Gruff Rhys - Candylion

That's pretty much what they used to do, when they released an album every year and a half. Dark Days/Light Years came out with the least fanfare and was also likely their lowest-selling album. It's a shame 'cuz it seemed like it was one of their more well-received later-period albums. I doubt money is making them do all these side projects, though. They can't sell well aside from Gruff's solo things, which don't seem all that popular either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZBNYfCSW40

I quietly hope Cian's girl group takes off. I know it's not happening.

I definitely had a feeling that people had been taking them for granted probably since Phantom Power. Shame Dark Days sold so little, it's a really good record.

I think their sound and whole live experience was getting to the point where they needed to be commercially successful to grow into the band they wanted to become. I know for a fact they had some sort of financial struggles around the time Hey Venus came out and that the struggle continued until their hiatus. It seems like Gruff's current label treats him pretty well, while the other guys are self-releasing their stuff.

If you get rid of the "written during a smoke break and buffed up in the studio" filler and the SFA-by-numbers tracks, you could probably trim Dark Days/Light Years down to a good EP.

I strongly disagree with you, but you already knew that.

Lose the first two tracks on Dark Days and everything else is great in my opinion.

^seconded, although I'd add "Inconvenience" which feels tossed off and moderately embarrassing.

That's the only track that inconveniences me...

Has anyone heard this?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Rolling-Stones-Songbook-Volume/dp/B00HSU1S2O

It's got this on it: 8) I Am Waiting - Andrew Oldham Orchestra feat. Gruff Rhys, Al Kooper

Lose the first song on Dark Days, Light Years and the album is killer. I like Inconvenience quite a lot. The album is interesting to me as far as the production goes, through speakers it sounds pretty tame but with headphones it is clearly a real loud rock album.

I like this new Gruff song just fine but I also adore all his solo albums. Kinda prefer him playing guitars, but whatever. Really want to hear the Seperado! songs now! The whole movie is on youtube, I guess I should watch the damn thing finally.

Candylion is by far my favourite of his three solo albums. It's a beautiful record. Think the only SFA albums I'd rate above it would be Radiator, Guerrilla and maybe Phantom Power.

His "solo" shows, IMO, have far exceeded any SFA show I've been to. I don't know why that is. He's a touch more animated and his backing bands have been stellar. I've also seen him alone with a table full of stuff and those shows have been great as well. I'm not crazy about Candylion...the first one is the one for me. I know it's probably the elitist choice, and I still have no idea what any of the songs are about, but I've played it hundreds of times. It's breezy and got his personality all over it.

'Mt.' is definitely one song that could have been dropped and I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. I know it wasn't given a physical release, but it will eternally confound me as to why the band thought that particular track was "single"-worthy. 'Moped Eyes' is another: I always felt it was incredibly slight in its embryonic form and I don't know what merit the band saw in it which made them try and work on it and develop it further. It's still slight even in its final incarnation, a barely-there track with lyrics that mean absolutely fuck-all. 'Inconvenience' is repetitive, but at least it means something lyrically and doesn't outstay its welcome.

'The Very Best Of Neil Diamond', 'White Socks/Flip Flops' and possibly 'Helium Hearts' would have been the best single releases from this album, IMO.

I love "Moped Eyes." Groovy track.

Candylion is by far my favourite of his three solo albums. It's a beautiful record. Think the only SFA albums I'd rate above it would be Radiator, Guerrilla and maybe Phantom Power.

― Kitchen Person, Thursday, February 27, 2014 4:45 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's my favourite of all his solo albums too, but SFA were at their peak and released an incredible run of albums from Radiator up until and including Phantom Power, so naturally I rank all of those releases higher. As I said in another thread, I like Love Kraft, but it was definitely the beginning of the end; creatively and career-wise.

The end of the end for me, of course, being Dark Days/Light Years and a whole bunch of pointless solo and side excursions.

Even the first Neon Neon album?

No, I like Stainless Style a lot; that and Candylion represent the very, very best of the SFA side/solo projects, I think. It definitely should have been a one-off, though... I thought Praxis Makes Perfect was a woeful record.

Omni, Yr Atal Genhedlaeth and Hotel Shampoo are okay, but I wouldn't rank any of them above any peak-era SFA album.

