WELSH RARE BEAT-'70s freaked-out prog rock funky-new LP

$

35

VARIOUS ARTISTS -
WELSH RARE BEAT

Compiled by Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), Andy Votel and Dominic Thomas

"Classic" 9/10 NME

'Finders Keepers have outdone themselves" 5/5 FLY

"Culturally precious" RECORD COLLECTOR 4/5

"Essential" 4/5 MOJO

"Superb" TIME OUT

"Indispensable" 9/10 CITY LIFE

WELSH RARE BEAT

QUOTES AND REVIEWS
 
"All back to Furryland for some Welsh weirdness. Considering the fact that most of these 'Under The Influence'-type celebrity mix CDs are actually compiled by stylists and managers, there's something refreshing about Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys' obsession with the stoned sounds of '70s Wales. This idiosyncratic array of prog rock funky drumbeats and fuzzed-up pop will confuse those who think that Welsh music only consists of male vocal choirs and eisteddfods. From the handclaps and acoustic la-la-la stomps of Meic Stevens' 'Y Brawd Houdini' to the gentle outer-space folk of Huw Jones' 'Dwr' or the swirling prog dynamics of Edward H Dafis' 'Calan Gaef', 'Welsh Rare Beat' demonstrates that Wales was full of freaked-out weirdos long before Rhys's band formed. In a sea of blando compilations, it's an essential purchase which gives a unique insight into the strange pop-art experiment that is Super Furry Gruff's brain. Classic. 9/10"
NME (AUGUST 2005)

"Finders Keepers - the rarities obsessed offshoot of Manchester's Twisted Nerve imprint - have outdone themselves here. Enlisting the knowledge and enthusiasm of Gruff Super Furry, they've put together a choice assortment of songs from Welsh label Sain. Though loosely described as folk, tracks such as the tabla-driven Dwr and Mae Rhywyn Wedi Dwyn Fy Nhrwyn (sampled by Cashmoney) show Sain to be a mix of punk ideals, warmth, wit and political activism; given life by a bewildering array of musical styles. It's got heart, soul, funk and fury and though you may not understand the language, you'll sure get the message. 5/5"
FLY MAGAZINE (AUGUST 2005)

"A compilation of Welsh music from the Sain label is a niche interest outside of Cyrmu, sure. But left in the hands of Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys, Andy Votel and Dom Thomas, the result is an often amazing trawl through a seldom travelled musical path. Unless you're Welsh, of course, almost all the tracks are going to be new to you, except perhaps Meic Stevens: the grand-daddy of the alternative Welsh music scene. From druidic folk (Eleri Llwyd) and proto garage psych (Y Tebot Piws) to drawn out freak jams (Huw Jones' 'Mathonwy'), Welsh Rare Beat is both exciting and user friendly, unearthing a musical heritage far removed from close harmony male choirs. Rhys' sleeve notes put the whole in great socio-political context too. Indispensable. 9/10"
CITY LIFE (AUGUST 2005)

"An otherworldly set of rare Welsh folk, meticulously compiled by Andy Votel and Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys. No drugs required: it's weird already"
OBSERVER MUSIC MONTHLY (JULY 2005)

When you first discover an EP that fits this description on the enigmatic Sain label it takes a while before you successfully identify its original country of origin - is it Turkish? Is it Hungarian? No it's Welsh!!! With the sleeve being strictly devoid of any English language, you can't quite figure out if its a private-press or the results of a community music project. This is record collector nirvana, until you find another Sain record and this is where the addictive gene takes hold...

A Sain EP has all the unique and exotic trappings of a French pop EP so the fact that it was comparatively manufactured in a skimming stone's distance of your local record shop is almost unbelievable. The added fact that the label itself has a political history not dissimilar to your favourite Brazilian or Turkish records is another surprise. On further inspection you realise that Sain could arguably be the longest running, self-styled, British contemporary, independent record label to exist in our lifetime AND the fact that its non-conformist ideals predate punk by almost 10 years could surely confirm that Sain records is in fact... the coolest record label to exist ever!!!???

Maybe we should listen to the music first.

Sain's A&R policy epitomises what an indie label SHOULD act like... without boundaries. You like prog-rock with blueprint trip-hop beats? So did Sain. You like ethereal girl groups with mystical acid folk overtones? So did Sain. You like psychedelic rock operas based on druidism and witchcraft? So did Sain. How about a radical Welsh answer to 'The Grumbleweeds' with a fat-ass 4/4 hip-hop breakbeat that's been sampled by either Cut Chemist or DJ Cashmoney? Er... so did Sain. Do you like Farmers and male voice choirs? Me neither. But Sain did.

Andy Votel and Dom Thomas discovered Welsh music by mistake... (so did Cherrystones, Lee Brady and Doug Shipton). Gruff Rhys (from Super Furry Animals) has never been able to escape from it. Over the past 12 months we have attempted to listen to every Welsh rare record ever made looking for the 'perfect beat' on your behalf... so that's why we have called the first of our new Welsh music compilations (to coin a John McCready Phrase) "WELSH - RARE - BEAT".

Mae Rhywun Wed Dwyn Fy Nhrwyn!