Llwybr Llaethog played the penultimate date in the BeyondTV calendar last night at Monkey Cafe, Swansea. Born out of the pioneering welsh independent label Anhrefn Records in the eighties, their mix of punk, reggae, electronica & leftist politics brought welsh language rap to the world. They, and other bands on the label helped set the set the scene in Wales for the next generation of alternative welsh music, Super Furry Animals, Catatonia and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.
I knew none of this when I turned up last night, so I had some low expectations of a wierd hippy-trance outfit, however, the music was much more accessible & intelligent than that. On stage they could have been science teachers, white hair and lab coats, they walked back and forth at their table, seemingly pointing, adjusting and remarking at their weird experiment. The result was impressive, an eclectic mix of electronica, turntablism, dub & hip-hop, a kind of IDM that would be at home on Warp or Ninja Tune, and improbably, it made me want to learn Welsh.
Ok lets start a wild rumour; Llwybr Llaethog to headline Escape Into The Park 2007!
