Any compilation involving Andy Votel tends to fill a gap in your record collection you didn’t even know existed. Welsh Rare Beat (great title!), compiled with Dan Thomas and the Super Furries’ frontman Gruff Rhys, is a varied and often intensely moving collection of tracks from the SAIN label. This doesn’t narrow it down at all musically – there’s folk-rock, blues, pop, hints of electro and much more, all documented in the lavish booklet. It’s hard to pick a favourite but the purity of Eleri Llwyd’s ‘O Gymru’ (Oh! Wales) stays long in the mind.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: BEN HOGWOOD
