The story of romance, food and colonialism is the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the prestigious award.
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We got both kinds of music – country and western, the saying goes. But those saying the saying forgot to check out this monthly column of marginal Welsh music, where Noel Gardner describes 10 new releases in ways suggesting they are neither country or western.
Mutant hardcore punks FLUBBER drop gnarly debut EP
South Wales hardcore punk ensemble Flubber played their first gig one year ago this month and released their first physical product, a five-song cassette, the other week. That’s just the right timescale for this sort of thing if you ask me – not too fast or slow, allowing space to Grow and Develop as a band before maximising your reach in the sector. More to the point this tape is hot scat! With heads from The Dogs, Can Kicker and Heartpiece among the quintet, Flubber crank up the vocal reverb and swirly guitar pedals for just over seven minutes of green-hued feedback, ignorant breakdowns and gothic undertones.
Say hello, wave goodbye to outgoing post-rockers FORT
Ben, Craig, Gavin and Matthew, we hardly knew ye! Those are the identities of the four fellows of Fort, who from their Cardiff base have been on their expansive post-rock instrumental thing for the best part of a decade and are signing off by releasing their debut LP, the drolly titled A Token Of Our Depreciation. This band were well-liked among Arctangent Festival attendee types, from what I could tell, so you wonder if, in such an album-based genre, they’d have capitalised on that had they done one earlier. Certainly, on ATOOD they display all the moves – proggy time changes, neoclassically clean melodies, heavy passages bordering on the territory of someone like Neurosis – to leave a certain type of postrocker swooning.
Footwork, but the floor is lava: noise conceptualist FUCK RADIO
Wala is being billed as the debut album by Fuck Radio, a Cardiff-based, Clydach-originated maker of extreme noise music. It follows several cassette releases under this name in the last 12 months or so (most of which, like this one, aren’t streamed anywhere), and I don’t know precisely what makes something an ‘album’ in his taxonomy, but if you can still pick up a copy by the time you read this (try here) I recommend it. If, that is, you like the idea of Chicago footwork – in all its tricksy rhythms/vocal refrains glory – being cut up and processed into a zillion near-unrecognisable, ear-violating shards, as that is Wala’s core concept. Five noise scene compadres help FR out in this quest and you certainly can’t dance to it but you can sort of vibrate on the spot.
Seasoned producer under new alias KAVALCADE launches with fine EP
Cardiff electronicist Tom Wallace has released music under a few names already and is debuting a new one, [Kavalcade], with the four-track Signal EP. It’s released via the Machine label, which has issued previous Wallace music as Pope John Paul Van Damme; not sure if that alias is being fully retired but Kavalcade is certainly, as he puts it, “less convoluted”. Musically, it’s still firmly in complex-patterned IDM territory, though on this release at least less tearout/junglist than PJPVD’s average. The rhythms are springy, and treated to layers of distortion I find aesthetically pleasing, but there’s a certain minor-chord contemplative feel to some of the melodies. Apparently it was created using software developed by Tim Exile, and if you remember Tim Exile you might be in the target audience for this release.
MOCHYN DAER: meditative ambient folk steeped in rural Wales
London-based Joni Lewis records music (and DJs on various internet radio stations) as Mochyn Daer, and Riverloom, her debut album under that name, draws on Welsh heritage more profoundly than anything else in this column or most others. I don’t actually know where in Wales she’s originally from, but this extensive tape – eight songs, 72 minutes – taps into a deep and ancient rurality, all cromlechs and lurking marshland soundpainted with droning synths, woodwind, gong manipulation (Lewis runs gong baths in her adopted city) and vocals variously sung, spoken and spoke-sung. It’s psychedelic folk, it’s bedroom ambience (see a few reviews down), it’s after-the-afters zoneout soundtracking and you can get the tape from Belfast label Camellia Sinensis.
