POSTS TAGGED : Dan Amor

Dan Amor Shares ‘Cnoc Cnoc Cnoc’, New Album To Follow

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North Walian marvel Dan Amor has been held in the highest regard around the quarters for quite some time, and with good reason too.

Performing in both Welsh and English Amor’s psych-tinged folk wizardry is unique in sound and style, and always crafted with love and care. Drawn to obscure and different sounds, prone to playfulness and spaced out throwbacks and infused with Welsh culture; the results are always magnificent. Amor’s brand new single ‘Cnoc Cnoc Cnoc’ is absolutely no different, and a timely reminder of what a bona fide treasure he really is. It is a Super Furries / Yellow Submarine inspired tune about hiding under the bed clothes when someone knocks on the door too early in the morning. Sang in his native Welsh, this is a gentle, melodic little gem that jovially trips along lovely strum, bouncy percussion and a marvelous kazoo solo. Sublime as per usual from Dan Amor but it gets better; ‘Cnoc Cnoc Cnoc’ is the first single take from his forthcoming new album. No firm date yet but hopefully it is sooner rather than later.

‘Cnoc Cnoc Cnoc’ is available below for your listening pleasure. Now, bury your head under the duvet and enjoy!

BarryGruff May 2016 Playlist

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Your regular monthly round up all the blog action, in a nice, neat and handy playlist of tracks featured throughout the month.

May was good, as was the weather but even better tunes and whatnot (although I was pretty busy with matters away from the blog). We had loads of great new tracks, with a cursory listen below, I’m pretty sure you’ll agree! Oh, and there were new episodes of ‘Millions Like Us’, Justin Beats & I’s music podcast for 604now (if you missed them, check ’em here). You can also subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic or find us on Facebook & Twitter.

Well then, that’s that for another month – listen to BarryGruff’s May 2016 playlist below. Enjoy!

Dan Amor and Huw Owen – ‘Mothers In Day-Glo’ + ‘Swooshed’ Compilation

 

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Cae Gwyn Records is an independent record label based in North Wales. As a label, it prides itself on its independence and has built a solid reputation for releasing all manner of interesting, creative and listenable, left field bilingual music.

The latest example of this comes in the shape of Swooshed; a new 10 track compilation album featuring some of Wales’ very finest folk, pop, ambient and psychedelic music. It picks up where previous free digital sampler Cynefin Cae Gwyn, left off – of which you may or may not remember but it is worth checking out, or revisiting. Swooshed is littered with gems but the pick of the pile comes from Dan Amor and Huw Owen’s ‘Mothers In Day-Glo’. Recorded in an old quarry man’s cottage above Tregarth in North Wales, it is a warm and inviting, woozy and mellow, sun-drenched psych-tinged folk sound. ‘Mothers In Day-Glo’ is sure to leave you all the better for listening (as can be said for ‘Swooshed’ too). Dan Amor and Huw Owen operate a strict ‘blank canvass’ policy when writing and recording together –all ideas and parts are thought up on the day – whatever the case, it works, and how!

Check out ‘Mothers In Day-Glo’ below and you can a hold of Swooshed here. Happy listening!

 

2015 According to Dan Amor

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One of my proudest achievements on the blog this year, or any year for that matter, is the release of GruffWuff; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging.

It was a truly fantastic way to mark 5 years of BarryGruff and I am incredibly grateful to everyone involved and the overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic response. As 2015 draws to a close, I have enlisted help from people who made the compilation what it was, to chat about their favourite moments and sounds from year, and up next is Dan Amor.

Performing in both Welsh and English, Dan Amor slips between the two, retaining his own sound and style, infused with Welsh culture. Drawn to obscure and different sounds and worked to shape beautifully frail songs, that radiate a lingering warmth. Recalling snippets from Syd Barrett’s fractured solo years or early Graham Coxon, it’s reflective, unassuming and adorable, with a classic pop twist and a joy to behold.

Before we take a look at his 2015 sound selections, you should check out Dan Amor’s superb back catalogue here and his GruffWuff inclusion, ‘Can’t Sleep’ – of which you can download here for FREE.

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BarryGruff’s June 2015 Playlist

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A regular monthly feature to the blog; a nice, neat and handy playlist of tracks featured during the month.

