Yes. Huggable local promoters Forecast are bowing out with this Cardiff show. John Rostron and Carl Rylatt have put in many years’ service, in various combinations, in the gig field over the years, and Forecast on the poster meant quality more often than not. Check the list below! But look to the future cos the future is Sŵn. This is Rostron’s sage farewell note:
“We’re winding down Forecast at the end of this month. It’s been about four years to the day since Carl and I, along with many friends, started bringing shows into the capital. Over the years we’ve had some amazing acts – Devendra Banhart, Why?, Four Tet, Super Furry Animals, Mogwai, Lightning Bolt, Grizzly Bear, Beirut, David Holmes, Yo La Tengo, Iron & Wine, Josephine Foster… the list goes on and on. In fact a full list is up at www.weareforecast.com which we’ll leave up in memory.
When we started back then there wasn’t anyone in Cardiff bringing this kind of music in on a regular basis. There *were* the occasional great shows, and people like Lesson No1 have always been the sort of promoters we’ve admired. Now, however, they’ve been joined by the likes of LOOSE, SHAPE and THREE SYLLABLES who all bring in excellent shows that would sit on Forecast bills. We’re delighted that there’s an audience for this in Cardiff. Long may it continue.
As I leave Forecast to rest, I’m turning my attention to Sŵn which I began with Huw Stephens two years ago. Sŵn Festival has proven to fill a much-needed gap and as time rolls on it’s growing into much more than an annual festival. We’re now doing events throughout the year, both in and out of Wales.
So most of the Forecast shows will now be promoted by Sŵn, and you’ll be hearing a lot more from Sŵn over the coming year.
Here’s the facebook group for Sŵn
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4092758555
if you haven’t already signed up.”
So. Forecast presents:
BANJO OR FREAKOUT
Banjo Or Freakout sounds like a slow-cooking soup at a constant simmer. Alessio Natalizia, the hand behind these Mac-generated songs, takes the melodic, echoey drone of Panda Bear, mixes in the urgent, Afro-pop rhythms synonymous with Vampire Weekend and Abe Vigoda, and seals it together with Sonic Youth-inspired tension and repetition that never subsides into something recognisable, like a chorus or a verse.
http://www.myspace.com/banjoorfreakout
THE BALKY MULE
On the FatCat label and damn fine – Balky Mule is the alias of UK ex-pat Sam Jones, a Bristolian-expat currently living and recording in Melbourne, and who over the past decade or more has been a key figure in Bristol’s vibrant post-rock scene, playing alongside his brother Matt in both Crescent (guitar / drums) and Movietone (guitar), as well as in Flying Saucer Attack (guitar), Minotaur Shock (bass / marimba), and Third Eye Foundation (echoes / samples). He has recorded nine independent CDRs and cassettes prior to his debut album ‘The Length Of The Rail’, and this material was recorded alone, over a few years at his house in Melbourne. There is a fair bit of homemade instrumentation afoot, recalling early Syd Barrett, The Kinks or Hood.
www.myspace.com/thebalkymule
Plus support from THINGS MAKE ELECTRIC
I always like a band with minimal web presence, bar a site I can’t access, who can’t be cut and pasted within the five meagre minutes I have in work to write this. Oh, go to their MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/markmake
Thursday 30th April
Upstairs, Clwb Ifor Bach£6adv from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/46004 or www.clwb.net
7.30pm / please arrive early as this show will curfew at 10.30pm
Plus! Get to Spillers a few hours earlier and enjoy one of their super instores. The Balky Mule will play at 5.15pm. Get there.
