Chantal’s Top 100 Welsh Albums: 5-1

Previous posts in this countdown can be found here.

5. Murry The Hump – Songs Of Ignorance (2001)

Murry The Hump - Songs Of Ignorance album cover

Tell me about the artist

Internet bio:
“Murry the Hump were a Welsh indie rock and ‘urban folk’ band. They were active from 1999 until 2001.”
(taken from Wikipedia)

Seen them live?:
Sadly not, no.

Chantal’s Last.fm artist stats:
Total number of scrobbles: 764

Tell me about the album

Internet review:
“As an opening lyrical salvo, ‘My dealer drives a three-wheeler’ is one of the greats. Not only for the nifty rhyme, but for the way it foreshadows the psychoactive barminess of what is to follow on Murry The Hump’s accomplished debut. More substances are name-checked over the course of the next 37 minutes than in a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. After ‘Vodka & Wine’ and ‘Booze & Cigarettes’, it’s no surprise to find that their ‘Green Green Grass’ of home is the kind you smoke – shedding new light on ‘Cracking Up’. Cardiff’s MTH aren’t averse to a party – but only if it brings them a little closer to uncovering some kind of deeper human truth.”
(taken from the NME)

Personal thoughts/ramblings:
I wrote the following about the album in 2008, on LiveJournal:

“This is one of my favourite albums ever and it’s rare that I meet anyone else who’s even heard of it, never mind listened to it. Anyway, I’m not even sure how I discovered MTH now, but I think there’s quite a high likelihood it was through Welsh Bands Weekly. It was definitely during my time at uni, I read good things about them and bought the singles ‘Don’t Slip Up’ and ‘Cracking Up’ when they were released. I also kept gazing at the album in CD Centre, but believe it or not I was actually quite careful with my money back then and couldn’t afford to buy it for ages. I think I’d illegally downloaded the majority of the songs before I finally managed to own a copy of the album. Tis a fab fab album though, but a bit difficult to describe. I guess it’s indie, a little bit pop, but with a strong country tinge too. The songs are quite varied, but there’s one thing that’s pretty consistent – the amusing nature of the lyrics.”

Chantal’s Last.fm album stats:
Most played track: ‘Colouring Book’ with 57 scrobbles (though I actually listen to the single version more often than the album version)

Where can I buy it?:
It’s on Discogs here.

Favourite song on the album:

4. Cerys Matthews – Never Said Goodbye (2006)

Cerys Matthews - Never Said Goodbye album cover

Tell me about the artist

Chantal’s Last.fm artist stats:
Total number of scrobbles: 2,605

Tell me about the album

Internet review:
“Whereas the carefree Cockahoop felt like a cathartic wipe of the musical slate, Never Said Goodbye is a more complex affair. Matthews’ band is punchier than before, with the rolling drums and bass cutups on Ruby providing a musical highlight.”
(taken from BBC Wales)

Personal thoughts/ramblings:
When I first listened to this album, I actually took notes about it as I was listening, which I shared on LiveJournal (plus also sent to Cerys, because of course I did). I won’t share the full thing as it’s quite long (plus includes me going to answer the door to the Tesco man), but an edited highlights version:

“Ok, before I start this I’m going to apologise for my descriptions of songs. I find songs very very difficult to describe. They’re not really made to describe are they? Without being pretentious and muso like anyway. They’re made to experience! I’m still going to attempt it though. These are the rambling thoughts that come into my brain as I listen to the songs. Nothing more, nothing less.
‘Streets Of New York’ – Ooh, liking the drums! I don’t know how to describe this at all – it’s different to everything I can think of. Really like it though – great opening track.
‘A Bird In The Hand’ – Ooh blimey, this is different to the live version. It’s much quirkier. Ooh, ooh, me like. It’s really cute! 😀 It makes me feel all smiley and happy. Very summery.
‘Oxygen’ – Ooh I recognise the chorus! She must have played it at Bethesda. Either that or I’ve gained psychic powers. Hee, this is so impossible to describe. I really like it, though think I’ll like it even more after a few more listens. It definitely strikes me as a grower – there’s so much going on in it. Ooh ooh love the vocals at the end!
‘Open Roads’ – I’ve heard this quite a few times already, so can’t really give my first impressions now, but I’m still loving it. And the lyrics still make me want to cry. I love the way it ends.
‘Endless Rain’ – I don’t know how to describe this at all – it’s beautiful and it makes me want to smile and cry in equal measure – all in a good way though.
‘Blue Light Alarm’ – This song’s like being in a magical forest or something. A magical forest with some kind of hidden threat. Oooh, ooh wow – I love that bit that just came in! Ok, that doesn’t really work as a comment if you can’t hear what I’m hearing right now, but trust me, that was good. This song makes me think of Ooberman – which is never a bad thing. It has that magic and big orchestration and explosions of sound.
‘Morning Sun’ – This is another one that makes me smiley and happy. I want to dance around a field or something. With a tambourine!!!
‘Seed Song’ – Ooh funky. Ooh very funky. This is another song that’s not like anything else ever!
‘What Kind Of Man?’ – Ooh, short and kinda sleazy! He he. It’s like the long lost cousin twice-removed of Shoot The Messenger – mostly in that it makes me think of someone drunk in a bar.
‘Ruby’ – Ooh blimey! This is totally different again. It has a dancey kinda beat – funky, but in a different way to Seed Song. I feel like I’m dancing in a darkened club now. Woah, I think that needs some more listens.
‘Elen’ – Ah, a Welsh track! Cool. It has a lullaby quality to it.
Anyway, woah, that’s one amazingly impressive album. I’m not even sure how to sum it up – plus I’m sure I’ll keep changing my perception of it as it becomes more familiar. It’s impossible to try and compare to Cockahoop or any Catatonia stuff (well, aside from my brief mention of Shoot The Messenger), as it has a totally different feel and style about it – which is good! If it sounded the same as old stuff, what would be the point? But yeah – there are some really happy, sunny songs on there, that evoke images of The Polyphonic Spree or something – but then it also gets kinda dark and moody and delightfully sleazy! Love love love it!”

So, yes, from that initial reaction to the album, it’s probably not surprising it’s charted so high. Although my love for it goes beyond my enjoyment of the album itself – I also associate it with 2006 in general, which included going to ten Cerys gigs, plus setting up her MySpace (at her request, I hasten to add – that wasn’t just a random creepy thing I did). It was an amazing year and will always mean a lot to me.

Chantal’s Last.fm album stats:
Most played track: ‘What Kind Of Man?’ with 102 scrobbles.

Where can I buy it?:
It’s on Discogs here.

Favourite song on the album:
It varies, but at the moment I’d say it’s probably this:

3. Big Leaves – Pwy Sy’n Galw? (2000)

Big Leaves - Pwy Sy'n Galw? album cover

Tell me about the artist

Seen them live?:
Sadly not, no. Another reason why I wish I’d made that Catatonia gig at Northampton Roadmenders in 2001 is so I could have seen Big Leaves before they split.

Chantal’s Last.fm artist stats:
Total number of scrobbles: 1,266

Tell me about the album

Internet review:
“The flashpoint between ‘Radiator’-era Furries and early Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, ‘Pwy Sy’n Galw?’ is the sound of a robust, concise, self-aware pop nous refusing to deny its more sprawling, pastoral leanings. Yes, it’s a defiantly ’70s-scented stomp, but like those aforementioned fellow countrymen, Big Leaves refuse to play straight, to fall into the retro tarpit – they’re too busy having fun with the history and language of pop to lose themselves in destructive reverence. Which is, most certainly, a good attitude.”
(taken from the NME)

Personal thoughts/ramblings:
I wrote in my notes for this album that ‘the lyric booklet’s probably seen more action than most others’, which sounds unintentionally-suggestive, but is definitely true (in the literal sense of me having used it a lot). As well as every track being brilliant, I love singing along to this album (or attempting to sing along to it – after all these years I still can’t read the Welsh fast enough to manage most of the verses to the title track). It’s a fairly short album, with a run time of about 35 minutes, but that means it flies by in an enjoyable punch of perfectly-formed awesomeness.

Chantal’s Last.fm album stats:
Most played track: ‘Synfyfyrio’ with 92 scrobbles

Where can I buy it?:
You can get it from Discogs here

Favourite song on the album:

2. Catatonia – Way Beyond Blue (1996)

Catatonia - Way Beyond Blue album cover

Tell me about the album

Internet review:
“An assortment of punk-leaning jangle pop numbers with the occasional thrash of late ‘80s guitar, Cerys Matthews’ vocals offer a layering of thick syrup with the occasional rough of honeycomb, making Way Beyond Blue nothing if not easy to enjoy. Its plethora of radio-ready numbers and the top 40 success of ‘You’ve Got a Lot to Answer For’ make it a whiz-through listen from start to close, the tracks slipping by on the easy thrum of Mark Roberts’ shimmery guitar.”
(taken from Wales Arts Review’s 100 Greatest Welsh Albums list)

Personal thoughts/ramblings:
This is an edited (honest) extract from an incredibly long and rambly post I wrote on LiveJournal in 2007.  Prior to the start of this extract, I’d talked about how I’d gotten into Catatonia via ‘Mulder & Scully’ and how I got a copy of ‘International Velvet’ for my 18th birthday:

“So, Way Beyond Blue… I was completely oblivious to its existence until I got on the internet and started looking up Catatonia (aka reading Adam Shutes’ site. Mmmmm yellow). I don’t know why I hadn’t looked them up on the internet before, but it wasn’t really something I did as a matter of course back then. Living at home I wasn’t so able to be permanently attached to the internet 😉 When I did read about WBB, naturally I wanted to hear it, but it was not to be found in the shops. However, Equally Cursed And Blessed was then released and round about the same time they reissued Way Beyond Blue. Suddenly it was everywhere!! And cheap!! I remember buying it with my Easter money, along with the X-Files movie on video!! I think this was just before ECAB was released. Anyway, I listened to WBB a few times and enjoyed it, but it didn’t really grab me initially. It quickly got relegated when ECAB was released, which I loved! However, after the obsessive playing of ECAB subsided, I started listening to WBB again and started to appreciate it for the brilliant album it is.
‘Lost Cat’ – I really didn’t take to this song when I first heard it. Don’t know why. It grew on me but didn’t become one of my favourites really. However, since Cerys started doing it live from Dec ’05 and throughout last year, my affinity for it has grown a lot. It would definitely make my favourite songs list now. Interesting the difference that’s made by attaching certain experiences and memories to a song. It shows just how subjective these judgements are.
‘Sweet Catatonia’ – This one’s always been a fave. And I love the video for it!! It’s one of the few songs I’d heard before I got the album actually, as had recorded Catatonia on Long Play on Sky One, which showed a collection of their promo vids, including Sweet Cat, Bleed and YGALTAF. When I first listened to WBB those 3 songs remained my favourites as they’re definitely the most instant songs on the album. I found that most of the others were growers, which is why it was so easily put aside when ECAB was released, as that was a very instant album. Arguably too instant I suppose – often it’s the growers that become your favourites in time.
‘Bleed’ – It was good to hear the album version of this song, rather than the ’clean version’, which is what I’d heard from watching the promo vid. Although I do quite like the way the lyric cuts off in the clean version – it changes the whole flow of the lyrics and gives it an interesting effect.
‘Gyda Gwen’ – the whispering at the beginning of this secret track confused and creeped me out a bit when I first heard it, he he. I was already familiar with the concept of secret tracks, but when you’re alone in your bedroom and the music stopped a few mins ago and you suddenly hear people whispering, you do start to question your sanity!”

Chantal’s Last.fm album stats:
Most played track: ‘Sweet Catatonia’ with 98 scrobbles.

Where can I buy it?:
It’s on Discogs here.

Favourite song on the album:
This changes quite often, and it’s incredibly hard to choose, but at this moment in time I’m going for this (the video for which is taken from Long Play on Sky One, so the same as when I first saw it. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was literally a copy from the VHS I taped it on, as I’ve made and shared copies of that for multiple people over the years. The audio’s been replaced on this video though, so it’s not the radio-friendly version from the actual promo vid):

1. Catatonia – International Velvet (1998)

Catatonia - International Velvet album cover

Tell me about the artist

Chantal’s Last.fm artist stats:
Total number of scrobbles: 3,424

Tell me about the album

Internet review:
“From the wonderfully aggressively rampant ‘I Am The Mob‘ to the jaunty ‘Mulder And Scully‘, Catatonia have produced an album of 12 classically brilliant tracks with some excellent guitar effects, processed bass and drum loops which combine with their traditional rock sound.”
(taken from Scottish Music Network)

Personal thoughts/ramblings:
Where to even start with this? Of course it’s number 1 – anyone who even remotely knows me will surely be in no way surprised by that. I can’t imagine how different my life would be without this album (and Catatonia in general). I wouldn’t have met a lot of my friends; I likely wouldn’t have gotten into the indie music scene, or the Welsh music scene, in the same way that I did, or at the time that I did, so mightn’t have discovered some of my other favourite bands of that era (including Melys, Big Leaves, Murry The Hump…); I definitely wouldn’t have ended up doing social media and website work for Cerys (which is a whole other story in itself, but partly came about via my Catatonia fansite, which I obviously wouldn’t have created); and I don’t even know that I’d currently be living in Cardiff – sure, I always loved Wales and wanted to live here, but would it have happened? And would it have been Cardiff?

