Super Furry Animals

Ha, I was thinking pretty much in these general terms myself, that they went from a band who meant a hell of a lot to me to a band that just lost me a bit. But yeah, maybe it'll come back, or maybe it's just me.

I kind of felt like I was getting bored with SFA for Lovecraft and Hey Venus, but they won me back with Dark Days/Light Years

I'm hoping they make another album at some point

So, about Cian's new song... what do the rest of y'all think?

http://soundcloud.com/e-l-k-1/gulp-game-love

Guto's thing. Might be a bit more of a change for you, Turrican.

Cian's album is fantastic. The lyrics are cheesy/heavy handed, but the songwriting is strong. I find the album more memorable than Gruff's last one, honestly. Strange.

...and so we're coming up to nearly the five year mark since Super Furry Animals last released an album, and it's been over ten years since their last album that I could say was universally acclaimed by critics and fans alike (Phantom Power). I personally think that it would be incredibly sad if Dark Days/Light Years turned out to be their swan song. Remember what happened to Gorky's Zygotic Mynci when they went on hiatus after Sleep/Holiday and then broke up three years later? I understand that they're busy with all of their solo projects (hardly any of which have actually done much for me), but a hiatus of this length is very unusual by this bands standards. The longer this goes on, the more I'm actually beginning to accept that we may have heard the last of this band.

I really, really liked Dark Days/Light Years but, yeah, I hope it's not their last album.

If anything they were so prolific that they began to be taken for granted by critics and their probably their audience, so a hiatus is not a bad idea, for whatever reason

I don't mind DD/LY as their swan song. HV would have been an awful way to go out (weirdly, not least because of the awful cover art, but also because as good as it is it seemed like a retread somehow, while DD/LY brought the fun back a bit and added new kraut elements to their sound). I'd be overjoyed to hear of a new album, but I'd be OK if they called it quits, too; they had a wonderfully productive, long run. Bless them.

Was humming this very song this morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFfAzjDEY4c

Dark Days/Light Years would be a very good last album. Not quite as good as SFA at their peak, but I like it a lot more than the two albums that precede it.

I love DD/LY, so I'm not too concerned about it being their last album. I don't think it will be their last, though. More than half the band is recording their own stuff out of the same studio, and Gruff has been preoccupied with releasing another film. I know that Gruff has emphasized the band aren't broken up and that a tenth album will come in due time.

I'm pretty much in agreement the solo/side stuff is nowhere near the same quality as SFA's releases, but it's still mostly nice enough and I believe I've listened to it all. Truthfully, I didn't enjoy Cian's new one as much as his first.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Interior-Rhys-Gruff-ebook/dp/B00GED8DUG

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Xa%2Bg6xRQL.jpg

Book, album, film project. Probably set SFA back a couple years. I hope it's more worthwhile than the last subpar Neon Neon release.

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

Man, I really don't like any of this year's SFA-related releases. Just had to dump Neon Neon and The Earth from iTunes...and I paid for both. Can't imagine listening to either one again. I'm reluctant to do the same to Cian's latest, but I don't rate that one too highly either. I don't know if I've gotten sick of SFA or if these side/solo projects just aren't very good. I definitely don't listen to SFA as much as I used to...

Cian Ciaran selling his vinyl collection: https://twitter.com/cianciaran/status/415455146533867520

Of library music/sounds, that is.