SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

The only thing here that I'm remotely arsed about is the rarities collection, particularly if those rarities are from the 1994-2004 period when they were making their best music.

I'm not arsed about a new best-of collection (especially when Songbook does the job so well and doesn't contain any of the inevitable post-2004 filler) or to go and see 'em play Fuzzy Logic and Radiator with a fraction of the energy.

At least I can be thankful there's no 'Bing Bong II' on the cards.

They must really need the money.

I don't see why they can't just record another album.

Because it would be shite.

I'm not as pessimistic as you, but I'm definitely not listening to "Bing Bong" anymore :)

Have any Fuzzy Logic & Radiator songs never been played live? There are certainly more than a handful of songs that they haven't played in well over a decade. I can't remember seeing "Fuzzy Birds" on a setlist in years.

I also wonder if they'll dust off any b-sides. They did "Mrs. Spector" a couple times in 2007 or 2009.

Dude, it's 2016. There's a lot of songs they haven't played in well over a decade at this stage.

That's true.

I actually find the idea of them playing their first two albums refreshing. Less backing tracks, and no "Golden Retriever."

Hmm. I haven't been following SFA's recent live activity, but I know for a fact that these have all been performed live since the hiatus...

- God! Show Me Magic
- Something For The Weekend
- Hometown Unicorn
- If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You
- Bad Behaviour
- The International Language of Screaming
- Demons
- Mountain People

The following have been played live at least once since the Phantom Power era...

- Frisbee
- Gathering Moss
- Furryvision
- She's Got Spies
- Play It Cool
- Chupacabras
- Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir
- Down a Different River
- Hermann Loves Pauline

'Fuzzy Birds', 'Mario Man', 'Hangin' With Howard Marks', 'Long Gone, 'For Now and Ever' all have been played live, but to my knowledge have never been played live since the Fuzzy Logic tour.

'Download' and 'The Placid Casual' have both been played live, but very, very rarely.

The following tracks have never been played live:

- Bass Tuned To D.E.A.D.
- Short Painkiller

But I wouldn't get your hopes up, because you know fine well it'll be all the Fuzzy Logic/Radiator tracks they've been playing anyway, plus 'Hermann Loves Pauline', 'Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir', probably 'Down a Different River', and maybe 'Gathering Moss' ...

as for B-sides you might get 'Calimero', or 'Arnofio/Glo In The Dark' ...

... plus 'Slow Life', '(Drawing) Rings Around The World', 'Hello Sunshine', 'Juxtapozed With U', 'Golden Retriever' and 'The Man Don't Give a Fuck', because why break the habit of a lifetime.

It says they're playing both albums from start to finish. I don't know how they'll fit them all in, but that's the story as it goes.

I definitely have had my fill of the songs in the last line of your post.

The best way for them to do it, IMO, would be to play Fuzzy Logic (plus B-sides) one night and Radiator (plus B-sides) the next, but forgive me if I'm skeptical - there's been way too many times that an SFA gig has been advertised as being something outside of what they normally do, and ends up being the usual set.

Well, I bought a presale ticket to the Norwich gig. I'm still not sure how they're planning on playing two full albums back-to-back, but I don't want to miss out.

I wouldn't be surprised if they cheat and using backing tracks for the songs they probably don't even remember. That's the only thing I'm worried about. Based on recent interview, I know a couple of them barely even remember their own names.

I can believe that. I happened upon an SFA dressing room one time, back in the day. The fog of weed smoke was practically impenetrable.

both albums are only around 45 minutes long

I can believe that. I happened upon an SFA dressing room one time, back in the day. The fog of weed smoke was practically impenetrable.

I once partied down with them in their dressing room after a show. I've never seen so much weed in my life. Like, there were 4 or 5 mixing bowls filled with buds. There was also full-blown DJ setup and they were all taking turns throwing down on the decks.

It was a good night.

