My Sŵn festival experience is restricted to the bottom-floor of Clwb Ifor Bach on the Saturday night. Sŵn is all about freedom; about being able to wander multiple venues, filling your ears with revelations. But, as host, my duty is to stay where I’m bound. I’m not complaining: I can't imagine that I would have heard much better, wherever my feet had taken me.

The Stilletoes are raw and irreverent. Their singer and guitarist, Efa, shines brighter than the monstrous decorations festooning St Mary Street. In essence, they're a punk band fuelled by fearless enthusiasm and charisma. They have the musos in the audience muttering into their pint glasses and the rest of us wondering if this is how ace Nirvana would have sounded had they been fronted by a hyperactive, sherbet bomb of an 18yr old from Criccieth.

Llanfairfechan's Klaus Kinski then unravel black metal nightmares interwoven with awesome noise and warped Milliganish humour. Their singer James fights a battle with himself for the duration of their set. The bruises were worth it; he isn’t the only winner.

Finally, Wales’ first psychedelic, kraut-driven, post-punk band, Ectogram, prove that, 20 years after they first started challenging preconceptions in Fflaps, their desire to expand musical boundaries is still very much alive. Maeyc pummels his kit as if he's driving the pillars in to support a whole new framework for music without clichés.

Ann’s vocals are simultaneously unsettling and beguiling, toying with notes before mercilessly pinning them to our consciousness.

All of this sent crashing against our ears on a blood red foam of phased feedback and tangled arpeggios. The overall effect is original and unsettlingly beautiful.

Sŵn is all about the potential of sound.

These three bands fulfil the remit perfectly. Back to the top of the page...