as published in Foggy Notion fanzine , 1997.
(with additions)
In 1988 , Welsh Pop , with a few notable exceptions , (Anhrefn and Ofn Records) , was for the most part limited to choirs of old men and harps , and re - releases of wartime Welsh tenors. Hardly the ideal background to the launch of a new independent record label . Not to be perturbed , two students at Aberystwyth University formed a shaky partnership and Ankst was born .
For its formative years survival was on a shoestring budget , waiting for releases to sell out before being able to plough the small profits back into the next . The early days saw cassette only releases , progressing to 7" e.p.’s and eventually a host of 12" singles . Although sales of Welsh pop releases continued to be abysmally low , there was a certain amount of interest and a definite potential . Eventually Ankst set up as a full time business and moved down to Cardiff - and two became three .
The Summer of 1990 saw the debut 12" release from female pop duo Y GWEFRAU(THE THRILLS) and dance posse TY GWYDR(GLASS HOUSE/GREEN HOUSE) .
Y CYRFF
ffoto-J.Griffiths
Also Wales’s most popular guitar band Y CYRFF(THE BODIES) signed a combined management/recording deal which led to Ankst’s first national press coverage when their debut album LLAWNEYDD HEB DDIWEDD(UN ENDING JOY) reaches the NME’S ON Page . Unfortunately by the time the insular London centric music press had picked up on the splendour of Y CYRFF they had split up , leaving their epitaph , a compilation cd MAE DDOE DYN DDOE(YESTERDAY IS YESTERDAY) .(Core members Mark Roberts and Paul Jones would later return to form CATATONIA with Cerys Matthews , but that’s another story…..)
Leaving the damp ridden spiderhole that was the Ankst office/bedroom , July 1991 saw a move to a proper office in Penygroes , North Wales . Ankst was growing and the releases kept on coming .
DATBLYGU
Interest was generated when long time Peel faves , DATBLYGU were signed and a lp of their PEEL SESSIONS was released . By now John Peel was a big fan playing all the new releases generating substantial growth in mail order requests .
Despite their blinkered and often bigoted outlook the NME started giving regular reviews and the Ankst roster of artists steadily grew to include most of the best Welsh language bands. During this period a string of dance related releases were unleashed from techno band TY GWYDR , dub rappers LLWYBR LLAETHOG(MILKY WAY) , commercial house from DIFFINIAD(DEFINITION) and ambient techno from WWZZ .
Ankst also cornered the guitar pop market with BEGANIFS and FFA COFFI PAWB. BEGANIFS were the wunderkids of 1992 releasing two cassette albums of top pop music whilst still at school while FFA COFFI PAWB became the foremost band in Wales , only to split up after releasing two classic albums on Ankst CLYMHALIO and HEI VIDAL ,although there would be more to come from certain band members as they later followed the path taken by Y CYRFF and reformed as SUPER FURRY ANIMALS .
FFA COFFI PAWB
In the summer of 1993 Ankst released their first GORKY’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI record and fideo PATIO/JYST FEL Y FFILMS and started work on building up a new roster of talent including the mind boggling beauty of ECTOGRAM .The GORKIES were indicative of a new spirit and flew the flag with their album TATAY which was cannily recognised by the music papers as an album made for a world stage and not just for consumption in Wales only .
GORKY'S ZYGOTIC MYNCI
By 1994 momentum was gathering and the magnificence of the SUPER FURRY ANIMALS was unleashed . After two e.p.’s in 1995 on Ankst the band were signed to Creation Records and the rest , as they say, is history , with their debut album reaching number one in the independent charts and their singles firmly lodging themselves in the top twenty .
SUPER FURRY ANIMALS
Meanwhile GORKY’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI continued to release material , including the outstanding BWYD TIME album which went to number one in the independent charts (and stayed there for a whole month) .They also toured constantly with an unforgettable tour in 1995 to Japan ,where they were besieged by a whole army of crazy pop fans . They released three albums and numerous e.p.’s and singles on Ankst before signing a world wide deal with Mercury Records in 1996 .
Somewhere in the middle of this activity Ankst once again moved - this time back to Cardiff where the plan was to release even more records and look after management duties for the SUPER FURRY ANIMALS and GORKY’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI.
ECTOGRAM released their debut album I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S NOT REGGAE in July 1996 to much critical acclaim .The 14 track bi lingual collection included fierce improvisations , sharp pop , and some seriously unhinged stuff .They soon ended up sharing a stage with amongst others PAVEMENT , BECK and FAUST( who managed to set them alight ! )
ECTOGRAM
Legendary dub - rap pioneers LLWYBR LLAETHOG(MILKY WAY) also turned up with a new album of tecnodub stormers entitled MAD!
Later on in 1996 Ankst introduced a new generation of Welsh bands with the release of S4C MAKES ME WANT TO SMOKE CRACK VOLUME 2 - A various artists compilation featuring MELYS , TOPPER , DAVID WRENCH and RHEINALLT H.ROWLANDS . The mythical RHEINALLT H.ROWLANDS followed this up with an album entitled BUKOWSKI in November . Rheinallt was the later ego of Owain Wright and Dewi Evans .They had been performing since 1991 and early recordings included a cover of NEW DAWN FADES ,sung in Welsh , which was eventually released on the Ankst compilation album TRISKEDEKAPHILIA .
RHEINALLT H.ROWLANDS
MELYS were next to issue their own e.p. ,entitled FRAGILE . The bi lingual release was a commercial sounding pop release that was tempered by bitter sweet lyrics that sent shivers down the spine .
TOPPER’s debut ARCH NOA e.p. gained critical acclaim for the latest in a long line of teenage sensations coming out on Ankst .The three piece from PENYGROES quickly followed this up with a mini album SOMETHING TO TELL HER which quickly drew a lot of attention .
In 1997 singles were released by MELYS(Cuckoo) , LLWYBR LLAETHOG (Mera Desh) , DAVID WRENCH(Black Roses) ,and ECTOGRAM(Eliot’s Violet Hour) and DAVID WRENCH presented his post apocalyptic party album BLOW WINDS BLOW which brought a chill of winter into high Summer .
LLWYBR LLAETHOG
Ankst also went on the move in June with a UK tour featuring TOPPER , ECTOGRAM , RHEINALLT AND DAVID WRENCH .
At long last bands from Wales started getting serious attention with bands like the MANIC STREET PREACHERS being joined by CATATONIA ,GORKY’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI , SUPER FURRY ANIMALS and the 60FT DOLLS in the weekly rock mags .
Late in 1997 Ankst had come to a crossroads , with the decision being taken to split into two complementary but separate companies - ANKST MANAGEMENT( responsible for managing SUPER FURRY ANIMALS ,GORK’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI and MELYS) and ANKSTMUSIK RECORDS( releasing records from the Welsh music scene.)
1998 saw the production of the Ankstmusik television film documenting the Welsh scene over the last 15 years . The programme was produced to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Ankst Records and paved the way for new releases in 1999 from Ankstmusik records .
