Culture - Wales - page 623

pathos. They changed the staid image of Wales as a nation of melodious harpists and male
voice choirs forever.
Today the Welsh music scene may not be as hyped as it once was, but its true substance
has come to the fore with an important network of artists, labels and agencies. The Manics
are still going strong, while their contemporary Gruff Rhys, former lead singer with the
Super Furry Animals, won the Welsh Music Prize for his solo album Hotel Shampoo in
2011. Multi-award-winning singer Duffy, who released the album Rockferry to global and
critical acclaim, and won a Grammy award in 2009, has all but retired from the music
scene, while a host of new names is gaining ground. Look out for Future of the Left, who
won the Welsh Music Prize in 2012 for their third album, The Plot Against Common Sense
, alternative rockers Joy Formidable, singer-songwriter Cate le Bon, and indie popsters
Los Campesinos!.
The Welsh metal scene meanwhile has Bullet For My Valentine and hardcore Funeral
for a Friend, while comic rappers Goldie Lookin' Chain from Newport fly the flag for
Welsh hip-hop. Those with a more sophisticated hip-hop style should take a look at Akira
the Don, the political and electronic rapper from Anglesey.
For more, see www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/music-in-wales .
MALE VOICE CHOIRS
Born out of the Temperance Movement in the mid-19th century, the male voice choir (cor meibion) became an in-
stitution in the coal-mining towns of the southern valleys. With the collapse of the former coal-mining communit-
ies, the choirs struggled to keep numbers up and some even allowed women to join their ranks.
But they have enjoyed a renaissance of late with younger people signing up to their local choir to flex their vo-
cal chords. The latest incarnation made their name as winners of a BBC TV reality show, Last Choir Standing .
Only Men Aloud!, an 18-strong Cardiff-based choir of part-timers, beat off stiff competition to take the title and
went on to sign a multimillion pound, five-record contract and record an album.
Local choirs still practise in the back rooms of pubs and church halls each week. Most are happy to have visit-
ors sit in on rehearsals.