Manics pick up a Mojo award

Guns N' Roses legend Duff McKagan give Manic Street Preachers the Mojo 'Maverick' award last night.

Not sure exactly why they count as mavericks - Nicky Wire must be the only hoovering fan ever to have been declared one.

Here's a video of them being awesome back in the early 90s on Top of the Pops:



Links:

Manic Street Preachers official website
Manic Street Preachers on BBC Wales Music
Forever Delayed forum

Cardiff Singer of the World

Unbeknownst to many, there's a huge event happening under our noses here in Cardiff this week.

Cardiff Singer of the World is like Britain's Got Talent - but with talent. And international entrants. And with success afterwards.

The Song Prize final of this opera competition is tonight at 7.30pm at St David's Hall, Cardiff.

Links:

Cardiff Singer of the World official site

Oasis at the Millennium Stadium

Tonight I'll be able to stand outside in my garden and hear tens of thousands of beered-up, Adidas-wearing eejits singing 'Go Let Let It Out' at 1000dB.

Now that Oasis are middle-aged and have been boring for some years, I wonder why they're still able to pull huge crowds; but to be fair they do have some great early tunes.

Here's one of their early, good singles, Live Forever:



Incidentally, tonight Oasis are being supported not only by Kasabian but by The Peth. The Peth are made up of actor Rhys Ifans, some of Super Furry Animals, some of Sibrydion and other Cardiff-based musicians. On at 5pm, they'll probably only play to a couple of hundred stewards, but their blues- and booze-fuelled rock is kind of fitting for an Oasis support slot. Rhys Ifans talked to the BBC about playing with Oasis.

Here's their budget video for 'Stonefinger':



Links:

Oasis official website
The Peth official website
The Peth on Myspace
The Peth on BBC Wales Music

Escape Into The Park

Tomorrow in Swansea, thousands of dance fans will descend on Singleton Park in Swansea for five stages of beat-driven bacchanalia.

It's been going for some years with steady, building success, but this year's line-up has a strange emphasis on old artists. I'm not sure if it's indicative of the dance scene's current make-up, but you've got the likes of Utah Saints, Scratch Perverts, Lisa Lashes and Grooverider, who have been round for ever.

Maybe it's only because older DJs are still big draws, but where are the new stars? The nearest EITP gets this year is Eric Prydz.

Here's a bit of Lisa Lashes' set at EITP in 2007:



Links:

Official homepage

BBC Wales Music

Official photo gallery

The Blackout at Download

One of the bands coming out of the febrile Welsh rock scene in recent years has been The Blackout from Merthyr Tydfil. Two vocalists (one singing, one screaming like a banshee), pop hooks and a party attitude - they're certainly no emo shrinking violets.

They've just had their second album, Best In Town, released by the awesome Epitaph record label, and play this afternoon at the Download festival.

Here's a video for one of their old singles, It's High Tide Baby, featuring Ian Watkins of Lostprophets:



Links:

Myspace
Wikipedia
BBC Wales