This has been a relatively quiet week in work for the National Orchestra of Wales. We had two days of recording at the start of the week and on Friday we have three concerts as part of the BBC Radio Wales day.

I always think recording a concerto must be quite an exhausting experience for a soloist. Performing a concerto is one thing, but at least you get to stop at the end, be applauded, get flowers and wear a pretty dress on the concert platform. Recording however, is a very different thing. The continual repetition of patching, retaking and playing through is tiring for the orchestra, but it requires a tremendous degree of both physical and mental stamina from the soloist.

In live performance there is an extra edge to everything, an energy and excitement that is difficult to capture on a recording. In the concert hall you start at the beginning of the work and follow its trajectory through to its conclusion; you go on a journey with the composer that has a definite beginning and a clear ending.

Recording is a mixture of complete runs of a movement, patches, and retakes (I wholeheartedly and unreservedly apologise to all of my colleagues for the retake we had to do of the last page due to my playing a beat early six bars before figure 83 - I felt suitably shamed). I always find concerto recordings particularly taxing because as the day goes on, your concentration inevitably wanes and sometimes, no amount of coffee seems to help.

In addition to this week's recording, on Friday Radio Wales will be hosting a series of shows live from our studio. We will be involved in the Jamie and Louise show (a bit on the early side for my liking) and the Roy Noble show (a much more acceptable time of day).

We have a lot of music to get through (the viola section has already had flapjacks, brownies, carrot cake and chocolate cake this week - morale boosting treats do not last long in our section) and the day will culminate in a Six Nations themed evening performance. It says on the Orchestra website that there will be guest panelists. I am hoping that many of these guest panelists will be rugby players, but I'm not holding out much hope.

BBC Radio Wales will be broadcasting live from BBC Hoddinott Hall on Friday 27 January between 9am-12pm and 2pm-5pm. Limited tickets are still available on the door. For further information please call 03700 10 10 51.

There is a little detail that is seldom revealed when you start learning to play an instrument. Yes, it is very lovely to be able to play Happy Birthday for your grandmother, and to play Silent Night in the school nativity (though I always wanted to be Mary and I never, ever got to be). And yes, when you get older, it is incredible to explore and discover your personal tastes in music; what you enjoy playing, what you enjoy listening to, what actually sets your teeth on edge.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't exchange my career for any other (a week's work experience in Belfast Crown Court put an end to my fleeting consideration of law as a possible career path), but no one every tells you just how expensive it is to be a musician.

I'm not talking about the expense of lessons, college or master classes, though I'm sure if my parents were to calculate how much they spent on my piano (hated it), singing (liked the folk songs), theory (really couldn't care less if my chorales in the style of Bach had parallel fifths or not) and viola lessons (liked them) over the years, they would need a holiday to get over the shock. Best not to think about it, Father.

What I am talking about is the cost of instruments themselves. If you are a string player, the purchase of the instrument, the bow, and then the maintenance of these beautiful pieces of craftsmanship is colossal. And do not even start me on the expense of strings.

My bow is not a bad bow, but neither is it a good bow, and I have to work very hard to make certain bow strokes work. While it has been good enough to get me through college, and into my first job, I have quite simply outgrown it, a bit like a child outgrowing a bicycle in some ways.

I've probably said it before, but the relationship between a musician and their instrument is a complex one. While a good workman should never blame his tools, if you are on stage playing an instrument you feel limited on, or using a bow that you have little faith in, it is a most uncomfortable situation.

It's not just string players either - I dare you to ask a wind player about reeds (try a bassoonist or oboist for best results). Musicians are sensitive to small changes in the condition of their instrument and can, understandably, be rather precious when it comes to what is, essentially, their livelihood.

I've never been in a position to really invest in a bow before and I'm finding the prospect of trying out lots of (hopefully) fabulous options very exciting, if a tad scary. I'm saving very hard, so if you see me in Cardiff city centre looking a bit thin and miserable, please buy me a coffee (conversely, if you see me shopping, remind me I'm saving for a bow)!

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Violas started the year with a handmade limited edition EP release on the wonderful Owlet label, run by the Trwbador duo, and I've been playing it lots on my Saturday night show on BBC Radio Wales. They'll be playing live on the BBC Radio Wales show on 20 February, and here's an interview with the band's Owain Griffiths.

Violas

Hi Violas. Congratulations on the release of the new EP Hwylio/Sailing.

"Hi Beth, diolch! It's a mini EP with only has three songs on it but think it works well. We have built 'paperback' covers and fabric covers for its packaging and it's the fabric ones which are limited edition - we're only making 50 of those."

The packaging looks pretty. Did you all help make them individually? It must have taken ages!

"The fabric ones did take a long time and we still haven't finished making them. There's a lot of cutting, ironing, gluing and folding involved - it keeps us busy. We had a lot of trial ones that we had to throw in the bin, though. We thought it was a good idea to get Hannah, who did the artwork, to supervise us.

"

Owlet Records are releasing it. How did this partnership come about?

"
I answered an advert nearly two years ago volunteering to help with a new record label. It was a UK-wide advert and so I had no idea that Owain and Angharad were from Carmarthenshire! We got talking and they offered to help us. They're great. They work really hard and have been amazing in promoting the EP.



"

Tell me more about the band. Who's in the line up? How long have you been a band, and what made you start in the first place?


"We consist of five band members: two Owains, one Sion, one Andrew and one Llyr who joined us recently on the synths and tambourine. Matthew, our original bass player, is somewhere in South America at the moment.

"We started writing songs in 2009. We knew each other since uni and we knew we all played some sort of instrument. We threw it all in a cauldron."

What are your main musical influences?

"
It's something we didn't discuss at all. Each member has his own influences but it doesn't reflect in our songs in an obvious way. It's a casserole of influences. Indie, math ock, alternative - whatever you want to call it."

What have been the highlights of being in a band so far?


"We've played Sŵn festival twice, appeared on S4C on Bandit and Gofod, and had radio plays on BBC Radio 1, BBC6 Music, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and Amazing Radio which has been beneficial to our profile. Releasing our first EP as a band is pretty special too."

What would be one goal that you're all focused on? Is there one thing that would be a dream come true?


"We are all focused on releasing more material and getting ourselves more gigs across theUK. We would like to travel more with the band: it would be good for us.

"

Have you had any disaster gigging stories so far, or has it all been plain sailing?

"Ha! A child once shouted "Get off the stage or play Kings of Leon!" We did neither."

When's your next live event?


"We're playing at Cardiff's Koko Gorillaz on 24 February. I think it's just for students, but you can check out future gigs online at Soundcloud, Facebook and Owlet records."

You can read a great interview and review of Violas' recent EP launch at Plastik Magazine and they will be in session on BBC Radio Wales on Saturday 18 February, when Georgia Ruth Williams will be covering my DJ slot for me, between 7-10pm on BBC Radio Wales.

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The Welsh house that inspired one of the best-known Anglican hymns, All Things Bright And Beautiful, is up for sale; a snip at £2.25 million.

Llanwenarth House. Photo courtesy of Fine estate agents

Llanwenarth House near Abergavenny was the residence of Cecil Frances Alexander when she penned the hymn. In it she wrote:

The purple headed mountain
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning,
That brightens up the sky

It is thought that the Blorenge and Sugar Loaf mountains and the River Usk provided the inspiration for those lines that have been sung for 150 years.

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Two years after being suspended after low ticket sales, Bryn Terfel's Faenol Festival is coming back in 2012, but this time staged in London.

Bryn Terfel

Previously staged on Grynedd's Faenol Estate, the opera star's pop/classical/opera crossover event will be part of the Southbank Centre's Festival of the World from 4-7 July. The four nights will bring Welsh and non-Welsh musical, theatrical and comedy performers to the Royal Festival Hall. It is designed as part of the run-up to the 2012 Olympics in London.

Speaking to the Western Mail, a spokesman for Terfel said:

"We are thrilled that the Faenol Festival is returning this year and that audiences in London will get to experience some of our finest culture. We now hope that the festival will return to its natural home in north Wales in the near future."

