Super Furry Animals 1999-2000: Guerrilla and Mwng What is Guerrilla? the new album, Guerrilla. When was this released? 1960s
What is Mwng?
What is Mwng by Super Furry Animals?
In 1999, NME readers named them 'best new band' in January (this despite the fact it was now three years since they released their debut album). In May, the single "Northern Lites" was released and made No. 11 in the charts. A dense production, with steel drums clattering out a calypso rhythm whilst Rhys sang an irreverent lyric about the El Nino-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon, it was an apt taster for the new album, Guerrilla. Recorded at the Real World Studios, the album retained SFA's pop melodies but took a less guitar-centric approach to their execution and was their most experimental work to date. Layers of samples over brass, percussion and Gruff's melodic singing produced an album which took the freewheeling approach of 1960s groups such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Velvet Underground and updated it to the late 1990s. The album swung from glam and garage rock numbers ("Night Vision", "The Teacher") to novelty techno ("Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)"), ambient indietronica ("Some Things Come From Nothing") and upbeat drum and bass ("The Door To This House Remains Open"). For the cover art, Pete Fowler created the band's first three-dimensional models, rather than the paintings he had supplied for the Radiator album and singles.  After playing several of the summer festivals, SFA released "Fire in My Heart", the most soulful track from Guerrilla, in August and saw it chart at No. 25. They then embarked on a US and UK tour. SFA finished their UK tour at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, where they showcased the first ever concert in surround sound and broadcast it on the World Wide Web.  January 2000 involved a series of changes for SFA. The last single from Guerrilla, "Do or Die", was released and made No. 20. It was also the last single SFA released on Creation Records, as founder Alan McGee set off to pursue other interests. It had always been SFA's plan to release their next album on their own label, Placid Casual, as it would be a deliberate sidestep from their recent work: a largely acoustic album of Welsh language songs entitled Mwng. Meaning "mane", its lilting melodies established that SFA's songwriting did not have to fall back on head-spinning production tricks. A limited edition (of 3000) 7 inch record, "Ysbeidiau Heulog" (meaning "Sunny Intervals") preceded Mwng in May 2000. It came backed with "Charge", a hard-rock jam recorded as a Peel Session for the BBC. The album, released the same month, sold remarkably well for a non-English LP - it made No. 11 in the charts - and received a rare distinction for a pop record, being commended in Parliament for its efforts in keeping the Welsh language alive.  2000 also saw the Furries contribute two tracks, Free Now and Peter Blake 2000, for the Liverpool Sound Collage project, which was nominated for a Grammy. They undertook this remixing of unreleased Beatles recordings at the invitation of Paul McCartney, whom they had met at the NME Awards, where they had won Best Live Act. CANNOTANSWER
Welsh language songs entitled Mwng.
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. Since their formation, the band had consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian Ciaran (keyboards, synthesisers, various electronics, occasional guitar, vocals), Dafydd Ieuan (drums, vocals) and actor Rhys Ifans.

Super Furry Animals has recorded nine UK Albums Chart Top 25 studio albums (one BPI certified Gold and four certified Silver), plus numerous singles, EPs, compilations and collaborations. The band were known as central to the Cool Cymru era during which they were dominant, and are the act with the most top 75 hits without reaching the UK Singles Chart Top 10. Over the course of nine albums, Super Furry Animals has been described as "one of the most imaginative bands of our time" by Billboard, while according to a 2005 article in NME, "There's a case to be argued that [Super Furry Animals] were the most important band of the past 15 years".

History

1990–1993: Formation
Super Furry Animals formed in Cardiff after being in various other Welsh bands and techno outfits in the area. Rhys, Ieuan and Pryce had been together since the early 1990s and had toured France as a techno group. After Bunford and Ciaran (Ieuan's younger brother) joined, they wrote some songs, and in 1995 signed to Ankst, a Welsh indie label. The band are considered to be part of the renaissance of Welsh music (and art, and literature) in the 1990s: other Welsh bands of the time include the Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Catatonia and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.

The name of the band came from T-shirts being printed by Rhys' sister. She was making Super Furry Animals T-shirts for the fashion and music collective Acid Casuals (variants of whose name have appeared throughout Super Furry Animals' career – for example, in their song "The Placid Casual", their record label Placid Casual). The band has also made reference to Blur, Elvis Costello, and Wynton Marsalis as major influences in their work.

1994–1995: Early recordings
The earliest Super Furry Animals track commercially available is "Dim Brys: Dim Chwys", recorded in 1994 for Radio Cymru: an ambient piece, the track shows the band's techno roots. However, by the time it was released (on the "Triskedekaphilia" compilation album in August 1995), the band had already put out their debut EP on the Ankst label. The Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod (In Space) EP appeared in June 1995 and has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest-ever title for an EP.

The Moog Droog EP followed in October 1995, named after the synthesiser manufacturer Robert Moog and the Nadsat term for "friend" in A Clockwork Orange. The EP's title is also a pun on the Welsh "mwg drwg", meaning "wacky baccy" (slang for cannabis, more literally "bad (or naughty) smoke"). The lyrics on all the tracks on both EPs were in Welsh, except for "God! Show Me Magic" from "Moog Droog".

After gigging in London in late 1995, they were noticed by Creation Records boss Alan McGee at the Camden Monarch club, who signed them to his label. Creation was also home to Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine and Teenage Fanclub, and had recently found massive commercial success with Oasis. The band have said that having watched their gig, McGee asked them if they could sing in English rather than Welsh in future shows. In fact, by this stage they were singing in English, but McGee didn't realise because their Welsh accents were so strong. The Super Furry Animals received some criticism in the Welsh media for singing in English, something which the band felt "completely pissed" about. According to drummer Dafydd Ieuan: "It all started when we played this festival in West Wales, and for some reason the Welsh media started foaming at the mouth because we were singing songs in Welsh and English. But they get The Dubliners playing and they don't sing in Irish. It's ridiculous." The band have claimed that the decision to sing in English was taken in order to broaden their fanbase.

1996–1998: Fuzzy Logic to Out Spaced
In February 1996, the band's debut on Creation, "Hometown Unicorn", became New Musical Express's Single of the Week, chosen by guest reviewers Pulp, and the first Super Furry Animals single to chart in the UK Top 50, peaking at No. 47. The follow-up, a re-recording of "God! Show Me Magic", charted at No. 33 upon release in April 1996 and also became NME single of the week. Rawer than the "Moog Droog" version, it clocks in at 1 min 50 secs. In May, their debut album Fuzzy Logic was released, to wide critical acclaim. Sales were slow, with the album peaking at No. 23 in the charts, but it garnered a little more interest when next single "Something 4 the Weekend" (a reworked, more mellow version of the album track) was given considerable radio airplay and charted at No. 18 in July 1996.

The final single from the album, "If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You", was to have been backed by a track called "The Man Don't Give a Fuck". However, there were problems in clearing a sample from "Showbiz Kids" by Steely Dan which formed the basis of the chorus, and it was switched for a different track. The single charted at No. 18. However, Super Furry Animals regarded "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" as one of their best songs and continued their efforts to clear the sample. When they managed this, there was no upcoming release to attach it to – so it came out as a limited edition single in its own right, in December 1996. This ultimately cemented its legendary status and did much to establish Super Furry Animals as cult heroes, as the song contained the word "fuck" over 50 times and therefore received practically no airplay. However, it hit No. 22 in the charts and became Super Furry Animals' standard closing number when they played live.

In early 1997, Super Furry Animals embarked on the NME Brats Tour and completed work on a speedy follow-up to Fuzzy Logic. Two singles preceded the new album, "Hermann ♥'s Pauline" in May and "The International Language of Screaming" in July, hitting No. 26 and No. 24 respectively: these releases were the first to feature cover art from Pete Fowler, who went on to design the sleeves of all their releases up until 2007's Hey Venus. The album, Radiator, hit shelves in August. The reviews were, if anything, better than those for Fuzzy Logic, and it sold more quickly than its predecessor, reaching a peak of No. 8: however, Creation did not serve the album particularly well by releasing it just four days after the long-awaited new effort from Oasis, Be Here Now. Two further singles, "Play It Cool" (released September 1997) and "Demons" (November 1997) both hit No. 27 in the charts, suggesting that Super Furry Animals had hit a commercial ceiling though which they were struggling to break. However, they had established themselves as favourites in the music press, a cut above the majority of their Britpop peers.

After a chance to think about their music and their direction, Super Furry Animals decided to record a new EP in early 1998 at Gorwel Owen's house and released it in May. This was the Ice Hockey Hair EP, widely held as one of their finest moments. ("Ice hockey hair" is a slang term for a mullet.) Featuring four tracks, the EP sampled from Black Uhuru. The title track, a melodic and very moving epic, gained airplay while "Smokin'". In a Melody Maker interview, Super Furry Animals said the "Smokin'" referred to smoking haddock, or to truck drivers' tyres when they're 'burnin' the roads'. It became their most successful single up to this point, hitting No. 12 in the charts and leading to a memorable appearance on "Top of the Pops".

In November 1998, the album Out Spaced was released. This was a collection of songs from the 1995 Ankst releases (including "Dim Brys: Dim Chwys"), the band's favourite B-sides, plus "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" and "Smokin'". A limited edition appeared in a comedy rubber sleeve, shaped like a nipple.

1999–2000: Guerrilla and Mwng
In 1999, NME readers named them 'best new band' in January (this despite the fact it was now three years since they released their debut album). In May, the single "Northern Lites" was released and made No. 11 in the charts. A dense production, with steel drums clattering out a calypso rhythm whilst Rhys sang an irreverent lyric about the El Niño-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon, it was an apt taster for the new album, Guerrilla. Recorded at the Real World Studios, the album retained SFA's pop melodies but took a less guitar-centric approach to their execution and was their most experimental work to date. Layers of samples over brass, percussion and Gruff's melodic singing produced an album which took the freewheeling approach of 1960s groups such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Velvet Underground and updated it to the late 1990s. The album swung from glam and garage rock numbers ("Night Vision", "The Teacher") to novelty techno ("Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)"), ambient indietronica ("Some Things Come From Nothing") and upbeat drum and bass ("The Door To This House Remains Open"). For the cover art, Pete Fowler created the band's first three-dimensional models, rather than the paintings he had supplied for the Radiator album and singles.

After playing several of the summer festivals, SFA released "Fire in My Heart", the most soulful track from Guerrilla, in August and saw it chart at No. 25. They then embarked on a US and UK tour. SFA finished their UK tour at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, where they showcased the first ever concert in surround sound and broadcast it on the World Wide Web.

January 2000 involved a series of changes for SFA. The last single from Guerrilla, "Do or Die", was released and made No. 20. It was also the last single SFA released on Creation Records, as founder Alan McGee set off to pursue other interests. It had always been SFA's plan to release their next album on their own label, Placid Casual, as it would be a deliberate sidestep from their recent work: a largely acoustic album of Welsh language songs entitled Mwng. Meaning "mane", its lilting melodies established that SFA's songwriting did not have to fall back on head-spinning production tricks. A limited edition (of 3000) 7 inch record, "Ysbeidiau Heulog" (meaning "Sunny Intervals") preceded Mwng in May 2000. It came backed with "Charge", a hard-rock jam recorded as a Peel Session for the BBC. The album, released the same month, sold remarkably well for a non-English LP – it made No. 11 in the charts – and received a rare distinction for a pop record, being commended in Parliament for its efforts in keeping the Welsh language alive.

2000 also saw the Furries contribute two tracks, Free Now and Peter Blake 2000, for the Liverpool Sound Collage project, which was nominated for a Grammy. They undertook this remixing of unreleased Beatles recordings at the invitation of Paul McCartney, whom they had met at the NME Awards, where they had won Best Live Act.

2001–2003: Rings Around the World and Phantom Power
With the demise of Creation, SFA needed to find a new label for their next album. Sony had long held a substantial stake in Creation and offered deals to many ex-Creation artists, including SFA, who signed with one of Sony's subsidiaries, Epic. The band pushed for a deal which allowed them to take a new album elsewhere if the label wasn't interested in releasing it – thereby allowing them to find a home for any esoteric project they might want to undertake in the future.

The greater resources afforded them by Epic were apparent in their first album for the label, Rings Around the World, an album that recaptured the cohesive, experimental feel of Guerrilla but more song-driven and sonically expansive. It is cited by many critics and fans alike as their most polished and accessible work. Again the first single was a good indication of what was to come: "Juxtapozed with U", released in July 2001, was a lush soul record which made No. 14 in the charts. The album followed in the same month and major label marketing muscle made it their biggest-seller to date, reaching No. 3 in the album charts. One of the tracks from the album, "Receptacle For the Respectable" featured Paul McCartney on "carrot and celery rhythm track" (a homage to his performance on the Beach Boys' "Vegetables"). SFA unleashed their experimental side on tracks such as "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" (which switches between light techno-pop and hardcore punk), "[A] Touch Sensitive" (gloomy trip-hop) and "No Sympathy" (which descends into chaotic drum'n'bass), but also apparent was an angrier edge to the lyrics: "Run! Christian, Run!" seemed to be an attack on the complacency of organised religion.

Rings Around the World is also remarkable for being the world's first simultaneous release of an audio and DVD album. It was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001. The ceremony took place on the day after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and SFA's performance of the album track "It's Not the End of the World?" took on a somewhat bitter edge. It was released as a single in January 2002 (chart No. 30), following "(Drawing) Rings Around the World" (chart No. 28): neither had that much impact but still received some airplay, notably on BBC Radio 2.

The next album, Phantom Power, relied less on sound experimentation and proved to be a more stripped-down, back-to-basics recording in contrast to the orchestral Rings Around the World. It was also released as both a CD and DVD album in July 2003, preceded by a single, "Golden Retriever", in June (chart No. 13). Although the reviews for the album were generally good and it sold well initially, charting at No. 4, the album broke little new ground by SFA's standards and the band had fallen out of fashion, receiving little coverage in the music press. Another single, "Hello Sunshine", hit No. 31 in October 2003 and was eventually featured on the soundtrack of The O.C..

2004–2005: Phantom Phorce to Love Kraft
Perhaps recognising that their approach to Phantom Power had been a little too straightforward, the group followed it up in 2004 with a remix version, Phantom Phorce, with tracks reworked by the likes of Killa Kela, Four Tet and Brave Captain. They accompanied this with a download single, "Slow Life", which also included the track "Motherfokker", a collaboration with Goldie Lookin Chain, both tracks are now available as a free download via the Placid Casual website. In October 2004 the band released a best of album, Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1, accompanied by a single – a live version of "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" (chart No. 16).

In early 2005, Gruff Rhys released a solo album Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, ("The Stuttering Generation", and also a play on words as "Atal Genhedlu" means contraception), sung all in Welsh. Gruff played most of the instruments himself, mainly using guitars, drums and his own multi-tracked voice. The band also selected tracks for a volume in the Under the Influence series of compilations, in which artists present the songs that they feel have most contributed to their sound.

In 2005 Super Furry Animals were asked to put together the sixth release from the 'Under The Influence' series - Under the Influence: Super Furry Animals. Each member chose 3 track each - Pryce's selections were Dawn Penn "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)", Dennis Wilson and Rumbo "Lady" and MC5 "Kick Out the Jams".

Also in 2005 it was reported that the band turned down a US$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.

In August 2005, Super Furry Animals released their seventh studio effort, Love Kraft, recorded in Spain. This represented a departure from their previous working methods: although all five members had always contributed to the development of the songs, Rhys had been the main songwriter. On Love Kraft this was no longer the case, as Rhys, Bunford, Ieuan and Ciaran all contributed songs and lead vocals. There was only one single from the album, "Lazer Beam", released on 15 August (chart No. 28). The laid-back ambience recalls early-1970s Beach Boys albums such as Surf's Up (which SFA have referred to as one of their favourite albums), whilst the heavy use of strings suggested the likes of Scott Walker and Curtis Mayfield. The album's cool commercial reception (it charted at just No. 19) suggested that they had returned to their familiar status of critically acclaimed cult favourites. Love Kraft was also the last album released under Epic Records, as their contract expired in early 2006.

2006–2008: Rough Trade and Hey Venus!
Ciaran's side project Acid Casuals released their debut album Omni in January 2006 on the Placid Casual label. Drummer Ieuan formed a band known as The Peth which has been described by Rhys in various magazine articles as "Satanic Abba": the band also reunites Rhys Ifans with the SFA family, as he takes lead vocal duties.

The band signed to Rough Trade Records during 2006 and are reportedly working on three projects for the label. Gruff Rhys has also signed for Rough Trade Records as a solo artist in his own right and released a single on 7" vinyl and download entitled "Candylion" in late 2006 which preceded an album of the same name that was released during the second week of 2007. Unlike his debut Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, Candylion is primarily sung in English but has two Welsh tracks and one in "bad Spanish": it is primarily an acoustic album, and came about because Rhys has written several acoustic pop songs that didn't fit with the direction of the new SFA record.

During this time some of the bands' music was used prominently in The Rock-afire Explosion documentary movie, namely Hello Sunshine and Some things Come From Nothing.

Recording sessions took place in a chateau in the south of France in 2007 for the band's first release for Rough Trade, Hey Venus!, which was released on 27 August that year. Gruff himself described the record as "speaker blowing". The album's first single, "Show Your Hand", failed to enter the top 40, their first to do so since 1996's "Hometown Unicorn", despite modest airplay. The album itself fared much better, peaking at No. 11 and was a slight improvement from the sales of Love Kraft. The album became their first to enter the iTunes Music Store top 10 album charts, peaking at No. 9. Over the 2007 Christmas period SFA released a single, "The Gift That Keeps Giving", free from their website.

2009–2014: Dark Days/Light Years and hiatus 
On 16 March 2009, Super Furry Animals released their ninth and final studio album, Dark Days/Light Years, digitally via their website. The album's progress was recorded in a series of short films that were shown on the band's website in the build-up to the release. Later in March, they performed the record in its entirety through an exclusive stream on their website. A physical release on Rough Trade Records followed on 21 April, resulting in a number 23 UK Chart placement. Dark Days/Light Years notably featured a guest appearance from Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand on "Inaugural Trams." Dark Days/Light Years received strong critical feedback, with The Guardian writing that "it has more spark and invention than most teen bands manage on their debuts."

In 2010, Super Furry Animals went on what became a five-year hiatus, as bassist Guto Pryce revealed in an interview with Wales Online. Pryce noted that the band expected to reconvene as soon as the members finished with the various projects they were working on.

Super Furry Animals reconvened for one performance on 29 February 2012 at Cardiff City Stadium before a Wales v Costa Rica Gary Speed Memorial Match, in tribute to the late Welsh footballer and team manager.

In 2014, craft brewer The Celt Experience created a tribute "Fuzzy Beer" in collaboration with the band.

2015–2016: Reunion
In May 2015, the band played several gigs from early May to September to accompany a major reissue of their 15-year-old album Mwng, which had been out of print. The same month a biography, Rise of the Super Furry Animals, was published by HarperCollins. In January 2016, the band announced their first North American tour in six years. In May 2016, the band released "Bing Bong", their first single in seven years. The song was released to celebrate the Wales national football team's qualification for UEFA Euro 2016. They headlined the Caught by the River Festival in August 2016, and announced the re-release of Fuzzy Logic. A compilation album, Zoom! The Best of 1995–2016, was released on 4 November 2016. The final tour of their reunion, in which they played both Fuzzy Logic and Radiator in full across the UK and Ireland, took place in December 2016.

2017–present: Second hiatus and Das Koolies
In September 2018, the official Super Furry Animals Twitter feed posted an announcement of a multi-disc set of recordings made at the BBC to be released on 23 November 2018.

In 2019 Bunford, Ciaran, Pryce, and Ieuan reformed without Rhys under the name Das Koolies, an alter ego SFA used around 2000 for an experimental electronic album that was never officially released. Das Koolies released their debut single "It's All About The Dolphins" on 29 January 2020. According to Ciaran, Das Koolies is now their main focus; they are no longer focusing on anything from Super Furry Animals.

Discography

 Fuzzy Logic (1996)
 Radiator (1997)
 Guerrilla (1999)
 Mwng (2000)
 Rings Around the World (2001)
 Phantom Power (2003)
 Love Kraft (2005)
 Hey Venus! (2007)
 Dark Days/Light Years (2009)

References

External links

 
 Super Furry Animals biography from BBC Wales

 
Musical groups established in 1993
1993 establishments in Wales
Neo-psychedelia groups
Cool Cymru
Welsh alternative rock groups
British psychedelic rock music groups
Britpop groups
Creation Records artists
Welsh-language bands
Musical quintets
Musical groups from Cardiff
Bertelsmann Music Group artists
Epic Records artists
Rough Trade Records artists
Mwng (; English: Mane) is the fourth studio album by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals, and the first by the group to have lyrics written entirely in the Welsh language. Mwng was released on 15 May 2000 on the band's own record label, Placid Casual, following the demise of their former label, Creation. The album includes the single "Ysbeidiau Heulog", and reached number 11 on the UK Albums Chart following its release—the first Welsh-language album to reach the top 20. This success led to Mwng being mentioned in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom by Elfyn Llwyd, who described the record as a celebration of a "new wave of confidence in the Welsh nation".

The Super Furry Animals had attempted to make a hit record with a commercial sound with their previous release, 1999's Guerrilla. The record's singles failed to hit the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, so the band decided to go on "pop strike". The group had written several Welsh-language songs during sessions for Guerrilla, and opted to release them as a coherent album rather than issue "token Welsh songs" as b-sides—reasoning that, if their English pop songs were not going to be played on the radio they may as well release Welsh pop songs that would not get played on the radio. Singer Gruff Rhys stated that, although the decision to release a Welsh language album was not an explicitly political statement, he does feel the record is a "stand against globalisation". Recording largely took place at Ofn Studios, Llanfaelog, Anglesey in 1999, with the band sharing production duties with Gorwel Owen. The "lo-fi" album cost just  to make, in contrast with the "excessive expense" of Guerrilla, and was recorded almost entirely live.

Mwng is an understated rock record inspired by the band's love of "Anglo-American pop culture of the 60s, 70s and 80s." The album has a "wintery persona" that is best summed up by the track "Ymaelodi Â'r Ymylon". Rhys feels that the record marks the first time the band managed to escape their influences and clearly establish their own sound. The album's lyrics deal with a diverse set of subjects, such as the death of rural communities, old school teachers, and Sarn Helen (a Roman road built in Wales). Rhys has stated that many of Mwngs songs are highly personal reflections on what were difficult years for him. Rhys has also expressed the belief that the album is accessible to non-Welsh speakers, as they can pick up on the mood of the songs even if they cannot understand the lyrics. Critical reception was generally positive, although some reviewers criticised the album for its "bare-boned production". Mwng was included in both the Melody Maker and NME "Best album of 2000" lists, with the latter calling the record the band's best release. The band were surprised by album's commercial success, entering number 11 in the UK charts, and going on to become the biggest-selling Welsh language album.

Origins and recording

The Super Furry Animals made a conscious decision to make a commercial-sounding "pop jukebox" record with 1999's Guerrilla. The band had written the album's intended singles with the hope that they would become "radio hits", and were disappointed with the limited success they received: the first single, "Northern Lites", charted just outside the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart at number 11, while subsequent releases "Fire in My Heart" and "Do or Die" reached numbers 25 and 20, respectively. The band blamed their record label, Creation, for the relative failure of the singles—particularly "Northern Lites", which they felt "could have been bigger" if the label had produced a better music video and conducted a more successful marketing campaign. As a result, the group became tired of playing "chart games" and went on "pop strike", deciding to release music just "for the joy of it", with no agenda.

