SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

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?

x-post:

Those sort of changes are still unnecessary, IMO. Just bring the overall sound up to scratch and put out the unreleased/demo stuff, that's all that needs doing.

They're not changes per se, though, and absolutely not unnecessary - he's having to MAKE the edits and crossfades and such as part of the mastering, and reckons it would be harder to replicate the poor-quality (in his assessment of the technology of the time, compared to today) edits than to make ones that sound good to him, and have the fannish bonus of containing little bits of music that the old version didn't.

If you don't want to hear them, that's fine! I'm almost certainly never going to buy these, but if I had disposable income and a good stereo, it would probably feel a little more worthwhile re-purchasing everything if I knew there were tiny little Easter eggs, representing the care and thought put into the project by the guy doing the remastering.

Honestly, the only noticeable change was putting "Something 4" into the track list rather than the original. I happen to prefer it to the original studio version so it doesn't bother me; it's also how the original US version is sequenced.

I dunno, I'll give it at least one listen when I get around to it.

I missed the show in Norwich. I've seen the set lists and they're straight-up playing the albums from front to back.

I found a poor vid of The Placid Casual. I think Bunf sounds pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go-uCTS2h8k

Just fishing right now, however I may have two spare tickets for tomorrow night at the Roundhouse, [we can't go sadly] not fussed about payment, anyone potentially interested?

Wd be up for this. Have DM'd you.

Holy WTF here. Via PR mail:

Everloving Records announces the US reissue Super Furry Animals’ 1996 debut album, Fuzzy Logic, for Record Store Day 2017!

On Saturday April 22nd, Fuzzy Logic will be available on 180g LP with an additional 35 bonus tracks and on 2xCD. Gruff Rhys says: “The reissue is radically different to the original, some songs have alternative beginnings and endings and people will notice the difference in definition, especially in high resolution digital and the new vinyl cut.”

Seriously, *35* bonus tracks? What the heck! No word on what exactly yet but the mail goes on to say:

From the two-decade deep well of their adventurous catalogue come B-sides, a legendary festival performance and demo versions from low-key 1995 recording sessions, revealing the genesis and winding roads taken by many of their early hits.

It was reissued in the same configuration in the UK last year, Ned. Yes, there are 35 bonus tracks... 10 of 'em are B-sides, the rest of 'em are demos and live stuff.

Nice. Well looking forward, then.

The "radically different" stuff is just some extra noise on a couple tracks. I don't have a wonderful set-up so maybe I'm missing out on the finer details, but I didn't the sound quality much better/different either.

Yeah, the most interesting stuff for me was the demos, although I only listened to 'em a couple of times and then totally forgot about the reissue completely until this thread was bumped.

Honestly, and I hate to be Neo Turrican, but this band's getting a bit too comfortable with the legacy act thing. I remember when they were self-deprecating about their first best-of album back in 2004. I won't go into whether or not their later albums are as good as their older albums, but their social media presence has gotten pretty depressing. It's all hawking Radiator-era T-shirts and news about RSD releases like this and the "International Language of Screaming" single reissue. I'm sure they've all got mouths to feed, but I'm gonna be really disappointed in this band if they keep this up...

No you're right. New album or fuck off

Well yeah, this is the thing. For a band that once remarked that it would be all over if they ever released a greatest hits, it's quite something (and depressing, in a way) to see that they've pretty much turned into a nostalgia act, which is something that I would never have expected this band to turn into. I'd always assumed for many years that the band were very much anti-nostalgia and preferred not to be backwards-looking. The thing is, though, I'm not hankering after new music from them either. I haven't even watched any of the footage of the Fuzzy Logic/Radiator shows. I prefer to remember this band as they were in their prime, when they were making ambitious projects like Rings Around The World and making highly listenable, wonderful records like Mwng and Phantom Power.

Glad I caught them live when I did (once at a record store show around Guerilla and then twice on separate Rings Around the World dates), even though all three shows were good rather than tear-your-head-off great. It does all seem very distant now.

Turrican and afriendlypioneer otm. It's something that's been riling me for the last year. I've religiously seen them on every tour since 1999, collected all the vinyl. Even forked out the high cost of the tix for the 'comeback' show. Which admittedly was brilliant. But when the legacy of that tour is new material in the shape of bing bong (an old studio offcut) and nothing else I'm feeling a little bit had.

I don't want to deny them their opportunity to enhance their pension plans but when it's done in the sort of corporate way that they always seemed to eschew in the past it leaves a slightly sour taste.

I suspect Gruff is the one that doesn't want to make more music and the rest are open to it (Gulp is moderately successful, I guess), but if they're not gonna be an active band I'd rather they just say they're not ever making music again instead of exploiting nostalgia. Radiator is going to be reissued and I really hope they don't do another nostalgia tour 'cause I'm definitely checking out if so.

Sense of betrayal here is palpable and weird.

Just hate seeing the merch flogging going on on their Twitter/Facebook. It's depressing me.

https://twitter.com/superfurry/status/848199583473840129

Children's raves with The Orb, acceptable use of social media.

Another reissue is coming out next month.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B071XBL1SJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1497797954&sr=1-2&pi=CB192561891_AA75&keywords=Super+Furry+Animals#featureBulletsAndDetailBullets_secondary_view_div_1497797962411

Interesting to see the fabled Smiths cover on the track list.

Hopefully this is the end of the nostalgia mining, but I do like hearing unreleased stuff.

Probably tour too

pic.twitter.com/JhIGi4GhwU

— super furry animals (@superfurry) June 18, 2017

Man, they already toured Radiator in full last year. I really hope the cash grabs are ending. Kind of a sad way for them to go out. Listened to DD/LY a couple days ago and still think it rips.

Nostalgia mining? No way, I'm stoked there'll be a vinyl issue I don't have to pay $150+ for. BRING ON RINGS.

Of course I'm buying it, but it's been nine years since ther last album and they reformed so they could hawk old albums and keep touring old songs? Just seems a little too cynical for one of my favs.

I'm not buying it at all.

Here's the "cover"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m38RRIx_fY&feature=youtu.be

One of those cases where the mystery was probably more exciting than the reality...

Oh, that's just the three-minute version. There's an eight-minute version as well. lol

https://soundcloud.com/salvolabel/the-boy-with-the-thorn-in-his-side?in=salvolabel/sets/super-furry-animals-the-boy

I remember Gruff talking about this in interviews in the late '90s/early '00s ... it was designed to piss off precious Smiths fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osceMOFBic8

They're really pulling up scraps this time.

record new stuff or fuck off forever you hypocrites

I think they're cooked, man. Just giving listless interviews about their past and dismissing any kind of future. Gruff's probably recording another world documentary at the moment.

*sighs*

Gruff's Twitter is actively pushing lots of stuff about Ffa Coffi Pawb lately, so expect that to be next in line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHQzrL9DnuI

Lot of studio fuckery this time. I guess they were messing around a bit more than they did with Fuzzy Logic.

This "Play it Cool" demo si actually pretty interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0mB5252Nz4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=84&v=G6XK_vIR7eY

oh my, skip to 1:25

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHmBy1QfvzU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=84&v=G6XK_vIR7eY🕸

oh my, skip to 1:25

Maybe it's cos I just turned 50 or cos Chris Martin doesn't do it for me but I can't make out much more than Manchester and let's sing someone else's song. Help an old duffer out here.