Rings around the World
Encyclopedia
Rings Around the World is the fifth studio album and the major label debut by Super Furry Animals
. Released on 23 July 2001 by Epic Records
in the United Kingdom, it was the first album by any artist to be simultaneously released on both audio CD
and DVD
. The record reached number 3 in the UK Albums Chart
and includes the singles "Juxtapozed with U
", "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
" and "It's Not the End of the World?
".
The album, which singer Gruff Rhys
describes as "a very ambitious project", was recorded between April and September 2000 at Monnow Valley Studio
s in Rockfield, Monmouthshire
, Wales and Bearsville Studios
, New York with the band acting as co-producers
alongside Chris Shaw. The majority of the songs on Rings Around the World were written by Rhys on guitar
and piano
with keyboardist
Cian Ciaran
contributing "[A] Touch Sensitive" and "Miniature" as well as collaborating with other members of the band on "Run! Christian, Run!", "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street" and "No Sympathy". Ex-Beatle
Paul McCartney
and former Velvet Underground
member John Cale
make cameo appearance
s on the album.
Musically Rings Around the World is an eclectic record incorporating pop
, prog
, punk
, jungle
, electronica
, techno
and death metal
. Rhys has offered several explanations of the album's lyrical content, claiming the record is "about Earth, and the pollution of space" and also that it addresses the human condition. Critics meanwhile have referred to the record as "thematically eccentric" and lacking an "overarching theme". Critical reception was generally positive with the album being nominated for 2001's Mercury Music Prize and placing at number one in Mojo
's "best albums of 2001" feature. Some reviews claimed it to be the best record of the band's career although the NME
described it as the band's worst album.
following the demise, in 1999, of their previous label
Creation
and the success of 2000's Mwng
, which was issued on the band's own label, Placid Casual
. Singer Gruff Rhys
has stated that the band aimed to make a "laid back and sort of wiped clean" record with Rings.... In a 2008 interview with Uncut
Rhys described the album as "a very ambitious project" stating that "We were trying to make a blockbuster album that was going to be like The Eagles ... We were trying to make utopian pop music that had pretensions of being progressive and exciting." Rings... was originally going to be called Text Messaging is Destroying the Pub Quiz as We Know It and released as a double album
containing 75–90 minutes of material with Rhys stating that he was "into the excess of it, that was the whole point". The group eventually decided against the idea but, drawn by the technical capabilities of the format and the desire to do something that had never been done before, produced a DVD
version of Rings..., making it the first album to be simultaneously released on CD and DVD. The DVD features a surround sound
mix
alongside music videos and remix
es and was made possible only by the financial backing of Epic.
Recording sessions began in April 2000 at Monnow Valley Studio
s in Rockfield, Monmouthshire
, Wales with co-producer
Chris Shaw and engineer
Eric Tew. The band moved to Bearsville Studios
, New York before returning to Monnow Valley some months later where recording was completed in September 2000. Bearsville was chosen because of its drum and live rooms, which the band felt were desirable as they were using more microphone
s to capture audio for the surround sound mix included on the DVD version of the album than they would normally when simply recording in stereo
. The group were mindful of the capabilities of surround sound and recorded sub-bass
on tracks such as "[A] Touch Sensitive" and "Juxtapozed with U
", which could only be heard through a low-frequency subwoofer
channel in the surround mix. The band recorded onto two-inch analogue tape
until they had a take
they were happy with, then transferred the results to Pro Tools
where individual songs were edited and overdubs
were added. According to Keyboardist
Cian Ciaran
this meant the band could "edit some beats very precisely ... like the gated
kicks at the end of the track "Sidewalk Serfer Girl"". Once they were happy with a song the group then transferred it back to tape before mixing took place as they liked the "tape sound".