QUARTET DRAIG tackle Huw Watkins, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and more
Tŷ Cerdd’s remarkably non-genre-specific sublabel Sionci has just released Gwlad Y Gân, the debut album by Quartet Draig. Royal Welsh College Of Music & Drama alumni, the four members – two violinists and a violist and cellist apiece – are all English but have made it their mission of sorts to explore and platform Welsh classical composition, including where it intersects with folk tradition. This release is split into six subgroupings, including Am Awen, Quartet Draig’s ambitious reassembly of Welsh folk standards. There’s also a vocal-less tilt at Mae Hiraeth Yn Y Môr, by mid-century north Walian Dilys Elwyn-Edwards, and more contemporaneously, a three-part string quartet suite by Huw Watkins that’s apparently never been recorded before.
Stoic philosophy and a serious pedalboard: RUINS BEHELD
The latest name to release music under the banner of the Llandaff Black Covenant is Ruins Beheld, with an album titled Ta Eph’ Hēmin, Ta Ouk Eph’ Hēmin – a Stoic philosophical term, as I discovered shortly before typing this sentence. The LBC, if I may be so familiar, is a notionally black metal-centred operation (as with the fine 2024 album by Wrach, who may well be the same person as Ruins Beheld), but this album goes somewhere slightly different. No riffs or vocals but tons of washed-out murky atmosphere created by, quote, “one acoustic guitar, six reverb pedals, and Erang’s drum samples” – it sounds like something that would have been included on a Bedroom Ambience compilation in the late 90s, which is a niche reference point but a really complimentary one.
Jazzman SAM GREEN leads from the back on accomplished debut album
From Leeds and now in Cardiff having moved south to study at the Royal Welsh College, Sam Green is a jazz drummer and, in this arrangement at least, bandleader. Perhaps counterintuitively, his debut album Rivers And Lakes is not really a drums-forward suite in a way that you’d notice. Assembling a sextet, all of whom study in Cardiff or have done, these eight numbers proclaim to be “inspired by the beauty of northern England” and do feel suitably expansive and verdant, even if this chipper post-bop sort of stuff is urbane city music in a historical sense. The recording, done in Penarth’s Fieldgate Studios, is super nice and there’s a jazzed-up version of Stop This Train by pop sleb turned serious musician John Mayer.
THRONK! pair lighthearted skatepunk with heavy-handed satire
How many skate punk/melodic hardcore bands with frivolous song topics who are nevertheless ‘political’ but in an easygoing BBC2 panel show sort of way does one corner of south Wales need? If your answer is “one, Pizzatramp,” then Thronk! of Newport are here to try and convince you otherwise. Their new EP Kick Me While I’m Down (Engineer) is occasionally semi-serious (Untie Yourself) and tackles semi-serious subjects in lighthearted fashion (There’s No A.I. In Team). There’s also a 50-second number about drinking coffee – perhaps to mark the 30th anniversary of the Descendents having released pretty much the same song – a reference to a cheat code from an early 90s computer game, and Super Mario Clart, a list song concerning what is sometimes called the ‘Deano’ stereotype and which I suspect was taken directly from a Reddit thread on the topic.
True Carmarthenshire black metal: YSBRYDNOS returns with best album yet
Ysbryd, the staunch mid-Walian who makes black metal and dungeon synth as Ysbrydnos, has been missed in these columns in the last two years! (Partly because I missed his last EP from just over a year ago, its proclaimed backstory set in “Crickhowell, 1783”.) With Welsh Mythical Darkness, he has outdone himself with an album of icy riff murkage as no-nonsense as its title. The title track, last of seven on the album, is its longest and best exemplar – bringing some mace-brandishing heavy metal into the picture, not unlike latter-day Darkthrone – and Fullmoon Over Mynyddcerrig, which runs it close for epic duration, gives a (potential) clue to Ysbryd’s location wrapped up in midpaced swagger and double-kick ferocity.
words NOEL GARDNER
It is unknown exactly how old Plovdiv is, but archaeological evidence suggests it was established as far back as the 7th millennium BC during the Neolithic Age, making it older than both Athens and Rome
The intricate interior of the Church of St. Constantine and Helena(Image: Getty)
With a heritage stretching back over 8,000 years, one of the globe’s most ancient cities rivals Rome in splendour while offering far fewer tourists and significantly lower costs.
