Friday, June 23, 2017

All quiet noisy on the Western front

One of the major downsides of moving to Cardiff was that it ended my run as a regular contributor to Sounding Bored. As much as I've enjoyed listening to the monthly episodes this year, it's not the same as actually taking part - so it was with great pleasure that I was involved in the most recent podcast, Episode 18, recorded on location with Rob in the Welsh capital.

On what was a sweltering night, we battled against the drone of the overworked air conditioning and discussed Cardiff as the latest in our semi-regular Music Cities series. Hopefully, it doesn't just come across as me attempting to catalogue and give a shout-out to everything that's great about the city from a musical perspective (bands, venues, shops etc) - though there's admittedly an element of that.

The episode was an opportunity for me to wax lyrical about my long-standing love for Los Campesinos!, as well as enthuse about the new Public Service Broadcasting album Every Valley, which takes as its subject matter the decline of the mining industry in south Wales.

Album of the month was Sweet Baboo's Wild Imagination - an LP that struck a chord with me on a personal level (and beyond), even if it left Rob somewhat disappointed.

A big thanks to those who took the time to contribute their thoughts in advance of the recording: Noel Gardner, Mark Daman Thomas and Geraint Evans.

No comments: