Press Releases

The legendary Cardiff post-punk trio who make up Young Marble Giants and one of Wales's national museums might sound like an odd match but at 7:30pm tonight (Friday, 14 November 2008), this combination will become a reality.

The S?n Festival - three days of live music and events across Cardiff, curated by BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens - is coming to National Museum Cardiff for the first time this year, and will kick off with one of Kurt Cobain's favourite bands, Young Marble Giants.

S?n and National Museum Cardiff welcomes the band - Philip and Stuart Moxham and vocalist Alison Statton - back to their hometown after 30 years with great excitement. Despite their small discography Young Marble Giants are one of the most critically lauded post-punk bands. So this is a rare chance to catch one of the most unique groups of their generation in a unique setting - the Museum's Reardon Smith Theatre.

While popular events such as Coffee Concerts and organ recitals are regular features at National Museum Cardiff, it's just one of a number of museums that is offering a new, cutting-edge music programme with the hope of attracting a broader audience. Nick Cave recently played at Tate Britain, Duran Duran at the Louvre and Simian Mobile Disco at the American Museum of Natural History.

Built in 1932 and named after one of the Museum's main supporters, The Reardon Smith Theatre will also become host to Euros Childs, who has recently launched his fourth album, Cheer Gone. He will headline at the Museum on Saturday 15 November (from 7.30pm) and on Sunday 16 November S?n Festival and The British Council will present Fernhill, Sild and Georgia Ruth Williams (from 7.30pm).

"As a national museum, we're very pleased to support such a dynamic music festival like S?n," said Mike Tooby, Director of Learning and Programmes at Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales. "We're not aiming to transform the Museum into a hip and trendy venue. A characteristic building and an institution central to the cultural life of Cardiff and Wales, the Museum is an ideal venue to re-ignite the momentous comeback of the Young Marble Giants.

"Celebrating a Music theme in 2009, the Museum hopes this year will be just the beginning for S?n and Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales."

To complement the musical programme, a Sleeveface workshop will be held at National Museum Cardiff on Sunday 16 November from 11am to 4pm. Sleeveface is the art of holding a record sleeve in front of your face and snapping it! Founded in Cardiff by S?n founder John Rostron and Carl Morris, the phenomenon has travelled the world. Log on to www.sleeveface.com to find out more.

Wristbands for the full S?n Festival line-up cost £45 and allow entry to all events on a first come, first served basis. Each event at S?n will also be priced individually for cash payments on the door, with priority given to wristband holders. Wristbands are available to buy from the Museum's shop in the Main Hall.

For more information on the S?n line up, please visit www.swnfest.co.uk. Admission to Amgueddfa Cymru museums is free thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government. Amgueddfa Cymru operates seven national museums across Wales. These are National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, the National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, the National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

For further information, photograph or interview opportunities please contact Catrin Mears, Communications Officer, on (029) 2057 3185/07920 027067 or email catrin.mears@museumwales.ac.uk.

Notes to Editors:

Young Marble Giants

As singular and stark as Joy Division but with a significantly less depressive bent, they perhaps only failed to achieve wider acclaim due to their decision to fade away, citing musical differences, rather than burn out with the finality that Ian Curtis did.

Young Marble Giants' unique sound is centered around a weird mix of Philip's steel-hawser bass, Stuart's choppy rhythm guitar and haunting, rhythmic organ lines, with Statton's detached vocals tentatively suspended in the space between them. They quietly produced their minimal lo-fi melodies at a time when their peers were either angular and angry or becoming over produced and over the hill.

Euros Childs

As leader of Gorkys Zygotic Mynci, Euros Childs was at the helm of a band who took the Welsh language to the masses in a way that no one else had done before. Their bilingual slices of crazed, whimsical, psychedelic folk pop lasted nine albums, made Gorkys a national treasure and Euros a reluctant national celebrity. Beginning his solo career a few years ago at the age of 30, Euros has now released four albums under his own name. His music has always turned around a poppy, folky pivot, but has pushed the boundaries in all sorts of directions and each of his four solo records is an individual delight. For his latest release, Cheer Gone, he travelled to Nashville where he recruited musicians to play lap steel, acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle and bass. Euros's light, quavering vocals and joyful story-telling lyrics are undeniably unique.

Fernhill

Formed in 1996 when singer Julie Murphy met husband (and fellow band member) Ceri Rhys Matthews at art college and moved to West Wales, Fernhill have earned the acclaim of all who have heard them with their innovative and stunningly performed Celtic folk. Murphy, though born in Essex, has been a committed Welsh learner, helping bring ancient Welsh songs to appreciative audiences worldwide. Folk music, but not as we know it.