As to the album itself – I’m sure I’ve written about it sooooo many times over the years, that I can steal some thoughts from Past Chantal… Okay, I just searched my PDF archive of my old LiveJournal and ‘International Velvet’ crops up 68 times. I won’t share all of those, don’t worry, but a couple of highlights…

This is taken from a Desert Island Discs meme in April 2005:
“1. Catatonia – International Velvet
Well, no surprise with this choice. Always the first album to come to mind and I can’t imagine being without it. The first Catatonia album I owned, which definitely plays a large part in why it’s so significant to me. Without this album and without this band my taste in music would quite possibly be very different and I’d definitely be a very different person. Before Catatonia my taste in music was mostly limited to Queen and stuff from the 60s! I had no interest in the majority of music on the radio and wasn’t really aware of the whole indie scene. There were a few others who’d broken through to me before Catatonia, like Alanis Morissette, but Catatonia were different. Yeah ok so it was Mulder And Scully that made me aware of them and a large part of my interest did come from my X-Files obsession, but it was more than that. Mulder And Scully was never a *novelty* song and if you think it is then you’ve really never listened to it. It’s stayed one of my favourite songs for a reason. The pain and frustration in Cerys’ voice as she sings about love and how it can fuck you up yet be so nice too just kills me! The thing that really convinced me Catatonia were something special though was when they released Road Rage. I’d gotten so used to liking a particular song by a band but then being disappointed when their next song sounded exactly the same!! With Catatonia though, Road Rage was equally good, in a similar vein, yet completely different! Oh how excited I was to discover there were bands around still capable of that. Then of course when Strange Glue was released they reached confirmed god status! I couldn’t afford to buy International Velvet for ages as was saving up for going to America, however I thankfully ended up getting it for my 18th birthday. It didn’t leave my CD player for ages!! Some songs are so instant and just hit you in the face and knock you for six. I Am The Mob especially was an instant favourite and I just remember thinking ’they should so release this as a single!!’, so I was rather shocked when I later found out they *had* released it as a single but it hadn’t gotten the radio play so had only gone to number 40. So so wrong! However, IV’s all about the contrasts and as well as the brash ball-breaking songs there are also the ones that make you want to cry. Songs like Johnny Come Lately and Goldfish And Paracetamol took a little while to grow on me but once they did they became firm favourites. I agree with what [I referenced another LJ user here] said about Catatonia – what gets to you and makes you love them is the honesty of the songs. As Steve Lamacq put it, International Velvet is an album that says ’I’m strong, oh no wait I’ve just fallen apart again’. Ok so I’ve rambled slightly about this album but I could seriously write a book about it and the direct and indirect influences it’s had on me.”

From 2007, when doing my ‘A-Z Music’ blogging project:
“It sparked off so many things for me and I hold it personally responsible for the development of my current taste in music, including my particular love of Welsh bands, the meeting of some of the nicest (and slightly crazy) people ever, who are some of my best friends, and a large part of my general lifestyle and outlook on things. In some ways it seems strange to attribute so much to one album, but I’m absolutely certain that if it hadn’t been released my life now would bear no resemblance to how it actually is. I’m sure most music obsessives have an album like that and this is mine.
‘Mulder And Scully’ – This is of course the song that kicked it all off. Quite fitting as the opening track! I still love it and the lyrical content always strikes a nerve. Tis my theme song.
‘My Selfish Gene’ – I haven’t talked about this album as a whole and how emotional and cathartic an album it is. The highs and the lows in life are all there and this seems quite a fitting album closer. It’s funny to think it could have been ’That’s All Folks’. In some ways it should have been and yeah it’s my favourite song and wow what a way to end an album that would have been. But I wouldn’t change this album for the world now – I like the gentle and kinda futile end that ’My Selfish Gene’ gives it. ’That’s All Folks’ would change the whole dynamic of the album – going out on more of an ass-kicking high. It seems wrong somehow.”

Like Past Chantal mentioned, I genuinely could write some kind of book about this album and my personal connection to it (and don’t think I haven’t considered it!), but for now I’ll settle for this chart and this blog post.

Chantal’s Last.fm album stats:
Most played track: ‘Mulder and Scully’ with 129 scrobbles. It’s currently my most played track in general. Partly because I played it a lot following a break-up in 2013. It had always been an important and emotional song to me anyway, but I got to appreciate it in a whole new way then.

Where can I buy it?:
It’s on Discogs here.

Favourite song on the album:
The significance of M&S aside, my favourite is probably this (though it’s very hard to choose):

And that’s all, folks (Catatonia reference very much intended).