June was another pretty fine month for new music. We had new tunes from Girls Names, Sextile, Hibou, Velvet Morning & Hooton Tennis Club ahead of their respective, forthcoming new albums. There were excellent new singles from Hyde & Beast, Freedom Fry, Dan Amor, Slow Riot, Tomorrows, Alaska Wilson & PANKHABILLI.

Also featured on this month’s playlist are great tracks from Seazoo, The Statics, CZARFACE, Peaness, Energy Slime & Pale Honey. Yeah, so, June was good. And that’s all before mentioning the interview with Ric Rawlins about his new book, ‘Rise of the Super Furry Animals’ – read it here.

Listen to BarryGruff’s June 2015 playlist below.

 

Dan Amor – ‘Penwythnos Heulog’

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North Walian marvel Dan Amor is held in the highest regard around these parts (and elsewhere too), and his brand new single ‘Penwythnos Heulog’, is a timely reminder of what a bona fide treasure he really is.

Drawn to obscure and different sounds, his wizardry is one of psychedelic playfulness mingling with splotches of spaced out throwbacks and infused with Welsh culture. Retaining an entirely unique sound and style, these elements are fashioned to form delicate songs that an emit an irresistible warmth. Amor’s fabulous latest single ‘Penwythnos Heulog’ (Sunny Weekend in English) ticks all those aforementioned boxes, and in the process, producing a loveable, mildly dizzying and waltzing psych pop song. Pairing a gentle strum and piano, with a big heart-swelling melody, warped spaced-out psych synth and Amor’s acute vocal delivery; it’s infectious, charming and adorable, with a classic pop twist. Dan Amor has out done himself this time. An utter joy to behold.

You can stream ‘Penwythnos Heulog’ below, ahead of it’s release June 26th via Recordiau Cae Gwyn. You can also check out Dan Amor’s GruffWuff inclusion, ‘Can’t Sleep’ – of which you can download here for FREE.

Celebrating 5 Years of BarryGruff with ‘GruffWuff’: A 19 Track Compilation Album [Out Now]

So, the day has finally arrived; ‘GruffWuff‘ is out now!

I’ve been itching to share this with everyone and I very, happy this day has finally arrived. The past five years have been very interesting and for the most part, ever so much fun. I think this is a pretty special way to mark the occasion and I really hope you all enjoy the compilation as much as I do. Initially I thought an idea such as this was just a pipe dream and one that would remain just that. However, the enthusiasm that met my initial inquiries bowled me over, I couldn’t believe how eager everyone was. It is something that’ll stay with me forever and it means an awful lot. Hopefully it will shine a light, brief as it maybe on some of the acts that have brought me the most joy over the past few years.

Thanks to Stevie for all his assistance, Caroline for all her support and putting up with me, Peter Lee for mastering & all the artists who provided tracks for the compilation. A huge amount of credit must go to the artists involved for their eagerness and the ever so brilliant music.

So, to mark 5 years of BarryGruff, here is ‘GruffWuff’; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging. There is an act by act guide after the jump, I really hope everyone enjoys this as much as we did putting it together.

It’s yours now, just ‘name your price’ – which includes zero, so technically it’s free.

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Celebrating 5 Years of BarryGruff with ‘GruffWuff’: A 19 Track Compilation Album

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BarryGruff is 5 years old today!

Those five years have been interesting and fun. The blog has ebbed and flowed in parallel with my own life which has moved on somewhat from where it was back in March 2010. Since my early teens spouting about music has always been part and parcel of my life but I’m very grateful to have been in a position to share those musings and whatnot with a wider audience than my mates (or whoever is willing to listen).

Blogging has become quite a big part of my life and while listening to and discovering new music etc. is something that comes rather natural, a lot of my free time is devoted to the upkeep of the blog and how much longer I can continue to do so is anyone’s guess. It might be one year or another five, who knows? So with that in mind I really wanted to do something really special to mark the occasion and I’m pretty damn chuffed with this one.

Without further a do, to celebrate 5 years of BarryGruff is ‘GruffWuff’: A 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging. While I initially thought it was just a pipe dream and one that would remain just that, the enthusiasm that met my initial inquiries bowled me over, I couldn’t believe how eager everyone was. It is something that’ll stay with me forever and it means an awful lot. Hopefully it will shine a light, brief as it maybe on some of the acts that have brought me the most joy over the past few years. The enjoyment music brings me can’t be overstated, be it happy times or sad times, there’s one constant; music.

