Getting into Super Furry Animals is not an easy task, I'll admit that right off the bat. They have 8 albums, one of which is sung entirely in Welsh. They do have a greatest hits collection but it hardly does them justice. I certainly don't embrace all of their songs, particularly the Beach Boys influenced ones that pepper most of their albums. But they do put on one helluva-motherfucking live show so I would urge anyone to check them out next time they grace us with their presence. Zoom! is SFA at their psychadelic best. If you haven't yet heard this beauty, be prepared to have your brain ripped out of your head, swirled around through alternate universes, and then placed back in lovingly. If you like this check out the songs Ohio Heat, Sex War & Robots, Piccolo Snare and Hello Sunshine.
2) Got to Let Go by A Band of Bees from the album Octopus (2007)
(Not to be confused with A Band of Horses whom my wife likes but I have no use for.) They're known simply as the Bees in the UK (which is a much better name). I picked them mainly because their music puts me in the state of mind that I like to be in and therefore (I like to think) reflects my personality. When I first heard them I was not at all impressed. I dismissed them as 60's revivalists with no new ideas. But then I found myself listening to them incessantly and it suddenly amazed me how they were able to go from 60's psychadelia to reggae to disco to 70's light rock but still always sound like the Bees. Got to Let Go in no way represents what they're capable of but it's a fun summer song to start with.
I've been waiting for them to come to the US for 5 years now. They were supposed be at Coachella this year but cancelled at the last minute. According to their MySpace site they were "properly gutted". (Coachella is prohibitively expensive in my book anyway. We considered going this year because the lineup was unstoppable but then determined that it would be cheaper to spend a week in Japan or New Zealand.)
This is a superb video for another one of their songs called Chicken Payback.
18 comments:
yay johnny! i will refrain from commenting but i won't refrain from listening carefully. fortunately rhapsody has both these tunes so i won't have to venture into itunes territory yet.
Nice. AC, I've been meaning to dive into the Zombies for quite some time now don't know where to start. Any recommendations? (Hilariously while I was browsing at Rasputin today I noticed that they actually have an album called "Start Here".)
Also I was really hoping to see everyone's reaction to the song Spazz by the Elastik Band (which gets me so fired up that I have trouble listening to it without swinging my fists in the air like a maniac) but unfortunately it's not on ITunes.
And JSP is first out of the gate! Can't wait to get the tunes!
Is anyone suprised that JSP is first on this one?
The gauntlet is thrown, let the listening begin.
johnny, i'm impressed you could narrow your picks so quickly. i have another week and am gonna need it.
the zombies released so few songs, why don't i just burn you a couple of cds (if interested email me your home address when you have a chance). listen a couple of times through and you'll get a sense if you like em or not.
wah, spazz isn't on rhapsody! denied.
Avatar is ready for the next two weeks!
That picture of the Bees reminds me of an interesting book I recently read called Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. I'll let Wikipedia summarize:
"According to the author, an alternative title would be A short history about everyone for the last 13,000 years. But the book is not merely an account of the past; it attempts to explain why Eurasian civilizations, as a whole, have survived and conquered others, while attempting to refute the belief that Eurasian hegemony is due to any form of Eurasian intellectual, moral, or inherent genetic superiority. Diamond argues that: the gaps in power and technology between human societies originate in environmental differences amplified by various positive feedback loops; and that, if cultural or genetic differences have favored Eurasians (for example Chinese centralized government, or improved disease resistance among Eurasians), it is only so because of the influence of geography."
Anyway there's a portion that goes into how zebras escaped domestication because they were smart and unlike other horses they would duck when people tried to snare them with a rope. Of course, this ultimately worked against them as they're now reduced to zoo attractions.
Sorry for veering off course, I just found it interesting.
that book sounds amazing. i'll add it to the list.
Nice friggin' avatar! Miko & AC both! Which reminds me that I'm WAY overdue for a makeover...
Oh man, I never had luck changing my avatar last Horrorthon. I am SO jealous!
Maybe I will give it another shot. But between picking music and picking a new avatar AND trying to think of something fun to do for Family Day tomorrow, I'm swamped!
JSP, I'm such a huge Jared Diamond fan! Have you also read Collapse? I read it and then was kinda inspired to write this screenplay, which turned out not too great, but it was fun. I got to do this project in which I got a science advisor to work on a script with me, and I was trying to get Jared Diamond as my advisor, because it turns out he teaches at UCLA. He musta been too busy, though, so I ended up getting this other environmental science professor dude who drills for cores in Alaska.
Oooh, but read Collapse if you haven't already! Jared Diamond is so awesome!
Here is a link to some great video interviews with him!
http://spotlight.ucla.edu/faculty/jared-diamond/
The Easter Island one is too much--watch that one first.
Posting a new avatar should be easier now. When I was trying at the start of Horrorthon it had to be the "insert URL here" and I couldn't make it work, but now you can upload from your computer, as I found out when I made Julie's.
I'm loving this music roundup.
Johnny, I have yours on my ipod too, and will be listning to them on my way to work with DCD's picks. I listened to about 5 to 10 seconds of them and I already know I'm going to love Zoom! I was hooked after one second.
Julie I haven't read Collapse but it sounds terrific! (And that it could be the basis for a kick-ass screen play.) I haven't watched any of the videos yet but I like the way that guy thinks.
A couple other things about the Super Furry Animals.
- That picture is of singer Gruff Rhys. On the last tour he came out onstage in that ridiculous Power Rangers get-up and gave the illusion that the vocals were coming out of his ear.
- I had no idea they were that successful. According to Wikipedia "Also in 2005 it was reported that the band turned down a $1.8m advertising deal with Coca-Cola after visiting a Coca-Cola plantation in Colombia with charity War on Want, where they heard of management-directed killings of trade-union members. The company were asking for use of "Hello Sunshine" as part of their campaign. In a statement to British magazine Q, Coca-Cola denied the allegations, stating they had been "an exemplary member of the business community" in Colombia."
I'm no going to comment on songs yet, but I will say that I think me and the Super Furry Animals were separated at birth.
I missed that this convo veered off into Jared Diamond. Also a fan here, though I haven't read Collapse yet.
National Geographic did a cool film documentary version of G,G, & S that's worth getting, JSP/Julie. I burned a copy from my library, if you guys want me to send you one.
Anyway, great stuff--he probably is guilty of over-selling the explanatory power of his thesis a bit, but for understandable reasons I guess.
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