Welsh Artists @ Sŵn 2013
From LA to London, Cardiff’s Sŵn Festival line up was as international as ever this year. Yet, after the haze of the weekend has faded, theSprout.co.uk realised just how much homegrown talent we saw over the four days. Here’s our guide to some of the best Welsh artists that inspired our eyes and ears.
Welsh Music Prize nominees Little Arrow took to the Green Man stage at The Moon Club with a new plugged in sound which took their precise folk into a gorgeously rich sphere. Poetic lyrics from front man Will Hughes spoke to us all, and as he warbled “Here it is / Embrace your freedom”, the Pembrokeshire wilds from which the band came emerged in glorious fashion.
Houdini Dax were one of many local acts to take to the outdoor stage on the Hayes and arrived onstage to greet Swners, rugby fans and hen parties as impressed passers by added to the gathering. The Cardiff three-piece presented neat indie-pop that may not break boundaries but is undeniably good and well catchy.
Swansea’s Heavy Petting Zoo stormed downstairs at Clwb with a sweaty set of fuzzy rock‘n’roll that has a instantly addictive 70s garage feel. Sneering frontwoman Amy Zachariah gave a lungful of rock-chick vocal that got you right in the gut and gave their dancing doctor Johnathon a reason to go Holy Roller on us.
Playing the last gig in their current line-up, producer extraordinaire Zwolf’s latest venture Fist of The First Man provided gorgeous hypnotic waves of lo-fi that often crashed into something more jittery. The super trippy light show that went with the set only added to the general sense of wonder.
Rising stars Brothers played to a packed Four Bars and showed a musical maturity way beyond their teenage years. Fresh faced and loaded with a grin raising energy driven by their top notch drummer, the two sets of brothers touch upon 60s psychedelica without becoming a cliché throwback which can so often amount to boring. This band would never be placed with that adjective and with a wealth of experience yet to inform their already tight, well formed sound, who knows where we see them next.
Hip-hop producer Metabeats hosted a Saturday night bash at O’Neill's with tracks from his delicious new record Caviar Crackle, hailed as “a sure shot soon to be a classic”. As well as a whole load of post-new-Jill-Swing vibes, his DJ set included some of his collaborations with US rappers and demonstrated the global market available to this Barry-bred genius. Signed to Cardiff label AssociatedMinds, this is surely Wales’ most exciting danceable proposition for many a decade.
Macho City were just one of the audio-visual, experimental artists on view at Peski Record’s takeover of Jacob’s Market. Without doubt the coolest venue of the weekend, the label’s mighty fine creative splash attracted big crowds and this Cardiff duo fired loose synth cannons across some big bass and electronic twirls. Glorious.
Other notable Welsh acts we simply had no time to see include Sweet Baboo, Palomino Party, Dan Bettridge and Hail!The Planes. This simply confirms exactly what Sŵn 2013 reminded us; that Wales is still a very exciting place for music makers and gig goers.
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Related Article: Review: Sŵn Festival 2013
