Various - V4Velindre

  by Kimberly Bright

published: 18 / 1 / 2022

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Review

This behemoth £7 compilation album by over four dozen predominantly Welsh indie artists was painstakingly curated by music journalist Kevin McGrath. It was originally intended to be only fourteen songs, but people kept saying “yes” to Kevin, who himself underwent cancer treatment at Velindre. Indie rock, pop, dreampop, and punk are all represented, new artists and well known ones (The Wedding Present), Welsh Music Prize winners such as Boy Azooga, The Gentle Good, and Adwaith, WMP nominees, as well as a number of artists previously reviewed in our pages, like Simon Love, The Nightingales, Climbing Trees, Burning Ferns, Peter Hall, and Matthew Frederick. Here are just a few more: Sandra’s Wedding, Swimming Pool, Parker Woodland from Texas, Smile from Turin, and Me Against Misery. These artists were generous enough to donate amazing tracks, some in demo form, brand new, or alternate versions of older tracks, with no one phoning in throwaway songs. It says a lot about how appreciated Velindre Cancer Centre’s services are in southeastern Wales, not least by Kevin and his family. For those who may not be familiar with Velindre, it is a “specialist cancer diagnostic and treatment center” on the campus of Velindre University NHS Trust in Cardiff that helps over 1.5 million people. The center is currently in the process of building a new facility. https://v4velindre.bandcamp.com https://velindre.nhs.wales/ redsoapbox.tumblr.com

Track Listing:-

1 Bandicoot - Fuzzy
2 oblong - Light Sleeper '21
3 Family Jools - California Sunshine (Radio Edit)
4 The Wedding Present - Brassneck [Locked Down and Stripped Back]
5 Sandra's Wedding - Hollywood
6 Codewalkers - Street Philosophy
7 Smile - Hideout
8 Parker Woodland - The World's On Fire (And We Still Fall In Love)
9 Evans McRae - Hold On
10 Silent Forum - Just Another Pop Act
11 Nightingales - Enemy of Promise
12 Me Against Misery - In Living Memory
13 Burning Ferns - Danger In The Western Hemisphere
14 Adwaith - Hey
15 Y Dail - Feel The Sun
16 That Forgotten Band - Crazy Street
17 SUPER 8 - Angels & Neil Diamond
18 Boy Azooga - O Silly Me
19 Head Noise - Stage Fright!
20 Shop Girls - Since I Last Saw You
21 The Honest Poet - Purpose
22 Jodie Marie - The Answer
23 Tot Taylor - Yoko, Oh
24 Armstrong - Yesterday's Over (Tomorrow's Where I Want To Be)
25 Matthew Frederick - Hay-on-Wye
26 BOB - Who You Are (Unreleased Demo Version)
27 GG Fearn - Deal With The Devil
28 Little Rêd - Apathy
29 Campfire Social - Awake In The Wake Of A Wave
30 Eggs On Mars - Fingers & Lips
31 The Grief Brothers - Marion Jones (Pretty Things Remix)
32 The Gentle Good - Mwyar Duon
33 Simon Love - Broken Heart
34 Walter Etc. - Burritos Alone
35 Climbing Trees - Aloisi
36 Sam Barnes - Wired World
37 Community Swimming Pool - I Don't Wanna Lose You
38 Dan Bettridge - Habitat
39 The Happy Somethings - hi there sunshine
40 Peter Hall - For Love
41 Bryony Sier - The Greatest
42 MRPHY - Lock Down
43 Jon Glanfield vs Industrial Chipmunks - Dub Controller
44 Somehow - While The Days Go By
45 Ash Red - The Stupid Song
46 Punching Peaches - Maggots
47 Dillon Salvi - Rain Coat
48 Eve Goodman - Pellter (Radio Edit)
49 Turnstiles - In A State
50 Soundstrand - What A Time To Be Alive (Demo)