This is the blog of Lloyd Griffiths. Me. Hi.
Here you will find my published writing and design, ranging from film and music, to fortnightly columns and interviews with the likes of Efterklang, Mark Kermode, Owen Sheers, Rutger Hauer and Iwan Rheon.
I tweet personally @lloydgriffiths .

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Editorial Excitement

So, it’s finally here! WOW kicks the doors of our cinematic minds open from tonight, as it celebrates, commemorates and considers the Chilean landscape, political and literal, in the light of 40 years since Allende’s government was overthrown by General Pinochet. A trio of beautiful Chilean works will be showing tonight (15th March) at Cardiff’s chapter arts centre, and with demand meaning the films have migrated from the planned 59 seater to Chapter’s full auditorium, there is a sense of buzz around the vital, insightful and delightful movies. 

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In addition, audiences in Aberystwyth (21st March) and Mold (3rd, 4th April) will get to glimpse the 3rd of Pablo Larrain’s set of films about Pinochet era Chile, in No. It has been variously been described as the “Chilean Made Men” as well as “bloodpumping, arthouse yet ambivalent”. If those multiple descriptions lead you no closer to understanding its thought-provoking drama-cum-marketing satire, then our review up in the next few days will. 

We are particularly excited to see Nostalgia for the Light’s tale of Astrology, Philosophy, Politics and Tragedy at 6pm tonight. It’s a meditation on the Atacama desert’s dual tales - one of its position in the late 1970’s as a key place for Astrological studies, yet conversely, as the site of bodies of political prisoners buried in the sand as a result of the Chacabuco concentration camps. 

The former offers metaphysical comfort to those who have lost loved ones, the almost Malickian images of the sky and desert offering an irreducible beauty and vastness that subsume the deeply felt personal tragedy which is painfully clear. Nonetheless, Astrology is not a metaphorical sleight of hand by director Patricio Guzman - the pain of those who are interviewed, still searching for family members bodies is stark - there is little comfort in searching the immense grandeur of the desert for them.

The evening is being accompanied by Chilean food, drink and music, all presented by Chilean 40 Years On Network and EL Sueno Existe festival. See you there!

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My review of National Theatre Wales first production on their 3rd season on Buzz Magazine’s website http://www.buzzmag.co.uk/uncategorized/de-gabay-stage-review/
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Quench - The Go Global issue

The Go Global issue of Quench I edited earlier this year - includes articles on Kony2012, Cardiff Subculture, International Food, Script Slam, Erasmus as well as festival previews and arts, film and music reviews.

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Quench - The Cyborg Issue

The Cyborg issue of Quench, which I edited earlier this year. Including - Future Fashion, losing our face on Facebook, the future of food, Tacita Dean’s FILM exhibition at the Tate, techno-travel to Japan, Autotune and Motion-capture films.

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Quench - The Speed issue

The Speed issue of Quench which I edited earlier this year - focusing on the Speed of modern life, with features on Pop up shops and creative neighbourhoods, the ‘Slow Living’ movement, Twitter controversy, Street Food, flashpacking and film remakes.

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I saw Take This Waltz a week ago, which has gathered seemingly ubiquitous critical acclaim for it’s honest depiction of romance and love but which utterly bemused me. You can read my review of it on lightscameracardiff.wordpress.com/
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Turksib opened WOW last Sunday in an enthralling and captivating performance of the 1929 Russian documentary on the clash of man, nature and machine in the building of the Siberia - Turkestan railway. The performance was given a frenetic beauty by Bronnnt Industries Kapital’s stunning live score, composed especially for the film. So we thought it right and proper to find out from the band themselves the influences and inspirations behind BIK’s interpretation of the film. Lloyd Griffiths talked to Guy Bartell of the duo on the Chapter performance, the thematic ambivalence of man, nature and machine in the film and tried to work out what hypnagogic means. What’s your background that led you into such a specific form of performance?Film soundtrack music has always exerted the biggest influence on BIK, so it was no surprise that I’d venture into actual soundtrack composition and performance.Were there any specific filmic inspirations that you consciously brought to the soundtrack?I have a particular soft spot for 70s and 80s European exploitation film soundtracks, which have (perhaps thankfully?) not been a big influence on this particular soundtrack. Did you come to composing the score with specific ideas of how you wanted to shape the film?I definitely wanted to exploit the contrasting elements of the film, especially the perceived conflict between man and nature, and the ambiguity as well; the film is a paean to man’s mastery over nature, but at the same time the technology becomes increasingly animated as the film progresses and the division between nature and the machines of man begin to blur; enormous cranes appear to yawn and roar like captive animals. Many of the sounds you hear which are used to convey industry and the machines were produced by normal musical instruments, wrestled into dissonance by being played in unconventional ways.How does Turksib compare with your other soundtrack projects?I previously composed a soundtrack for the 1922 film Haxan, a Swedish silent study of superstition and the history of witchcraft. That score had a far more hypnagogic quality to it; the film mixes a quasi-historical narrative with vivid dramatisations of the Sabbat, and the soundtrack attempts to match this with a ritualistic, spectral ambience. Turksib is both cinematically and musically more grounded in the corporeal world.Does the international nature of the film effect the performance or composing of the score?The film focusses intently on the effect of the Soviet technological ‘advance guard’ on the native peoples of Turkestan (a historical region comprised of present-day Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan). A notable scene shows a nomad elder remarking at the “Devil’s Chariot” that the Turksib surveyors are riding (an automobile). With this in mind, the music attempts to suggest a collision of cultures; the placid solo instruments and folk drones of Central Asia entangled in the wheels of Turksib’s machine, sent spinning through a prism of rotating drum rhythms.What were the things that struck you from the film as important to highlight and represent in the score?The director Victor Turin was astonishingly good at montage editing, especially considering the technology available to him in 1929. The scenes are choreographed and spliced together with a remarkable sense of of rhythm and pace, and the film seems to posess a natural tempo that I actively tried to harness and utilize as much as possible with the score.How is playing the score live for you compared with a typical concert?It’s more daunting from a performance point of view as you can’t exactly stop the film! We swap instruments a lot during the show so there isn’t much scope for messing around. But by the same gesture it’s also comforting having less control and being dragged along on Turksib’s journey.How did you enjoy the first showing at Chapter - do you think the performances will vary depending on the audience/cinema?The Chapter show was amazing - we actually heard there were a couple of people from Kazakhstan at the screening who thoroughly enjoyed it. We’re really looking forward to the forthcoming performances.
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Last Friday, I saw Wild Beasts for the second time in three days. Somehow, in spite of my rigorous stalking, the band remained a captivating listen both times, bringing an beautiful intensity to the Coal Exchange. Above is my full review on the Buzz magazine blog.
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Craig Finn, leader of the bar-room bombast of The Hold Steady has released his first solo album this week, Clear Heart Full Eyes. Read my review on the Stool Pigeon website, after the click.
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Forthcoming film Resistance is set in the Olchon Valley in 1944- during a reimagined WW2 in which D-Day fails and the women of a small village wake up to find their husbands gone. It’s a fantastic production starring Michael Sheen, Tom Wlaschicha, Iwan Rheon and based on Owen Sheers award winning novel. I interviewed Owen, Iwan and Tom to get their thoughts on the adaptation, collaboration and the transcendent power of the film.
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I was both enough of a cultural poseur and lucky to have friend’s at Buzz who managed to give the opportunity to enjoy a Cigar and rum tasting evening at Gwdihw recently. Here’s my review of the evening.
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I saw Alice Russell at her pre Brecon jazz festival permforance at Clwb Ifor Bach last Thursday. She was sultry and soulful, a voice to rival any of those currently topping the charts, and with far more interesting influences to boot. Here’s my review for Buzz Magazine.
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Last week I saw my first gig of the summer- Dancers; appropriately full of catharsis and melancholia, shot through hazy noise-pop. Read it here.
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Mixcloud #1

Hazy Days by Lloyd Griffiths on Mixcloud

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I met with Rutger Hauer in Cardiff to discuss his part as the ‘Withstander’, a devilish character in Neil Jones’s horror film, The Reverend. The Dutch actor was an effusive and arresting presence; talking literately about evil, devils and Blade Runner with the romantic air he brings to his work, so stop reading me and enjoy his words, above.