Rhys wrote many of the tracks on the album on acoustic guitar
and piano
and brought them to the band either as fully formed songs or as ideas which the group would then jam
out. Ciaran wrote the songs "[A] Touch Sensitive" and "Miniature" and the intro
and outro of "Run! Christian, Run!". A jam between Cian and guitar
ist Huw Bunford
resulted in Rings Around the World's opening track "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street". The pair looped
a sample
of drummer
Dafydd Ieuan
playing the bass drum
and snare
and recorded themselves playing along on piano and guitar into a sampler
. They then "chopped the playing up a bit" and filtered
the drums and guitar to "give them more movement". Finally Rhys wrote lyrics and a string arrangement
was added by Sean O'Hagan
. Cian also contributed the second part of the song "No Sympathy", sampling the "mellow acoustic guitars" from the first half to create a techno
"climactic ending".
Sessions for Rings Around the World saw the band concentrating on arrangements, particularly their vocal harmonies
. On previous albums individual members of the group would "keep singing until [they] came up with harmonies that worked" but, encouraged by co-producer Chris Shaw, for Rings... the band took the time to work out harmonies in advance. The group used piano, keyboards or "whatever was available" to give themselves a starting note
before the five band members and staff at the recording studio began trying ideas out. Occasionally Auto-Tune
was used to "re-pitch existing lines to see if different versions of them would counterpoint
correctly", with the band then learning the new vocal lines and recording them as they did not want to use Auto-Tune on the finished album.
Paul McCartney
is credited as providing "celery and carrot" on the track "Receptacle for the Respectable". McCartney performed a similar role over thirty years earlier, chewing celery to form the percussion track of The Beach Boys
song "Vegetables
" from the album Smiley Smile
. The Super Furry Animals had met the ex-Beatle
at the NME Awards
when a drunk Ciaran persuaded him to let them remix some Beatles material, resulting in 2000's Liverpool Sound Collage
album. The band asked him to "return the favour" and appear on Rings Around the World, recording his part over the phone. Huw Bunford has said of McCartney's contribution: "He took it with good nature. You kind of see how far you can go sometimes ... we figured we already had a bass
and singers so we really didn't need any more musicians. So we figured he could crunch vegetables". Former Velvet Underground
member John Cale
, a "sort of childhood hero" of Rhys's, also makes an appearance on the album, playing piano on the song "Presidential Suite". The Super Furry Animals had met Cale in Cardiff
when they acted as his backing band for a song which appeared on the film Beautiful Mistake. They originally asked him to arrange strings
for "Presidential Suite" but Cale turned them down reasoning that he would simply do what the band do: hum a melody to someone who could write the music down for him
.
, and its "exact opposite", 2000's Mwng
. The band combined the technology they used for the former with the simplicity of the latter, which featured "just the band playing in the studio". Singer Gruff Rhys
has described the album as the band's "cosmic rock record".
The album is a "kaleidoscopic blend of pop
, prog
, punk
, psych
, and electronica
". Drowned in Sound
describes it as similar to Guerrilla with "Beach Boys
-esque psychedelic pop ... put to techno
undertones" while the NME
has called Rings Around the World an "expensive, glossy production ... lush and widescreen" and suggested that it "reaches for an effect so modern that at times it sounds like it could've been made in the '80s". The first single, "Juxtapozed with U
", is reminiscent of both the Philadelphia soul
music of the 1970s, and the "plastic
" approximation of that music on David Bowie
's 1975 album Young Americans
, while "No Sympathy" has been described as the "missing link between Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young-scatted harmonies
, jungle
hi-hat
s and berserk sampler
techno". The Dallas Observer
compared "It's Not the End of the World?
" to tunes such as The Kinks
' "Waterloo Sunset
", Dennis Wilson
's "Forever
" and Jack Bruce
's "Theme for an Imaginary Western" while The Big Issue
called "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" "surf
-punk electro pop". Elsewhere on the album the eclectic range of sounds continues from the trip hop
of "[A] Touch Sensitive" to the Status Quo-esque "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
" and the "electro country rock
" of "Run! Christian, Run!".