The Super Furry Animals had written several Welsh language songs while they were working on Guerrilla and decided that, rather than releasing "token Welsh songs" as b-sides and album tracks, they would issue them together as a coherent record. These tracks would be augmented by "Dacw Hi", a song written by Rhys in 1987 that he had never "had a chance to do before", and a cover of the track "Y Teimlad", which the group wanted to record because of their admiration for Welsh language band Datblygu (who originally wrote and recorded the song in 1984). According to Rhys, the Super Furry Animals reasoned that, if their English language pop songs were not getting played on the radio, they may as well make a Welsh language album featuring songs that would not be played on the radio. Rhys has said that, although the decision to release a Welsh language album was not "an explicitly political statement", he does see Mwng as a "stand against globalisation", railing against "advanced capitalism" and the lack of interest shown in minority cultures by large companies who "just want to make money". Rhys has also stated that his boredom with writing songs in English inspired him to write Mwng, and that it is a very personal album, rather than a celebration of Welsh culture.

The "lo-fi" Mwng was recorded over two weeks in late 1999, and—in contrast with the "excessive expense" of Guerrilla—cost just  to make. The band chose Gorwel Owen as co-producer, having previously worked with him on their first two albums, 1996's Fuzzy Logic and 1997's Radiator. The majority of Mwng was recorded  with Owen at Ofn Studios in Llanfaelog, Wales. According to Rhys, the band had to play in separate rooms to avoid the sound of one instrument bleeding onto the track of another during recording due to Ofn's small size. "Y Gwyneb Iau" and "Ysbeidiau Heulog" were recorded at Famous Studios in Cardiff, and were engineered by Greg Haver, while "Y Teimlad" was recorded at Real World Studios, Box, Wiltshire, and was engineered by Michael Brennan, Jr. "Sarn Helen" was recorded and engineered by keyboardist Cian Ciaran in his living room. Overdubs for all songs were added at Ofn with Owen, who also mixed the album at the studio along with the Super Furry Animals. Songs were recorded almost entirely live, with the band wanting to make a "really immediate record" as a reaction against the drawn out recording sessions for Guerilla and 1997's Radiator, which had taken several months and proved frustrating for the group. The version of "Nythod Cacwn" that appears on the album is the original demo, with  Rhys on drums. The band felt that, although the demo did not sound very professional, there was a warmth to it that would be impossible to recreate were the group to record the song again. The album's title translates into English as "Mane". According to Rhys, the band did not have the mane of a particular animal in mind, but felt it could be "an extension of a Super Furry Animal".

Musical style

Mwng is a "lo-fi", raw, and understated record of rock songs, "stripped of the bleeps and squelches" that appear on the Super Furry Animals' other releases. Although the album's lyrics are in Welsh, singer Rhys has said that "musically there's nothing Welsh about it at all", going on to state that the record's only real Welsh influences are Datblygu (the writers of "Y Teimlad") and Meic Stevens. Instead, the record is a tribute to the band's obsession with "Anglo-American pop culture of the 60s, 70s and 80s", and is an album that "can be understood on a musical level anywhere in the Westernised world" regardless of whether or not the listener can understand the lyrics.

Bassist Guto Pryce said that he feels Mwng "sounds like an album" rather than a collection of individual songs, due to the fact it was recorded live and over a short period of time. According to Rhys, Mwng marks a refining of the group's sound, with the band having "sieved off" their influences to truly sound like the Super Furry Animals for the first time. Rhys has said that, although keyboardist Cian Ciaran did not explore "digital frontiers" on the album, he was still able to "deconstruct songs", even when playing the harmonium. The band had previously thought of the saxophone as "the instrument of Satan", but actually used one on this record for the first time, reasoning that it was appropriate as Mwng is a "darkish album". Rhys described the album as the band's "monochrome" record, stating that it is "less dressed up" than their other releases, and that it is a "good introduction to [the group's] songwriting."

Rhys said that "if there's a song that sums up the album in terms of mood", perhaps it is "Ymaelodi Â'r Ymylon", typifying its "wintery persona". The track has been described by Rhys as a celebration of the band's love of The Beach Boys, Love, and Ennio Morricone, featuring layered vocal harmonies. "Pan Ddaw'r Wawr" features a "wheezing harmonium" and "perishing trumpet swirl", and has been compared to the music of XTC, Ennio Morricone, and "psychedelic-era" Rolling Stones. According to Rhys, the music of "Sarn Helen" was written to provide the soundtrack to a fictional journey, "cruising down the A5 to Rome in a two-door chariot". The song has been called "evil personified" and dark, and has been likened to the sound of "an approaching Roman army". The "folky", eerily melancholic "Nythod Cacwn" has been compared to the Tori Amos single "Cornflake Girl". "Y Gwyneb Iau" has been described as a "brass-soaked" cross between the music of Herb Alpert and The Doors, featuring "maudlin horns and military beats", while Rhys has said that the song is a combination of Nick Drake, Gladys Knight, and The Velvet Underground's third album. "Ysbeidiau Heulog" and the album's opening track, "Drygioni", have been singled out as the only songs on Mwng that are "distinctly cheery". Both display glam rock influences and have been compared to Roxy Music, with Rhys describing "Ysbeidiau Heulog" as "old time pop music" with vocal harmonies that are a tribute to late 1960s groups such as the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and Os Mutantes.

Lyrical themes

Lyrically, the album deals with subjects as diverse as "isolated communities, old school teachers and Roman roads", but maintains a "warped coherency". According to Rhys, Mwngs lyrics—which he considers to be some of his best—were written "very simply" and convey simple messages. The singer made an effort to be economical with his words, not communicating a lot of information with them. Rhys feels that the album is accessible to non-Welsh speakers, citing his own experience of listening to Nirvana: "If I listen to a Nirvana record I don't understand most of their lyrics cos he's just screaming away, but I just understand the frustration and the passion in his voice. I think equally people can get off on this record by just hitting on the mood of the song, or connecting to the mood of the song."

Several of the songs on Mwng feature quite solemn, personal lyrics, which reflect on a difficult few years for Rhys. The single, "Ysbeidiau Heulog", is about "looking back at a bad time which had the odd good moment", while "Pan Ddaw'r Wawr" deals with the death of rural communities. The singer claims to have wept—rather than sung—the album's last track, "Gwreiddiau Dwfn" / "Mawrth Oer Ar y Blaned Neifion", which features lyrics "so bleak it's almost comic" about "being rooted to a sad piece of land [...] being doomed to live somewhere and that's all you have and that's what you're stuck with". Rhys has described Datblygu's "Y Teimlad" as being about "not knowing what love is or what love means." "Drygioni" is a song about "sleaze [...] about good versus evil, and a person's need for both", and "Y Gwyneb Iau" is a "moody song about war" whose title is a Welsh insult that translates into English as "Liverface". In contrast, "Nythod Cacwn" is a comedic song, based on an incident involving drummer Dafydd Ieuan being chased by bees after he disturbed a beehive while attempting to build a bonfire on a beach. It features lyrics that were "made up on the spot" by Rhys. "Dacw Hi" is inspired by one of Rhys's former teachers who claimed she had eyes in the back of her head. "Sarn Helen" is about the decline of the Roman road of the same name that was built between North and South Wales. "Ymaelodi Â'r Ymylon" is partly inspired by the ostracisation the band felt from some areas of the Welsh musical community due to their decision to sing in English on earlier albums. The track's lyrics feature the old Welsh idiom "y cythraul canu", which means "the demon in music" and refers to the friction this can create between people.

Release and legacy

The Super Furry Animals had originally intended to issue Mwng in March 2000, but the release was delayed due to the demise of the band's UK record label, Creation. The group have variously stated that Creation originally planned to issue Mwng, but allowed the group to buy the rights from them for around , and that the company "didn't want to take" the record in the first place. The band decided to put the album out on their own label, Placid Casual, as they were worried that a label that did not understand the group might do something "horrific", such as putting a Welsh flag on the cover. The "Mwng" logo on the cover is based on the logo for Mixmag

Mwng was eventually released on 15 May 2000 in the United Kingdom on CD, cassette, and vinyl, and reached number 11 in the UK Albums Chart. In the United States, Mwng was released on 20 June 2000 by Flydaddy, with a bonus CD entitled Mwng Bach (; English: Little Mane) featuring five Welsh language tracks: "Sali Mali", from the 1995 EP Moog Droog, and four songs which had originally been released in the UK as B-sides.  This two-disc version of Mwng was reissued in the US in 2005 by XL Recordings/Beggars Banquet US. "Ysbeidiau Heulog" was released as the only single from the album, and failed to chart inside the UK Singles Top 75. Although the Super Furry Animals had "no commercial expectations" for the album, Mwng became the first Welsh-language record to reach the Top 20 of the UK album charts, and has frequently been called the biggest-selling Welsh language album of all time. As a result of the record's success, Mwng was mentioned in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom by Plaid Cymru's Elfyn Llwyd, who called on his fellow politicians to congratulate the band on their "chart topping new album" and recognise Mwng as a celebration of a "new wave of confidence in the Welsh nation". Rhys dismissed Llwyd's statement, saying that the record is very personal and has "bugger all to do with a celebration".

In 2015, fifteen years after its release, Domino Records re-issued Mwng. Deluxe vinyl, CD and download versions included content from the bonus Mwng Bach disc, originally included with Mwng'''s American release, along with live recordings and radio sessions.

Critical receptionMwng received generally positive reviews from critics, with a score of 84 on Metacritic denoting "universal acclaim". AllMusic called the album "terrific", and stated that the band's decision to release an all-Welsh record was courageous and proof that they are "the great eccentric band of [their] time". Drowned in Sound called the album "a poignant, dark, curling, bundle of songs", but expressed sadness that the band's usual "skewed play on words" are missed by all but Welsh speakers. In contrast, Rolling Stone said that the album's "tight arrangements of melodic bliss" manage to cross the "Welsh-language barrier." Yahoo! Music stated that Mwng cemented the Super Furry Animals' position as "figureheads of futuristic rock." The review went on to state that Mwng is "a theoretically disorientating and complex, but triumphantly audacious, experience", and said that initial reservations about not being able to understand the lyrics were lost when it became clear that Rhys was always "unintelligible [...] on record anyway".

Matt LeMay, reviewing Mwng on its initial release for Pitchfork, described the album as being not as "fully realised or inventive" as 1999's Guerrilla and said that, although the record highlights Rhys's talents for songwriting, the lack of any "electronic wizardry" from keyboard player Ciaran is disappointing. LeMay went on to state, however, that Mwng is "still [...] a damned enjoyable listen", and said that the record "couples cultural pride with unforgettable melodies in a way few bands have ever attempted". On the album's re-release in 2005, Pitchfork writer Marc Hogan stated that Mwng's "sinuous pop melodies and organic arrangements" make for an "exciting discovery", despite the lack of the band's "usual studio wizardry". Q said that, while tracks such as "Ymaelodi Â'r Ymylon" and "Y Gwyneb Iau" are "strangely charming, chiming pop music with a twist", Mwng is hampered by its "bare-boned production". Mojo, however, described the album as a "sensuous sonic journey" with an "organic, woody, mystical atmosphere" that compares favourably with the overly-produced sounds of the band's previous records. The magazine went on to suggest the album's only flaw is that it "manages to lose its way for a while [...] in the middle", thanks to the poor sequencing of its tracks.Nude as the News stated that, although the record is "more reserved" than the band's previous releases, it "conjures up images of the Welsh winter in which the songs were recorded" and fits in with the group's "unique vision." Melody Maker described the album as a "sad, beautiful record", but expressed concern that the Super Furry Animals had moved away from the pop of Guerilla and called on them to deliver another release in the vein of the band's 1996 single "The Man Don't Give a Fuck". Nevertheless, Mwng was ranked number 24 in the magazine's "Albums of the year 2000" feature. Website SonicNet described the record as a slightly retro album that sees the Super Furry Animals "refashion the past into the present". Art Sperl, writing for Rock's Backpages in December 2000, stated that although the album "[gathers] from the past", the band's influences are channelled "into a truly organic maverick pop".  NME described Mwng as an antidote to the "preservative pumped-junk" music that they felt was prevalent at the time of the album's release, and placed it at number nine in their album of the year list for 2000, calling it the group's best record. The magazine also described the album as the most accessible Super Furry Animals release, despite its Welsh-language lyrics. Rhys has stated that he considers Mwng'' to be a "really pure record".

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

Band
Gruff Rhys – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, drums on "Nythod Cacwn"
Huw Bunford – lead guitar, backing vocals
Guto Pryce – bass guitar
Cian Ciaran – keyboards, harmonium, backing vocals
Dafydd Ieuan – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians
Gary Alesbrook – trumpet
Matt Sibley – saxophone
Can Pierce – claps
Llyr Pierce – claps
Gorwel Owen – Stylophone

Recording personnel
Super Furry Animals – production, mixing, mastering 
Gorwel Owen – production, engineering, mixing (Ofn Studios)
Greg Haver – engineering (Famous Studios)
Michael Brennan Jnr. – engineering (Real World Studios)
Stuart Hawkes – mastering (Metropolis)

Artwork
Pete Fowler – illustration
John Mark James – design

Album chart position

References

External links

Mwng at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)

 
Mwng.co.uk explanation of lyrics in English on partially working official album site

2000 albums
Super Furry Animals albums
Welsh-language albums
Albums produced by Gorwel Owen
Lo-fi music albums
Albums with cover art by Pete Fowler Placid Casual is the Cardiff based record label set up in 1998 by Super Furry Animals. It is named after a track on their album Radiator.

According to the label's website "Placid Casual retains an amateur status and an a&r policy of blatant nepotism. We exist to expose to the world (when we can be bothered), songs that come our way that may be ignored otherwise." The Independent has described the label as an "enterprise run by passion not for profit".

Super Furry Animals released their Welsh language album Mwng on the label before leaving to sign with Epic Records.

Gruff Rhys also released his debut solo album, Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, on the label in 2005.

See also
 List of record labels

References

External links
 Placid Casual website

Super Furry Animals
Welsh record labels
Record labels established in 1998
Alternative rock record labels
Companies based in Cardiff
Economy of Cardiff