TŶ GWERIN
Stafell Sbâr Sain

Now, this is a strange one. It’s a compilation of 12 artists all from Wales and with the exception of the two instrumentals, they’re all song in Welsh, which makes the understanding a little bit on the difficult side. That said, you know all the songs can be appreciated for the emotion within the delivery if not within the words themselves. This is particularly true of the more singer-songwriter type of type of track but 12 tracks not a duff one in there, they all have something to offer, so unless you are unwilling to listen to songs in Welsh then it’s a collection well with the well worth a listen. It’s also nice an organisation or government related organisation supporting their artists, as the project is at least part funded by Creative Wales so with most of if not all of them are having been recorded at the same studio. "Stafell Sbâr Sain" is Welsh for "Sain's Spare Room" the second product of a collaborative music project and album series launched by the legendary Welsh record label, with the intention of introducing established, new and emerging artists to wider audiences.

Just to go back to that, there’s 12 tracks, ranging from solo singer song writers through to full bands and in some cases certainly what sounds quite choral, which seems appropriate given the location of the of the artists to draw an on a stereotype they are working beautifully to counter. It seems inappropriate to select artists for special mention as any listener (and we encourage you to become one) will find something that is to their taste. Of the 12 artists, only three have previously come to my attention in the past, these being The Gentle Good, already beloved of many folk-roots broadcasters around the UK. Taff Rapids, offering their own bluegrass infused take on a traditional tune, and the delightfully named Lo-Fi Jones continuing that tradition of appending the description of their life’s role to the surname in order to differentiate them from the remainder of the population sharing that moniker. Anyway, other than the pronunciation issues, which make for interesting predictive text, this is an intriguing selection and one that certainly led to some Internet searches to discover more, we suggest that you do the same.