I thought Cian's Outside In was a borefest, and I thought his last record showed some promise when I heard 30-second soundclips of the tracks, but when I heard the full album I ended up not thinking all that much to it (apart from the first two songs, because I like the stoner rock vibe of them).

The Golden Mile? I thought 'Let's Go Fuckin' Mental' was good, but I could easily live without hearing the rest of the album ever again. Not really too bothered about hearing a follow-up.

I'm not really bothered about Gulp, The Earth, Pale Blue Dots or Gruff's "hey man, here's what I got up to on holiday" stuff. And Jesus tittyfucking Christ, let's not even think about that album Gruff did with Tony Da Gatorra...

Okay well I haven't heard any of those. Love Candylion and Stainless Steal (as good as peak SFA for me) I like Hotel Shampoo a lot. Agree that Praxis was major disappointment. Sounded like no effort went into it all.

I still have faith when SFA come back they'll deliver the goods.

Ha, yeah I don't have the courage to go anywhere near the new Neon Neon, the Tony Da Gatorra thing or all those solo projects. I think I'm in the minority in that I only start to like SFA a lot with Phantom Power. This is when they sort of mature and ripen as artists in my eyes. I rate all the albums after that very highly.

I too think Candylion is the standout release, I just love the sound and the energy. The upright bass is cool, too, although it's pretty buried in the dense mix. I guess I should also mention I don't pay any attention to lyrics, I only listen to the notes being sung really. For instance the fast descending vocal line in Shark-ridden Waters is what makes that particular song for me.

xpost:

I don't know, man. It's been about five years since SFA last put out an album. Five years. A hiatus of that length would have been absolutely unthinkable at one point, when they were putting out an album a year; and even when they didn't have a new album out, they'd still at least put something out, such as the Ice Hockey Hair EP, Out Spaced, Phantom Phorce, Songbook etc. In fact, part of me is amazed that they haven't put out a second B-sides compilation as a way of plugging the gap and easing the wait for those waiting for the end of SFA's post-Dark Days/Light Years hiatus. Maybe they want people to focus on their solo material though, rather than Super Furry Animals stuff, which is more than a little ominous to me.

Of course, ideally, it'd be great if Super Furry Animals came back with a 10th record as strong as Radiator, Guerrilla, Mwng, Rings Around The World or Phantom Power, but based on what they've been putting out solo since Dark Days/Light Years, I am really really not convinced. I'd love for them to surprise me by coming out with their BEST RECORD EVER at this stage, but I'm really not holding my breath.

Ten years ago I was at the peak of my SFA fandom post-Phantom Power and circa the Songbook compilation. If they'd broken up at that point, I would have been completely and totally gutted. But, what a great way it would have been to close a career: 'Slow Life' as their final single, and the final track on what most consider to be (even though Love Kraft, Hey Venus! and Dark Days/Light Years have their fans) their last undisputedly great record.

The Very Best Of Neil Diamond' would have been the best single release() from this album, IMO.

― Toni Braxton-Hicks (Turrican), Thursday, February 27, 2014

still a great song. like a spacey outtake that plays through a post-apocalyptic movie.

If you haven't listened to Cian Ciaran's Outside In, I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoy Love Kraft. I know turrican disagrees, but I love the album.

Got quite a few friends who don't care for SFA to listen to and enjoy it, surprisingly.

I really like this lesser-known Gruff track from a concept album about something-or-other:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tgP2SIl7A8

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51to4iY52-L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

American Interior is a psychedelic historical travelogue from Welsh pop legend Gruff Rhys. In 1792, John Evans, a twenty-two-year-old farmhand from Snowdonia, Wales, travelled to America to discover whether there was indeed, as widely believed, a tribe of Welsh-speaking native Americans still walking the great plains. In 2012, Gruff Rhys set out on an 'investigative concert tour' in the footsteps of John Evans, with concerts in New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St Louis, North Dakota and more. American Interior is the story of these journeys. It is also an exploration of how wild fantasies interact with hard history and how myth-making can inspire humans to partake in crazy, vain pursuits of glory, including exploration, war and the creative arts. Gruff Rhys is known around the world for his work as a solo artist as well as singer and songwriter with Super Furry Animals and Neon Neon, and for his collaborations with Gorillaz, Dangermouse, Sparklehorse, Mogwai and Simian Mobile Disco amongst others. The latest album by Neon Neon, Praxis Makes Perfect, based on the life of radical Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, was recently performed as an immersive live concert with National Theatre Wales.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHV_6H2hQnM

Coming soon on American Interior - the album! RT @AndyVotel I've got a new collab with @gruffingtonpost

I hope it's as good as "Shark Ridden Waters"!