Thanks to Stevie for all his assistance, Caroline for putting up with me, Peter Lee for mastering & all the artists who provided tracks for the compilation. A huge amount of credit must go to the artists involved for their eagerness and the ever so brilliant music.

‘GruffWuff’ will be released through Bandcamp on Thursday, March 19th and the tracklisting is below for your perusal. I’m really, really excited for people to finally hear what everyone’s been working away on for the past 9 months.

Celebrating 5 Years of BarryGruff with ‘GruffWuff’:

01. Fold – ‘Where Are You’

02. Oh Boland – ‘White Boy’

03. Seazoo – ‘DIG (Demo Version)’

04. Mr Huw – ‘Bai Neb Ond Fy Hun’

05. Dan Amor – ‘Can’t Sleep’

06. Oisin McCole – ‘Far From The Sea’

07. Anderson – ‘The Way The Stream Flows’

08. Knoxville Morning – ‘Bridget’

09. Nathan Conway – ‘Babycheeno’

10. Disconcerting P – ‘Treated You Rough’

11. The Expert – ‘Swapsies’

12. SertOne – ‘Seventeen’

13. Imploded View – ‘Barry’s Game’

14. Channel Swimmer – ‘Racket’

15. Monto – ‘Yeuh’

16. Open Window – ‘003 (Africa)’

17. Captain Moonlight – ‘What is Property?’

18. GEM_DOS – ‘Mag D’Allen’

19. Hippies Vs Ghosts – ‘Three Shadows’

 

Recordiau Cae Gwyn Presents ‘Cynefin Cae Gwyn’

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Independent Welsh label and home to Dan Amor, Mr Huw and Sen Segur, Recordiau Cae Gwyn, has released Cynefin Cae Gwyn, a free digital compilation album of artists from the label.

It features new material from more established acts/artists, some brand new projects as well as some exciting collaborative ventures. Over a stylistically diverse 12 tracks touching on folk, subtle electronica, indie and psychedelic, we’re treated to splendid sampler of the stellar talent they’ve brought together. What’s even more impressive is the fact that all the featured artists are from, or have close links with the village of Penmachno, North Wales. There’s lots of great tunes on offer here, from the beautiful instrumental acoustic strum of Ben Marshall’s ‘Tonnau Gwanwyn’, to the bright and snappy indie inclusion of ‘Ffiniau’ from Mr Huw and the utterly cool organ led psych groove of Huw Owen & Dan Amor’s ‘Cyfandirol’. It might be free to download but the standard remains supremely high – a thoroughly worthwhile compilation and a testament to all involved with the label.

It’s rather difficult to whittle it down to a few tracks but you can sample some personal choice moments from the compilation below. And if you’re liking that? The album is available as a free digital download from here.

 

Introducing: Dan Amor

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Rolling out of the mountains and valleys of North Wales comes songwriter Dan Amor, and his new album Rainhill Trials, due for release 12th May 12th.

Rainhill Trials is Dan Amor’s fourth LP, yes fourth LP. In normal circumstances a talented artist with a hefty back catologue would preclude an ‘introducing’, but outside of his Welsh homeland, his delectable talents have remained largely untapped source of aural pleasure. Performing in both Welsh and English, he slips between the two, retaining his own sound and style, infused with Welsh culture. Amor is drawn to obscure and different sounds, which work to shape these beautifully frail songs, that radiate a lingering warmth. The frailty in his work recalls moments from Syd Barrett’s fractured solo years or early work of Graham Coxon. Similarly, so does the feeling that Dan Amor is an unassuming personality with buckets of talent but slightly uncomfortable sharing it with the rest of the world. Ahead of Amor’s forthcoming album release, ‘Sister Anne’ illustrates what he’s all about. A beautiful piano led ditty, ‘Sister Anne’ is a classic pop song, very ’60s, ‘Beatles/Lennon-esque’ even – it’s reflective and introverted with the vocal often delivered in a hushed, semi-spoken voice. ‘Dusk Bird’ offers an equally self-effacing but grittier insight. A marvelous talent and one which just might be about to have his cover well and truly blown wide open.

Rainhill Trials is out on May 12th through Recordiau Cae Gwyn Records, home to fellow Welsh language musos Sen Segur and Mr Huw. Check out ‘Sister Anne’ & ‘Dusk Bird’ below.