Ten more newly released nuggets of musical heat from the place known as ‘Here Be Dragons’ to explorers of yore. Noel Gardner has chosen, listened to and written about them and now you must pay attention.
Shortlived 90s indie band Y CI are unveiled after 30 years
Enw’r Ci Yw Perro is an album recorded in 1996 by Y Ci and unreleased until now. As far as I can tell, they effectively only existed for the short time it took to write and record these 12 songs, which exhibit the influence of garage, surf, 80s indie and protopunk: it could have sprung from the late 80s Welsh-language rock scene, perhaps because some members did. Drummer Richard Wyn Jones, now known as Welsh politics’ most tenacious opinion poller, had already played in bands with bassist (now leading Welsh language academic) Jerry Hunter, who before moving to Aberystwyth from Cincinnati was in a group named Junta who did one EP of awesome weirdo postpunk. Jerry’s brother Dave, on guitar here, was in an early lineup of London band Drugstore and now writes books about… guitars.
Check DOUVELLE19 & MANGA SAINT HILARE out if you get the chance
The second collaborative single between Newportian nu-garage producer (and erstwhile Astroid Boys member) Douvelle19 and icon of second-wave London grime Manga Saint Hilare could very plausibly have been written with the express intention of scoring 2026’s viral dance crossover club hit. Nothing wrong with that! Douvelle19 has really hit his stride with this bouncy house sound in the last couple of years, throwing a disco fizzbomb into Far Away – the track in question – that harks back to the late 90s filter disco crossover era as much as the late 00s grime-pop one. As for Manga, he’s an underground ambassador and what have you but if he did some actual chart business, even just once, that would be good. Right?
ELINA LEE: family Thais, Swede melodies, Wales occasionally
City Back Home, the new single by alt-r’n’b act Elina Lee, is titled in reference to her distinctive pattern of movement to date: Thailand-born, Sweden-raised and resident in Cardiff for almost a decade. Her previous, debut song is over four years old now, and while Lee’s interim itinerary isn’t divulged here this song is a strong return, bolstered you might think by the personal angle she brings to it as an immigrant. Co-produced by Matt Attard, who has a couple of BTS-related credits on his CV, City… is often stripped back to just vocals and low-lit synth chords, and manages the clever trick of swelling, ballad-like, but with practiced subtlety.
Masked Gwent groovers ESKINDER get put on wax
Eskinder are a Newport group who have only played live a few times in two years and seem to wear masks when doing so. Our ‘global is local’ age has however enabled them to make contact with FNR, a Detroit label who deal in various iterations of funk music including the wavey psychedelic type Eskinder favour, and get a two-song 7” released. This lot know the ropes for sure! Winton’s Hubris is the more cinematic of the pair, with measured wah pedal usage and drawn-out keys setting their stall before a salvo of clattering traps in the final 60 seconds. Forgotten Kitchen rides a steadier beat and has a moody melody a little like a dustier version of TNT-era Tortoise.
EXELL, SMITH & PARFITT’s live improv is low-key and high quality
Dukes Of Scuba, the micro-editions label of north Wales experimental guitarist Ash Cooke, has just released a CDR of a trio performance by three south Wales-based jazz improvisers. Credited to Exell, Smith & Parfitt – respectively Liz, Rob and Chris – it took place around 15 months ago in Cardiff’s NoFit State space, with the title Lullaby Of Broadway referring to the street the venue’s on. It’s compelling, and surprisingly approachable, fare from three seasoned players. Exell, a percussionist influenced by free music lynchpins like Tony Oxley, is a subtle presence here, though can be discordant; Parfitt takes a less-is-more approach to his clarinet, likewise saxophonist Smith, whose longest-running project, Wonderbrass, is decidedly more upfront than this.
JEAN JACQUES SMOOTHIE releases debut album 26 years in the making
If you know Jean Jacques Smoothie, aka Cardiff-based dance music producer Steve Robson, for one thing it’ll most likely be 2 People, a cute disco-house number and hit single almost 25 years ago. It’s also the opening track on Sleeping In The Flowerbeds, JJS’ first ever artist album – a dubby house version of it, to be exact, but it doesn’t exactly suggest Robson has chequered memories of his one dalliance with the mainstream. Moreover, this album has been in the works since before 2 People’s release, according to the producer, and a varied but focused set of electronic buoyancy is delivered. Highlights are the title track’s acidic chug and Over The Edge, a twinkly deep house roller with vocals from Tara Busch, longtime associate of Robson (and recent stand-in Cabaret Voltaire member!).
A posthumous album from late lamented Welsh rap icon JOE BLOW
When Barry’s Rob Picton died in July last year, aged just 48, tributes poured in from the hip-hop and drum’n’bass communities alike, and on a UK-wide level. As Joe Blow, Picton had been a skilled and versatile MC on the south Wales circuit since the 90s, and had been an event promoter and label boss too. Forever Smoking – released on Veteran, the label he left behind – is a 10-track album recorded in early 2025 with the similarly scene-defining DJ Jaffa on production, and it’s as good a demonstration of what a loss this is as you could ask for. His lyrics run the gamut from heavy to deep to nasty to funny and they get treated to some beautifully crafted and (mostly) very 90s sounding beats. Picton’s kids are getting the album sale proceeds too.
Saxy, riffy prog fun from multi-instrumentalist ROB HARRISON
It would be stretching a point to say Wales has a prog rock scene, but it certainly has prog bands, and Rob Harrison plays saxophone in a few of them. I’ve reviewed the Powys-based Mascot Moth in a previous column, and note with a neutral expression that Swansea’s Z Machine were responsible for “the first ever jazz fusion wall of death” when they played metal festival Bloodstock. Overflow is Harrison’s second solo album, and he plays everything apart from the drums (a few guests pop in too, such as harpist Rhodri Davies) over eight songs of really smartly done Canterbury-via-Crimson 70s-style prog. The guitars are heavy, crisp and angular and the sax is repeatedly foregrounded, but justifies its positioning.
Music for orcs to capture you by: SORROWING KNIGHT
The artwork for Sorrowing Knight’s Siege Preparations looks like a 1970s private press folk LP, which pleases me, but it is in fact a short EP of real-heads dungeon synth from Cardiff, which pleases me. The artist behind the alias also records as Ordeal By Roses, which has introduced an expansive ambient element to its rugged noise foundations in more recent releases, and though Sorrowing Knight is a distinct venture, the more sustained keyboard parts in the second half of The Banner Unfurls bear some resemblance. Slow, solemn melodies are the spine of this one and Marched In Chains Before The Orkish Camp, which is ultimately more soothing than I imagine that experience would be.
Fuzzy, rangy psych-rock goodness from TOM EMLYN
Passing Craze, a 14-song LP released on unappetisingly named Newport label Dirty Carrot, is the vinyl debut of Swansea solo artist Tom Emlyn following a few cassette-only albums. Like those, it comes off as unvarnished, even a little ramshackle on the surface, but its production – courtesy of Evan Collett, Emlyn’s bandmate in Rainyday Rainbow – is considered and clever, giving a psychedelic coat to the singer-songwriter’s folk-rock fundamentals. Syd Barrett or Pearls Before Swine would be big, though not inappropriate, olde worlde names to invoke; Guided By Voices and Bill Ryder-Jones, should we wish to increase the contemporaneousness. Rarebit throws in some Giant Sand-type alt-mariachi vibes near the album’s end to stirring effect.
words NOEL GARDNER