Gruff Rhys is known around the world for his work as a solo artist
Gruff Rhys is known around the world for his work as a solo artist
Gruff Rhys is known around the world for his work as a solo artist
Gruff Rhys is known around the world for his work as a solo artist
Gruff Rhys is known around the world for his work as a solo artist

Ha, I just moved to America (Minnesota) from the UK and found a second hand copy of Hotel Shampoo on vinyl the other day. I had to fight off other people for it as he's just so well known here.

I understand that, yes, he is promoting a solo product and that yes, this is the press release for said solo product. But man, that seems like an odd bit of re-positioning right there. His solo work is clearly not what he's most known for, "around the world" or otherwise. The impression is given that his solo work is now his main priority and that SFA are either something he'd going to do on the side or he considers to be a memory.

Like, I don't recall seeing anything like that in the press releases for Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, Candylion or Hotel Shampoo... usually the line was "Super Furry Animals singer Gruff Rhys" or something along those lines. Basically, I think he's establishing himself as a solo artist first and foremost and the writing is on the wall for SFA. That's if SFA haven't broken up already, of course.

Honestly, I don't think he has very much of a following as a solo artist. I think he does okay touring the UK, but he's practically nobody over here in the US. SFA were hardly a phenomenon while they toured our shores, and I bet a handful of concert attendees even knew the frontman's name.

I get what they're trying to do. His current label seems overly optimistic in promoting all their artists. (I follow them on Twitter)

I also frequently see articles that call him the erstwhile/former SFA frontman, and no one seems to be in a rush to correct that bit of misinformation. Could it be true?

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2014/03/super_furry_ani_12.html

Seen a couple good reviews of the film, which premiered yesterday.

Here's one: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/american-interior-sxsw-review-687639

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMybiPjykD0

Official video.

Probably just pulled footage from the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK1Hlblnzls

Now that Kliph has been fired from the Flaming Lips, it will be interesting to see if he collaborates more with Gruff...

Why don't my YouTube links ever embed? I hate that!

http://ffwcyeahgruffrhys.tumblr.com/post/82262999105/bbc-radio-cymru-lisa-gwilym-09-04-2014

3 songs on the radio. I think they're great, but what I think doesn't matter. One of them is an Andy Votel collaboration. The one with the kids chanting throughout.

Why don't my YouTube links ever embed? I hate that!

you have to drop the "s" from https link to embed.

thanks bee!

The whole album is streaming in video form over here: http://www.qthemusic.com/2263/listen-to-gruff-rhys-album-american-interior-in-full/

I love it, but you knew I'd say that.

I love the opening of 'American Exterior/American Interior' and I quite like 'The Last Conquistador', but that's about it really. Found the rest to be a bit on the boring side, or, in the case of '100 Unread Messages'/'The Whether (Or Not)' incredibly cheesy. But I don't like that kinda corny truck-drivin' bullshit music anyway.

I will say that it's more engaging than Damon Albarn's recent borefest, though.

and it's better than the last Neon Neon album.

I thought it was quite lovely. I always think I don't need another album by him but it turns out I do.

I agree about the Damon and Neon Neon albums.

