Neon Neon: Collab. between Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys ft. Fat Lip, Spank Rock, The Magic Numbers and more

Yeah, if there's one label I'd associate with being able to produce top 10 hit singles, it's Lex.

There's a new track out, and it's fucking awesome: http://www.myspace.com/neonx2

A very fine record, if you ask me...

I like that "Raquel" song a lot.

Thought there was some good stuff on here, if not mindblowing.

Haha I almost certainly know whoever wrote the blah in the first post

"I Told Her on Alderaan" is incredible. I think it could be one of the best songs Gruff has performed on since his Radiator days.

I don't know if anyone's heard the full record yet. Lex hasn't actually sent the finished product out. What they did send was an eight-track sampler.

Have at it, by the way: http://hypem.com/track/465621

"I Lust U" is on the myspace now: http://www.myspace.com/neonx2

Features Cate Le Bon on vocals...

Gruff Rhys + electro / hip-hop = surprisingly awesome.

They're shooting a video for this in LA on Saturday. I think Lex is going to be stepping up the campaign for this one. Hopefully the final product is more cohesive than the sampler. The rap tracks don't really flow into Gruff's tracks particularly well, although I really, really love Yo Majesty on "Sweat Shop." I can't build much enthusiasm for Fatlip's track, though.

i LUST U

You know, this really is pretty good. Anyone want to discuss?

oh oops.

The full album is now making the rounds, with four more tracks than the promo. "Dream Cars" is amazing.

Weirdly they put all the rap tracks on the promo, there's only that total of three on the album. "Luxury Pool" and "Trick for Treat" are still great, though.

Also I am pleased to report no Har Mar and no Magic Numbers.

SWEAT SHOP SWEAT SHOP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhOipiXZ9MI

And this'll be talked about more in the coming weeks. Getting rave reviews, as it should 'cos it's awesome.

Simon H, you're wrong about Har Mar AND Magic Numbers. Har Mar is on "Trick for Treat" and The Magic Numbers do the choral backing on "Stainless Style" and "Luxury Pool."

despite what I said upthread, this album is surprisingly kickass

sweat shop is cool, as is neon theme, I need to digest the whole thing more though.

Ooh, dreamgirls

Some of this disc sounds a little like updated Phil Collins, to me. Shockingly, I like it a lot.

^^very good description.

don't like 'i lust u' or the 'alderaan' one - anything on this more like fc kahuna's 'fear of guitars'?

i lust you is almost indistinguishable from old ladytron to me, but the album is scary catchy

(k this is really what i wanted sfa to do after ratw)

Their live performance intrigues me. I've seen a few clips on YouTube, one of them being a version of "Sweat Shop" with Har Mar on vocals called "Sweatpants".

I hope these guys do another album together. I'd call this LP fairly flawed, but very promising. With more work and a more cohesive vision, they'd have an album for the ages.

And yeah, it'd be nice if the next SFA album were Cian-centric and more in the vein of Guerrilla and RAtW. Truthfully, though, Love Kraft was unfairly maligned. I think it needs to be reassessed...

"I Lust U" sounds like leftover electroclash.

the synth hook is really lame imo

would like gruff rhys to sing on something more like that max tundra remix of tunng's 'bullets'

"Belfast," "Dream Cars" and "Raquel" are the standouts anyway. "I Lust U" is a good single, though. "Alderaan" isn't too shabby, either.

"Michael Douglas" has the same sort of chorus problem as SFA's worst-ever song, "Lazer Beam," but the verses and instrumentation make up for it. I also like the nod to "God Show Me Magic!" on the "Gimme a soul implant" line.

The single is megadud. As usual Gruff Rhys drags everything down with his BORING voice.

SFA would be better if he maybe confined himself to writing lyrics and be replaced on vocals by RHYDIAN.

I don't think Gruff's voice would be BORING, just a bit cold.
And this is a very good album, my favourites are "Steel Your Girl" (it is similar to which song???), "Michael Douglas", "Raquel" and of course "I Lust U". Yes, the latter is like leftover electroclash, but who cares, as it's great?

Unfortunately it's sort of Brown Sauce trying to do Trans-X.

