Anyone who finds themselves in the Welsh capital this May will discover the National Museum Cardiff is going all musical. First off, the beginning of the month sees the opening of a new exhibition on the music photographer Chalkie Davies. Present until September, ‘Chalkie Davies: the NME years’ will feature a selection a Davies’s best work for NME as well as a number of formal portraits of the biggest musical stars of the 70s and 80s.
There is also the Fragile? exhibition, which features a number of ceramic pieces from the museum collection, installations from Phoebe Cummings, Clare Twomey and Keith Harrison and new work from Wales-based artists Claire Curneen, Walter Keeler, Lowri Davies and Adam Buick. The idea is to “showcases the beauty and diversity of contemporary ceramics practice in its widest sense,” whatever that means. All I know is that you get to smash stuff (!) and that they ask you bring your vinyl collection along with you for the Harrison installation (!!). To find out just how records and ceramics are related you will have to visit the exhibition before it closes in October.
To support the musical theme, Spillers Records (AKA the oldest record shop in the world) are presenting live late(ish) night music at the musuem, with some great Welsh talent lined-up over two nights. Here’s who’s on the bill:
May 21
AAH – the solo project of Tenby’s Adam Taylor (formerly of Victorian Gentleman’s Club). Very little information is available online but the one gig review I did manage to find described his sound as “60s – 80s goth-pop, delivered by a left-field ensemble of violas, keyboards, omnichords and footswitch drum machines,” which sounds just the sort of music you’d expect to find in a museum.
Ratatosk – the moniker of experimental musician Rhodri Viney, Ratatosk puts out experimental music which he describes as a ‘sad quasi-historical faux-dystopian musical thing’. Fans of downbeat ambient/slowcore should find something to love over at Viney’s Bandcamp page.
Threatmantics – one Cardiff’s most beloved live acts, Threatmantics create a brand of music that defies any one genre. Maybe we should make up a new one: theatrical folk-punk art-rock indie pop ‘n roll. Or something. Listen to their album Kid McCoy on Bandcamp and come up with a better suggestion. They also have a song called ‘Archaeopteryx’, so why not pop to see the fossil before their set?
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May 28
Mike Dennis – A rapper, producer, sound engineer and classically-trained violinist, Bristol’s Mike Dennis makes what can only be described as string-heavy hip-hop/spoken word. Coupled with his frenetic rhymes about British life, Dennis’s tunes should please fans of The Streets, Run DMC and The Beastie Boys. You can grab his music now on Bandcamp.
Junior Bill & The Scallies – A ska band which draw upon elements of rap, hip-hop, reggae and samba, Junior Bill & The Scallies are a very British in the best sense – diverse and inclusive and cross-pollinated, the meeting point of a variety of styles and cultures. You can get their latest album from Bandcamp.
Gwenno – Fresh from releasing her debut album on Peski last year, Cardiff singer/producer/DJ/radio presenter/ex-Pippette Gwenno Saunders will be playing her very own brand of avant-electro-pop. Part inspired by Welsh sci-fi novel Y Dydd Olaf (The Last Day) in which machines are taking over the world (and the main character keeps a diary in Welsh so the robots can’t understand it), Gwenno’s album is very much one of politics and protest, with songs titles such as ‘Chwyldro’ (‘Revolution’) and ‘Patriarchaeth’ (‘Patriarchy’) hinting at the themes of technological propaganda and manipulation.
You can grab your tickets online now for a very reasonable £5 or chance it on the door for £7.