The Southbank Centre told us:

In an attempt to re-create the informality and excitement of Bryn's Faenol Festival in North Wales, over the four days Southbank Centre will come alive with song with impromptu performances by professional and amateur musicians on mini-stages and bandstands as well as in the foyer spaces of the Royal Festival Hall. Visitors will have an opportunity to explore and enjoy Welsh culture through poetry reading events, Welsh language workshops, Welsh food market, singing workshops including a major choral project with Southbank Centre's Voicelab."

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Right, a little test for me: how many Welsh dance record labels can I name? There's Ten Thousand Yen from Swansea; Associated Minds from Cardiff (who are more hip hop than dance); there's Electroneg for pure electronica; there's Catapult Records' own imprint, but now, shamefully, I'm already starting to struggle.

Feel free to enlighten me in the comments section below, but in the meantime, there is a new dance record label, already making very positive and confident moves in their tentative steps into the music industry.

Million Way

Meet Jettset Records. I caught up with head honcho James Bennett to find out more.

Hi James - a welsh dance record label! There aren't many, so I thought I'd find out a bit more about you. How long have you been running?

"We started up last year, and our first release came out in November."

What's the musical remit of the label?

"Our aim is simply to get great music out in front of people. Our current roster is mostly made up of electronic artists that also incorporate a live element into their music. We are big fans of bringing live performance into dance music, for us it's just a really good combo."

Who's on the roster so far?

"The label was originally set up as a platform to release records by Million Way, a live electronic three-piece from Bristol/Cardiff who play dance music in the vein of Daft Punk and Chemical Brothers but using drums, bass and synths. They are making a big impression across the board as their sound sits under both the 'band' and 'dance-music' umbrellas and their live shows are banging!

"Alembic is a super-talented producer from London who writes African influenced hip hop/electronica. His EP Shadow Tapes was our first release in November and has been really well received. It even made it into Rough Trade's 'Most Wanted' section so we were really happy with that!

"Also we have Jasper who is the synth player in Million Way. He is constantly producing great music that doesn't always fit into the Million Way remit but is far too good to be just put on the shelf.

"I will also be releasing my own music through Jettset as Bennetton. I produce bouncy electro and house, mainly, and am currently working with some vocalists and MCs in Cardiff who will feature on my next release. I'm also doing a few remixes for local bands which you will hopefully hear more about soon."

I've really loved the tunes from Alembic - tell me more about him.

"He's actually an animator/designer as well as a producer and has worked on things like Channel 4's FoneJacker series. His EP Shadow Tapes came about after he borrowed an African thumb piano and it just developed from there. Live he performs with a mbira as well as a laptop and other electronic gadgets. His writing style is very creative and unrestrained, he formulates song structures around what feels right rather than following standard pop structures."

Had you any experience of running a label before? What have you learned so far and what's been tricky to deal with?

"Yeah, it's the first time I've been involved in running a label and it all came about by accident really. I was spending a lot of time reading up on new ways to promote and market Million Way and when it came to releasing the next EP I realised that we could put it out ourselves. Alembic got on-board when we were staying at his flat in London after a gig and before we knew it we had started developing a roster.

"Getting people to hear about what you are doing is probably the hardest part. When you're a sapling label no one has really heard of you yet so it can be difficult getting people on your side. But if you keep sending people quality music a buzz soon starts to grow."

What physical shape do the records take, or are you mainly downloads?

"We try to release physical copies where possible as that's what we buy ourselves. But obviously the download market is huge at the moment and a lot of people prefer to buy the mp3s rather than CDs or vinyl. We sell both physical and digital copies of all our releases from our online shop as well as in independent record stores and on iTunes, Juno and Bandcamp. We also put them up to stream on Amazing Tunes and Spotify as a lot of people are using those now."

What's the next release of the label going to be and when is it out?

"Jasper's EP Mixed Messages is coming out on 3 February. It's a five-track digital release and you can pre-order it from our online shop. We usually give a way a few bits and pieces to tie in with the release too, through our website and Facebook page."

What are your plans for the rest of the year?

"Million Way's second EP is nearly ready so that will be the big one this year. My Bennetton release will hopefully be out in May so I'm looking forward to that too. We are currently booking festival shows for our acts next summer so we will be out on the road doing the festival circuit as well as a Million Way tour in the coming months."

How do you hope the Jettsett music message will grow?

"Our aim is simply to be known as a label that releases great music. We would like to encourage people to think creatively when it comes to making music and to write music they are really happy with, not what they think other people will be happy with."

When are your acts next playing live or DJing?

"Million Way are getting out on the road in March and April and then hitting the festivals. Alembic is going to be coming out with us over the summer and has a few shows booked in London this spring. I'm putting some DJ shows together at the moment so they should be up on our website soon too."

Anything else we need to know?

"In the run up to Jasper's EP release we are running a competition. It's called the Alembics 2012 and we are giving away three digital copies of Shadow Tapes. Gold, silver and bronze medal winners will be announced on 31 January. To enter just join our mailing list on jettsetmusic.com."

Where can people find you online?

"You can find everything on our website as well as on Facebook and Twitter. We're pretty active online and love hearing from people."

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This week's show is now available on the BBC iPlayer. Please visit the link any time between now and the start of the next programme to listen again.

The only real challenge presented by the move to Saturday nights is how I manage to re-jig my week so that my brain and mouth are in tip-top, athletic condition for a Saturday night. It's fair to say I still have some work to do in this respect. I'm a little like a foreign footballer coming over to the Premier League, having to acclimatise to the extra pace, physicality and paparazzi.

Or, any of Liverpool's recent domestic acquisitions.

So, I'm a little horse-voiced (yes, 'HORSE'-voiced) after a karaoke-blighted Christmas 'do' for the place I DJ in - a very messy affair. I can say with some confidence that the music really did die the moment I strangled American Pie. Again. And again. And again.

Fortunately this week's show is again so brimful of Welsh creative ace the messenger's failings can easily be ignored.

There are début plays for: Hot Chelle Rae, Local, KeyMono, The Keep, Hot Damn, Z-List non Entity, S.A.M. Official, Blaidd, Olympians, A La Fiste and Dinosaur Garden.

Demos/new releases/all correspondence should be sent to themysterytour@gmail.com.

Elsewhere Alan Holmes introduces us to the notion of 'harsh ambient', an interesting contradiction and a fascinating piece of music.

Ben Hayes jousts with Don Preston. Pity the poor horse.

Have an excellent, music-filled week, many thanks/diolch o galon.

ISLET - 'Libra Man'
Cardiff

LOS CAMPESINOS - 'By Your Hand'
Cardiff

HEAVY PETTING ZOO - 'Deathproof'
Swansea

SLEEPY PANDA CLUB - 'Ghost In The Mirrorr'
Swansea

HOT CHELLE RAE - 'I Like It Like That ( Vanguard Dub Remix )'
Nashville / Pembrokeshire (remix)

INFINITY CHIMPS - 'Brillo'
Snowdonia

STRAIGHT LINES - 'Half Gone'
Pontypridd / Pyle

LOCAL - 'Average Day'
Cardiff

KEY MONO - 'K Everything ( Lukeevermean Remix )'
Vilnius / London / Mold (remixer)

JASPER - 'Karate Chop'
Penarth

MR PHORMULA - 'Carbon Pressed'
Llanfrothen

LEAVING ISAAC'S SHOP - 'Control'
Wrexham

SHY AND THE FIGHT - 'All That We See Or Seem'
Chester / Llangollen

ALAN HOLMES - 'Spoken Contribution'
Bangor

OUR GLASSIE AZOTH - 'The Stage Of The Red Elixir, A King Or Rosa Rubea (excerpt)'
Ynys Môn

