As the countdown to the end of 2014 quickly approaches we take a personal look back on familiar names, features and musicians’ best releases of the past 12 months. Circuit Sweet will be featuring the featured artists of the site with their personal top 5 releases of the year.
In our end of year special we let our favorites take over the site to tell us the records that have made their end of year lists, their favorite events/gigs and what we can look forward to from them next year.
The next band take over comes from Cardiff based 4 piece punk/post hardcore band Masts. The band consist of Tom Watkins – Vocals / guitar, Tom Roberts – Vocals / guitar, Tom Wallace – Bass and Andrew Thomas on Drums. It’s stated the South Wales’ burgeoning post-hardcore scene has produced another killer of a band in the shape of Masts and we stand by that statement. Fusing a mix of influences and genres, together they create energetic and audacious compositions. With compelling vocals from both guitarists, changing time signatures and alluring riffs. This is a band bursting with potential. We hand over to Tom Watkins to find out more about his most loved albums of the year…
Top 5 releases of year:
In no order:
Aphex Twin: Syro
Flying Lotus: You’re Dead!
Madlib and Freddie Gibbs: Piñata
Goodtime Boys: Rain
Sorority Noise: Forgettable
The best show we’ve played this year:
Probably the opening show of our summer tour in The Firefly in Worcester. It was put on by Surprise Attacks, who are 2 awesome guys that put on wicked shows. We played with Issac and Guerrilla Monsoon, who we’re playing some shows with next month. Great bands, great crowd, great promoters. The perfect way to kick off the tour.
The best gig attended:
Probably Mono at ArcTanGent. There was a lot of amazing bands that played, but Mono was pretty damn special. A big outdoor stage on a late summer’s night was a perfect backdrop for their music.
Highlights of the year:
Our summer tour – we went on a 9 day UK tour in June. Although we didn’t play in front of many people (if anyone!) at some of the shows, every night was good fun. And we managed to have showers most days, which was an added bonus.
ArcTanGent Festival – now that ATP has ceased to be (at least in the UK) it’s great that we have ATG. If you’re into math and post rock this festival will probably the greatest thing you’ll ever do. As well the previously mentioned Mono, this year featured This Will Destroy You, Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar, Three Trapped Tigers, This Town Needs Guns, and a ton of other incredible bands.
Hub Fest – Cardiff’s annual music festival, Hub Fest, took place for the second time this year and it was even better than last year. We got to play another one of our favourite shows of the year in The Moon Club. A great showcase for Welsh music featuring over 150 acts across a million different genres.
Artist/band to watch in 2015:
Esuna – Cardiff based 5 piece that play a mixture of post rock and indie. Check them out (http://esunaband.bandcamp.com) and buy their debut EP May You Be Well. Summerfall sounds like a cross between Vampire Weekend and Colour, which is a brilliant combination.
Guerrilla Monsoon – Great punk/post-hardcore band from Birmingham. Buy their mini-album/EP, Big City Plans here – http://guerrillamonsoon.bandcamp.com/
Plans for the New Year:
Our debut album will be coming out at some point, hopefully the summer, accompanied by a tour of some sort.
We’re playing a few shows with Guerrilla Monsoon mid-January, half of which will be free. If that sounds like your bag keep an eye on our Facebook page for more information (www.facebook.com/mastsband)
Our guitarist is buggering off to South America for a few months in February, so we’ll be taking a short break, during which time the rest of us will be starting a mash-up project sampling Funkadelic, Carl Orff and Die Antwoord called Funk, Orff & Die.
We can’t wait to hear the debut album, a huge thank you to Masts for being a part of the feature, hopefully we can see them live again soon!
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