SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

I totally love DD/LY. I love its krautiness. Usually skip the first 2 tracks & thereafter it's a seamless ride.

I love Crazy Naked Girls and never skip it, but I wish Gruff's verses went on a bit longer. The guitar fuckery does get a bit overwhelming by the end. That's probably the most guitar fuckery the band's ever done. They've never been big on big riffs and solos.

Mt. is easy to skip, but Cian's easily the second best songwriter in the band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMT4Af7MayI

Dark Days/Light Years is undoubtedly backloaded. I'd say 'Crazy Naked Girls', 'Cardiff In The Sun', 'The Very Best of Neil Diamond', 'Helium Hearts', 'White Socks/Flip Flops' and 'Pric' are my keepers from the record. The rest of the album isn't up to snuff, IMO: 'Where Do You Wanna Go?/Lliwiau Llachar' and 'Inconvenience' are SFA-by-numbers, I find 'Inaugural Trams' to be a bit meh, and 'Mt.' and 'Moped Eyes' are two of the biggest pieces of garbage in the entire SFA discography.

I mean, christ, listen to Dark Days/Light Years with Guerrilla or Rings Around The World and the difference in quality speaks for itself, really.

*back-to-back with

I still find Cian's Outside In to be a total snooze, fwiw.

Lazer Beam and Back on a Roll take the title for me.

Yup: 'Lazer Beam' and 'Back on a Roll' are also garbage, as are 'The Horn', 'Walk You Home', 'Oi Frango', 'Psyclone!' and 'Frequency'. I used to like 'Back on a Roll' but now it grates on me a hell of a lot, and 'Frequency' is down there as one of their weaker balads. The rest are just pointless, IMO.

*ballads, rather.

'Frequency' was one of those SFA tracks that became a fan favourite not long after it came out, and is still held up by the hardcore as being one of the highlights of the album, which completely mystifies me. It's no 'Demons' or 'Cryndod Yn Dy Lais', that's for sure.

Their quality control went out the window once the other guys started writing songs, but I don't think Gruff is anywhere near as strong as he used to be. He's as prolific as ever, but he really hasn't written any new classics to the standard of the aforementioned ballads at the end of your post.

The American Interior show and film were a lot better than the actual album. They were really good, at that.

Hmm. Y'know, I'm not sure it's as simple as that because let's not forget the Cian-authored electro-driven stuff on earlier albums like 'Some Things Come From Nothing' and '(A) Touch Sensitive', and Bunf's 'Sex, War & Robots' on Phantom Power is one of his finest, I think, not to mention tracks like 'Cabin Fever' and 'White Socks/Flip Flops' are highlights of their post-Songbook albums.

Personally, I think that their quality control went out of the window because they started making terrible decisions as to which songs they should include and leave off their albums, coupled with the fact that members of the band (particularly Gruff and Cian) had started solo careers/side projects and so great songs that could have ended up on SFA albums went elsewhere. There were so many projects being worked on in 2006 alone that I'm honestly surprised many of them ended up being completed. I just think they were doing too much, spreading their talents too thinly and took their eye off the ball, really. Although, it could be argued that they were getting bored of the SFA thing anyway.

Also, now that it's been 10 years since the album came out, I think it's fair to say that Love Kraft was an extremely bad move for them and totally the wrong type of album for them to put out at that time. Yes, it's brilliantly produced and the 5.1 mix sounds excellent, and tracks like 'Zoom!' and 'Cabin Fever' are up there with their very best songs, and it enabled to band to go on holiday and sun it up in Spain and Brazil while they were making it, but it was also a record that was a crushing disappointment for many and it was also the point where a lot of people got off the bus, and to this day and I can't think of another SFA record that generated such a negative reaction from fans upon release. The band had always been a large cult band, but I think Love Kraft pushed them further into the margins with only the seriously dedicated continuing to follow them. Everyone else either started following Gruff's solo career, or finished with the band altogether and found some other band to get passionate about.

I now look back on Love Kraft as SFA's big mistake, and perhaps they should have went on hiatus after the Songbook compilation came out, because it was around that time that solo projects started happening. The highlights of Love Kraft - 'Zoom', 'Atomik Lust', 'Cloudberries', 'Cabin Fever' - would have made a great little stopgap EP.

I love almost everything on Love Kraft idk (I could do without "Back on a Roll")

I've always liked The Horn.

I've come to seriously dislike 'The Horn', it feels a bit underwritten and throwaway to me and it's the kind of track that I suspect wouldn't have even made it as a B-side during their Creation period. I find Bunf's vocal on this (and indeed 'Back on a Roll') near-unlistenable these days, which is strange because I think his singing on 'Sex, War & Robots', 'These Bones' and 'White Socks/Flip Flops' is just fine. He's at his best when he doesn't try and reach for those high notes, I guess. Bunf was capable of much, much, much better stuff than his contributions to Love Kraft.

More dates:

http://www.groundcontroltouring.com/tours/super-furry-animals

05/03/2016
Cambridge, MA / The Sinclair
Buy Tickets
05/05/2016
New York, NY / Webster Hall
Buy Tickets
05/06/2016
Washington, DC / 9:30 Club
Buy Tickets
05/07/2016
Philadelphia, PA / Union Transfer

I like those dates even more than I like "The Horn." And I really fucking like "The Horn."

Turrican, your posts sent me back to Love Kraft and my extensive post on it in the poll of that album. Super Furry Animals - Love Kraft poll

In retrospect, this wasn't an album they made for their fans. I disagree about "The Horn"—it's one of several tracks here that feels specifically designed to bring us back to the light side of the moon—tho you're right in that, in retrospect, this record pretty much killed whatever momentum their career had.

Still, I'm hesitant to call Love Kraft a mistake for two reasons. First, I'm not sure it mattered that much in the grand scheme of things. Where could they have gone instead? They obviously were running out of gas in the years after this.

More importantly, it may be the record I return to by SFA the most. Is it their best? Probably not – it's too schizophrenic in places, too swampy and too dependent on the solace of headphones to really appreciate on any kind of a regular basis. But it's probably the record by them that rewards the most re-listening – not only for the sound and production (which is amazing) but also the little melodic flourishes, odd meters that pop up for a few bars here and there, and some of their richest lyrics. Some of these songs are fascinating little miniatures. Others are so dense or structurally complex that it takes multiple listens to figure out what the hell is even happening.

Given how much their last two records felt like a band running on fumes—and how much time has passed since those records—I'm fascinated to know what they might come up with next.

Naive Teen,

I agree with a lot of what you've said. There are a couple clear misfires on the album, particularly the single, but I find a lot to like when I revisit it. I really disliked the album when it came out, too. Hey Venus! is their low point for me, and I think that's the one where they decided to soak up too much sun and record some pretty lazy songs. Rough Trade, their new label at the time, also ordered them to make a record like Fuzzy Logic. It really didn't end up sounding anything like that. That said, I have a lot of time for a song like 'The Gift That Keeps Giving' and consider it one of the best songs in their discography.

Dark Days/Light Years was also mainly written around the Hey Venus! sessions. I think it's a lot better, but they clearly needed the break. I rate some of their solo releases since the hiatus pretty highly, so I think we'll hear some interesting music from them again. Baby Queens, Cian's girl group, have a really interesting sound, for instance.

Oh yeah, it's clear that they didn't make Love Kraft for anyone but themselves, but I guess that they were hoping to bring their fans along with them rather than alienate quite a number of them, which is what ended up happening. I certainly don't think the record brought in many new fans for them, while they'd successfully been building their fanbase and bringing their fans with them for the previous 6 albums. Like I say, they really should have gone on hiatus in 2004 around the time of Songbook, it would have been the perfect time to do so. Production-wise Love Kraft is great, but the songwriting itself isn't really up there with their best aside from maybe 3 or 4 songs. I think most of their solo work since Dark Days/Light Years have been incredibly patchy.

