Music fans in the English-speaking world often ignore music in a foreign tongue, or file it away as "World Music". A few bands, such as Sigur Rós, Manu Chao or Cornelius do have an English-language listenership, for quite apart from being excellent, they engage in English for the odd crescendo. For a few recommendations, look at Jorge Drexler (Spanish language) with his "12 Segundos De Oscuridad" album; Dungen (Swedish) with their new release "Tio Bitar"; Prototypes (French) and their longplayer "Mutants Mediatiques"; and a wildcard the-broken-up yet somewhat-reformed HairDoctor (Icelandic): excellent (listen to MajorLabel). Finally, a special word-out this month to Catalan-language musos Savath and Savalas (who wouldn't be unknown to Prefuse 73 fans), their album "Apropa't" is a gem. If there's a band you'd like to tout, mail us back, and we'll consider it. We're at issue001 - at - wrafter - dot - com (After our last issue, Ian suggested Diane K.) Plymouth, England - June 22-24 2007 Friday lunchtime we set out from London - we’re off to 'play' a broken 1970’s mixing desk for a quarter of an hour at The Sonic Arts Network Expo. The festival opens at a terrace cafe, a glorious sunset over Plymouth Sound. Evan Parker creates a hypnotic atmosphere with soprano sax, backed by the various tape recorders; laptops and hand built electronic instruments of the Behaviour ensemble. After, a congregation leave in the dusk for a guided Sound Walk of the Seafront. Like Bill Drummond’s recent “No Music Day”, the Sonic Arts Expo seeks to make apparent the hegemony of bland sounds that dominate the urban environment, how to filter them out. For the weekend, Plymouth is home to the outside of Composition and Sound Theory. Morning, and a half-hourly ferry departs from Plymouth Hoe for Stonehouse, a dockside quadrangle, former Royal Naval H.Q. Here, the expo occupies a giant two storey stone building for its multiple installations and performances. Simon Whitehead’s installation documents his immersed exploration of his local river, with an amplified Stratocaster strapped to his back, the sound recorded, then treated. Digital Manta Ray grow in a tank, fed by sub bass signals triggered by the viewer. A man dressed as a Unicorn rubs his bare chest and emits harrowing noise. Oh well... as my new friend Rory said; "we haven’t had anything like this down here for a long time..." Late, and it’s off to a local venue for more performance. The Grew Brothers sound as dark and frenetic as Magus Period Miles. Semiconductor finish things off, then it’s the last day. Semaphore flags are used to convey instruction between 8 performers each armed with a monophonic analogue synth. Stunning treated trombone with hand built modular synth; Two clowns with a broken mixer... Things close down late in “The White Rabbit”, located inside the brutalist City Centre Bus Station. Icarus, and Bristol's Random Function both fly, as do those of us left. Grantby's artist site can be found here: www.grantby.com. Introspective surfer music from Todd Hannigan – No, that’s not an oxymoron. Hannigan has been behind the scenes of the current surf music scene for 10 years now. Beginning with recording and producing some of Jack Johnson’s first studio sessions and moving to scoring the avant-garde surf films of the Moonshine Conspiracy, this singer-songwriter has finally released his own CD, Volume 1. Primarily acoustic guitar with occasional orchestral/synthesizer-enhanced arrangements, the twelve songs of Volume 1 are quiet, emotional observations – many with one word titles, such as "Rise", "Love", "Heal", and "Ireland". Hannigan's voice is reminiscent of Cat Stevens’ or Nick Drake’s, as is his soft guitar style. There’s a bit of an ethereal quality to some of the songs – this is not surprising, as he counts Pink Floyd as a big influence on his music. One of his other influences, Mark Knopfler, is also evident in the guitar work of quite a few of the songs. Hannigan won't have the girls swooning like his surf music compatriot Johnson – there are no songs like "Bubble Toes" or "Banana Pancakes" to be found here – but this collection of pensive tunes proves both enjoyable and refreshing.

This writer first encountered Tim Vital of Neosupervital when side-by-side with him at a urinal in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, 'twas August 25th 2002, how could one forgot that momentous moment? Tim Vital (real name: Tim O'Donovan), who back then fronted Neosupervital as a one-man-solo-outfit (and I don't mean the suit, which persists 'til today) had just come off-stage, and I'd witnessed something that to this day hasn't been matched. Tongue-in-cheek, casio-guitar-swinging, dance-laden-fun-times, with real-catchy-tunes sums-up the Neosupervital-experience. Neosupervital shared the bill that day with Jape, and both acts are now doing rather well, though it's taken them aroundabouts five years to do it. A case in point: Neosupervital last week played La Fleche d'Or in Paris, and held a support slot for Human League in Belgium and Holland at the end of 2006. Recommended. Exclusive to Issue001, the 5.7MB Neosupervital tune: "Now That I've Found It (Corrugated Tunnel Mix)".   EXCLUSIVE: KEVIN ROBINSON of VIVA VOCE Q: What’s your most-tipped band of the moment? A: "My most recommended listen right now is Person Pitch by Panda Bear. It's really grown on me. Imagine an easy listening record skipping on the same 2 measures while a skinny white dude spits Brian Wilson verbatim over it. Or not. It's what's in my car anyhow."