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.
The show is - inevitably - flavoured by the excellence of the past weekend's Swn Festival. Sŵn is a breathless and brilliant celebration of new (mostly) leftfield music across an impressive spread of Cardiff's venues and hostelries. It's the best weekend of the year - much better than Christmas... because who'd think to wrap Brandyman up and gift you them on Christmas morning?
My Sŵn was, this year, a little different from years gone by. I did a bit more DJing and had the honour of presenting the inaugural Welsh Music Prize (the award for the best album of Welsh origin 2011). And, although there were a few fluffed lines, it was a magnificent, humbling experience. Handing the award over to Gruff was one of the happiest moments of my life - as can be seen quite clearly from my facial expression as I make the announcement.
And Radio Wales spent much of Saturday hosting our Best of Sŵn (slightly self-aggrandising, but who isn't these days?) acoustic sessions at KuKu Club in the bowels of one of Cardiff's swankiest hotels. I co-hosted with the most excellent Bethan Elfyn and you can hear some of the Welsh highlights from those sessions during this show: tracks from Race Horses, Sam Airey and Denuo.
I didn't get to see as many bands this year (hence the lack of the traditional really, really long blogs on the subject), but I do play a selection of the best bands I did manage to catch.
Hwyl Sŵn 2011 - you were amazing. I can't wait for 2012.
Elsewhere in the show you'll hear a selection of the best new Welsh sounds that have arrived in my inbox this week.
Don't be shy in getting any demos/new releases/tips to me. The email address for download links/mp3s etc is themysterytour@gmail.com
This coming Sunday night's show (30 October) will feature a woofer-worrying mix of bass attuned brilliance from Jay Robinson and a live set from Paper Aeroplanes (recorded at Focus Wales in Wrexham back in May - it's beautiful!).
I have a number of Welsh music events coming up that I'll be DJing at, and it'd be excellent if you could join the throng:
Sunday 30 October: The Dulcimer, Manchester - Meredith Nights present Plant Duw/Yucatan/Tom Edney & me & DJ Fuzzyfelt DJing
Friday 4 November: Connah's Quay Civic Hall - The Keys/The Method/Houdini Dax & me DJing
Friday 18 November: Telfords Warehouse, Chester - Yr Ods & (you guessed it) me DJing
Tuesday 22 November: Telfords Warehouse, Chester - Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog/Georgia Ruth + band & me DJing (shameless!)
For the stattoes amongst you (probably just me) here are some show-related statistics automatically generated by my Orwellian show database:
1384 unique songs/ 1773 Total. 770 Artists in 42 shows since 1st, Jan '11 (~songs per show:42, unique artists per show:18) Welsh:92%
Thank you for listening (feel free, please do, to share the iPlayer link with whoever you love the most).
FUTURE OF THE LEFT - 'Polymers Are Forever'
Cardiff
GRUFF RHYS - 'Sensations In The Dark'
Bethesda
KEYS, THE - 'People Meet People'
Resolven/Cardiff
ASTROID BOYS - 'Punkrock Crowd ( Exotope Clean Edit )'
Cardiff
BRANDYMAN - 'Heavy Metal Uncle'
Cardiff
RACE HORSES - 'What Am I To Do? ( Best Of Sŵn Live Session )'
Aberystwyth
DAUWD - 'Ikopol'
Llangollen
S T D - 'Petit Mal'
Cardiff
SHY AND THE FIGHT - 'All That We See Or Seem'
Chester/Llangollen
TEXAS RADIO BAND - 'See What You're Saying'
Camarthen/Aberystwyth
STRUCK A NERVE - 'Can't Lose Out'
Cardiff
BILLY PHONO - 'Cavity'
Ammanford/Newport
ALEMBIC - 'Dundun'
London ( Welsh Label )
PETER BRUNTNELL - 'Drive Away'
Wales
BOATBAR TO HAMBURG - 'Comfort Eating'
Swansea
FUTURE OF THE LEFT - 'New Adventures'
Cardiff
JOY FORMIDABLE, THE - 'Cradle'
Mold
BASTIONS - 'The Lengths ( When Wants Become Needs )'
Angelsey
MASTERS IN FRANCE - 'Orbitoclast'
Caernarfon
LOS CAMPESINOS - 'Hello Sadness'
Cardiff
MY PET MONSTER - 'School Ii'
Cardiff
SEX HANDS - 'Way No Way'
Dwygfylchi/Llanfairfechan/Conwy
DOGBONES, THE - 'Cool'
Holyhead/London
SAM AIREY - 'Endless Sea ( Best Of Sŵn Live Session )'
Anglesey
TRUCKERS OF HUSK - 'Person For The Person'
Cardiff
FRIENDS ELECTRIC - 'Puzzle Pieces'
Neath
BRIGHT YOUNG PEOPLE, THE - 'Devil's Pinch'
Rhyl
HENRY'S FUNERAL SHOE - 'Anvil And Chains'
Ystrad Mynach
BITFORM - 'Halloween Bass Bash Opener'
Llanelli
JAY ROBINSON - 'Get Mad Now'
Colwyn Bay
DAN AMOR - 'Run You Like A River'
Penmachno
LAURA J. MARTIN - 'Salamander ( Featuring Euros Childs )'
Liverpool
COLORAMA - 'V Moyn T'
Benllech
CATE LE BON - 'Puts Me To Work'
Penboyr
EXIT INTERNATIONAL - 'Bowie's Ghost'
Cardiff
CRASH DISCO - 'G T F O'
Bangor
Y NIWL - 'Un'
Gwynedd
HOUDINI DAX - 'Robin You Lie'
Cardiff
THREATMANTICS - 'Dumpamundo'
Cardiff
DENUO - 'Boston ( Best Of Sŵn Live Session )'
Penmaenmawr
JOHN LAWRENCE - 'Sunday Song'
Snowdonia
BLACK EAGLE CHILD - 'The Lost Button'
Milwaukee/ Bridgend (label)