KEEP, THE - 'Last Words...'
Cardiff

DARKHOUSE FAMILY, THE - 'Take On The World Feat. Om'mas Keith'
Cardiff / Barry

IFAN DAFYDD - 'Treehouse ( E. P. Version )'
Llanrug

SEN SEGUR - 'Sarah'
Penmachno

HYSTERICAL INJURY - 'Icebreak'
Bath / Llandeilo

CERI FROST - 'Wile E. Coyote'
Cardiff

GEORGIA RUTH - 'Anna'
Aberystwyth / Cardiff

GOLDEN FABLE - 'Always Golden'
Ewloe

RAITHE - 'Acting Crazy (featuring Sarah Howells)'
Swansea

HOT DAMN - 'Willows'
Abertillery

HELDINKY - 'Arms'
Bangor

PETE HICKMAN - 'A Little Better ( With The Divers )'
Wrexham

KAYLA PAINTER - 'Visitor#1'
Newport / Bristol / Southampton

Z LIST NON ENTITY - 'Dirty Girl'
Cardiff

PEACHFUZZ - 'Down To Me'
Bridgend

HENRY'S FUNERAL SHOE - 'Bottom To Top'
Ystrad Mynach

S. A. M. OFFICIAL - 'Smash And Grab'
Rhyl

CLINIGOL - 'Geni [ Monky Remix ]'
Cardiff

BLAIDD - 'Catalonia'
Camarthen

OLYMPIANS - 'The Great Gatsby'
Cardiff Label

DOOM REGGAE - 'Move It ( Doom's Asked To Leave )'
Llanfairfechan

A LA FISTE - 'Dannedd Dannedd Dannedd Dannedd'
Cardiff

BEN HAYES - 'Spoken Contribution'
Ruthin

DON PRESTON - 'Eye Of Agamoto'
Michigan, U S A

HOLY COVES - 'Euthanasia ( E P Version )'
Holyhead

DINOSAUR GARDEN - 'Insane'
Bangor / Llanfairfechan

CAMERA - 'Six Eight'
Wrexham

Lostprophets have today announced a UK tour in support of their fifth studio album, Weapons.

Lostprophets

The dates and venues are:

• Sunday 15 April - Dublin, Olympia
• Monday 16 April - Belfast, Ulster Hall
• Thursday 19 April - Liverpool, O2 Academy
• Friday 20 April - Manchester Academy
• Saturday 21 April - Leeds, O2 Academy
• Monday 23 April - Birmingham, O2 Academy
• Tuesday 24 April - Aberdeen, Music Hall
• Wednesday 25 April - Glasgow, O2 Acaedemy
• Friday 27 April - Newcastle, O2 Academy
• Saturday 28 April - Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
• Monday 30 April - Nottingham, Rock City
• Tuesday 1 May - Cambridge, Corn Exchange
• Wednesday 2 May - Southampton, Guildhall
• Friday 4 May - London, Brixton O2 Academy

You can listen again to Ian Watkins talking to Zane Lowe about the new album.

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To celebrate the release of Illuminated People, the fantastic new album by Islet, I sent the band a bunch of questions to find out a bit more about what's gone on with the new record.

Islet - Illuminated People

Hi Islet. Your début album is ready to go - you must be excited?

"Yes way! We're very excited to have this record coming out. Releasing new music is always fun as you never know what is going to happen.

You're also off to Japan, so there's double excitement at the start of the year. What are you expecting from the experience?

"We delighted to get the opportunity to go and play in Japan. In many ways it is a dream come true! None of us have ever been before so it's a new experience for us all. One of our aims when we started the band was to be able to play festivals and gigs around the world and now that is beginning to happen."

Back to the new album, Illuminated People, did having an external producer make a big difference to how you worked?

"Yes, it was a very different way of recording and mixing. We had Drew Morgan at the helm and he produced it in a traditional sense. There were more mics and high-end equipment than we had when we were working by ourselves."

Are the songs ready to go before you head into studio, or is the way you work quite flexible and organic?

"Well, most of them were pretty ready but there are always a few question marks floating around."

There are some more tender songs on the album than we've heard before, which was quite unexpected - We Bow in particular. Is there a different creative muse in the Islet camp?

"It's funny, a lot of people have referenced the gentler moments but in fact we have always had tracks like that. One of the first tracks we released was called Sign For Home and it's kind of similar in its style. We like to make music that reflects the range of emotions we all feel as humans."

I believe a lot of the songs were written and ready a while before you went into studio. Is there a temptation then to meddle, and mess with them more and more before you record them?

"No, hardly any of them were written a long time before we went to the studio. It's the first time we'd recorded tracks that we hadn't played live first. Most of them were written and finished in the weeks leading up to the recording session."

Are there any bands around now that inspire and influence you? Who do you enjoy seeing on the live circuit or listening to?

"We played with Battles in Cardiff last year who we have admired for a long time and then were lucky enough to watch them again a week later at a festival we were playing in Slovakia. We also all enjoyed a Canadian band at a festival in Leeds called Braids; they are great!"

Shape Records has been pretty busy since the last Islet releases in 2010. Who've you been working with?

"Yes, it has been a busy time for Shape. In 2010 and 2011 we were very busy and released a couple records from the prolific H. Hawkline and Sweet Baboo. We were also chuffed as we released the first ever Truckers Of Husk album, Shape have been big fans of them for years so it was a lot of fun."

DIY seems to be working for you. What one good piece of advice would you give to someone starting out?

"Just go for it and enjoy yourself! We like to look at it as DIT - doing it together."

Will you be touring the new album?

"We will be doing a UK tour in May. The finer details are being ironed out at the moment and we'll have more details soon. We're looking forward to it already!"

Where are the best places for people to find you online?

"Our website is www.isletislet.com.We made it ourselves and it features a lot of contents from ourselves and from Ewan Jones Morris, our good friend and long term multi-media collaborator. Ewan is also coming to Japan with us to shoot an experimental documentary of our trip."

Islet will be in session with me on BBC Radio Wales, on Saturday 4 February, from 7pm till 10pm.

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I am writing to you from the ladies' changing room of Cheltenham Town Hall (which I have discovered has wireless - always good to know these things). We have just finished rehearsals for tonight's concert with soloist, Stephen Hough, and conductor, Jurjen Hempel, and I am having a little sit down with a cuppa.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales' programme this evening (Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 1 and Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony) is rather heavy on the powers of concentration. Obviously mindful of this, Mr Hempel merely topped and tailed the symphony, checking for balance and what the maximum level of noisiness was for the brass. Shuffles of approval were heard.

Tomorrow, we will be back in St David's Hall, Cardiff with Stephen Hough, but also to perform Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony.

Manfred is not one of the six numbered Tchaikovsky symphonies. If anyone knows the reason for this, please let me know. Composed in the 11 year gap between the fourth and fifth symphonies, this was the first (and perhaps only, aside from the enigmatic Pathétique) of Tchaikovsky's symphonic works to have a programmatic element to it.

The music is based on the dramatic poem of the same name by Byron, the content of which, like a lot of Byron's work, is decidedly PG. There is incest, supernatural elements and a deep sense of foreboding. It's a bit like an 1800s episode of Eastenders actually, but with more flowery language.

To be honest, I'm not sure I had ever even heard Tchaikovsky's Manfred before I spotted it coming up in our schedule (don't know how it managed to slip under my geeky radar for all these years). I spent a lot of last week listening to it before I got down to actually learning the notes. There is something very enjoyable about really getting to grips with Tchaikovsky - for me, his music sits well 'under the hand', in the same way that Mahler's music does (and Bruckner's does not).

For all the gorgeous soaring, often searing, melodic lines in this music, it is also minutely detailed; every tiny swell and inflection in the music is so, so important. If you don't know your part, you can find yourself just playing along without getting any real sense of the heart of the music.

I've enjoyed getting to know Manfred. It is an interesting work which definitely feels like a different beast from the recognised six symphonies. To me, in some ways, although the musical language is somewhat different, this work reminds me more of the tone poems of Richard Strauss for example, than of the four symphonies Tchaikovsky composed prior to Manfred's conception.

After this week's lovely concerts, we shall be in recording and workshopping mode for the majority of the next two weeks. This will, at the very least, give me the opportunity to get some dry cleaning done and also to continue with the Great New Bow Search, of which you will undoubtedly hear more of in the coming weeks!

Laura and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony tonight at Cardiff's St David's Hall. For tickets and information, please call 02920 878444.

We're having a little bit of a Russian fest in work at the moment, it would appear. Not that I'm complaining. Playing as much contemporary music as the BBC Orchestras do leaves you craving a full throttle, red blooded, all guns blazing, melody and rhythm in equal measure programme every so often. And Russian music is rather good for that.

