SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

I'm a sucker for a gimmick and this is a gimmick I like:

https://www.bbc.com/taster/pilots/seeking-new-gods

The BBC Radio 6 Music listening party will begin at 8PM BST on Wed 19th May.

You can prepare and connect your devices if you hit "try it" above, so that you'll be ready to begin. Once the listening party has finished you’ll be able to come back to listen again when the pilot officially launches on Friday.

Seeking New Gods is a listening experience like no other - this pilot uses the Audio Orchestrator tool to create a brand new way of experiencing Gruff Rhys’s music. Using the everyday devices you have around you (phones, tablets, laptops) the technology creates a web of speakers that surround and envelop you in the music. It means you could have drums playing from your phone whilst vocals come out of your laptop, all synchronised to create a singularly immersive way of experiencing Gruff’s new album. This experience is designed to work best with at least four devices. Writing for the BBC R&D Blog Kliph Scurlock had this to say about creating the experience with Gruff and BBC R&D…

“I had a lot of fun remixing the album for multiple devices and playing around with the placing of the various instruments and voices. I am a child of the ‘70s, so I remember when quadrophonic systems were sort of a thing, and I sought to sort of emulate that kind of experience…If I have done what I set out to do, some songs will just sound like you’re in the room while the band was recording (we did, in fact, record the album all playing together in the same room) and some songs will make those who are prone to motion sickness quite dizzy with the movement of different things. It all kind of varies depending on the song. I wanted to honor the songs first and foremost and play with the format second. You may have cottoned on to the fact that I’m a big fan of Gruff’s. Well, that all began by me being a fan of his music, so that’s what remains most important to me. If you find that the drums are too loud in any song, well, you’ll know whose ego got the best of them while mixing.”
Seeking New Gods was made using Audio Orchestrator, which is available free to makers, artists, creative technologists, and creators as part of Connected Studio MakerBox. To learn more about how we made Seeking New Gods for BBC Taster you can join the MakerBox community where you can

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBWtjXHjD7M

🚨 Tech guinea pigs needed 🚨

On Weds at 8pm we’re hosting an immersive audio listening party for @gruffingtonpost’s new album via @BBCTaster.

You will need:

✅ 2 or more devices
✅ An open mind

Collab w/ @BBCRD, @ClwstwrCreu & @RoughTrade

More info https://t.co/oC2I8exBxx pic.twitter.com/rx6rYh80me

— BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) May 18, 2021

Curious to hear if this actually affects my enjoyment of the music. Singles are ok. Gruff’s definitely settled down quite a bit.

Well, Seeking New Gods is very good. I recommend it. Continues the thread began with American Interior, but improves the songwriting quite a bit.

Singles sound quite nice in sequence as they open the album and Gruff ventures up his mountain path, or wherever he's headed.

Really liking this much more than any album he's made since... um, DD/LY. Found it hard to get replay value out of many of them so far, but spun it four times today, so things are looking good!

It's most SFA-ish solo album so far, I think... I know that isn't the point, but that's how it appears.

Agreed. You get more of a band vibe on this record than any of the others. Production really nice as well.

Digging it a lot :D

Two listens in a row last night. I am in love with the opening track.

Have you heard the song that’s not on the album? On a flexi-disc for now, I guess.

Only just learned of it. Toying with blowing £40 and that edition, but sober atm

Nice words on Pitchfork today.

If you are needing more, the “Zaireeka” edition is up on BBC for three months.

https://www.bbc.com/taster/pilots/seeking-new-gods

This is as great as any great SFA album... which is all of them. Absolutely delighted

I think it's at least as good as some of their lesser albums, which is underselling it in a way, but I'm clearly not a regular SFA fan. I haven't enjoyed an album under the GR name this much since his very first, released in 2005. He's done great. I love his current band.

"Hiking Through Lightning" and "Holiest of the Holy Men" is my current favorite track pairing. Sounds like Gruff's first prog epic.

Fuck yeah, finally.

The 20th Anniversary reissue of Rings Around The World has been remastered from the original tapes which you can enjoy across all formats. The deluxe 3CD and digital albums include a bunch of unreleased recordings that we’ve unearthed from our archives!https://t.co/8fpEt8hjz0 pic.twitter.com/01IZoM3PcC

— super furry animals (@superfurry) July 21, 2021

I saw the Edinburgh show of this tour and remember thinking that they'd have to do it again some day. This was long before the album-gig era. Here's hoping

I believe the other four guys -- not Gruff -- are finally in the studio recording the Das Koolies stuff as well. So that's good news too. There's lots of Kliph-sourced news on the Steve Hoffman. He has a "friend" that constantly spills all the secrets...

Nice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTU78E7L1g8

Here's some details:

The fifth studio album from Welsh quintet Super Furry Animals was their most commercially successful to date. A musically eclectic record, incorporating pop, prog, punk, jungle, electronica, techno and death metal, the album was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001 and named as Mojo’s best album in the same year. Their major label debut album peaked at #3 on the UK album chart on release, supported by singles ‘(Running) Rings Around The World’, ‘It’s Not The End of the World’ and ‘Juxtapozed With You’. Paul McCartney and John Cale make cameo appearances on the album too.
This 20th anniversary reissued has been remastered from the original master tapes. The double-LP format is on heavyweight vinyl, while the 3CD set boasts 40 previously unreleased tracks including remixes, demos, other curios, as well as sleeve notes from Keith Cameron.
Tracklistings:

Disc 1
1. Alternate Route To Vulcan Street
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. (Drawing) Rings Around The World
4. It’s Not The End Of The World?
5. Receptacle For The Respectable
6. Touch Sensitive
7. Shoot Doris Day
8. Miniature
9. No Sympathy
10. Juxtapozed With U
11. Presidential Suite
12. Run! Christian, Run!
13. Fragile Happiness
14. Tradewinds
15. The Roman Road
16. Happiness Is A Worn Pun
17. Patience
18. Edam Anchorman
19. All The Shit U Do

Disc 2
1. Gypsy Space Muffin
2. John Spex
3. Miami Vice
4. Sanitised (Rough Mix)
5. Chihuahua (Unfinished, Rough Mix)
? (Drawing) Rings Around The World (Acapella Phones) - unlisted, hidden track
6. (Drawing) Rings Around The World #1
7. (Drawing) Rings Around The World #2
8. (Drawing) Rings Around The World #3
9. No Sympathy
10. Tradewinds
11. Receptacle For The Respectable #1
12. Receptacle For The Respectable #2
13. Happiness Is A Worn Pun
14. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
15. Presidential Suite
16. The Roman Road
17. Patience #2
18. Shoot Doris Day
19. Edam Anchorman
20. Sanitised
21. Fragile Happiness

Disc 3
1. Alternate Route To Vulcan Street (Bench Remix)
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl (Catatonia Remix)
3. (Drawing) Rings Around The World (Happy Chapel Remix)
4. It’s Not The End Of The World? (Force Unknown Remix)
5. Receptacle For The Respectable (Destructable Mix)
6. Touch Sensitive (Force Unknown Remix)
7. Shoot Doris Day (Wauvenfold Remix)
8. Miniature (Goem Remix)
9. No Sympathy (Kid 606 Remix)
10. Juxtapozed With U (SFA Remix)
11. Presidential Suite (High Llamas Remix)
12. Run! Christian, Run! (Massimo Remix)
13. Fragile Happiness (Brave Captain Remix)

Happiness Is A Worn Pun 👌

I don't get why John Spex s showing up here too. That was a Guerrilla b-side on the last deluxe release and it's just the "laser beam" demo. Maybe it's got vocals this time.

Super exciting forthcoming release #1!

I had the pleasure of listening to every existing bit of audio connected to this classic piece of brilliance.

Con't........ https://t.co/P9SmtgpwMi

— Kliph Scurlock (@KliphScurlock) July 21, 2021

https://www.nme.com/news/music/super-furry-animals-announce-new-rings-around-the-world-eco-friendly-nft-3033640

Super Furry Animals announce new ‘Rings Around The World’ eco-friendly NFT
They'll also launch a new YouTube TV show this week for one night only

The NFT thing got a horrible response on social media but I guess they’re doing it anyway. I’m not sure an expensive piece of digital nothing that negatively impacts the environment is as catch as “first-ever ALBUM ON DVD” but I guess they felt they needed to release something novel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPgxixw28OA

"what is it this time, another reissue?"

"yes obv"

"ffs"

"also it's an NFT"

I popped on to SFATV and it appears to be some random dudes talking.

Scroll back to the start, the little documentary about 'Rings...' was pretty good, ideally it could have been a bit longer and more in-depth though.

Ah, thanks. I was wondering what I was looking at. Saw a chat and some guys on Zoom.