Mostly said above, but I really love this album with glaring exceptions

"Trick Or Treat", the Har Mar track, is really really fucking bad, and I blame Har Mar or whoever decided to include him. This could have been a great song sung/rapped by anybody else.

"Sweat Shop" and "Luxury Pool" aren't that great either, respect to Yo Majesty and Fatlip.

However, the more 80s synth+guitar pop tracks that feat. Gruff on vocals are ace ace ace. "Dream Cars", "I Told Her At Alderaan", "Raquel", "I Lust U", "Steel Your Girl", "Michael Douglas"... Pretty much all of those are excellent. So, moral is: Boom Bip + Gruff Rhys = great 80s sounding pop, not-great hip hop.

"Steel Your Girl" sounds kinda like "Outdoor Miner", at least the chord progressions and harmonies, not so much matching the original in notes, but in feel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am00B2nwdtE

Richard X remix of "I Told Her on Alderaan"

Good to see The View are gonna have some competition for worst album of the year.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 20 January 2007 22:36 (1 year ago)

I love Dom's posts even when I disagree with them

Daf caused a bit of excitement earlier when he tweeted from the SFA account that they'd be starting to record the new album this week. He meant to tweet from his side project The Earth's account.

He's since tweeted this:

clarification from @furrydaf . not a fucking chance of a new @superfurry album any time soon! was talking bout @TheEarthBand . sorry!

Damn, shame The Earth is probably the least interesting of all the SFA side projects. Those songs they're putting out leave me cold.

For reference: http://theearthearthearth.com

Bunf's doing the best stuff, IMO: https://soundcloud.com/the-pale-blue-dots

I really could do with a new SFA album soon, I still play Dark Days a decent amount. It has seemed strange not having a new album of theirs for so long, I got used to having them put out an album every two years in the summertime.

I can wait, tbh.

Do we know if there's anything specific stopping there being a new SFA album?

The new Neon Neon record is very slight but I enjoy it more than I expected after reading commnts upthread.

I've overdosed on The Pale Blue dots today. Bunf's songs are always so infectious.

The live show sounds pretty wicked based on the reviews I've read so far. I guess that was their main concern this time. It's a shame they couldn't wait to release the performance with the album.

The Pale Blue Dots stuff on their soundcloud page is pretty good! Sounds sonically like Hey Venus in the best possible way. The 2 songs I just listened to have a very cool Phil Spector/Pet Sounds vibe.

I'm particularly fond of "Lady Bookworm" and "Aquarium." "Additional" is pretty epic, too. Glad he found his footing.

Putting the Pale Blue Dots stuff in the same bracket as Hey Venus! is a massive insult to Hey Venus!, as far as I'm concerned. I was having a conversation with a friend the other day and he said something along the lines of "The Pale Blue Dots sound like post-stroke Edwyn Collins singing Status Quo songs, but not anywhere near as good as that would suggest"... and I agree! Cian's album and the Neon Neon album left me cold enough, but I think the Pale Blue Dots manage to be even worse. I can't see The Earth (even though Dionne is a very good singer) or Gulp rocking anyone's world, either. Apart from the world of STAUNCHLY HARDCORE SFA FANS who have always been incredibly special and like pretty much everything that these guys shit out regardless of how good it actually is.

I personally think it's a great thing that Super Furry Animals are on hiatus now... even if an hour of the best of what they've been doing individually had been cherry-picked to go on an SFA album, listening to it would be like spending an hour in Hades while having a vasectomy performed on you with zero anaesthetic.

If you say so.

I guess the opposite of liking everything they shit is saying laughably hyperbolic stuff like some songs you don't like are akin to getting a vasectomy in Hell.

That 'vasectomy in Hades' comment was meant to be an over the top/humorous (well, to me at least) way of getting my point across... but if this is going to boil down to a laughable hyperbole vs. laughing hyperbole pissing contest, then the way that some SFA fans are praising these recent ho-hum to sub-par solo projects as if their collective/individual "winning streak" never ended (when it did, and many years ago at that) just isn't funny at all. And neither is the fact that the various members feel the need to waste people's time with lazy, utter half-arsed garbage when at the very least between 1997-2003 (their peak) the music that they were making was unbeatable and between 2004-2008 (even though the rot was starting to set in) a lot of it was still at the least very good to decent. By comparison their output for the last five years (collective/individual) has been mostly hopeless.

