Top 10 Discoveries of 2010

I didn’t listen to enough albums to make a "Top 10 Albums of 2010" list, but I did listen to lots of new music, so instead I’m making a list of my 10 favourite bands or labels or musical things that I found out about this year. These are things that I’ve really enjoyed, and hopefully you might not have known about and will enjoy too. So, in no particular order:

H. Hawkline
H. Hawkline kind of came out of nowhere for me. One minute I’m listening to some brilliantly spooky weird folk songs on Huw Evans’ (H. Hawkline’s) MySpace to write a blurb for the Swn Festival programme, the next I’m watching Huw plus 2 friends play some brilliant psych surf pop in Cardiff Arts Institute almost ending the show in a scuffle with an audience member, and then in barely no time I’m listening to a beautiful full-length album (released through the wonderful Shape Records, who also released Islet, who would have been on this list had I not seen them live in 2009) of weird instrumental folk meets driving psychedelic krautrock. He’s just finished touring the UK with Gruff Rhys, and apparently might be doing some more recording soon. Seriously good.

H. Hawkline - Gelly

Art Is Hard Records
Only a recent discovery, Plymouth-based independent label Arts Is Hard, but certainly a significant one, especially for me as Plymouth is my home town. There isn’t a great deal of stuff going on here, music-wise (or at all, to be honest), but Art Is Hard really have got me excited and made me believe that the country doesn’t stop at Bristol. Their most recent release has just come out on iTunes (and they also have some vinyl available) – a split with Falmouth’s The Black Tambourines and Exeter’s New Years Evil – and they also released a compilation of some exciting ‘local’ artists. So, so glad I found these.

The Black Tambourines - Tommy

Cycling Season - 1943

Yuck
Probably one of my first new band discoveries in 2010 and possibly my favourite, too. ‘Georgia’ gripped me on first listen way back in January and Yuck have been a brilliant, if a little teasing, ride since then. More songs have slowly trickled out throughout the year – the sludgey drone of ‘Rubber’, the melancholy jangle of ‘Suicide Policeman’, the driving fuzz of ‘Sunday’ – and they played a great set at Latitude. With a full-length is expected towards the start of 2011, and having recently being named on BBC’s Sound of 2011 list, next year could be an exciting year.

Yuck - Georgia


Yuck - Rubber

Jay Reatard
As tragic as it is, I (and probably lots of other people like me) only ever listened to a Jay Reatard song after the news of his suicide in January of 2010. I didn’t realise what a talent the world of music had lost before it was already gone, but, although I am obviously sad about the his death, I do feel privileged to be able to listen to some of the fantastic music he left behind.

Jay Reatard - It Ain't Gonna Save Me

Barely Regal Records
The second new independent label on this list, Barely Regal are Cardiff based and are doing some mighty fine things. I interviewed Matt and Isaac ages ago (word of warning to potential employees: an interview I still haven’t actually transcribed) and we quickly became good chums, but that’s not to say that they appear on this list for that reason alone. They released a compilation a good few months back featuring bands either from or with a link to the city, have put on a good amount of good gigs (including taking over Irish pub Dempsey’s for a night of Swn curating), and have some exciting releases upcoming from the likes of Among Brothers (who Isaac and Matt both are part of) and Strange News From Another Star.

Among Brothers - Montgolfier

Strange News From Another Star - Bullets (Crop)

Spectrals
Okay, so technically I first heard about Leeds (ish)-based (and blog post cover star)Spectrals in 2009 after a blog post in November by The Pigeon Post, he only properly became stuck in my mind in early 2010 so I think Louis Jones (the one young man behind Spectrals) still deserves a place on this list. First came some fuzzy demos, then came some more fuzzy demos, and then came a brilliant show at Latitude, and finally a month or so ago came the wonderful and surprisingly clean 60s wall of sound inspired debut EP, A Spectrals Extended Play (and then came not seeing him at Swn Festival, but I wont focus on that). It must have been an exciting year for Louis, starting it fairly innocuously, and ending it casually Tweeting Best Coast after a string of support slots. Two-thousand-and-ten truly would have been a far more dull and drab year without his music, and I hope there’s much more to come in 2011.