After last week's Rachmaninov and Stravinsky, this week the a href="/now/">National Orchestra of Wales moves on to some more Rachmaninov and two of the most over the top, self-indulgent, heart on sleeve works in the orchestral repertoire: the Pathétique and Manfred Symphonies, by the king of pulling at the heart strings himself, Tchaikovsky.

Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, the Pathétique, holds a very special place in my heart as it was the first full symphony I played. It has been really nice to reacquaint myself with the work. It has a very prominent viola part (as every good work should have, frankly) and is technically rather tricky in places, but remains musically satisfying at all times (in my opinion).

The work is quite a feat of stamina, and you have to pay close attention to maintaining a good sound, especially in the last movement. After the exhilaration of the third movement (incidentally, the subject of this weekend's metronome practice), facing the last movement can seem like a very long way off the finish line.

Tchaikovsky wrote in his correspondence to his nephew Vladimir Davydov that the programme of the symphony would be an enigma, but that has not stopped scholars and music lovers alike from trying to unravel its mysteries since the work was first performed in 1893.

The uncertainty that still surrounds Tchaikovsky's death so soon after the first performance of the Pathétique (Was it cholera? Was it suicide? No one will ever know), makes it very tempting to read into what he may have been communicating to his audience with this work. We can only surmise what the programme may have been (birth - adolescence - falling in love - the dying breaths of an old man, as the popular theory goes), but I still have to reach for the Kleenex when I hear the last movement.

Manfred is a new work for me and I will report back later in the week on how it is going!

I always think it a great shame that for many people, Tchaikovsky is the man who wrote the 1812 Overture, The Nutcracker and the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy. Not that these works are substandard in any way, it's just that there is so much more to hear of Tchaikovsky.

If you love Tchaikovsky's symphonies, try his operas; the letter scene from Eugene Onegin could slot perfectly in to any of his symphonic works. If you are a stringed instrument student and only know the violin concerto, get thee to the library post haste and listen to the quartets and Souvenir de Florence. I challenge you not to want to play them all by the end of the first movements!

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales will be performing Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony at St David's Hall, Cardiff, this Friday at 7.30pm. For tickets and information call 0800 052 1812.

Yesterday Roy Noble was joined on Radio Wales by actor and composer Sir Anthony Hopkins to discuss his début album, Composer.

You can listen to the interview here:

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

Need some assistance? Read about BBC iD, or get some help with registering.

This week's show is now available via the BBC iPlayer. Please visit the link any time between now and the start of the next programme.

This show isn't an exercise in self gratification or, at least, it shouldn't be. However, I have to say I'm rather proud of this week's effort - containing, as it does, 19 artists I've never played before, all of whom are excellent in their own unique fashion.

I just hope you enjoy this flood of aural creativity as much as me. Feel free to let me know either way.

Huw Williams digs up some prime Neath prog rock from 1974. Lara Catrin translates something that hasn't even been released yet from Sen Segur. Ben Hayes throws open the piano lid and invites Ron Geesin to make something up on the spot for us.

There isn't much else to say, really, other than please send demos/new releases/gig info/any correspondence to themysterytour@gmail.com

Or post your valuables to:

BBC Wales
Canolfan y Diwydiannau Creadigol / The Centre for the Creative Industries
Prifysgol Glyndŵr / Glyndŵr University
Wrecsam / Wrexham
LL11 2AW

This iPlayer link is perfect for sharing with the ones you love you the most. Retweets and shares move us all a little closer to the heaven of our choice.

Many thanks/diolch o galon.

LASH, THE - 'Stick It To Me'
Newport

WHOS MOLLY - 'Turn The Music Up!'
Swansea

DOC DANEEKA & BENJAMIN DAMAGE - 'Battleships Feat. Abigail Wyles'
Swansea

NO NAME BEATS - 'Home Time'
Cardiff

MATT CHRISTENSEN - 'Someday I Won't Matter'
Chicago / Bridgend (label)

ORGAN GRINDER - 'I Don't Love You ( Feat. Jessy Allen )'
Cardiff

FOE - 'Cold Hard Rock'
Fleet

BLOWGOAT - 'The Purge'
Cardiff

I AM AUSTIN - 'Come With Me'
Connah's Quay

HUW WILLIAMS - 'Spoken Contribution'
Swansea

QUICKSAND - 'Home Is Where I Belong'
Neath

HUW M - 'The Perfect Silence'
Pontypridd

DIGITAL EMPATHY - 'The Maddox Run'
Cardiff / Swansea

FALCON LAKE - 'All I Want'
Newport / Cardiff

TRWBADOR - 'Deffro Ar Y Llawr'
Camarthen / Cardiff

SATURDAY'S KIDS - 'Grey On White ( E P Version )'
Cardiff

REFRACTOR - 'Shallow Diver'
Bridgend (label)

LOST RIVERS, THE - 'Your Looks'
Baden-württemberg / Welsh Label

OWLS & BODHI - 'Say My Name'
Caerphilly

STAGGA & MONKY - 'Glass Bong'
Cardiff

ISLET - 'What We Done Wrong'
Cardiff

VIOLAS - 'Lieutenant Trung'
Cardiff

SEN SEGUR - 'Nofa Scosia'
Penmachno

LARA CATRIN - 'Spoken Contribution'
Bangor / Cardiff

SPENCER MCGARRY SEASON - 'Hands'
Cardiff / Aberdare

YR ANGEN - 'Fel Na Fydd E'
Swansea

BLACK CHALK SOUNDS - 'Heavy Doors'
Builth Wells

MISS A SOUL - 'Slow Jamz'
Newport

GARETH ROBERTS QUINTET - 'Shaky Leg Syndrome'
Cardiff

NO CHOICE - 'Is This Punk Rock'
Cardiff / Bridgend

CHWARTER I UN - 'Tin Traddodiadol'
Aberystwyth

IRMA VEP - 'Love Is Loving Someone Else's Baby Tonight'
Llanfairfechan

WEREWOLF ORCHESTRA OF NORTH WALES, THE - 'One'
Gwynedd

PAPER AEROPLANES - 'Winter Never Comes ( Foxymoron's Warm And Fuzzy Remix )'
Milford Haven

UNDERSOUND - '8th Sun'
Caerphilly

BEN HAYES - 'Spoken Contribution'
Ruthin

RON GEESIN - 'Agitation In Anticipation Of Offspring, Part X'
Ayrshire, Scotland

MORFFE - 'Mea Non Culpa'
Colwyn Bay

SWEET BENFICA - 'This Is Mother Nature Son'
Neath

HEHFU - 'Learning Dutch'
Caerphilly

WARSISTERS - 'Temple'
Llangollen

ANGUS POWELL - 'Monsters'
Wales

JOHN PEEL - 'Top Gear Signature Tune'
Heswall, Wirral

I get rather excited around this time every year. The January sales are always pregnant with the possibility of finding the perfect concert dress: stylish without being overly trendy, yet comfortable and demure without looking like something from a nun's wardrobe.

Orchestral dress is one of those seemingly insignificant, yet really quite important aspects of our job. In ballet and opera, the orchestra is hidden, but in orchestral work we are the main visual point. Granted, I'm sure an audience would rather see us playing fabulously in our civvies than horrendously in the most gorgeous frocks imaginable, but, to me, being well turned out for a concert is respectful to the music you are playing and to the audience who have paid to attend the concert.

It goes without saying that I was exceptionally disappointed by the January sales, and the search for the perfect concert dress continues.

On Saturday night (14 January) the National Orchestra of Wales returns to the Brangwyn Hall for our first Swansea concert of 2012. We were last there in December as part of our Christmas Celebrations and, despite the December weather, quite a number of us enjoyed sundaes at a nearby ice cream parlour. My favourite is the strawberry marshmallow topping.

In Saturday's concert, we will be repeating the Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements from Wednesday afternoon's concert followed by Lalo's Cello Concerto with soloist Alban Gerhardt.

After the interval it is the turn of Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances. Since I joined the orchestra they have performed the Symphonic Dances twice, but for one reason or another I have not been involved in either concert. So, this is my first crack at them. It's great to have the opportunity to get to know a work that one has always been aware of, but never had the chance to play before.

