The man Andy Votel is a bit of a legend. I first heard about him through his Twisted Nerve label, home to Badly Drawn Boy back in the day, and a label that was clearly not afraid to experiment. For me, it was this snapshot of Manchester displayed on the roster that was more exciting than Oasis and similar bands we were being drip-fed back then. Now, Votel dj’s round the globe and brings his passion for non Western music to the world through his Finders Keepers label, which puts out mind bending compilations at a baffling rate. The Welsh Rare Beat compilations he put out are mighty fine, bringing a lot of the 60′s and 70′s Welsh language protest and entertaining songs together, which went mostly ignored by the world at large, apart from the die hard fans in Wales. Votel’s passion for Welsh language music was displayed beautifully in this documentary on BBC Radio 4, produced by James Hale at BBC Cymru Wales. It features Geraint Jarman, Meic Stevens, Dyl Mei, Mici Plwm, Caryl Parry Jones, Gruff Rhys, Cerys Matthews and so many more. It will be online for 7 days, click on the above link to hear it.