Yeah, ha, I second that if you say so! I personally meant "sonically" in regard to the production values and overall aesthetic of the PBD stuff. I was hardly judging it based on an in depth analysis of the song writing or performances. The very clean lines, the big drums and the precise arrangements are what I'm responding to in my cursory listening... it is very much in line with Hey Venus! on that level.

I personally feel everything SFA pre-2003 is immature! The group only gets really interesting to me with Phantom Power and especially Lovekraft. To each his own, one man's trash another man's treasure, etc. I'm personally very picky about this stuff and Afriendlypioneer is also clearly not at all afraid to look at this music critically. Of course, being fans, our view is biased towards hoping for the best - but so fucking what? We're certainly not pretending to enjoy things! Frankly that is kind of insulting.

I believe he and I have discussed this before in the SFA general thread, we appreciate the different facets the members bring to the overall sound of SFA and looking at their solo works is very illuminating in that regard. Failures, needless to say, can also be very rewarding and informative believe it or not. It is hardly a waste of OUR time. After digesting Pale Blue Dots we can go back to Lovekraft and hear it a little different... perhaps even grow to appreciate it more.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that listening to Love Kraft directly after the Pale Blue Dots will make Love Kraft seem like the greatest album ever made - but then again, I suppose the rest of the entire world of music would gleam in comparison too.

Different strokes...

Hey Venus! is my least favorite SFA album, but I really dig The Pale Blue Dots' demos. They have a sound that I enjoy. The other vocalist brings a lot to the show as well.

http://store.gulpgulp.co.uk/track/diamonds-in-the-sky

That's a damn good song, btw...

Love Kraft: best SFA album

The other vocalist brings a lot to the show as well.

What, being more in tune than Bunf is!? Putting the quality of the actual songs to one side for a moment, these vocals are pretty painful and thoroughly unenjoyable to listen to, and 'White Socks/Flip Flops' was one of my highlights of Dark Days/Light Years.

I just don't think we hear things the same way. I don't really understand how you could react so negatively to Cian's album, but you do. I found that one thoroughly enjoyable, though not perfect. Most people I spoke to did as well, including friends of mine who've made fun of my love for SFA.

I guess you and I kind of agree on the new Neon Neon album inasmuch that we both find it disappointing, although I mostly just find it inoffensive whereas you think it's an assault on your senses.

Well, I certainly think it's crap, and not at all very good from an artist that is capable of so much more and has produced vastly superior work in the past. I guess this applies to all of the SFA members recent projects too, though, not just the new Neon Neon.

Love Kraft: best SFA album

Dark Days/Light Years and Phantom Power both handily defeat HV and LK.

Gruff Rhys has made a career of being different, maintaining a level of interest and surprise in every one of his albums whether with Super Furry Animals, his solo work or various guest appearances. His latest album with Neon Neon, where he combines with American hip hop producer Boom Bip, may be the most experimental project yet.

Their second album ‘Praxis Makes Perfect’ was released on 29th April and across its ten tracks tells the story of Italian publisher and left wing political activist Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. On listening to the record it has all the hallmarks of a classic Gruff piece but the complex storytelling is lost a little between the drifting pleasantness of the tunes and Gruff's often hard to decipher lyrics meaning some of the concepts important narrative is lost a little unless you’re listening through headphones or have the lyrics to hand. Even then, it takes a bit of Googling to fill in the blanks of the story.

All credit to Gruff, as well as the National Theatre Wales, for coming up with a unique and quite brilliant way of making sure the message behind his writing gets through. Inviting fans to purchase tickets for any of 5 performances over 4 days in Cardiff, the location; a warehouse near Cardiff central train station is kept secret until you purchase your ticket. You’re then requested to ‘wear something red and bring a copy of your favourite book to give to a comrade’. What results is a crowd of around 500 intrigued souls gathered around an industrial car park on a Saturday evening, all fascinated by what’s to come.

