Graciously impatient: a Super Furry Animals mix

I was somewhat relaxed about the Super Furry Animals becoming well-known in the UK, in 1996. It wasn’t until the following year, when I was sitting in the flat of a friend in Aberystwyth, watching the sun set over the sea as he played the group’s first album Fuzzy Logic, that my mind was blown.

SFA thankfully avoided that generic lump called Britpop but were caught up in the next fad, Cool Cymru, which in credit led to a greater international visibility of, and focus on, Welsh language and culture. The difference between Britpop and Cool Cymru couldn’t be starker — at least the latter, most, if not all, of the bands were highly talented, musically diverse and fiercely creative in terms of their music — and they weren’t afraid to use Welsh. The visibility of SFA to music fans and press was bolstered by their acquiring a giant blue tank emblazoned with the word “Heddwch” (“Peace”) to take to festivals, a sense of fun visibility that stuck when the band played live, light shows and all.

I have been a huge fan of the band since that day in Aberystwyth, and as their 2003 album Phantom Power is about to be re-released as a remaster, thought it time to do a mix. The band’s output is incredibly diverse, ranging from pure pop (at least on the surface) through to longer, Moog-driven techno. My preferred style of SFA music is geared much toward the latter, and it shows in the mix, where there are synths and noises all over the place. We inevitably end up being frustrated by what we love, and I wish that SFA could come back and do a proper Pink Floyd-style album with 16-minute long tracks where everything has been thrown in, but there’s more than enough for everyone for now.

Here’s the track listing, in order:

Continuity (Newyddion), Sianel Pedwar Cymru, 1988 / Furryvision / Slow Life / Miniature / Hometown Unicorn / Dim Brys Dim Chwys / Menu Music / Receptacle for the Respectable (Maccapella) / Atomik Lust / Hermann Loves Pauline / DX Heaven / (Drawing) Rings Around The World (Phones) / Wherever I Lay My Phone, That’s My Home / B Side / Pam V / Mu-Tron / Arnofio — Glo In The Dark / A Specific Ocean / The Furry Years, Sianel Pedwar Cymru, 2017 / Cryndod Yn Dy Lais / Cian & Bunf / Blerwytirhwng / Demons / The Sound of Life Today / Valet Parking / Father Father #1 / Cabin Fever / Pric / Y Gwyneb Iau / Gwreiddiau Dwfn — Mawrth Oer Ar Y Blaned Neifion / Ice Hockey Hair

Thanks for listening. If you like this mix then I have Stereolab and Monkees (!) mixes on Soundcloud, and all sorts of stuff is mixed up over on Mixcloud.