In Conversation: Huw Stephens & Neil Collins

Gwybodaeth am y Digwyddiad

Cardiff Music City Festival presents

IN CONVERSATION: HUW STEPHENS & NEIL COLLINS

As part of Cardiff Music City Festival, we’re joined by Huw Stephens & Neil Collins who have both recently released books on music from Wales.

‘Wales: 100 Records’ by Huw Stephens

‘Wales: 100 Records’ by Huw Stephens offers a multifarious encyclopaedia of Welsh music and the seminal releases from the country, delving deep in the rich musical landscape of Wales. Through accessible short essays and glossy images of each record, DJ and broadcaster Huw Stephens (BBC Radio 6Music/BBC Radio 4/ Other Voices Festival) presents a vivid portrait of the irreverent spirit of Wales, and its tapestry of musical artists who have made their mark through albums performed both in English and Welsh.

Stephens enthusiastically examines and explores the most pivotal musical moments in this book, highlighting the global success of Tom Jones, Bonnie Tyler and Shirley Bassey; spotlighting the magnitude and influence of the Cool Cymru heavyweights including Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Catatonia and Super Furry Animals; influential politically charged Welsh language lyricism of Dafydd Iwan, Datblygu, and Hogia’r Wyddfa; critically acclaimed contemporary visionaries Cate Le Bon, Public Service Broadcasting, Duffy, Deyah, H. Hawkline and Gwenno; Welsh experimentalism of Underworld, Kelly Lee Owens and Llwybr Llaethog; local hip hop including Goldie Lookin Chain, Mace The Great and Me One and much more.

This encyclopaedic canon of Welsh records draws from Stephens’ expansive career at the forefront of the UK music industry, brimming with enthusiasm and pride over the rich musical legacy of his home country. Filled with trivia and reflections on each record, ‘Wales: 100 Records’ is an essential read for any music enthusiast.

International Velvet: How Wales Conquered The ’90s Chart’ by Neil Collins

The 1970s and ‘80s were a bleak time for much of Wales: the closure of steel works and coal mines led to mass unemployment while the country’s culture and language was disregarded by politicians and the music industry alike. Some bands even travelled across the Severn Bridge to make sure their records arrived at the London offices sporting an English postmark.

The 1990s changed everything. Wales was already known for Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Male Voice Choirs. But suddenly bands such as Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Super Furry Animals 60ft Dolls and Gorki’s Zygotic Mynci exploded into the charts and showed the UK population the breadth of what this small but inherently musical nation could offer. Meanwhile, S4C – the Welsh-language television channel – became increasingly prominent and a new Welsh Assembly was on the horizon. Featuring fresh analysis and new interviews, ‘International Velvet’ charts the UK in a decade in which ‘Cool Cymru’ won over the masses and shows how it inspired the still-vibrant Welsh music scene into the 21st century and beyond.

Neil Collins is a Cardiff-based writer and co-host of Welsh Music Podcast. He is the author of the Liverpool FC books ‘Make Us Dream’ and ‘Red Mist’.