I only listened once so I don't spoil the whole thing, but I really enjoyed the last couple tracks. The pedal steel was a nice touch and recalls some of my favorite latter day SFA moments. The drumming is also more pronounced than usual. They definitely didn't waste Kliph.

for those who're into this kind of thing, gruff is doing a reddit ama today: http://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/24yaa7/im_welsh_musician_gruff_rhys_my_new_album/

]thegreenman42 2 points 5 days ago*
Firstly thanks for a great gig in Pentyrch. The chapel was very atmospheric. I could imagine John Evans in a similar setting trying to convince the locals to up sticks to the New World back in the 1790's
My Questions: another of my musical heroes is Euros Childs. You and him seem to be having an equally creative and productive time. Is there any chance of a collaboration of any kind in the future?
Oh and as an Archaeologist can I thank you for getting some archaeology into a song (The court of King Arthur). There's not enougth archaeology in music.
permalinksavereportgive goldreply

GruffRhysVerified 2 points 5 days ago
Euros Childs is a genius and one of my favourite recording artists of all time! We've probably sung together when drunk or something - thats good enough for me - I think I fell off my chair.

I like that he sounds like he has no desire to do that. I think it's a bad idea as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGRK6ZB7VQg

Another one-off song. Not an album cut. Just came out for NHS's 70th.

^^rad

He wrote a nice editorial that accompanied the release of the song/video:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/05/gruff-rhys-song-for-nhs-no-profit-in-pain

New one should be good:

Pang! Developed unexpectedly over about 18 months. A solo album of songs by Gruff Rhys. Produced and mixed by South African electronic artist Muzi.
Gruff Rhys on Pang!:
I met the producer Muzi during the recording of the Africa Express track Vessels in Johannesburg in early 2018.
Combining the cut up guitar of South African guitar legend Phuzekhemisi and his own beats, I got to spend a memorable time with members of BCUC figuring out some melodies and lyrics for Muzi to record over his beats. Occasionally things were going so well that he would burst away from his computer screen, out of the door and embark on a celebratory lap of the weird Motel compound we were recording in. The pace was fast and it was one of the most joyful recording experiences I’ve ever had – in my experience if you’re having fun in the studio it’s usually a very good signifier for the health and rigour of the music – even with emotionally heavy songs. Pang!
A few months later I was involved in a recording project where I live in Cardiff, Wales for a video installation which involved incredible dancers from the cities’ Butetown Carnival and local musicians such as the Balafon player N’famady Kouyaté. They needed to dance to my track so I sent it on a whim to Muzi to remix. He sent back the finished track, (a Welsh Language song called Bae Bae Bae – English for Bay, Bay, Bay ) as if from a distant future. I was astounded by the song’s transformation – I suggested we make a whole album. Muzi responded that he would be interested as long as all the songs were in Welsh. Pang!
I continued to record songs in Cardiff at producer and percussionist Kris Jenkins’s Studio, Wings for Jesus and invited N’famady back with his Balafon along with Cardiff based American drumming legend Kliph Scurlock and the brass player Gavin Fitzjohn. Over a few months we gradually cut an album by stealth during my kids school hours and sent the results to Muzi. Pang!
I felt I had somehow found a way of combining my clumsy trad Spanish guitar songwriting with something resembling progress or even experimentation. I love pop music and a good tune – but I’m also drawn to the repetitive and dissonant. A cook friend pointed out that it’s all about Sweet and Sour. Continually trying to figure out how to bridge that canyon keeps us going. Pang!
In between these occasional recording sessions I had embarked on an American tour, the highlight of which was a tourist visit to Prince’s old studio and home, Paisley Park. It turned into a pilgrimage for me – with my fellow musicians I listened to Prince’s back catalogue on Kliph’s hi-res player the entire way from the East Coast to Minneapolis. It seemed to wake me out of the bad funk of a decade of dour ballads. (I stand by the ballads – but sometimes need a holiday). Pang!
Visiting the gloss of Prince’s democratic music palace confirmed in me that my move into day-glo processed pop with this record was justified and in particular, albums like Around the World in a Day (and in particular the title track) became a reference point for attempting to make psychedelically joyful, internationalist and deeply personal digital pop music. Staring at Prince’s ashes in a Perspex box perched next to a cage of live doves on a cloudy blue sky mural backdrop was an unexpected and moving moment. Pang!
Muzi was touring in Europe last March (2019) and came to Cardiff to sift through the tracks with his producer hat on and we mixed an early version of the album and even did a bit of sight-seeing. Sometimes like on Eli Haul he would leave songs alone – often simplifying them further. On occasion he would jump to the mic and join in with some vocals. Some songs he would take a loop of a particularly interesting section, build a beat and rework the song from scratch and by the song Ôl Bys / Nodau Clust – which we mixed by coincidence following a conversation about Daft Punk and industrial music, Muzi completely takes over, scrapping my bad bossa guitars, only retaining the original’s vocals. In that sense it’s a kind of remix album where adventure is favoured over predictability and where the radical remixes are the finished articles. Pang!
By the way the lyrics deal with the negative pangs amongst the joy of daily life (Pang!) radioactivity in Cardiff bay,(Bae Bae Bae) , digital community happenings (Digidigol), the snail’s pace of inspiration (Ara Deg), Sun Screen abstraction (Eli Haul), navigating the fog of lies that is mass media misinformation – in a car (Niwl o Anwiredd), life in a storm (Taranau Mai), surveillance culture head-fucks (Ôl Bys/ Nodau Clust) and that my mouth is a house for my teeth (Anedd i’m Danedd). Pang!
Muzi returned to Johannesburg and stayed up for a couple of days and nights giving the album a final sheen and here it is. A short sharp album, a pang of positivity that jolted me personally out of the omni-present political gloom and out of my musical coma. Pang!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM7JUbbKe-4