The precise age of Plovdiv remains uncertain, though archaeological discoveries in 1975 unearthed a religious structure from the Cretan-Mycenaean civilisation dating to roughly 1750 BC, according to Plovdiv.bg. As an added incentive, pints cost a mere £1.30, reports Wise.
In 342 BC, Philip II of Macedonia seized control of the settlement, subsequently renaming it Philippopolis, meaning City of Philip. Throughout this era, the settlement flourished and served as a launching point for regional colonisation.
This underappreciated Bulgarian destination is packed with Roman antiquities and “deserves to be at the top of your Europe travel bucket list”, according to Midlife Travel Tales, a YouTube duo chronicling their journeys.
They described Plovdiv as a “treasure trove of travel inspiration” that will “capture your heart and leave you wondering why you ever overlooked it”.
Plovdiv’s Old Town is stunning, featuring impeccably maintained pastel-hued houses along delightful cobblestone lanes.
The Kapana, Plovdiv’s historic creative district, is celebrated for its maze of narrow pedestrian streets teeming with art galleries, artisan workshops, trendy cafés, restaurants and lively nightlife.
The city’s magnificent amphitheatre sits tucked between two hills, Taksim Tepe and Dzhambaz Tepe. It’s accessible via a brief but challenging climb from the main pedestrian thoroughfare and Dzhumaya Mosque, reports the Express.
To this day, the theatre remains an active venue for theatrical productions, musical performances and cultural festivals.
Striking vestiges of the ancient Roman stadium, potentially the site of athletic contests and chariot races, lie concealed beneath the principal high street, once accommodating thousands of onlookers in its heyday.
Visitors can still witness the remarkably intact Ancient Forum, which traditionally functioned as the civic heart of the settlement.
Buried beneath the contemporary cityscape are millennia of extraordinary heritage. Archaeological findings indicate Plovdiv’s origins stretch back to the 7th millennium BC during the Neolithic Age, rendering it substantially more ancient than both Athens and Rome.
The comprehensive collection of historical monuments encompasses: the Roman Stadium, the Ancient Theatre, the Odeon, the stunning polychrome mosaics, the Aqueduct, the fortifications, and the remnants of Thracian habitations.
Its most prominent era arguably arrived during Roman rule following conquest in 72 BC, when it developed into a crucial imperial junction, situated precisely on the Via Militaris, the primary military and commercial artery traversing the Balkans.
The well-travelled pair also drew attention to Plovdiv’s “vibrant cultural scene” and its mouth-watering cuisine, which has been heavily influenced by Turkish, Mediterranean and Balkan traditions.
Visitors can enjoy flaky pastries such as Banitsa, slow-cooked stews like Kavarma, or grilled minced meats like Kebapche.
Direct flights from London, Manchester or Birmingham airports take around three and a half hours.
Channel 4 has wider questions to answer after allegations made by three women who took part in the show.
Perhaps best known for his role as hapless Father Dougal Maguire in hit 90s sitcom Father Ted, Ardal O’Hanlon’s latest novel A Plot To Die For is the first in a new murder mystery series. Finn O’Leary, celebrity gardener and local hero returns to Abbeyford, his Irish hometown to care for his mother after a recent fall.
Arriving just as the fictional town ramps up activity ahead of the impending national Tidy Towns title, Finn is roped into helping the effort, using his horticultural skills. When a member of the community choir collapses and dies unexpectedly during a rehearsal, Finn and his old acquaintance Aoife transform into amateur detectives as they bid to solve the case and prevent any further disasters.
A feelgood, community-spirited story full of comedic anecdotes, there’s a unique depth to A Plot…’s characters and community descriptions, offering the perfect way to escape current world events – and, speaking as an avid Father Ted fan, anyone similarly inclined won’t be disappointed with the comedic elements in O’Hanlon’s story. A highly entertaining addition to the cosy crime genre, I’m anticipating the next instalment in this series – I can’t wait to follow this group of characters on their journey.
You may want to rethink your savings plans
Premium Bonds holders have been told that uncertain times are on the horizon for the popular savings product. This warning follows provider NS&I recently setting out major changes to the monthly prize draw.
NS&I has informed savers that it will raise the prize fund rate from the July draw, climbing from the present 3.3 per cent to 3.8 per cent. The chances of winning for each £1 Bond will also improve, rising from 23,000 to one to 22,000 to one. This welcome reversal of fortune arrives shortly after NS&I slashed the rate, dropping from 3.6 per cent to 3.3 per cent, from the April draw. The odds of winning were also reduced then, from 22,000 to one to 23,000 to one.
There were three reductions to the prize fund rate in 2025. Jennifer Crichton, senior wealth planner at wealth management group Killik & Co, pointed out that the reality is the rules can shift as the broader savings landscape evolves.
‘Expect fluctuations’
She explained: “The prize fund rate for Premium Bonds is variable and broadly tracks the Bank of England rate, so as interest rates have come down, the effective rate on offer has followed, and savers should expect fluctuations. Savers who rely heavily on Premium Bonds as a primary savings vehicle shouldn’t assume prize fund rates will remain the same, and building a broader savings plan is a sensible approach.”
The financial expert urged savers reconsidering their strategy to adopt a “three-pot framework” method for their savings. This describes three distinct categories of savings that you ought to consider.
Ms Crichton explained: “The first pot is an emergency fund. This typically covers three to six months of essential outgoings, sometimes more, and is held in cash for more immediate access.
“Premium Bonds can sit in this pot, as they’re Government-backed and can be accessed upon request. The second pot covers near-term goals, money that likely needs accessing within the next three to five years for foreseeable costs, e.g. larger payments or planned purchases.”
‘More predictable’
For these medium-term objectives, she advised looking at the highest-paying fixed-term savings accounts or cash ISAs, ensuring you receive “more predictable interest” than Premium Bonds can offer.
It’s worth noting that NS&I can change their terms at any time, meaning your likelihood of winning can move around, plus you could go months or even years without a single prize. The financial expert went on to outline the third and final pot to consider.
She said: “The third savings pot is for the long term, so money that you do not expect to need for at least 5 years. Investing is likely to be the best option to grow this pot and protect from the effects of inflation.
“Stocks and Shares ISAs are a very tax-efficient option for this third pot, benefitting from tax-free growth and withdrawals. However, all investing comes with risks. Keeping those three pots distinct is important to ensure long-term savings can work harder for longer, while Premium Bonds remain a liquid, low-risk aspect of an overall savings plan.”
This switch “cheat code” could see couples bag a free £360 and £60 in Amazon vouchers
Couples could secure a complimentary £360 by moving to a prominent bank. This “cheat code” could also earn you £60-worth of Amazon vouchers.
Switching incentives are relatively common amongst UK banks, provided as an enticement to draw in new customers. Nevertheless, there is usually a set of requirements you must satisfy to ensure eligibility.
In an update on the Money Saving Expert (MSE) website, established by Martin Lewis, the team provided additional insight into the matter. They explained how to qualify for the cash from Santander by switching to its Edge account.
MSE said: “Free £210 to switch to top (joint) bills bank account. Santander Edge currently gives newbies switching to it £180 cash, plus – just launched – via our link you now get a £30 Amazon voucher on top.
“If you’re looking for this as a central account, or to replace an existing bills account so you get the switch cash, it’s a winner.”
It added: “As well as the free £180 and the £30 Amazon voucher, the big sell here is for a £3 a month fee you get cashback on bills paid from it by direct debit. For a typical home, that covers the fee and more.”
Yet, if you have a partner, you could effectively double the sum of money you receive. MSE said: “Couples cheat code: As Santander gives switchers £210 and caps the cashback at £10 a month, if you’re a couple with bigger bills, you could open one each, thus bagging £420 and getting up to £20 a month bills cashback.
“You’d need two accounts to be switching from. To then allocate the payments between you, just work out what’ll be paid from each of your bills accounts to max the cashback and both put in the same share as before, just allocating to the right account.”
