If folk rock and psychedelic pop from the 1960s and 1970s is your kind of thing – or you are at least open to the possibility – I can highly recommend three very fine albums of Welsh language stuff: Welsh Rare Beat, Welsh Rare Beat 2 and Galwad Y Mynydd. All three albums were released by Finders Keepers Records a few years ago, who enlisted the help of Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals for some of the selections and the excellent liner notes.
They include tracks by Meic Stevens, Heather Jones and Geraint Jarman, among some lesser known – but no less deserving – artists. (Incidentally, Meic Stevens is not to be confused with the academic and writer Meic Stephens.)
Now on Spotify! Yes, most recently they’ve been made available on the licensed streaming service Spotify (which is currently only available in certain European countries). The three albums are also available on CD, vinyl and digital services.
Welsh Rare Beat
This album collects 25 early tracks from the vaults of Sain, a fascinating label which recently celebrated its 40 year anniversary. Among the diverse material, there are some groovy numbers on here, like Meic Stevens’ Y Brawd Houdini (The Brother Houdini) and Y Tebot Piws’ Mae Rhywun Wedi Dwyn Fy Nhrwyn (Somebody Has Stolen My Nose). Also we have that kind of pure almost hymn-like singing best typified by Eleri Llwyd on O Gymru (O Wales) and some nice fret-burning Hendrix-esque guitar action like Tich Gwilym’s take on the Welsh national anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. And it probably wouldn’t have been complete as an introduction without the first release on Sain, Dŵr (Water) by co-founder Huw Jones, which is a protest song about the village of Capel Celyn.
Welsh Rare Beat album on Spotify
Welsh Rare Beat 2
It could be said of these albums that the punning titles might not be to everyone’s taste. But maybe it’s OK to use a marketing gimmick which relies on a well worn gag, since this vintage music hasn’t received anywhere near the attention it deserves. (Just like the laverbread on the cover I suppose.) As far as the content is concerned this is even more true of part 2, which collects recordings from not only Sain but the Dryw, Gwawr and Afon labels. In other words, unless you have relatives who were there, living in the 1960s “Dyfed triangle” on which this album is loosely based or are prepared to spend the rest of your life at its car boot sales, you would otherwise be out of luck. Rarity doesn’t equal quality of course, but in this case we do get both. The overall feel here is perhaps more melancholic, less immediate than the preceding Welsh Rare Beat album. Witness for example, the marvellous Niwl Y Môr (Mist of the Sea) by Galwad Y Mynydd and Cân O Dristwch (Song Of Sadness) by Heather Jones. That said, there’s a spot of glam rock like Bran’s party starter Tocyn (Ticket) which was more recently covered by Cate Le Bon. We also get some “proper” rock’n'roll in the form of Os Hoffech Wybod Sut (If You Want To Know How) by bizarre television character Caleb (according to Gruff Rhys’ liner notes, imagine if “the Fonz lived in a cave and looked like a biker-style Teletubby…”).
Welsh Rare Beat 2 album on Spotify
Galwad Y Mynydd – Galwad Y Mynydd
Galwad Y Mynydd were the winners of the pop group competition at Pontrhydfendigaid’s local eisteddfod in 1972. This self-titled album collects two EPs, which makes eight tracks altogether: the sum total of their output under that name (I think) before they morphed into Hergest. There is a naive, youthful charm to the music here and the lyrics are distinctly pastoral – roaming the landscape around Aberystwyth with themes like fishing, hills and the sea.
Galwad Y Mynydd on Spotify
Expanding your Welsh Vocab
When listening to Welsh language music, old or new, I make a point of investigating the meaning of the band name and the title of the song – at least. These new words then tend to stick in my vocabulary, taking very little effort to learn. I guess this is partly because they have a musical context, sometimes even a melody. (It’s also because I’m a fan and collector of pop trivia anyway.) For instance, Galwad Y Mynydd means “Call of The Mountain”. The noun Galwad can be derived from the verb galw which means “to call”. For a tiny bit of effort these can be once-learned-never-forgotten words.
Dafydd has some of the original record sleeves from Sain and other labels on Flickr.
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