Really hoping they announce the Guerilla reissue soon.

They’re definitely working on it...

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByIQCBLD9kr/?igshid=1km43p107vrzu

I heard through the grapevine they got massively fucked by Pledge Music on the BBC set so I wonder how they’re going to handle this reissue.

i just want SFA albums on Spotify so i can do the artist poll already.

are SFA not on spotify in the US? all their albums are here except for Love Kraft

i like the new Gruff track, never really listened to much of his solo work but this one has quite a nice sound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qYSfaNJVic

US Spotify only has Fuzzy Logic then jumps to Mwng to Hey Venus!

I don't think you'll hear or see anything new on Spotify until the next reissue, which will be Guerrilla. Could've sworn Radiator was on there, though.

SFA discussion sans Turrican should be interesting

He's... gone?

Anyway, I'm really pleased with how these new songs sound and I'm glad he went for something new. He's also on four tracks on the new Africa Express album that's out on Friday. Looking forward to listening to that as well.

He's in a time out because of Radiohead, lol. He'll be back.

I've known him for a long time.

He's an emotional individual.

oh this is so good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEwPfg5eVnY

Oh man, this one is wonderful:

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

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/my-culture-fix-gruff-rhys-kdxgpktjf?shareToken=2288bb30a86ce63fada94af401916a8b

I liked this. Always good to see recommendations from Gruff.

Another pretty good album by Gruff.

The last one was also really good.

Seems he's found his sound.

Re-visiting the older albums. Candylion was pretty good too, wasn't it?

Gruff Rhys is playing in town in about 10 days. I think I need to go to this.

Saw SFA once in San Francisco at the Bottom of the Hill. Guerrilla tour.

I was living in San Francisco at that time. I remember they closed with "The Man Don't Give a Fuck," my mind was blown. They turned into my favorite band at that time.

Oops missed this thread. I like his new tuneful pop-rock album Sadness Sets Me Free. I saw SFA once in Baltimore. Gruff is in DC tonight

Not sure if that meant you are in DC? If you go please give a review of the show, can really cement my choice.

Yes saw him and his band do a strong hour and half Washington DC gig tonight. Lots of songs from new album and they seemed more energetic and faster tempoed live. A bit more psychedelic tinges too. He had a nice falsetto on a few songs. The keyboardist was really good. The bassist switched between acoustic bass and electric bass. At times his goofy sense of humor was on display. He held up signs with messages for the audience— “wild abandon “ and many others. They had moving company like shirts on but he said they were lugging emotional baggage. He stopped a song or 2 and started chatting about something and then resumed the songs. Thankfully he didn’t overdo these things. Much of the time he seemed to be deeply concentrating on his singing and guitar playing.

I don’t know his whole catalogue that well but I think the setlist was similar to what he played in the March 5 Paris show listed on setlist

https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/gruff-rhys-53d6ef51.html

I think SFA’s got way better songs, but Gruff’s a way better performer with his solo material than he was with SFA. SFA generally disappointed me as a live band.

I scored tickets for $5

Wow! Enjoy the show