Main perks of the Santander Edge account are:
- One per cent cashback up to £10 a month on council tax, energy, water, mobile and home phone, broadband and paid TV bills you pay from it by direct debit
- Linked saver paying six per cent variable for 12 months on up to £4,000
- Debit card for spending overseas with good exchange rates
How to qualify
To get the £180 bonus:
- Open an account online or in branch and do the following within 60 days
- Switch in an account
- Pay in £1,500 or more
- Have two or more direct debits
The £180 should be paid within 60 to 90 days.
To get the £30 Amazon voucher (you don’t need to switch to just get this):
- Open an account via this link
- Spend five or more times on the debit card within 30 days
- You can’t have had a Santander voucher in the last year
You’ll get an email to claim the voucher after August 30 (do it within 30 days).
MSE added that if you have bigger bills it might be worth upgrading to the Santander Edge Up account. It said: “Santander Edge Up costs £5 a month but gives up to £15 a month back on most household bills (so max £180 a year) and you still get the free £210 for switching to it.
“So for bills over £1,200 a month it beats the standard Edge account. The min pay-in is £1,500 a month, though, and you can’t open the 6% saver with this account.”
For more information, visit the MSE website here.
Police have confirmed that a crash has shut down a major arterial road in Cardiff, with traffic blocked from accessing the key carriageway in both directions
Traffic is being prevented from using the road on the outskirts of Cardiff (Image: Ian Cooper/North Wales Live)
Police have confirmed they are at the scene of a crash which has resulted in a key carriageway closed off to traffic overnight.
South Wales Police confirmed in an online statement that the A470 is currently closed in both directions following a crash on the Coryton Interchange, on the outskirts of Cardiff in Tongwynlais.
The crash has seen the carriageway blocked off between Tongwynlais to Northern Avenue, a South Wales Police spokesperson said.
The police spokesperson added: “Please avoid the area and use alternative routes where possible.”
As per AA Roadwatch, the traffic crash was first reported at 12.50am on Wednesday (May 20).
The AA incident report says: “Road blocked due to crash on A470 both ways from M4 J32 (Coryton Interchange) to A4054 (Taffs Well Interchange).”
As per Google Traffic, the road is expected to remain closed off to motorists until 7am. Motorists should therefore plan ahead if this closure impacts your journey, in order to avoid any traffic-induced headaches this Wednesday rush hour.
In addition to tonight’s crash, Traffic Wales has planned roadworks listed for the A470 on May 20 and 21.
While the planned works will take place just under three miles from tonight’s crash scene, the roadworks are unrelated. The A470’s northbound onslip will be closed off to traffic at Nantgarw, between 7pm and 1am on May 20 and 21. Diversions will be in place during the hours of closure.
A key tomato producer has issued a warning over potential price rises, as the UK supermarket tomato shortage continues to affect shoppers.
Anyone who likes tomatoes will be aware that the upcoming summer months deliver them at their finest. But a major tomato producer has issued a warning that the cost of this beloved fruit could rise.
Mutti, an Italian brand producing tinned tomatoes, purées and sauces, suggests prices could climb if oil costs stay elevated throughout the critical summer tomato harvesting period. Energy expenses are running approximately 50% above anticipated levels owing to the continuing conflict in Iran, which continues to impact oil and gas markets.
Chief executive Francesco Mutti said the firm has so far resisted raising prices, but warned that the window between July and September would be decisive in determining the next steps.
According to the Grocery Gazette, the company uses roughly three-quarters of its annual energy expenditure during the peak European tomato season. Throughout this period, tomatoes are harvested and processed at significantly higher volumes than usual before being distributed globally.
Mutti noted the company would reassess its stance after the harvest finished, with any potential price increases happening after the season ends.
He added: “There, depending on the level, we will have to take the decision about what our position will be on the market.”
In Britain, tins of Mutti Polpa chopped tomatoes retail at approximately £1.60, with the brand competing with Napolina for dominance as the leading non-supermarket tomato brand.
Mutti said this year’s Italian tomato harvest would represent a “key element” in determining whether prices require changing. The impact on fresh tomatoes has already been felt by supermarket shoppers across the country.
British growers who depend on glasshouses have been dealt a double blow, facing both soaring fertiliser costs and rocketing energy prices.
