SGARAB AGM 2024
Who’s been taking minutes at the noise show
All blessings of the season upon you and yours this upcoming Q1
RECORDS
In no particular order, and I’ve been terrible for actually writing stuff down this year so I’m sure there’s a few missing...
Budokan Boys – Are You Sick?
Yokel – 4am
Allison Burik – Realm
Beings – There is a Garden
Han – Leaving a Spoon in a Tub -10
Peiriant – Dychwelyd
Glec - ._.._.. (actually from 2023 but thoughtfully gifted to me at this year’s Supernormal)
Gastr Del Sol – We Have Dozens of Titles
British Murder Boys – Active Agents and House Boys
The Dogs - Dog Shit / Still Dog Shit
GIGS
In more or less chronological order...
Brotzmann Weekender at Café Oto w/ Joe McPhee, Pat Thomas, Zoh Amba and many more
Knifedoutofexistence, Geheimnisknecht, Sean Addicott, Sorrowing Knight and Slow Murder at SHIFT, Cardiff
Sunn0))) at Barbican
[Ahmed], Josephine Foster and Skylla at Strange Brew, Bristol
Kakuhan, KMRU and Dylan Henner at Strange Brew, Bristol
Rhodri Davies and Luigi Marino at Carnedd, Cardiff
Ryosuke Kiyasu at Carnedd, Cardiff
Poison Ruin and The Dogs at The Moon, Cardiff
Smote at Supernormal
One Eye, One Leg and BEAK> at Greenman
Maggie Nichols, Dan Johnson and Heledd C Evans at Chapter, Cardiff
John Butcher Trio at Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tydfil
Godspeed at The Marble Factory, Bristol
Semay Wu, Frise Lumiere, Chris Cundy and Christ Parfitt at Turner House, Penarth
Laure Boer at Chapter, Cardiff
STUFF I READ AND ENJOYED
If not from 2024 then just discovered this year...
Kobo Abe – Box Man
Ann Leckie – The Imperial Radch Trilogy
Jeff Vandermeer - Absolution
Susan Finlay – The Jacques Lacan Foundation
Werner Herzog – Every Man For Himself and God Against All
Eva Baltasar – Mammoth
STATE OF CARDIFF
Along with leaving me some 200 quid out of pocket (don’t be cross now, I’m only venting), the closure of The Moon advances Cardiff’s efforts to become a world-leading centre for Adult Baby Monoculture. Next to go (I suspect) will be our remaining strongholds in the Capitol Centre, where I’m told plans for some sort of immersive-multi-storey-bowling-piss-up are being set into motion as we speak. Good luck with that; incidentally I was thinking recently about last year’s plans to hand Saint David’s Hall over to Live Nation being completely derailed by the RAAC in the roof, an incredible metaphor for these endeavours; you can sink as much as you like into this cocktail-pissant-playground shit, but the fundamentals are absolutely rotten
So yeah, it’s not great, but much like after Carnedd was shuttered I remain weirdly optimistic / excited about weirdo shit happening here, a lot of which has been rehomed in pleasingly-apt peripheries such as Turner House in Penarth; the Semay Wu / Frise Lumiere show was a particular highlight, with two incredible, fully-tactile artists at once split-and-combined across the building’s open balcony floors. None of this would be possible without the incredible efforts of SHIFT and our many hosts; salut to you all! Here’s to another year of thriving between the cracks, although please; if you know somewhere suitably clatty for us to dump our 200+ tables and chairs, bell me ASAP
SGARAB 2024
Four major bits of output from Sgarab Industries this year, three tape and one digital. April saw the release of T. Person’s The Sun / The Throat (the liveliest dirges you’ll hear all year) and Megzbow & Vinegar Tom’s Field Mulch (‘like taking acid and swimming in a bog’ – Matthew Blackwell, Bandcamp; nothing to do with Merzbow, currently categorised as ‘non-music’ on Discogs). Many thanks to Chapter for re-housing the dual-launch, a stunning, swampy night culminating in VT himself taking a much-needed bath
In July I released A Bed of Moss and Soda Water, a live set originally done at Tangled Parrot in Swansea where I played with Kelan and Lifting Gear Engineer, which itself was class; what a strange and lovely thing Rhodri, Nia and everyone else involved in NAWR have going, long may it continue
Most fun of all was the October release of YELLS by yy wood (wild, sensuous meta-pop; the thinking-man’s big beat) which I’ll remember best for our night out at Paradise Garden; an overwhelming response from a weirdly large audience, hardened in part by the repeated shafting we’ve suffered this year. There’s only a few of these left so grab em while you can
Personally my favourite things this year have been The Welsh Pavillion at Supernormal (see above) and the coming together of Randox Trio, a triumvirate of Cardiff-based morons sent to eat your scenery. You can check out our first bit of gear here, a live set in Merthyr supporting John Butcher Trio which in true start-as-we-mean-to-go-on fashion does not feature 33.34% of the band. Thanks to everyone who came along to Carnedd for the ‘Testosterone Replacement Therapy Scame’ and ‘Why Can’t People Put My Drum Stuff Away Properly? A Diatribe by Luke Robinson’, and most recently ‘Box Show’ at Chapter. Thanks to Jon Ruddick / Beth G for the boxes
Thanks to everyone who came through to do shows including Kelan, Han, PC World, Santacruz, etc. Thanks also to Adre and Noods for giving me some time to air my grievances, you can still listen back here. Finally thanks to everyone who came to a show, bought a tape, gave me shit, it all gives me life and I’m grateful
Plans for 2025 are a bit in the air but I suspect that after a series of successful UK secondments this year the Panama Papers will resume their investigation into offshore funding in the UK’s experimental circuit. As always I am working to make ‘Cardiff Hard Trance Classics’ a reality. Please get in touch if you’d like to share some actual, serious work with me
PALESTINIAN MEDICAL AID
The genocide continues unabated in Gaza, including the concentrated attack by Israel on its healthcare system. Working full time in a hospital has given me something like an idea of the total horror that has unfolded at Kamal Adwan, Al-Salam, Al-Ahli and other hospitals. It is beyond anything I can put into words. Donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians today