|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CD
|
|
BL 006CD
|
Never one to sit still, Carwyn Ellis is continuing his voyage into Latin Americana with the release of his second album with Rio 18, Mas. Like its predecessor, the acclaimed Joia! (BL 003CD/LP, 2019), this album is a collection of songs sung in Welsh combined with distinct pop and South American flavors drawn from bossa nova, cumbia, samba, and tropicalismo styles, recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Caernarfon, and London. Mas feels strangely right for our times: an album whose title means several things, as befits its global outlook. Mas means "out" in Welsh, "more" in Spanish, and "but" in Portuguese: these meanings filling that single syllable with promise, potential, but also the subtle edge of a warning. It's a mood that fits the more political tenor of Rio 18's second turn around the world, as Carwyn and his friends explore some substantial subjects: the drowning of villages, climate change, migration, and the rise of megacities. They do so not in sober, serious settings, but beautiful, uplifting songs. Other tracks also celebrate the vivid pleasures of love, nature and our essential humanity. Mas is a record of beautiful songs that says, wait, listen, delight, come together, then act.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
BL 006LP
|
LP version. Never one to sit still, Carwyn Ellis is continuing his voyage into Latin Americana with the release of his second album with Rio 18, Mas. Like its predecessor, the acclaimed Joia! (BL 003CD/LP, 2019), this album is a collection of songs sung in Welsh combined with distinct pop and South American flavors drawn from bossa nova, cumbia, samba, and tropicalismo styles, recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Caernarfon, and London. Mas feels strangely right for our times: an album whose title means several things, as befits its global outlook. Mas means "out" in Welsh, "more" in Spanish, and "but" in Portuguese: these meanings filling that single syllable with promise, potential, but also the subtle edge of a warning. It's a mood that fits the more political tenor of Rio 18's second turn around the world, as Carwyn and his friends explore some substantial subjects: the drowning of villages, climate change, migration, and the rise of megacities. They do so not in sober, serious settings, but beautiful, uplifting songs. Other tracks also celebrate the vivid pleasures of love, nature and our essential humanity. Mas is a record of beautiful songs that says, wait, listen, delight, come together, then act.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
BL 003CD
|
You might know Carwyn from other projects like Colorama, Bendith (Welsh dreamy folk), or Zarelli (hauntologic electronic). Or maybe you might be familiar with him because he collaborates with pop superstars and universal references like Edwyn Collins, The Pretenders, Oasis, or Saint Etienne. Or maybe you don't know him at all, so far, because Ellis is one of those musicians that does not feel self-important, that is not under the spotlight but that is praised by other musicians and everyone wants to collaborate with. His diverse personal projects are a sample of his passionate love for the music with no borders of any kind. He is hard to label, and transforms his skin in each new record. Almost in every song. He records the albums that he feels like doing whenever he feels like doing them, and with the sound and the people that stand out for him in that moment. Most of his songs are sung in Welsh, his mother language, but his music is timeless and universal. Carwyn always approaches the global by the local. It isn't a coincidence that precisely now he has decided to take the plunge and go to Rio de Janeiro to record, along with two distinguished crazy local artists like Domenico Lancellotti and Kassin, his most colorful record. Joia!, in which he presents his new band Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18, is a non-explicit plea against the Brexit. Against any Brexits taking place right now any way or another in this world shocked by the continuous transformations and fears that they lead to. Pretty sure that Lancellotti or Kassin might say that it is an anti-Bolsonaro record. However, Carwyn and his fellows in Rio 18 prefer to do a cheerful and positive record, like almost all the South American music it is inspired by, to celebrate that those changes, that definitely marks an era, boosts and eases the fact that a musician from Cardiff is able to record an album with musicians from the other side of the world, and make it halfway between Rio and London with the invaluable help from another top musician, like Shawn Lee.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
BL 003LP
|
LP version. You might know Carwyn from other projects like Colorama, Bendith (Welsh dreamy folk), or Zarelli (hauntologic electronic). Or maybe you might be familiar with him because he collaborates with pop superstars and universal references like Edwyn Collins, The Pretenders, Oasis, or Saint Etienne. Or maybe you don't know him at all, so far, because Ellis is one of those musicians that does not feel self-important, that is not under the spotlight but that is praised by other musicians and everyone wants to collaborate with. His diverse personal projects are a sample of his passionate love for the music with no borders of any kind. He is hard to label, and transforms his skin in each new record. Almost in every song. He records the albums that he feels like doing whenever he feels like doing them, and with the sound and the people that stand out for him in that moment. Most of his songs are sung in Welsh, his mother language, but his music is timeless and universal. Carwyn always approaches the global by the local. It isn't a coincidence that precisely now he has decided to take the plunge and go to Rio de Janeiro to record, along with two distinguished crazy local artists like Domenico Lancellotti and Kassin, his most colorful record. Joia!, in which he presents his new band Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18, is a non-explicit plea against the Brexit. Against any Brexits taking place right now any way or another in this world shocked by the continuous transformations and fears that they lead to. Pretty sure that Lancellotti or Kassin might say that it is an anti-Bolsonaro record. However, Carwyn and his fellows in Rio 18 prefer to do a cheerful and positive record, like almost all the South American music it is inspired by, to celebrate that those changes, that definitely marks an era, boosts and eases the fact that a musician from Cardiff is able to record an album with musicians from the other side of the world, and make it halfway between Rio and London with the invaluable help from another top musician, like Shawn Lee.
|
|
|
|