Of course, Rachmaninov isn't to everyone's taste; some people find his music a bit too self-indulgent and melodramatic. I can understand that to a certain extent - I think it is certainly true that familiarity breeds contempt, which can often be true of a work such as Rachmaninov's much loved, but also very much performed Second Piano Concerto (it will be refreshing to play his First Piano Concerto with the fabulous Stephen Hough next week). However, I think the Symphonic Dances are less sentimental than the music found in at least the second and third concertos.

The finale in particular I find exceptionally exciting (the immature side of me still loves that noisy, brassy, over the top finale found so often in music from this period) and the driving quavers of the first movement have such verve and vigour - this week's music has had a decidedly dance-infused flavour!

Still feeling very well rested from the Christmas break, it is exciting to consider the variety of work we will undertake over the coming months. Perhaps now is a good time to go through the brochure or online concert diary and get excited about what concerts you would like to see!

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales visits Swansea's Brangwyn Hall this Saturday 14 January at 7.30pm. For tickets and information, call 0800 052 1812, or the Grand Theatre Box Office on 01792 475715.

There's a lot of talk at this time of year of big international showcases where bands try to ply their wares to booking agents, press agencies, promoters, managers, record labels, and other international layers of the music industry.

The Whip

Festivals such as Eurosonic in Groningen, and SXSW in Texas in particular have had a bit of press and media attention in recent years, and many bands from Wales have benefited from playing at the events.

A bit closer to home, we have just such a showcase on the streets of Wrexham, to rival UK events like Brighton's Great Escape, and Manchester's In the City. For new bands, these industry showcases crossed with a big street festival are a great way to get noticed by a large number of people.

Read the rest of this entry

This week Shirley Bassey is the subject of a fascinating two-part Radio 2 programme Bassey!, in which the Tiger Bay singer tells her life story to Paul Sexton.

In this clip from episode one, Dame Shirley remembers her classic vocal performance on Goldfinger (along with the late John Barry, Don Black and the film's 'golden girl', actress Shirley Eaton) and explains how the track took her to Las Vegas and around the world.

You can listen to the first episode on the BBC iPlayer, and catch the concluding part on Tuesday 17 January at 10pm on Radio 2.

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

Need some assistance? Read about BBC iD, or get some help with registering.

Wales' memorial game for Gary Speed could well be graced with some of Wales' top musical talent, according to the singer due to perform the national anthem before the match.

Wales will play Costa Rica at the game, to be held at Cardiff City Stadium on 29 February.

Gary Speed

Singer and former Miss Wales, Courtenay Hamilton, who gave the Welsh footballers lessons in how to sing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau before their game against England last year, told the Western Mail: "I was not expecting to be asked at all because I know they have asked the Manic Street Preachers to come and they have got Bryn Terfel coming. I understood they would be asking some big-shots, so I thought, 'Great, I hope it's a fantastic day'. So when they asked I thought, 'Really, you want me to sing again?'

"Gary and I have spoken about the significance of the anthem."

The Football Association of Wales told us that musical acts attending the match are unconfirmed and they could not verify Hamilton's claims. The Manics' press company also weren't aware of any plans as yet.

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You'll believe a man can fly! Well, it may not be Superman, but it's Wales' own super bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, singing at the summit of the highest mountain in England and Wales.

We've been raiding the BBC Wales archive and from 2009's Bryn Terfel's Snowdonia: Closer To Home comes this short clip of the work to get Bryn's piano to the top of Snowdon. There's also a snippet of the song My Little Welsh Home by WS Gwynn Williams:

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

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In a New Year's Day special, Adam Walton talked to Super Furry Animal and current solo star Gruff Rhys in an extended interview.

Covering his career from his earliest forays into music, Gruff and Adam meandered fascinatingly through the last 25 years. You can listen again to the interview here:

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

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The first BBC Radio Wales Saturday night session for 2012 went to Cardiff three piece band Kutosis, whose album A Fanatical Love has been a regular on my radio show since it was released by Barely Regal a few months ago.

You can listen again to the show on the BBC iPlayer until 10pm on Saturday 14 January.

Read the rest of this entry

As you can probably see now from the myriad of 'new sound' lists in all the mags, radio shows, and on this here blog, January is a great time for new bands to make a bit of a splash.

Masters In France

Most of the work, however, has already been done during the previous year, and in order to get some support for your band it is vital to do so in a consistent way. After rehearsals, recording, playing local gigs, there is always the desire for world domination. Yet how do you go about the baby steps towards getting some good gigs, some radio play, some print or blog reviews and all the rest?

I caught up with one of the hardest working, most determined bands I know, who against all the odds of being quite isolated in their north-west-Wales location, have knocked on doors and made a few friends in the music industry in a short period of time. As well as catching up with Masters In France to talk about their new single, I thought I'd pick their brains about how they've gone about setting up a label, organising gigs around the UK, and other advice they might have for brand new bands starting out.

Hi Masters In France! Good to hear you have a new single and tour sorted. It's a good start to the year, so tell me about the new single.

"It's called Fall Down and it was recorded at Studio Ferlas where we've recorded all of our material so far. The track is really open to interpretation - we don't like to tell people what our tracks are about, it spoils the fun of listening to new music!

"It's another single that we'll be self-releasing on Bone Dry Records. Our fans won't have to pay for the single, but will need to tweet a link to the track or post it on Facebook to gain access to the download. This will be launched via our new website in February."

You're a hard working band, so how do you delegate promotional work within the band?

"It was a one-man operation when we started but we soon realised it was too much for one person, so Ed and myself (Math) do most of the super cool stuff like send emails, make phones calls and organise all the promo material for press and radio."

What's been a big help for you when it comes to organising your own tour and gigs?

"Booking gigs and tours is by far the hardest thing to do, and when you're based in north west Wales it makes it even harder. Finding good venues and promoters can be like finding a needle in a haystack. But when you start picking up a few radio plays, gigs and reviews locally, the ball starts rolling and it gradually becomes easier."

You also run your own record label. Since you started, what sorts of things have you learned about?

"All the things like writing, recording and rehearsals comes naturally, it makes sense to do those things. What took us a while to figure out was how to send demos (wavs, mp3s, bitrates and so on) which social sites to use, how to get our music on the radio and to press. It probably took a year or so for us to figure it out properly.

"The best thing about DIY, though, is that you can do things as you want them, and it's very fulfilling when you make new fans, play a brilliant gig, or sell a few CDs, because you know that you did it off your own back. It also gives you the confidence to go and do it with other projects."

What would you like to improve on, and what do you wish was different in terms of your experience of the music industry?

"A few things irritate me about the music industry, but the one thing that gets me the most is illegal downloads. Generally it affects everyone involved in the music industry, it devalues the product and makes it a lot harder for new bands.

"I'd like to see the government clamp down on it. I've been thinking a lot about inventing a self-destruct computer that blows up when you illegally download music! When people looted shops during the riots they were punished, and rightly so. But when millions of tracks have been illegally downloaded over the years it's sad to see that no serious action has been taken.

"I can't see anyone getting away with picking up a few free paintings from the Tate, so why should it be any different with music?"

What should a new band concentrate on first if they wanted to follow in your footsteps? What aspect of self promotion and organisation is the most important?

"Both are equally important for a young band that's starting out. Getting a record together, playing a few local shows and getting your friends involved is a great place to start. If it's something that you want to make a living out of then I'd recommend spending some time looking at what record labels do, and a getting a feel of how to go about it.

"If you have a quirky idea for promoting a single that might generate some interest in the band, go for it. There's no rule book! You probably won't have the budget that labels have either, so you'll have to work harder at being as good, creative and organised as the labels that have been established for years."

What do Masters In France have in store for the rest of the year?

"We've got two tours, in February and April, and we've been talking to people about recording our début album. Hopefully a festi-full summer and we'll take it from there."

What was the highlight of 2011 that will have to be trumped this year?

"I think being playlisted on Radio One and playing the Cardiff Big Weekend was up there, we didn't really expect it! Getting the album recorded and ready for release will trump it all though."

Which bands and musicians are you listening to right now?

"We all listen to loads of different artists and could spend all day talking about them, but I've been listening a lot to Radiohead's The King Of Limbs recently. I've seen a lot of bad reviews but it's a great album! It gets better every time you listen to it. They played a lot of it on the Park stage at Glastonbury this year, and I can't wait to see them tour it."

Remind me of your web links for all Masters In France's activity.

"You can find us on YouTube, Twitter, Soundcloud, and our own website which is launching in February. Meanwhile, Bone Dry Records is a lo-fi affair over at Facebook."

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

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Happy new year! I hope everyone had a lovely break. The holidays passed all too quickly, but alas, there comes a time when one must stop eating turkey sandwiches for breakfast and rejoin the real world.

I'm excited about our first afternoon concert of 2012. It includes three works I've never had the opportunity to play before, and indeed, one composer who I am completely unfamiliar with.

First on the programme is The Chairman Dances by John Adams. Eighteen months ago I knew no Adams (aside from Short Ride In A Fast Machine). I'm really glad I've had the opportunity to get to know some of his music. I know it's not everyone's cup of Darjeeling, but I find it fascinating. The Dr Atomic Symphony was the first work I played with the orchestra, followed by Harmonielehre with Thierry Fischer last season and I found both works exhilarating.

Playing Adams feels a little like going through a musical MOT; everything has to be very exact and accurate. Indeed, practicing the part individually sometimes feels soulless, the seemingly endless repetitions can almost sound like something out of a Kreutzer study book. But there in lies the beauty of this music! It's like one of the big 1,000+ piece jigsaws my father likes - the individual pieces make such little sense on their own, but together make a complex and often beautiful whole.

I have never played music by Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tuur, so it shall be a New Year voyage of discovery! His website informs me that he was originally involved in progressive rock and as my cousin Nick has recently got me listening to Pink Floyd, I am rather intrigued!

On Wednesday, we are joined by BBC New Generation Artist, Shabaka Hutchings whose jazz credentials make him a fine soloist for Copland's Clarinet Concerto. Aaron Copland was a huge Stravinsky fan and eventually fell into correspondence with him.

In one of my geek books, there is a lovely extract from a letter that Stravinsky sent to Copland writing "I want to tell you how much I love your clarinet concerto and how glad I have been to receive it from you." I would like Copland to know that I like his clarinet concerto more than Mozart's.

It seems fitting then that we finish the concert with Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements. With a lot of Stravinsky there is an element of 'getting in the groove'. This is one of those pieces. The first time I played this, I diligently learnt all the notes, so diligently however, that I lost sight of the fact that it is a living, moving piece of music. I simply just couldn't get into that elusive groove. Now, I'm looking forward to revisiting it like an old friend. Albeit an old friend who has the potential to trip me up should I not be paying due attention!

I hope you can join us for this lively, jazzy start to 2012!

Join Laura and the rest of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for this Afternoon Concert on Wednesday 11 January, 2pm, at BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff Bay. For tickets and more information, call 0800 052 1812.

This week's show is now available via the BBC iPlayer. Please visit the link any time between now and the start of the next programme.

Welcome to my first Saturday night show on BBC Radio Wales since the invention of the internet.

All the little melodramas associated with swapping a music show from a Sunday to a Saturday night were put into crude perspective just before I went on air. I heard that a friend had passed away. A friend who is synonymous with Newport in the early - mid 90s. That was a time and a place that will always be close to my heart: it's when I started making radio shows, and the music that came out of Newport then is still some of the most exciting I have ever heard.

And whenever I went down to Newport - which was often, back then - to see 60ft Dolls, or Five Darrens, Novocaine, Rollerco, Flyscreen or D*I*S*C*O, Ali Hale's friendly face would be one of the ones that I was most happy to see. For what it's worth, this show is dedicated to her memory, and to her family and friends: far, far too young and ace to leave us.

This week's show features a wonderful session from the Llyn Peninsula's Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog. Their songs sound like embers from an infinite heart. Or a bit American folk, if you prefer something more specific. Three beautiful songs that'll make you yearn for prairies and horizons you've never seen.

Alan Holmes reminds us of the organic, avant garde artistry of Graham Bowers, whose recent collaboration with the legendary Nurse With Wound glories in the possibilities at the edges of the map.

Lara Catrin translates something wonderful from Georgia Ruth.

And Ben Hayes shows up my ignorance of key cogs from the mid 60s engine room.

Either that, or I'm a very convincing devil's advocate. No? Oh, I didn't think you'd buy that. Pfft.

Elsewhere there is much music. Including a rather non-standard piece of broadcasting (Irma Vep) - I'll blog about that in more detail before the end of the week. We have debut plays for Jasper, Anatomy Of The Bear and Idol Heart Beats... if you have fascinating tuneage for us, please send it ASAP as a download link/mp3 to themysterytour@gmail.com.

Have an excellent, music-filled week.

ALEX MOUNTAINEER - 'Passing Fancy'
Penyffordd / Liverpool

ISLET - 'Entwined Pines'
Cardiff

FUTURE OF THE LEFT - 'Com . Man . Do ( Radio Edit )'
Cardiff

KNICKERS - 'My Baby's Just A Baby ( But I Love Him So )'
London / Cardiff Distribution

CUT RIBBONS - 'White Horses ( Bright Light Bright Light Remix )'
Llanelli

COWBOIS RHOS BOTWNNOG - 'Deio Bach'
Llyn Peninsula

60FT DOLLS - 'Happy Shopper'
Newport

KEYS, THE - 'The Lightness Of A Feather'
Resolven / Cardiff

BASTIONS - 'In The Shadow Of A Mountain'
Anglesey

SCIENCE BASTARD - 'Pull Tiger Death Cord'
Newport

MASTERS IN FRANCE - 'Tafod'
Caernarfon

GEORGIA RUTH - 'Through Your Hands'
Aberystwyth / Cardiff

CATE LE BON - 'Puts Me To Work'
Penboyr

LAURA J. MARTIN - 'The Hangman Tree'
Liverpool

JASPER - 'Cross Talk'
Penarth

NEON NEON - 'Wheels'
Cardiff / Los Angeles

COWBOIS RHOS BOTWNNOG - 'Cân Y Capten Llongau'
Llyn Peninsula

ALAN HOLMES - 'Spoken Contribution'
Bangor

GRAHAM BOWERS - '... A Life As It Is Now ( Excerpt - Featuring Nurse With Wound )'
Anglesey

IRMA VEP - 'A Curse'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'Love Is Loving Someone Else's Baby Tonight'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'What's That In Your Mouth? ( Album Version )'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'Breast Fed'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'There's Nothing Wrong With Feeling Wrong'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'Nobody Came'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'Cold Light'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'Michelle ( A Cold, Dead Place )'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'Lovely Home'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'Bare In Mind'
Llanfairfechan

IRMA VEP - 'Be A Mother ( Radio Edit )'
Llanfairfechan

ANATOMY OF THE BEAR - 'The Welcoming'
Blaenavon

SEN SEGUR - 'Sarah'
Penmachno

LARA CATRIN - 'Spoken Contribution'
Bangor / Cardiff

GEORGIA RUTH - 'Hwylio'
Aberystwyth / Cardiff

INFINITY CHIMPS - 'New Age Of The Zombie'
Snowdonia

SHY AND THE FIGHT - 'Breaks'
Chester / Llangollen

BEN HAYES - 'Spoken Contribution'
Ruthin

PETE BROWN AND HIS BATTERED ORNAMENTS - 'The Week Looked Good On Paper'
Ashtead, Surrey

COWBOIS RHOS BOTWNNOG - 'Fall On My Knees'
Llyn Peninsula

IDOL HEART BEATS - 'Everyone Is So Alone'
Swansea / Berlin

IFAN DAFYDD - 'To Me ( E. P. Version )'
Llanrug

Jack White, formerly one half of indie-blues duo The White Stripes, has collaborated with Sir Tom Jones.

Tom Jones

Jones and White have recorded a version of Howlin' Wolf's Evil (Is Going On) and a track called Jezebel for the Blue Series of singles on his own Third Man Records. There is no confirmed release date as yet.

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

Need some assistance? Read about BBC iD, or get some help with registering.

This morning Zane Lowe was joined on Radio1 by Lostprophets' Ian Watkins to talk about their new album, Weapons, and to play the new free download track Better Off Dead.

Listen to the interview here:

You can download a free copy of the song from their website.