According to the British Tomato Growers Association, some producers saw their electricity standing charges surge by as much as 80% from April.
Shoppers have also encountered bare patches on supermarket shelves where tomatoes and other everyday staples, such as peppers and cucumbers, would ordinarily be stocked.
Patients risk having serious conditions including cancer being missed under plans to make millions of hospital appointments virtual in a bid to tackle the NHS backlog, experts warn.
From October next year, doctors will deliver millions of hospital appointments virtually under plans set out by former health secretary Wes Streeting.
Patients referred by their GP will be able to select a virtual appointment with a consultant anywhere in the country through the NHS app.
The new ‘NHS Online’ service will initially focus on specialties including gynaecology, urology, gastroenterology and ophthalmology, with 8.5 million appointments expected to be delivered by the digital trust in its first three years.
But health leaders and patient groups fear the move could result in vulnerable patients being overlooked, with serious illnesses harder to identify without face-to-face examinations.
One patient representative consulted on the plans raised concerns about ‘serious conditions slipping through the net’.
Another respondent from Healthwatch said: ‘It’s not a fair choice’ with historically long waiting times pushing patients towards the digital route, where ‘things can easily be missed if not seen in person.’
The concerns come just weeks after a survey found older patients already feel ‘dehumanised’ by the NHS’s increasingly digital-first approach to GP care.
Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, insisted that ‘everyone will benefit’ from the online service, even if not using it directly
When announcing the plans last year, Mr Streeting said patients would ‘be seen faster and more conveniently… by someone who will be able to get a sense of their condition and give them a course of action.’
However, doctors and patient advocates warn many conditions still rely heavily on physical examinations and procedures that cannot be replicated remotely.
For example, experts are unconvinced the model will work for gynaecological cancers, where doctors may need to inspect the cervix for abnormalities that could indicate disease.
Gastroenterology patients are often referred for gastroscopies, where a camera is inserted into the stomach to investigate possible problems including cancer.
Questions also remain over how NHS Online will work alongside local NHS services and how patients with worrying symptoms identified during virtual consultations will be referred for further tests or treatment.
Dr Becks Fisher, director of research and policy at the Nuffield Trust, said that while the service would be helpful for some patients, ‘tricky questions remain’, particularly around how the service would be funded.
She added: ‘NHS IT infrastructure could also pose a problem, as it will need to enable relevant information – like scan results to be seen across different NHS organisations, something that is infamously difficult at the moment.’
Healthwatch also warned there was a risk patients could become more lost in the system, leading to confusion over who was responsible for their care.
The organisation is calling on the Government to model the impact the online service could have on in-person capacity, finances, appointment targets and over-diagnosis. Currently, no such modelling exists.
There are also concerns the plans could deepen inequalities in access to care. Current NHS rules state there must be a range of booking methods to avoid creating a ‘two-tier’ health system in which wealthier and more digitally confident patients can access care more easily than older and more vulnerable groups.
Older patients may particularly struggle with the app-based model. Charity Re-engage warned last week that vulnerable older people are already being forced to self-medicate, attend overcrowded A&Es or simply hope symptoms resolve on their own because of difficulties accessing healthcare.
The online service will rely on NHS doctors taking on additional paid hours while working remotely from home. Jonny Brown, director of the NHS Online programme, said: ‘They’ll be employed by the NHS, but we will ask them to do additional hours for us and they’ll be paid fairly for the hours that they work for us.’
He also said the NHS believed the flexibility would attract doctors ‘and make them keen to work for NHS Online.’
An NHS survey found 60 per cent of consultants were interested in joining the service, with doctors already working part-time more likely to express interest.
Stuart Andrew, the shadow health secretary, said: ‘Those that need face-to-face appointments shouldn’t be fobbed off with a video call if it means serious illnesses like cancer have a greater chance of being missed.’
An NHS spokesperson responded: ‘The NHS Online hospital will never replace in-person care.
‘People will always have the option of face-to-face care if they wish or need – and this initiative is designed to give patients the convenient option of receiving specialist care for common conditions from the comfort of their own homes.’