Has, rather.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-C32XGR5VP/

Any idea what the track behind 'Cabin Fever' is? :Q

To my eyes it says 'Humming Reprise.'

Would love to know what 'Ya Hey' is.

my guess is "Humming Reprise" refers to the instrumental ending of "Cabin Fever" that comes after a few seconds' silence

Yes, it says 'Humming Reprise' and it's probably not the piano coda to 'Cabin Fever' as 'Cabin Fever' is listed as having the same running time as it does on the album itself. One of the working titles for 'Cloudberries' was 'Hummingbirds', which makes me think that it could possibly be some kind of 'Cloudberries' reprise. 'Cloudberries' is listed as having, again, the same running time as it does on the album itself, so it's not part of 'Cloudberries' that's been chopped out and listed as its own track. Of course, it may just be a whole new piece of music that was dropped from the album at the last minute.

You can see on the Phantom Power box that they messed around with the placements of the 'Father Father' interludes.

The Love Kraft master in the photo has a different running order:

1. Zoom!
2. Atomik Lust
3. The Horn
4. Lazer Beam
5. Walk You Home
6. Frequency
7. Psyclone!
8. Oi Frango
9. Back on a Roll
10. Ohio Heat
11. Cloudberries
12. Cabin Fever
13. Humming Reprise

The tape dated 7th Sept 1998 is clearly from the Guerrilla sessions, it's named RW Session Mixes #1, RW meaning Real World Studios where the album was record. 'Y Teimlad' is the recording that went onto Mwng, but it was recorded at the Guerrilla sessions. #9 is 'DX', which I would assume is 'DX Heaven' ... I have no fucking idea what 'Ya-Hey!' could possibly be. It's either a working title for one of the Guerrilla tracks (or B-sides) or something that didn't get released.

There is an old Phantom Power floating around the net that contains an additional "father father." I had it and lost it. I assume it's an old master, as the undefeated sounds, from what I remember, a bit lazier, with more a reggae-styled rhythm section.

xpost:

*record=recorded.

Yeah, I remember the early leak of Phantom Power having a few differences to the final release. I haven't heard it for years, though.

One of the DAT's is labelled SFA - "Sympathy" Tracks which certainly must have something to do with 'No Sympathy'

This is starting soon. Anyone able to make it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0nhQ7637_Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R_6YB53Wp0

Love Kraft still their best album

https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/679193519450263552

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/the-insatiable-inflatable-candylion-sse-swalec-stadium-theatre-review-delightful-music-but-energy-a6780371.html

Only the imagination of Gruff Rhys could have come up with this singular show. He expands his 2007 album Candylion into a psychedelic fable - for all the family! Billed by National Theatre Wales as a “theatre gig”, live music propels the story, with the audience standing or moving about the space.

We’re in Pixel Valley, where hybrid creatures – Candylion, Polarpear, Meringueutan – happily gather pixel fruit. But after the Candylion swallows some negative vibes, she begins to grow – and get nasty. The pink creature (played with winning childish stroppiness by Remy Beasley) turns into a tyrannical “Turbo Capitalist”, forcing the others to work in her candy factory. Only Caruin – a carnation penguin, obviously! – resists. After an epic journey to the land of the Cone People, he returns to persuade Candylion – swollen into an enormous, inflatable set of jaws – that it’s better to share.

The word ‘surreal’ is liberally used today – but Candylion really, genuinely is. It’s delightful – and should delight kids.

Rhys came up with the show after noticing children were coming to the Candylion album tour, clearly responding to the twee plinky-plonk or gently driving rhythms of his songs. Still, I’ll have to take his word for it – I see one of the ‘after-dark’ shows, with an adult audience; we get an extra “theatrical encore”, his 20-minute song ‘Skylon’, guest starring Charlotte Church no less.

But the play’s main, archly anti-capitalist allegory certainly works for adults; indeed, there are elements that are really more for groovy parents than kids. But the underlying story and message – be inclusive; don’t be greedy – is definitely child-friendly.

