Rising South Wales Indie Collective CVC Pick Ten Welsh Albums the World Needs to Hear

Church Village Collective, known by all as CVC, is a six-piece band taking the indie scene in South Wales by storm. Set to be featured on a BBC documentary titled Young, Welsh & Bossin’ It, the Welsh group follow-up the release of their new single “The Mortgage Anthem” with the news they will release their debut album, Get Real, later this summer.

Adding their name to the list of quality acts to come from Wales, from arena fillers and festival headliners like Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics to pop icons like Shirley Bassey, we got the indie collective to pick out ten essential Welsh albums they think the world needs to hear.

https://youtu.be/nialjcYFsPw

1. Boy Azooga – 1, 2, Kung Fu! (Heavenly Recordings, 2018)

“One of the best albums to come out of Wales for us here at CVC. The whole thing from start to finish is perfection. Go check it out if you haven’t.”

Album Highlights: “Breakfast Epiphany,” “Taxi To Your Head”

2. Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard – The Non-Stop EP (Communion JV, 2020)

“Big big sound from these lads, great melodies, great songwriting and great drumming.”

Album Highlights: “Late Night City,” “Hollywood Actors”

3. Sock – Fresh Bits (Bubblewrap Collective, 2018)

“Good pals of ours, Sock released this a few years ago and it was a crucial chapter in the 2010s Cardiff music scene. Dreamy guitars and falsetto vocals pave the way to a blissful listening experience.”

Album Highlights: “Leopard,” “Backdoor”

4. Super Furry Animals – Rings Around The World (Epic Records, 2001)

“We recently covered the lead single from this album, ‘Juxtaposed with U,’ for Llamau’s charity album. A super sweet album that my dad had in the car when I was growing up.”

Album Highlights: “Juxtaposed with U”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmCZ4f8NhOk

5. Shirley Bassey – Greatest Hits (Capitol Records, 2001)

“Couldn’t have a top Welsh albums list without the great Shirley Bassey. A blood relative and an utter legend. Shirley if you’re reading this, let’s make some music.”

Album Highlights: “Big Spender”

6. GLC – Greatest Hits (Atlantic Records, 2004)

“Absolute bad boy music straight out of Newport. Heavy beats, heavy rhymes, heavy rhythms. Wales’ answer to N.W.A.”

Album Highlights: “Half Man Half Machine,” “Soap Bar”

7. Magic Christian Music – Badfinger (Apple Records, 1970)

“The closest the Welsh ever came to the Beatles. Some of the greatest songwriters to ever do it, and the geniuses behind the greatest love song of all time ‘Can’t Live.’”

Album Highlights: “Come And Get It”

8. Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song (Smalltown Supersound, 2020)

“Nanial’s top late-night pick. Great music for when the party’s over but everyone’s still hanging out. A great listen from start to finish.”

9. Tom Jones – Along Came Jones

“Why, why, why deny him, from being on this list? Everyone’s nan’s first love. Absolutely outstanding voice. If you haven’t already seen it check out his collab with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young on YouTube.”

Album Highlights: “It’s Not Unusua,l, “Whatcha’ Gonna Do”

10. Rainbow Maniac – Unreleased Album

“They’ve broken up so you’ll never hear it which is a shame because honestly, it’s ten times better than most of the stuff out there currently. Check out Connor Latcham’s new stuff for a disco taste of what you could have had.”

Album Highlights – Song One you’ll never hear, Song Two you’ll never hear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBSQylgMDU8