Richard James, co-founder of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, started a new band/project called Pen Pastwn last year, and has recorded 40 pieces, a mixture of English and Welsh songs and instrumentals, to be released shortly on a label he has started with collaborator and friend Gareth Bonello (The Gentle Good). The band was born from the In Chapters music and literary evenings he put on in Cardiff with the writer John Williams. Members include Gareth Bonello, Andy Fung, Edward Mugford, Eugene Capper and Rhodri Viney, with Iwan Morgan adding soundscapes. There is a free 5-track EP at inchapters.com to download, where they collaborated with Laura.J.Martin (also appearing at the festival), and a short film they made from a recent trip to Sudan. You can expect a mixture of songs and instrumentals from the forthcoming release, varying from stripped back harmony folk to full on krautrock, desert psychedelia, and possibly a collaboration on a track or two with American beat poet David E Oprava.
Richard also released his third solo album 'Pictures in the Morning' on the Gwymon label on April 23rd this year. There's a stream at penpastwn.com together with tour dates and various other info and nuggets.