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/super-furry-animals

DISC 1 – FUZZY LOGIC + B-SIDES
Fuzzy Logic (Original 1996 album – 2016 Remaster)
• God! Show Me Magic
• Fuzzy Birds
• Something 4 The Weekend
• Frisbee
• Hometown Unicorn
• Gathering Moss
• If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You
• Bad Behaviour
• Mario Man
• Hangin’ With Howard Marks
• Long Gone
• For Now And Ever
B-Sides & Such (2016 Remaster)
• Lazy Life (Of No Fixed Identity)
• Don’t Be A Fool, Billy!
• Death By Melody
• Something For The Weekend
• Dim Bendith
• Waiting To Happen
• Arnofio / Glô In The Dark
• Guacamole
• The Man Don’t Give A Fuck
• (Nid) Hon Yw’r Gân Sy’n Mynd I Achub Yr Iaith

DISC 2 – LOST ON THE BYPASS ROAD
(Bonus tracks – previously unreleased apart from track 1)

Studio Demo Session, Summer 1995
• Frisbee
• Something For The Weekend
• Hangin’ With Howard Marks
• Sali Mali
Studio Demo Session, October 1995
• Bad Behaviour
• Lazy Life (Of No Fixed Identity)
• Mario Man
• Death By Melody
• Hometown Unicorn
• Waiting To Happen
• If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You
• Gathering Moss
• The Man Don’t Give A Fuck
• Fuzzy Birds
• For Now And Ever
Live At The Phoenix Festival, 20th July 1996
• Frisbee
• Organ Yn Dy Geg
• Fix Idris
• Something For The Weekend
• Hometown Unicorn
• If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You
• Focus Pocus/Debiel
• Bad Behaviour
• Mario Man
• God! Show Me Magic

Can't wait to hear the demos, but this MDGAF demo is horrendous:

https://soundcloud.com/salvolabel/the-man-dont-give-a-fuck-demo-session-october-1995?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=twitter

I guess that makes it even cooler since MDGAF rules.

i'm partial to these demos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lcY6kFwt94

particularly this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL0km3QzlAo

There's absolutely no way I'm buying this album again. The bonus material looks very unexciting, too.

I'm more interested in any possible outtakes/unreleased songs rather than demos. Although the live stuff should be fun to listen to.

Hey Gruff claims the remaster sounds completely new and that there's tons of differences with the original release. You know he's never prone to hyperbole..

Apart from when he described Hey Venus! as "speaker blowing", Dark Days/Light Years as "biblical" and 'Lliwiau Llachar' as sounding like The Who. I could go on - I won't. But yeah, I'll believe it when I hear it.

Gruff also says: "The reissue is radically different to the original, some songs have alternate beginnings and endings and people will notice the difference in definition, especially in high resolution digital and the new vinyl cut. 1995/6 was an overwhelming whirlwind of touring, gimmickry and mayhem for us so it's been a real treat to take some time to relive and reassess all these songs and compile everything that we recorded in that short, magical period in one place."

It's likely he's referring to the demos when he talks about alternate beginnings and endings.

Truth be told, I'll probably stream the demos once and stick with the original CD.

I have a confession.

I absolutely love 'Bing Bong.'

Had the best time ever dancing with my son to it yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmu6GYIHH6o

http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2016/10/10/magnet-classics-the-making-of-super-furry-animals-rings-around-the-world/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MagnetMagazine+%28Magnet+Magazine%29

Pretty interesting long article on Rings Around the World. Of course, this part intrigued me the most:

That lost outlier, Shaw remembers, was titled “Chihuahua”: “It was part of a long, extended jam that they did in the studio, almost like a dance track. Somebody hit upon the idea of getting a samba band on the record. Apparently, there’s a Welsh samba band somewhere, because we found them, and got them to the studio, but it just didn’t work out. Though we did get something out of it. A girl in the samba band played one of these huge, deep-sounding bass drums; Eric peeled it off of one of the recordings and turned it into an 808, and that wound up being the obnoxiously low bass tone that you hear—or, rather, feel, though only if you’ve got a big enough subwoofer—on (Ciarán’s Stooges-sampling trip-hop instrumental) ‘(A) Touch Sensitive.’ So, the samba band kinda made the record.”