That's a weird coincidence. I just got through finally getting to see American Interior which I'd wanted to see for ages but only just completed after sitting in my torrent server incomplete for ages. Gruff Rhys documentary about the tour he did looking into J0hn Evans the guy who went looking for the Welsh INdian tribe at the end of the 18th century. I suddenly had this pop into completion a few days ago and just got the chance to watch it through.
Quite interesting, i think there was a book about the project too wasn't there.
Apparently Lewis & Clarke's expedition used his maps as the main guide to their expedition. He was the first European to map the Missouri river.

Then I come over here and there's a thread open on his old band.

The remaster is great.

I'm still confused that some around here, and I assume elsewhere, consider this SFA's worst or the beginning of the end. Last night, it sounded as vital as ever. I hadn't listened to it in years due to over-familiarity. The B-sides send it over the edge. There outtakes on the digital take are alright: "John Spex" is the Lazer Beam demo with an added Parliament sample, "Miami Vice" a take on "Slow Life." There's one called "Chihuahua" that sounds particularly interesting; it's a bit of a jam that goes nowhere, but I hear promise.

The acid-fied "Rings" is pretty delicious:

pic.twitter.com/IRTIFd4koH

— super furry animals (@superfurry) September 3, 2021

Don't think anyone's dropping 1K to own their own, though.

I always kinda assumed that people that came onboard with Rings love it. That's the case with me. I can see how folks who were with them from the beginning would have some objections but I think it's terrific.

Vulcan St, Run Christian Run, Sidewalk Serfer Girl, No Sympathy, Receptacle... all classics, never been so very keen on Presidential Suite and Shoot Doris Day, but yeah the B-Sides push it over the edge into greatness. I love the maximal production touches.

Around that time when they were playing out with the surround towers, you could walk to the rear of the venue and experience the most delicious dub version of Run Christian Run.

I stupidly put off listening to Rings (and subsequent albums) until years later, when I saw them play live for the first time. They played "Receptacle" and I was like, what is this?? Finally checked out the album, adored it, it's probably my favorite nowadays. Yes, b-sides are great too

Rings around the world was when I discovered them (2 disc edition which had the b-sides). Still one of my favorites, I don't listen to it much anymore because I've got it basically memorized anyway.

Me too. Too me it is the pinnacle for them as far as albums. Relentlessly beautiful fusion of all the things.

it's my favourite too. i can understand the criticism that it leans a little too much towards the grand orchestral britpop ballads etc. but it's not too far imo & it's their most consistently brilliant. much more successfully integrates all the wild sonic experimentation of guerilla into its pop songs.

By a long shot my favourite, still one of the best albums of the millennium.

Like my solar system includes Pluto, my RATW includes “Tradewinds” Andy “Roman Road”.

I bought Rings, Radiator, and Mwng expecting a single disc and receiving the two-disc versions instead. Remarkable how much excellent music is contained on those bonus discs

SFA are one of the best B-sides bands of all-time. i bought all singles from the Creation years when they came out. without looking it up, it might be around 23 or so different singles.

Also crazy to think of how many top ten singles they would have had, if they had chosen to do the double CD single thing. Northern Lights would probably have been in the top 3

what are some of their choice b-sides, i've never really gone digging there

'Out-Spaced' is a good jumping-off point

Yeah just listen to Out-Spaced. It rivals any of their albums

If ‘Ice Hockey Hair’ counts as a b-side then it is very choice.

Former ilxor/good friend donut bitch recently said he specifically got into the band when he heard me playing this B-side way back when after it shortly came out and wanted to know what the heck was going on:

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

Some of the Fuzzy Logic b-sides were better than anything on the album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D3h0gMF0bs

After that, their song selection and sequencing are pretty on point, but I prefer Out Spaced to all their albums apart from Raiator, Guerrilla and Mwng down to a preference for that period of their work. It's missing a few of the key ones, as well as this track there's the early live staple 'Calimero' and 'Cryndod yn Dy Lais' which is basically solo Gruff.

If ‘Ice Hockey Hair’ counts as a b-side

Probably not.

Also crazy to think of how many top ten singles they would have had, if they had chosen to do the double CD single thing. Northern Lights would probably have been in the top 3

I don't think they wanted that to happen. It's kind of surprising tho that only TMDGAF had remixes given their inclinations toward hard techno, etc.

xp!!

I always kinda assumed that people that came onboard with Rings love it.

If you were in America, you either got onboard with Fuzzy Logic or most likely would not have the opportunity until RATW. By the time Flydaddy pulled up the van in 1999, anyone who noticed had long since shelled out for the imports.

I only say that because Smokin’ is technically the lead track on that EP. I realize it’s a stretch!