They even find some cute ways to explain economic principles: if the irony of a dance number about the “trickle down” effect flies over little heads, the concept is then explained, revealing with childish simplicity the injustice of the theory. “I have the jar – and you have the drips”, says Candylion. “Can’t we just share what’s in the jar?” questions Caruin. Get ‘em young, Gruff!

READ MORE
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The music is a delight – as a high-concept gig, The Insatiable, Inflatable Candylion is a roaring success. Rhys narrates in his inimitably zoned-out, meandering style, and leads a super-group featuring Sweet Baboo, Lisa Jen Brown from 9Bach, and Kliph Scurlock from the Flaming Lips. He even conducts a conga round the venue in a tiny wooden car.

But that moment aside, the hangar-like space doesn’t do them any favours. It felt under-filled, the 360-degree staging over-stretching the core cast of six – and the budget. It might have worked if they could bring on a big chorus; instead, the energy too often dissipated, sliding from anarchic into shambling.

Not that there isn’t a coherent vision here: the hybrids’ costumes are fab, and Wils Wilson’s production is clever in its use of bubblegum cartoon stylings – we enjoy the sugar rush, while also recognising that this shiny, pester-power pink is its own capitalist coating. But while Candylion may have an easy-to-swallow message, delivered in Rhys’ deliriously odd signature style, when the sugar-high wears off you’re left hungry for something a bit more substantial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9247t3mtYk

SFA's 20th birthday celebration turns 21 on the Left Coast! New Super Furry Animals tour alert! Super Furry Animals's momentous 20th birthday celebrations of 2015 become 21 this year as we embark on some adventures that passed us by last year. Starting next week - (Feb 4th 2016) the furious Furry will be hitting North America's West Coast, starting in Vancouver and visiting Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, and ending with 2 dates at LA's famed Metal hang out - The Roxy Theatre. Some East coast shows are happening in May following a slot at Austin's Levitation festival - look out New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Boston. We'll warm up for these May shows by embarking on an enormo-dome tour with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds in April - pay attention Glasgow, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham. More festivals and announcements to be expected for the Summer - starting at The Manic Street Preachers's Liberty stadium show on May 28th in Abertawe. Full list of February shows here: Vancouver Imperial Feb 4th Portland Crystal Ballroom Feb 5th Seattle Neptune Theater Feb 6th San Francisco Great American Music Hall Feb 9th San Jose Ritz Theatre Feb 10th Los Angeles Roxy Theater Feb 11th Los Angeles Roxy Theater Feb 12th Our pals and confidants Dead Meadow join us for all West Coast shows apart from Portland and San Francisco. Tickets available from all the usual spots for all shows - apart from 1st LA show which has sold out. @superfurryanimals @gutopryce @gary.aspden

---
What's left to announce?

Interactive CD-ROM?

Saw them last night in Vancouver. Set started out a bit rocky, but after 3 or 4 songs they warmed right up & sounded great. Not exactly the most dynamic performers, but the psychedelic looping film projections made up for it somewhat.

They are generally pretty stiff live unless they're doing the rehearsed bits like the yeti outro.

Gruff is much more entertaining when he's alone for some reason.

I dunno. I thought they were fantastic on the RAtW tour.

I'd never heard this before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNurmiAGjYU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNurmiAGjYU

Danger Mouse really should produce the inevitable tenth SFA album. He expressed a desire to do so in the past.

Oops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDRQ2ObNhSI

This is the documentary that aired on S4C last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWmMSzI3hWQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur7_jT-obmc

Not his most sonically exciting composition, but I like the message and I'm amazed it's been trending for hours on Twitter.

http://i.imgur.com/ENDKK90l.jpg

Tweeted by his label earlier today.

Maybe Q got some bad information, but it sounds like he said something about 'new SFA songs' based on the headline.

Gruff is always pretty poor at describing his songs, but here it is:

"Imminently, there are more soundtracks, solo material and SFA's Euro 2016 song for Wales, the not-so-profoundly titled Bing Bong which Rhys describes as a 'six-and-a-half-minute demented disco idiot track, in the Welsh language."