That was a good read!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMWruEyANF3/?taken-by=kliphscurlock

Radiator is getting remastered.

A vinyl reissue of Radiator would make me very very happy.

I know nothing about production, mastering or mixing, but is there any chance they'll be able to improve the sound of the bass on the record? The album's production has always made my ears feel very tired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZY4HGiMdqE

A vinyl reissue of Radiator would make me very very happy.

― Kitchen Person, Thursday, November 3, 2016 11:45 AM

Fuzzy Logic remaster is out/on Spotify if you're curious

Single version of Something 4 The Weekend used instead of the album take. Actually don't mind this bit of revisionism

It was like that before iirc - I listened to the FL/Radiator version recently and that had the slower version, put it down to Sony/BMG slackness. It is a better version though it sounded weird in that context.

Am interested to compare this with the original but probably not enough to buy it. I've been happy with the way it's sounded for 20 years tbh.

Enjoyed that film, esp. Guto's look-to-camera as Gruff listed 23 coincidences. Bunf looks terrible though.

It's listed as 'U.S. Version' on Spotify, but it sounds like the same old UK single version to me. Did it go on all the US pressings then? That could explain why it ended up on the 2fer. The UK album version isn't anywhere to be found on the deluxe.

perhaps Bunf read this thread

scrub that, the album version appears after Death By Melody

Sorry Bunf. Get some sleep man!

This is being live broadcast on BBC Radio Cymru at 8pm

Composed by Cian Ciarán, performed by BBC National Orchestra Wales, poetry by Gruffudd Antur.

For 20 years and counting a member of Super Furry Animals, Cian Ciarán comes together with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales to tell a traditional Welsh fable in music. The world premiere performance of a work that has been almost two-decades in development, Cian Ciarán’s first orchestral piece Rhys & Meinir promises a rare, aural experience that encapsulates the drama of ancient Welsh folklore, the envisioned splendour of rural Wales and the innate, musical curiosity of the intrepid composer.

Rhys and Meinir found love in the village of Nant Gwrtheyrn, North Wales and their childhood romance blossomed for all to see. On the day of their marriage, Meinir is nowhere to be found and the mystery leads Rhys into months of despair. When finally a thunder strike reveals Meinir’s final hiding place, Rhys is unable to live a second longer.

Supported by Arts Council Wales and the PRS for Music Foundation

Yeah, the US version swapped out the original album version of 'Something For The Weekend' for the single version, even at the time.

The remasters don't sound much different to me, but I'm listening on low budget earbuds on a laptop. Someone with a better system might want to chime in.

The "if You Don't Want Me to Destroy You" and "Mario Man" demos are pretty interesting. There's a different chorus on "Destroy."

I did notice two or three seconds of extra noise at the end of "God! Show Me Magic," however, so I guess Gruff told the truth about something.

Cian's composition in full: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0380rs6

If you're interested, Kliph is giving pretty thorough and interesting answers to questions about the remasters and the SFA vault.

https://m.reddit.com/r/superfurryanimals/comments/5b36qa/qa_kliph_scurlock_answers_your_questions_about/?compact=true

Yeah. Like that sort of thing..

Preserving what they did originally is priority number one to me.

He says, after detailing a series of unneccessary, revisionist changes to Fuzzy Logic. I'm all for demos/unreleased tracks, but I hate this kind of revisionist bullshit. I'll be sticking with the 1996 original - it still sounds fine.

or: he details a bunch of minor decisions made in reconstructing edits and crossfades between songs, and one extended outro.

Does anybody know why Radiator was mixed with so little bass?