
"The next record I'm going to play you is one of those things which is on that kind of nuclear vinyl that's not actually vinyl at all, but it's some kind of byproduct from some space programme or other, which I really like, it's kind of light and there's something very tactile and rather satisfying about it. In fact, I'm going to take this one to bed with me later on tonight." Peel thinks he may have scratched the record and this is borne out by it sticking as soon as he puts it on: "I know perfectly well it wasn't supposed to happen like that. Let me just examine that record, perhaps my enthusiasm for it has done it some harm...It is lovely though, even if it doesn't play. I just yearn for it with every fibre of my being." Stylus' less than successful debut on Kat's Karavan. [1]
Stylus is the pseudonym of reclusive Welsh musician Dafydd Morgan, who started using the name in April 1997. He has released five albums under this name on Ochre Records: three of them are themed around the Pembrokeshire countryside. The music is described on YouTube as experimental electronica.
The first Stylus full-length album was 1999's The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut at Freshwater West. Morgan had found the very last seaweed collecting hut, on a bluff called Little Furzenip in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It was still being used by local families to dry out seaweed they later used to make into bread; all of the others had been destroyed by time, tide, and strong Atlantic winds. Morgan reportedly sat at a table inside the hut with battery-operated Roland and Casiotone keyboards and made spontaneous recordings inspired by the windswept location. The release also features guest narration from Christine Vidoudez.
Links to Peel[]
Stylus' music featured heavily in Peel's playlists from 1998 onwards: he noted, "We've never met him, but we feel spiritually very close to him." [2] A particular favourite in winter months was the single Pluen Eira (Welsh for snowflake), which sampled Dylan Thomas reading from his poem A Child's Christmas In Wales. JP included Pedwar (Welsh for the number 4) in the July 2002 (Peel's Record Box) list.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
Sessions[]
- None
Other Shows Played[]
- 1998
- 24 June 1998: Paradise Ranch (EP - Groom Lake) Ochre
- 1999
- 21 September 1999: Edge of Rotation (LP – The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut At Freshwater West) Ochre
- 26 September 1999 (BFBS): 'Edge Of Rotation (CD-The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut At Freshwater West)' (Ochre)
- 30 September 1999: The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut At Freshwater West (LP – The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut At Freshwater West) Ochre
- 30 September 1999 (Radio Eins): The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut At Freshwater West (LP – The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut At Freshwater West) Ochre
- September 1999 (FSK): Exe-Sty (CD - The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut At Freshwater West) Ochre
- 12 October 1999: 'Deceleration (CD-The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut At Freshwater West)' (Ochre)
- October 1999 (FSK): Deceleration (CD - The Last Seaweed Collecting Hut At Freshwater West) Ochre
- 2000
- 04 July 2000: 'The Cosmic Beekeeper (LP - Pedwar)' (Fourth Dimension)
- 06 September 2000: 'Kinski 2000 (Compilation LP-Yr Agog)' (Oggum)
- 13 September 2000: Flotsum (LP - Skomargraph) Ochre
- 19 September 2000: '(+1)/(-1) (CD-Skormagraph)' (Ochre)
- 21 September 2000 (Radio Eins): 'Flotsam'
- 28 September 2000: Pwllcrochan (7" b-side: Kinski 2000) Bearos
- 05 October 2000: Euphotic (LP - Skomargraph) Ochre
- 17 October 2000: Finistere (LP - Skomargraph) Ochre
- 26 October 2000 (Radio Eins): Gwymon
- 15 November 2000: 'Flotsam (CD-Skomargraph)' (Ochre)
- 16 November 2000 (Radio Eins): 'Flotsam (CD-Skomargraph)' (Ochre)
- 23 November 2000: Deceleration (v/a LP - Interface) Space Age
- 23 November 2000 (Radio Eins): Deceleration (v/a LP - Interface) Space Age
- 05 December 2000: Pluen Eira (Snowflake) (7") Ochre (JP: 'I was rather impressed with myself that I recognised Dylan Thomas from this Stylus record.')
- 07 December 2000 (Radio Eins): 'Pluen Eira (Snowflake) (7")' (Ochre)
- 2001
- 02 January 2001: 'Pluen Eira' (7") Ochre Records
- 07 January 2001 (BFBS): 'Pluen Eira (Snowflake) (7")' (Ochre)
- 2002
- 06 February 2002: 'Mosaic Of Hummocks' (Mar/Ino)
- March 2002 (FSK): Twrch Trwyth (CD - Mynydd Preseli) Mar/ino Recordings
- 04 April 2002 (Radio Eins): Spotted Dolorite (album - Mynydd Preseli)
- 25 April 2002: Landbirds Of The Windswept Islands (LP – Mynydd Preseli) Stylus
- 25 April 2002 (Radio Eins): Land Birds Of The Bare Windswept Islands (album - Mynydd Preseli)
- 13 June 2002: Exposure (LP - Pedwar) Fourth Dimension
- 11 July 2002: 'Muggy (CD-Pedwar)' (Fourth Dimension)
- 25 July 2002: 'Golden Glow (LP - Pedwar)' (Fourth Dimension)
- 25 July 2002 (Radio Eins): Muggy (album - Pedwar) Fourth Dimension
- 30 July 2002: 'Stack Rock (LP-Pedwar)' (Fourth Dimension) dedicated to George Best who at the time of broadcast had just undergone a liver transplant in a London hospital
- 20 August 2002: Angle (Various LP - Themes: Volume 01) Ochre
- 2003
- 15 October 2003: Summer Has A Spring In Its Step (LP - Seasons) Ochre
- 16 October 2003: Icicle Tricycle (LP - Seasons) Ochre
- 25 October 2003 (BBC World Service): 'Icicle Tricycle'
- 30 October 2003 (Radio Eins): Icicle Trcycle (album - Seasons)
- 23 December 2003: 'Pluen Eira (7")' (Ochre)
- December 2003 (FSK): Pluen Eira (Snowflake) (7") Ochre