, which he disliked at the time; Sasha certainly found the lessons to be beneficial to his music career.
He began his career playing acid house dance music in the late 1980s in the Manchester area, and became a central figure in the development and popularisation of electronic dance music. In 93 he teamed up with John Digweed, touring internationally and producing a series of mixes and together they were instrumental in the evolution of progressive trance and house music.

In the mid-90's, turned out several productions of his own and did remixes worked with BT. In 1999, he formed a new partnership in the studio with Charlie May (aka Spooky) and released the anthemic "Xpander" EP, several mix albums later, in 2002 it was time for his own full length album "Airdrawndagger". It had taken several years to produce due to Sasha's desire for the album to be "as near to perfection as possible."When it was to much fanfare finally released, in August 2002, . there was a lot of head scratching", according to Sasha, which he attributed to its unexpected mix of genres. The album doesn't feature the "club sound" of Sasha's previous mix albums, in fact it there's a lot of ambience on it, nevertheless Airdrawndagger received favorable reviews. Sasha himself described it as "a selfish, slightly self-indulgent record", though he maintains that he is "happy with it to this day, Sasha held an amateur remix contest for the album's first single, "Wavy Gravy" , due to it's response, Sasha released all the tracks from Airdrawndagger on his website, so that fans could download and create their own versions.

In 2004, Sasha signed with Global Underground to produce another mix album. However, he found the process of creating a standard mix album unrewarding, and decided to apply his production and DJing skills to a mix compilation that resembled a "real" album—that is, one featuring original material, Involver, was "a fusion of mix album and production record", consisting mainly of Sasha's reworkings of tracks by other artists. In 2005, Sasha produced his next album, Fundacion NYC, based on his nights DJing in New York at the Fundacion club. Fundacion NYC received positive reviews for its originality, he plans to make a series of Fundacion albums. The next year, Sasha released 10,000 copies of a June 2006 DJ set for sale using Instant Live, making him the first DJ to use Instant Live's licensing and publishing services.While continuing to regularly DJ, Sasha is working on material to produce another Involver mix and the next Fundacion mix.



01 - Dremples (1:23)
02 - Mr Tiddles (4:53)
03 - Magnetic North (5:17)
04 - Cloud Cuckoo (8:26)
05 - Immortal (4:53)
06 - Fundamental (9:11)
07 - Boileroom (7:02)
08 - Bloodlock (7:57)
09 - Requiem (6:07)
10 - Golden Arm (5:46)
Sasha (DJ) - Wavy Gravy
11 - Wavy Gravy (7:30)

Sasha @ Base
Sasha @ MySpace
Sasha @ Amazon

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* All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !