Beyond the irritating apparent necessity of referring to "Cool Cymru 2.0" (urgh), the fact that there were articles marking Dydd Miwsig Cymru (Welsh Music Day) on Friday published by both the NME and the Guardian is something to be welcomed.
Of the two pieces, Sophie Williams' for the NME is the better, looking in greater detail at the rising popularity of Welsh-language music both within Wales and beyond its borders and the possible reasons behind this phenomenon/seachange. It was especially nice to see Gruff Owen of marvellous Carmarthen label Libertino quoted first, while Ani Glass, Huw Stephens (naturally) and members of Adwaith are among her other interviewees.
Steffan Dafydd of Breichiau Hir (and Clwb Ifor Bach) makes the encouraging observation that Welsh-language acts are less ghettoised now, appearing on mixed bills rather than only in the company of fellow Welsh speakers/singers. For that reason, it's important to be very wary of any references to a "scene". The fact of the matter is that the featured artists are united by nothing other than the language in which they choose to sing. As Owen argues, "The moment I'll feel like we've achieved what we are all working towards is when what we're doing is not labelled solely as 'Welsh-language music'; it's music that shouldn't be categorised by region, country or identity." In other words, it's no more a genre than "English-language music" is.
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