Spectrals - Peppermint

Spectrals - Keep Your Magic Out Of My House

Mazes
Manchester’s Mazes were just about the only redeeming factor of 1234 Shoreditch festival lazy summer, but they alone made the price of the tickets and the journey from Cardiff to East London via Egham and the very nearly missed last train from Reading worth it alone. Like Spectrals, I found out about Mazes from The Pigeon Post and, like Spectrals, Mazes also take influence from the 60s, only add a little extra rock and roll rather than pop. Putting out material on the brilliant Suffering Jukebox (which is part run by Jack of Mazes and puts out stuff by lots of other good bands), I’ve been really enjoying their stuff and am excited to hear lots more.

Mazes - Painting Of Tupac Shakur

Mazes - Don't Worry Baby

Beaty Heart
London’s Beaty Heart first grabbed my attention in Loud and Quiet magazine, not for their description of the band, but for the trousers worn in the photo of the band by one of the drummers (notice the plural – they have three drummers altogether). It was nice to find, once listening to their stuff, the band’s sound was as Afro-influenced as the trousers. The fact that they have more than one drummer comes across in their sound, and with a focus on drum beats as well as harmonic vocals, it’s difficult for me not to mention Animal Collective. They’re far from a plain old covers band though, which I reckon they’ll show in style next year when hopefully we’ll get to hear a whole lot more other than the few tracks up on MySpace.

Beaty Heart - Cola

Beaty Heart - Lekka Freakout (demo)

Killing Joke
What kind of moron only discovers Killing Joke in 2010? This kind of moron. I’ve so far only managed to Spotify their debut 1980 self-titled release, and it is incredible. The number of bands that I love that they have clearly had a strong influence on is ridiculous (including a fair few of the bands my Dad has played in over the years) - the riffing, distorted guitar; the angry, harsh vocals; the synth-y buzz; the tight, driving drum beats. I’m disgusted at myself for only listening to these now, but excited to gradually work through their extensive catalogue.

Killing Joke – Requiem


Best Coast
This list would be a lie without Best Coast. As much as I wish I found about Bethany Cosentino’s brilliance before Best Coast, and as much as I wish I found out about Best Coast before 12 months ago, I didn’t. The early, scruffy demos had me incredibly excited, her live performance at Bristol’s Louisiana (where Surfer Blood were also in the crowd) confirmed that they were definitely something special, and then the debut album managed to live up to and exceed all expectations. Much cleaner than the demos but still 60s pop inspired, it allowed Bethany’s fantastic voice to really take centre stage. Her Christmas song with boyfriend Nathan Williams (Wavves) may be a bit pants, and her bratty lyrics combined with her weed consumption may make her a little irritating, but the music is wonderful.

Best Coast - When The Sun Don't Shine

Obviously there was much more in 2010, but these are the 10 that stand out, and that will probably continue having an effect on me well into 2011. Narrowly missing out on this top 10 list were: Twin Sister, Pheromoans, The Racket, The Human Race, Human Hair, and Effort, so check out these, too.

H. Hawkline

There’s lots to be praised for playing in a band, but there must be nothing more satisfying for a musician than releasing something that you can completely call your own.

Cardiff-based musician Huw Evans has been playing in the bands of Sweet Baboo, Richard James, and Cate Le Bon for a while, and he’s even credited with assisting with some recorded Islet output, but only now that he is releasing a solo album under his H. Hawkline moniker may he be truly appreciated for his efforts.

I made a bit of a bluff describing H. Hawkline in the Swn Festival 2010 programme as “psychedelic and gypsy-inspired folk sounds - often largely instrumental and almost always spooky,” or at least I thought I’d made a huge bluff. Basing that description entirely on MySpace plays, I saw H. Hawkline live a few days after the programme would have already gone to print, where Huw was joined by two friends; playing catchy psychedelic pop, with vocals. Turns out my original description wasn’t a hundred miles off the mark after all (although, I’m told, his Swn performance was much like the one I’d witnessed).

Huw’s solo debut album A Cup Of Salt (put out through the wonderful Shape Records) is, largely, back to the spooky and weird instrumental (although not strictly without vocals) folk sounds of those early MySpace listens of mine. Beautifully constructed and well layered, it’s a wonderful krautrock-inspired mix of acoustic-led weird folk and driving psychedelic sounds, and it’s really exciting.

Which face of H. Hawkline Huw decides to show doesn't really matter, they're all bloody good.

Download H. Hawkline’s Gelly from A Track In A Box here, catch him live as he tours the UK with Gruff Rhys, and order A Cup Of Salt from Shape records here.

Edited to add:Stream the full album from H. Hawkline's bandcamp here, or listen to Gelly below.

H. Hawkline - Gelly

Sŵn for Beginners (and foreigners): Saturday

Saturday is without doubt the busiest day of this year’s Sŵn festival. With live music lasting for almost 12 hours (11 hours, 45 minutes to be precise, if all runs on time) it’s difficult to find an excuse not to watch at least a few of the bands from the region, especially when there is such strength (and variety) to choose from. Prepare yourselves for an early start though. The above logo is in no way related to the festival, by the way. I'm a joker like that.

One of the first Cardiff bands (but not the first; The Blackout’s Gavin Butler plays Clwb Ifor Bach at 1230 and Mclusky-influenced Exit International play across the road at Y Fuwch Goch at 1300, but these are less to my tastes) to play is H. Hawkline, due to play at the generally un-musical hour of 1345-1430, at The Undertone (below 10FtTall). As well as writing the blurb for this band in this festival’s programme, I also had the absolute pleasure of catching these live a Cardiff Arts Institute not long back – where it dawned on me just how completely wrong said blurb was (for which I, again, must apologise for). In my position of huge power, I said:

“Occasional guitarist for Sweet Baboo, H Hawkline is the work of Welsh musician Huw Evans.”

This much is true (or at least, this much I still haven’t been corrected about). I continued:

“Expect psychedelic and gypsy folk sounds – often largely instrumental and almost always spooky.”

Ah. Hmm. Well… First of all, it certainly was not instrumental. There were definitely vocals. Secondly, it wasn’t spooky (although the almost-violence that followed the gig due to beer downing antics could have turned a little scary). Thirdly, it certainly was not gypsy folk. On this evening, H Hawkline were a three-piece; Huw on guitar and keys duties, Steve (the man behind Sweet Baboo) on bass, and (someone else on) drums. The music was incredibly fun, almost surf-y and psychedelic pop. Much beer was consumed, much on stage dancing was witnessed, but, most importantly, a very good time was had. See these live (but don’t pay attention to my blurb).

Up a mere 30 minutes later also at Undertone (slightly early to start drinking, but with a spare half hour, why not?) is John Mouse. He seems to be a little of a local legend that I am largely unaware of, with Behtan Elfyn describing him as “the Welsh Beck”, Huw Stephens claiming that “John Mouse has released some great records”, and Noel Gardner saying that he “could easily beat up Daniel Johnston and Lou Barlow”, and who am I to argue with them? The music certainly sounds pretty mental.

For those whose eyes were drawn to the words “surf” or “instrumental” in the sentences that precede this one, pay close attention to the next sentence coming up. Y Niwl (although not a Cardiff band; they are from north Wales, but are too good to ignore here) play at Cardiff Arts Institute, 1545-1630. They played Latitude over the summer and were without doubt one of my favourite bands to do so. Their songs are largely laid-back (stress-reducing, but often still fast-paced, curiously), slightly on the psychedelic-side, instrumental ‘surf’ pop - and will without doubt bring a smile to your face. If you don’t believe me, head here and listen to “Undegpedwar”, taken from their (lovely) forthcoming debut album. For those who don’t manage to catch them first time round, head to The Model Inn (a fairly inconspicuous looking pub down the road from Clwb) at 1815 for another performance.

Playing just before Y Niwl finish (1615-1700) are VVOLVES (that’s two v’s, and zero w’s), playing outside of Buffalo Bar as part of FLUX=RAD’s Sŵn festival involvement. Made up of the guy responsible for Zimmermans (who played Sŵn 2009), the bassist for Saturday’s Kids, and some other people who I am less aware of, VVOLVES make fast-paced and heavily-synth’d broadly ‘indie’ music with post-punk leanings, I’d say. To decide for yourself which neat little box their music falls into, download two EP’s completely free of charge from their bandcamp page here.

Booked to play in exactly the same time frame over at Undertone is Mr Huw. Not someone I am overly aware of, again, but music that is enjoyed by some of the Cardiff music-media folk. A quick listen to the MySpace suggests dark, vaguely psych-rock and sometimes folk-y sounds with Welsh-sung vocals. Sounds thoroughly enjoyable, judging from these few listens at very least.

Stripped-back and relaxed folk band The Evening Chorus play Chapter Arts’ theatre at 1900-1930. They’ll be armed with acoustic guitars, bass, maybe the solitary drum and their beautiful voices (mostly male, sometimes female), of course.

Just as they finish, The Gentle Good will be starting up in Chapter Arts’ other room, the studio. Also folk-y (though often less stripped-back); expect acoustic guitars - sometimes played in Jose Gonzalez-typed fashion - as well as occasional luscious violin, and some Welsh lyrics.

The magnificent Cate Le Bon, following a busy year of US-touring, festival-playing, and being bigged-up by numerous esteemed publications, returns to Sŵn festival for the third year in a row – playing (in) Buffalo Bar, 2000-2100. For those who aren’t aware (an increasingly small number of people, I’d guess), Cate Le Bon is the Cardiff-based musician who featured on the Neon Neon (one of Gruff Rhys’ many musical ventures) album. Among these esteemed publications that have said things about her music, words that regularly crop up are: “haunting”, “folk”, and “psychedelic”. The only reasons you need to be there is that it will be a darn good performance (and the fact you’d be mistaken to consciously decide against seeing her live).

Back over at Chapter Arts (and back in the ‘studio’, 2045-2130), find Huw M, another artist featured in this blog post who fits broadly into the category of psych-folk, only with a large dollop of pop on the side. Welsh lyrics are sung in sugar-sweet, often harmonised, fashion, with accompaniment from a range of less-usual instruments (banjo and accordion amongst others).

The School, previously featured on The Guardian’s band of the day and also sound-tracking an oven advert in Japan (I think), play upstairs of Clwb, 2100-2145. Fronted by Liz, who promotes tonnes of great gigs in Cardiff under the moniker ‘Loose’, The School is her platform to recreate pop music of the 60s. She sings songs about love, heartbreak, and everywhere in between; her smooth and sweet vocals surrounded by retro-sounding guitar, violin, tambourine hits, and cymbal crashes.

And in circumstances that’d make a cute and endearing story of a band’s rise to fame if their live shows weren’t so damn energetic and mental, Islet close Sŵn festival 2010 following a year of success helped (in part, at least) by their performance at Sŵn 2009. Anyone with their finger on the pulse will need no educating into this Cardiff band. After lots of press (including a write-up in the NME) about the band’s fantastic live shows, lack of MySpace and general stardom potential, Islet continue to live up to the hype. Debut ‘mini-album’ was a disorientating journey of percussion-heavy noise experimenting drawing comparisons to the likes of Krautrock, and live shows are often described as the best in the UK. A second mini-album will be available at this show, which is most certainly un-missable, and will most certainly be memorable. And it’s the last show of the weekend, so seriously, don’t miss it.

I hope you enjoy Sŵn Festival 2010. And don’t forget to buy John and Huw (pictured below) a pint!