On entering the actual warehouse to a room which has nowhere for a band to play the level of confusion increases before a screen drops allowing everyone to filter into a larger area where Neon Neon plus supporting band are on a scaffold structure dressed to look like an office with Gruff and Boom Bip on typewriters. For the next hour or so they play through ‘Praxis Makes Perfect’ while a collection of actors perform both during and between tracks, providing a detail and expression of the content which suddenly allows the whole thing to make perfect sense.

Parts of stage are wheeled around the floor for various scenes while the talented cast perform a series of expertly written and performed set pieces which join everything together. There are scenes for how Feltrinelli got the manuscript for Dr Zhivago out of the Soviet Union, CIA interrogations, Gruff and fabulous vocalist Lisa Jen Brown piling up shopping trollies while on treadmills, people climbing out of enormous filing cabinets, leopard faced people with guns, body painting, Che Guevara and Feltrinelli playing basketball with Fidel Castro among many other highlights.

Tim Price deserves massive credit for understanding Gruff’s concept and coming up with a dialogue which tells the story and compliments the songs without taking over the entire performance. The whole show is a bit like being sucked into a music video crossed with a documentary while listening to the album all at the same time. It’s all very cleverly put together and expertly performed.

On completion of ‘Praxis Makes Perfect’ we’re treated to a handful of songs from first album ‘Stainless Style’ including the still brilliant sounding ‘I Lust You’. I wasn’t sure what to expect from ‘interactive theatre’ but this was one of the most brilliant experiences I’ve ever had watching live music. The balance between gig and theatrical show was spot on and everything was performed almost flawlessly. Yet again Gruff is pushing the envelope and yet again he’s got it spot on.

Source: http://www.stereoboard.com/content/view/178839/9#ixzz2SiEbYZuJ

Really wish they'd just waited to record these performances before they released the album.

Dark Days/Light Years and Phantom Power both handily defeats HV and LK.

― afriendlypioneer, Wednesday, 8 May 2013 14:26 (2 hours ago) Permalink

All this talk about the best SFA albums makes me want to rank them and hopefully it will encourage people to do the same (I love lists!)

Radiator
Guerrilla
Mwng
Phantom Power
Dark Days
Fuzzy Logic
Love Kraft
Hey Venus
Rings Around The World

They are yet to make a really bad album.

I haven't heard all their side projects but I love Candylion and Stainless Style. Hotel Shampoo is good but I don't go back to that one as much.

This new one by The Earth is pretty good, but I like everything the band shits out so don't mind me... https://soundcloud.com/strangetown-records/04-elektrikity

Here's half of the dreadful Cian Ciaran album that's as painful as getting a vasectomy in Hades as well: https://soundcloud.com/strangetown-records/sets/cian-ciaran-outside-in

BTW: I listened to Rings Around the World recently and still don't understand why there's a large minority that thinks it's the worst SFA album.

It's the only album of theirs where the big production sounds like it's trying to cover up a lack of great songs. Juxtapozed, Run Christian Run, Sidewalk Serfer Girl and the first half of Receptacle For The Respectable are the only songs I really like on there these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wsydT0oSRc

Wish I could've gone.

That looks great. Completely uninterested in hearing the album.

I like that "Mid-Century Modern Nightmare" sounds nothing like it does on the album. It's gloomy and sludgy.

I think it's the best album of the last 50 years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DOalFULgbY

I am kind of obsessed with that song right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyqI8v7XPrw

:)!

theQuietus ‏@theQuietus 14 May
Dear me this Daft Punk LP is dull as dishwater. If you want arch sophisticated smart electronica, the new Neon Neon pisses all over this.

Damn.

Opinions are like assholes.

The new Neon Neon record is very slight but I enjoy it more than I expected after reading commnts upthread.

Did you make it to the end? What did/do you think?

After watching the Praxis Makes Perfect gig/show last night, I'm more convinced than ever that Gruff is a genius.

I've heard nothing but good things about the show. It's a shame the LP lacks that extra something that seems to come with the performance. I wish they'd waited to release a DVD w/ the album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXNt2NoepyM

Debut album by The Earth: http://open.spotify.com/album/1uQr8J15ofUlE8sjYPQUHB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb1Mp1XdpnY

http://phillipkelley.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/yawn.png

I don't really like it--at all..just putting it out there.