For me, this is possibly the biggest hook-based chorus of their career. Better Off Dead is another anthemic track that has moments of rap-rock and the piano lines from Jamie Oliver that have become part of the Pontypridd band's sound over the last decade.

What do you think of the track? Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

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Well it was too good to be true: The Blackout singer Sean Smith has scotched internet rumours that he was poised to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house tonight.

The confusion (mostly on Twitter) has been traced to a fan who tweeted Sean when he saw that potential contestants included a singer of the same name, who had performed on X Factor as part of the act Same Difference in 2007.

Speaking to The NME, Sean said: "I just tweeted him with 'shh' and deleted it straight away, so I guess kids thought that I was made to take it down...

"At first I thought it was stupid that I could possibly be thought of as being on Celebrity Big Brother when I'm not a celebrity, but then it kind of got to me. I was thinking, 'I'm in a band, we've just finished our biggest tour ever, and there are all these stupid models that go on it, after being in the paper once...'"

In one respect, Sean's absence is a shame; it would certainly have been entertaining, but this case of mistaken identity has certainly brought the name of his band to a hitherto untapped demographic, one feels.

This isn't the only case of mistaken identity of recent times. In November, many papers reported that Matt Willis of Busted was suing Tricky, confusing the singer with a manager of the same name.

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Believe it or not, and crazier things have happened, but there are internet rumours that Sean Smith, the extrovert singer of The Blackout, is going into the Celebrity Big Brother house this evening.

Of course in the run-up to this annual event of car crash TV there are all kinds of rumours and counter-rumours, so there's no guarantee that this will come to fruition, but if it does, viewers may be in for a treat.

Although it's stretching the idea of 'celebrity' ever further, Sean's refreshing humour and take-no-prisoners sarcasm would be perfect in creating those tensions that the Channel 5 producers are no doubt hoping will develop.

Who would be in your ideal Celeb Big Brother line-up? If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

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Pontypridd rock titans Lostprophets are back in the game with a new album, Weapons.

Lostprophets

The set, the band's fifth, will be released in the UK on 2 April, through Epic (Sony).

Tune in to Zane Lowe on Radio 1's Breakfast Show tomorrow (6 January) at 8.25am to hear the world première of their new single, Better Off Dead.

We'll be publishing more details as soon as we know them, but in the meantime, enjoy what we've done with the band over the last few years:

• Radio Wales interview (2009)
• 2006 interview with Jamie, Stuart and Ian
• 2004 interview with Mike Lewis
• Track-by-track guide to The Betrayed
• The rise of Lostprophets
• The band's family tree

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

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Test your knowledge of all last year's highs and lows of the Welsh music events and releases. This is just for fun, and I'll announce the answers in a week from now on the Wales Music blog.

1. Can you name the band below?

2. Which band released a cover of The The to herald a new bumper release?

3. Who won the inaugural Welsh Music Prize, a competition organised by Sŵn festival, in 2011?

Bonus point: Name any other two artists of the 12 nominated for the prize.

4. Name a Green Man Festival headliner this year.

5. Whose latest album, released in 2011, was entitled Welcome Home Armageddon?

6. I wrote on the Wales Music blog about one artist whose been recording in China recently, as part of a cultural exchange organised by the British Council and PRS. Can you name him?

7. Which 'one man band' has been on tour supporting Gary Numan?

8. Lostprophets played a few special gigs in the summer to celebrate 10 years since the release of which album?

9. Who released a long awaited début album called Accelerated Learning towards the end of the year?

10. Which band got to headline a new festival in their hometown, playing in the shadows of Cyfarthfa Castle, last September?

11. One Welsh artist made the Mercury Music prize list. Which genre of music did he play?

Bonus point: name him.

12. They released a début album called The Big Roar, and supported the Foo Fighters in American stadiums this year. Name the band.

Feel free to comment, but try to avoid giving away answers! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

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What a wonderful year of music we've enjoyed in 2011, and who would have thought, with recession, troubles and such crazy world events all around us, that people are still being inspired, still cutting a path for themselves.

It's January, a clean slate of a month, and that prime time of year when there's the chance to highlight some young, fresh talent coming through the ranks in all styles and genres, from every corner of Wales, here on the music blog.

Here are some little chats I've had recently to find out a bit more about some bands I'm excited by right now.

Read the rest of this entry

This time last year I wrote a computer program (technically a collection of scripts - please see ** note right at the bottom of this page if you want to know more about the technologies involved) to help me assemble the music show.

I had become sick of typing out the same website/Twitter addresses etcetera for each of the artists I play when I put running orders together (the playlists for each individual show). So all of this information is now compiled in a database.

If I play The Joy Formidable, the database already knows their website and twitter addresses, their record label contacts and so on.

This allows me to contact artists (easily) before I play them in any given show. I can share contact information with colleagues whenever they're looking for bands or recommendations. It has been a very useful tool.

Because all of this information is to hand, I can see - easily - which artists I have played the most in the last 12 months. For the sake of transparency, and because we all like a statistic to mull over, here are the pertinent statistics regarding my show last year.

It's not an entirely scientific exercise. I'm not a statistician. I'm not even a programmer (well, scripter). But this information is accurate enough to give you a good idea of how successfully - statistically, at least - this show supports Welsh music.

Before we get to the table of artists and their respective amount of plays, here are the overall stats for the show:

I played 2,149 songs in total last year. 1,638 of those were unique songs (ie played for the first time). I featured 879 different artists in 51 shows. 92% of the tracks were Welsh*. There was an average of 42 tracks in each show, and each show featured - on average across the year - 17 unique artists.

*For the sake of the show's remit, Welsh isn't the same as a qualification to play for the national rugby team, say. Welsh is artists who are either Welsh (obviously); based in Wales (eg Los Campesinos); on a Welsh label and/or with Welsh management (eg Girls); produced by a Welsh producer (eg The Lovely Eggs), or remixed by a Welsh artist.

Here is a list of the top artists, with regards to the number of individual plays they received in 2011. If 117 seems like an arbitrary amount of artists to feature, I simply drew a line under the artists who had received five plays or more.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them below and I'll do my best to answer.

If you have any observations, I'm fascinated to hear/read them.

Bear in mind, this isn't a league table of my favourite artists. Georgia Ruth, as one example, doesn't feature on this list at all, despite the fact that I love her music. This list is most influenced by what each artist released in 2011, and how they contributed to the programme. Exceptions to this 'rule' are the archive tracks/artists that I have played (60ft Dolls/Mclusky and the like). I could remove those artists from this list, but I think it's interesting to see how much 'older' Welsh releases feature in the playlists.

Top artists played in 2011 (artist name/number of plays):

