‘ASKED IF WE WANTED TO COME DOWN TO RIO, WE ALL SAID “HELL, YEAH!”
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SUPER FURRY ANIMALS are back out on the road — minus their hairy mascots and Paul Dale reckons, seven albums in, they’re sounding better than ever.
he Yetis are no more. they‘re gone.‘ Super Furry Animals founding member Dafydd leuan is a simple country boy with simple country tastes. ()n his drive to talk to me he laughs as he talks about how he was tailed by the cops while skinning tip a spliff with one hand. Like the Super Furry Animals‘ beloved stage gimmick Yetis. this is all probably just a ruse to deflect interest away from the Furries‘ very ordinary. workmanlike personas. ‘I can‘t imagine being 50 years old and having to come on dressed as a fucking yeti.‘ says leuan. ‘lt had gone on long enough as it is. It was fun. and everything. In the end. we cut the costumes down to fit little yetis. so we could have all these little kids dressed as yetis running around. so we can‘t wear them any more anyway.~ We start laughing and I ask him if there is a replacement planned for the yetis. ‘I don’t know. that would be telling.‘ After he points out that he has
more important stuff to natter about than a bunch of
30-year-old Welsh musos dressed up as hirsute Neanderthals. we start talking about [.(m' Kai/i. the SFAs' fluid. easy country rock and soul inflected seventh album and their second with sometime Beastie Boys producer Mario (‘aldato Jr. Like its superb predecessor I’llunlnm PUH't‘I‘. Lave Kraft displays a brilliant madness and eclectic invention that few bands can even dream of. I ask Ieuan if he is happy with the album. ‘Yeah. I think I do. I really
can‘t be objective. We ptit so much work and effort into it. It’s not just the recording. it's the listening and the editing and that post production shit you have to do to it. in another studio. and stuff like that. I remember hearing the demos. the first few listens after recording. and we were quite excited. so I’ll have to go with that initial vibe that we got . . . which was a good one.~
Lure Kraft has been something of an ongoing
project for two years now. with many of the tunes ; being reworked many times. Ieuan is at pains to
point out that the actual recording part of the album only took three weeks and then — as is the Furries way — it was time to party as only good Welsh boys can. ‘Mario had moved back down to Rio from LA since he mixed our the last album. so he said. “Do you want to come to Rio and mix it?" And of course we all said. "Hell. yeah!” Ieuan stops to catch his breath as memories of Brazil‘s ‘Cidade Maravilhosa' come flooding back to him. ‘lt was amazing. you know. We’d been there once before. doing a show —
just for a weekend that was — so it was fab to be
there for three and a half weeks. We had a hotel on the beach. and everything was really cheap. and it was sunny. nice food . . . nice everything. We couldn't believe it — it felt a bit decadent. but there you go.‘
Barrowland, Glasgow, Fri 16 Sep.
’ THE BEST ROCK, FOLK
31 Steve Malkmus His unrelenting weirdness as gaffer of Pavement continued through his solo career and, while the quality has fluctuated, Malkmus appears to have hit his stride of late. King Tut's, Glasgow, Sun 18 Sep. (Rock & Pop)
Patrick Flaherty and the
Jazz Phanoahs Hard—hitting new drummer-led band, featuring Torn McNiven , Paul Towndrow, Dave Patrick, Konrad Wiszniewski, and Ewan Burton. Tchai Ovna, Glasgow, Fri 9 & Fri 16 Sep. (Jazz)
‘ 50 Cent I know, we'd rather Eminem on this bill too but time and painkillers wait for no man and Fiddy has learnt enough from his mentor about how to put on a decent hip hop show. See preview. page 61. SECC, Glasgow, Sat 10 & Sun 11 Sep.
Super Furry Animals See preview, left. Barrow/and, Glasgow, Fri 16 Sep.
Robert G Scott and BBC Big Band Classic crooning in the Sinatra style. Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Fri 16 Sep; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Sep. (Jazz)
Lords of Bastard, Sweetheart and Irrelevant The List found themselves party to a show by the headliners a few weeks ago, their satisfying soup of skate punk grumpiness with plenty of Beastie Boy and Motorhead vibes thrown in keeps your pints frothy. Bannerman’s, Edinburgh, Mon 19 Sep. (Flock & Pop)
> Hayseed Dixie They’re famed for their covers of rock classics in a bluegrass style, but in truth, they're a mean bunch of players who are more than just a novelty act. See 5 Reasons, page 75. Renfrew Ferry, Glasgow, Wed 21 Sep; Studio 24, Edinburgh, 7hu 22 Sep. (Rock & Pop, Folk)
8-22 880 2005 THE LIST 61