1. Gruff Rhys: 40
2. Y Niwl: 31
3. Saturday's Kids: 26
4. Ifan Dafydd: 23
5. Shy And The Fight: 21
6. Gallops: 21
7. Jonny: 19
8. Future Of The Left: 19
9. Joy Formidable, The: 19
10. Colorama: 19
11. Bastions: 19
12. Houdini Dax: 17
13. Trwbador: 16
14. Paper Aeroplanes: 16
15. The Keys: 15
16. Vvolves: 15
17. Creision Hud: 13
18. Crash Disco: 13
19. EVM 128 (evermean): 12
20. Euros Childs: 12
21. Los Campesinos: 12
22. Pulco: 12
23. Strange News From Another Star: 11
24. Sweet Baboo: 11
25. Lleuwen: 11
26. Masters In France: 11
27. Friends Electric: 10
28. Mr Healan: 10
29. H. Hawkline: 9
30. The Gentle Good: 9
31. Skindred: 9
32. Super Furry Animals: 9
33. Chloe Leavers: 9
34. Under Alien Skies: 9
35. Half Man Half Biscuit: 9
36. Mowbird: 8
37. Pete Lawrie: 8
38. Kutosis: 8
39. Astroid Boys: 8
40. Yr Ods: 8
41. The Lovely Eggs: 8
42. Soft-hearted Scientists: 8
43. Joanna Gruesome: 8
44. Sam Airey: 8
45. Pretty Places: 8
46. Girls: 8
47. Jay Robinson: 8
48. Jen Jeniro: 8
49. Sex Hands: 8
50. The Method: 8
51. Jon Langford and Skull Orchard: 8
52. Dauwd: 7
53. The Voluntary Butler Scheme: 7
54. MC Mabon: 7
55. Exit International: 7
56. The Mekons: 7
57. Howl Griff: 7
58. Truckers Of Husk: 7
59. We Are Animal: 7
60. Little Arrow: 7
61. 60ft Dolls: 7
62. Dan Amor: 7
63. Anni Rossi: 7
64. Koreless: 7
65. The Lowland Hundred: 7
66. John Lawrence: 6
67. Underpass: 6
68. Falls: 6
69. Plyci: 6
70. Gorky's Zygotic Mynci: 6
71. Golden Fable: 6
72. Telegram From The Queen: 6
73. The Pooh Sticks: 6
74. Holy Coves: 6
75. Winter Villains: 6
76. Cate Le Bon: 6
77. Wibidi: 6
78. Datblygu: 6
79. Manic Street Preachers: 6
80. Metabeats: 6
81. Cuba Cuba: 6
82. Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog: 6
83. Dau Cefn: 6
84. Mudmowth & Metabeats: 5
85. Jewellers: 5
86. Struck A Nerve: 5
87. Jumping Back Slash: 5
88. Kitty Cowell: 5
89. Loose Capacitor: 5
90. Y Bwgan: 5
91. Camera: 5
92. Laura J Martin: 5
93. Islet: 5
94. Knickers: 5
95. Mclusky: 5
96. Sophie Ballamy: 5
97. Tiny Skitz: 5
98. The Dogbones: 5
99. Sen Segur: 5
100. Race Horses: 5
101. Revoker: 5
102. Rachel Lloyd And Matt Nicholls: 5
103. Greta Isaac: 5
104. Hehfu: 5
105. Family Of The Year: 5
106. Huw M: 5
107. Solutions: 5
108. Henry's Funeral Shoe: 5
109. Helen Love: 5
110. Esoterra: 5
111. White Noise Sound: 5
112. Xxxy: 5
113. 9bach: 5
114. The Victorian English Gentlemens Club: 5
115. Wolf Curse: 5
116. Toy Horses: 5
117. Among Brothers: 5

** The technologies used to implement the database, and collate this information, are all available under Open Source licenses. I chiefly use the php scripting language, MySQL databases and the MAMP environment that lets me run both on my own local server (ie home computer!).

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

Need some assistance? Read about BBC iD, or get some help with registering.

This week's show is now available via the BBC iPlayer.

It was the most mortifying moment of my broadcasting career so far. Yep, even worse than introducing Blazin' Squad at the Big Buzz in Cardiff (they never recovered either, thankfully). Definitely on a par with walking into Nick Cave's chest whilst tipsy at the 1994 Glastonbury Festival: "If you wanna kiss me, just ask; I can always kneel down for ya..."

It was the moment I finally arrived at our studio in Wrexham on the afternoon of 23 December 2011, lifted the fader and made fulsome, almost tearful, apologies for being an hour late. I've never been this late for an interview. And who was the recipient of this torrent of shabby excuses and hand-wringing apologies? Gruff Rhys, that's who.

I know how to pick 'em, I certainly do.

Fortunately Gruff is more of a gentleman than my tardiness deserved, which is why - for this, my last Sunday night show after 11 years of banjaxing late weekend insomniacs - I can treat you to an in depth interview with one of our greatest songwriters and musical visionaries. We don't talk much about what I'd intended (particularly Super Furry Animals), but we cover a lot of other ground that I've rarely heard Gruff discuss before: the east German secret police; Bethesda in the late 80s; the Welsh music that most inspired him early on. It's a long, broad-ranging chat with some choice tracks sprinkled in between. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed recording it. When I'd stopped blushing.

There was also a rosy hue to my cheeks the night that Georgia Ruth came and played a gig for us at the Gwydir Hotel in Betws Y Coed on 23 November 2011. That was due to the wonderful good spirit in the room, the open fire and the great music. I have 15 minutes of Georgia's enchanting set for you - a fine warm-up to get you excited for her first vinyl EP (In Luna) which will be released on Recordiau Gwymon on 20 February.

Just before Christmas Llwybr Llaethog released their 13th album, Curiad Cariad. It's a typically fascinating synthesis of dub, hip hop and shuddering grooves. They were unique when they started in the 80s. They're just as unique and compelling now. And they treat us to an insight into their dub roots and influences with a half-hour dub set.

And Ben Hayes comes in to treat us to a long swathe of transcendent musicianship from Caravan.

It's a great way to kiss goodbye to the Sunday nights. So, please note that our show moves to Saturday nights, 10pm to 1am, from this Saturday 7 January. I do hope you can join us in our ongoing celebration of Welsh music, either live or via the iPlayer.

Please continue to send new releases and demos as high quality mp3s or download links to: themysterytour@gmail.com.

Or to the postal address below:

BBC Wales
Canolfan y Diwydiannau Creadigol/Centre for the Creative Industries
Prifysgol Glyndŵr/Glyndŵr University
Wrecsam/Wrexham
LL11 2AW

So, make a note in your crisp, new diaries, in your calendar app, or in crayon on the kitchen wall: Saturday 7 January 10pm.

Many thanks/diolch o galon, Adam Walton.

SUPER FURRY ANIMALS - 'Mountain People'
Wales

GRUFF RHYS - 'Shark-ridden Waters'
Bethesda

GRUFF RHYS & TONY DA GATORRA - 'Oh Warra Hoo!'
Brazil / Bethesda

YAMASUKIS, THE - 'Aisere I Love You'
France

FUTURE OF THE LEFT - 'Chastity Drive'
Cardiff

GEORGIA RUTH - 'Ocean ( Live )'
Aberystwyth / Cardiff

GEORGIA RUTH - 'Bones ( Live )'
Aberystwyth / Cardiff

GEORGIA RUTH - 'A Slow Parade ( Live )'
Aberystwyth / Cardiff

GRUFF RHYS - 'If We Were Words (we Would Rhyme)'
Bethesda

GRUFF RHYS / Y NIWL - 'Y Baban Bach'
Bethesda / Gwynedd / Cardiff

GRUFF RHYS - 'Christopher Columbus'
Bethesda

GRUFF RHYS - 'Whale Trail'
Bethesda

GRUFF RHYS - 'Gwn Mi Wn'
Bethesda

FFA COFFI PAWB - 'Breichiau Hir'
Bethesda

MAFFIA MR HUWS - 'Gitar Yn Y To'
Bethesda

LES MORRISON - 'That's The Way The World Goes Round ( Live )'
Bethesda

DATBLYGU - 'Y Teimlad'
Cardigan

MANIC STREET PREACHERS - 'Let Robeson Sing'
Blackwood

Y NIWL - 'Un Deg Saith'
Gwynedd

GRUFF RHYS - 'Honey All Over'
Bethesda

LOVELY EGGS, THE - 'New Allergies'
Lancaster

CARAVAN - 'Can't Be Long Now / Francoise / For Richard / Warlock'
Canterbury

CARAVAN - 'Limits'
Canterbury

KEITH HUDSON - 'I'm Alright'
Kingston, Jamaica

LLWYBR LLAETHOG - 'Electro Sîan'
Blaenau Ffestiniog / Cardiff

KING TUBBY & THE UPSETTER - '300 Years Of The Grassroots'
Kingston, Jamaica

LLWYBR LLAETHOG - 'Mera Desh ( Remix )'
Blaenau Ffestiniog / Cardiff

KING TUBBY & THE AGGRAVATORS - 'A Ruffer Version'
Kingston, Jamaica

LLWYBR LLAETHOG - 'Ai Bod Dub'
Blaenau Ffestiniog / Cardiff

KING TUBBY & THE AGGRAVATORS - 'A Harder Version'
Kingston, Jamaica

LLWYBR LLAETHOG - 'Byd Mor Wahanol'
Blaenau Ffestiniog / Cardiff

GRUFF RHYS - 'Skylon!'
Bethesda

This morning Tenby's Tom Morgan spoke to BBC Radio Wales' Louise Elliott about performing in Eurovision 2012 as a potential entrant for Finland.

Listen to the clip here, including a snippet of the song Melt:

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other BBC blog, you will need to sign in to your BBC iD account. If you don't have a BBC iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of BBC sites and services using a single login.

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