The track "Receptacle For the Respectable" reflects the eclecticism of the album as it "undergoes a complete personality change" over the course of its four-minute thirty-two-second duration, veering from prog rock to death metal
. The song begins as an acoustic guitar
-driven pop song and then shifts into a slower bridge section
which leads to an even slower coda which has been compared to the music of Burt Bacharach
and The Beach Boys' Smiley Smile
album and features Paul McCartney
chewing carrot
s and celery
to the beat. The track ends with a "pantomime death metal" section with Rhys's "distorted, bellowed vocals" screaming the title phrase. According to Cian Ciaran
, the song initially comprised just the first two parts when recorded at Monnow Valley Studio
s but, by the time the group relocated to Bearsville Studios
, Rhys had written and added the third section. While there the band added the fourth section by "pissing about with Pro Tools
", looping the bass
from the end of the third section "by accident" to create the musical backing. A fifth, hip hop
, section was discussed but the band decided against it, reasoning that "if you're going to do a fifth bit, you'd probably do a sixth, and before you know where you are, you're doing a concept album made up of nothing but bits!". According to the band, the track is the only time on the album where they tried to achieve comedy and "completely went with [their] silly streak".
has given several explanations of the lyrical themes present on the album. He has claimed that the record is "about Earth, and the pollution of space: it's about debris" and that it was originally going to be a "state of the planet concept album
" before the band decided against it. Rhys has also stated that the album is about the human condition, citing tracks such as "Fragile Happiness" and "Receptacle For The Respectable" as examples. Critics have referred to the album as "thematically eccentric" and lacking an "overarching theme" with The Independent
claiming it leaps "from religious fundamentalists to modern telecommunications and the old Hollywood star system with disorienting glee".
In contrast with 1999's Guerrilla
, which featured songs with "self-consciously disposable, happy" lyrics, the tracks on Rings Around the World are, according to Rhys, "broodier and more revealing". The track "No Sympathy" was originally written for a film entitled Plop, which followed three unsympathetic characters who lived for a week as though it were their last. Rhys has described the song as quite a departure for him as a lyric writer and claimed that out of context it could appear bleak and scary. "Presidential Suite", about former United States
and Russian
presidents Bill Clinton
and Boris Yeltsin
, is a "a reflective look back at the decadent nineties" during the Lewinsky scandal
and asks if "we need to know if he really came inside her mouth?". "Juxtapozed with U
" addresses social injustice and is about "house prices going up, and people being left behind by the super rich" and has been described by Rhys as "grotesque in its upness and lift". "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" was initially written about Patti White Bull, a girl who fell into a coma
for 15 years, awaking in 1999, but became an amalgamation of the lyrics of several different songs, including one section in which Rhys describes his disdain for extreme sport
s. "Receptacle for the Respectable" is about simultaneously being in awe of, and being hurt by, a "girl around town" while "It's Not the End of the World?
" is "a romantic song about growing old". "Run! Christian, Run!" was influenced by guitar
ist Huw Bunford
's interest in "doomsday cult
websites". Bunford printed out several essays from these websites and gave them to Rhys who used them as inspiration for his lyrics along with his own recollections of watching Christian television shows
during the band's American tours. The album's title track, "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
", is based on an idea put forward by Rhy's girlfriend's father and is about "all the rings of communication around the world. All the rings of pollution, and all the radioactivity that goes around". "Shoot Doris Day" refers to shooting American singer and actress Doris Day
with film
—"a very cinematic reference" for a song which Rhys claims is "over-the-top lyrically". The track is about "how people change" and also references Labour Party
'spin doctor
' Peter Mandelson
, in the guise of 'Victor Panache'.
of Rings Around the World contains the 13 songs featured on the CD version of the album along with 7 bonus tracks. These 20 songs are presented in surround sound
and are accompanied by "low budget" music video
s. The release also includes 16 remix
es and interactive menus featuring ambient music created by the band. According to
Keyboard player Cian Ciaran
the group were worried that "doing a DVD might seem elitist, because only certain people have DVD players and systems, even now" but reasoned that "most people will have DVD playback systems at home within five years. Even if it doesn't take off, the stereo version of the album will always be there". The DVD release received a '15' certificate
from the British Board of Film Classification
, meaning that no-one under the age of 15 could buy or rent it in the United Kingdom.
Ciaran has stated that the Super Furry Animals were "very hands-on" during the making of the DVD. Initially the band were mainly concerned with the sound quality, describing the presentation of the album's tracks in surround sound as "radical, like the change from mono
to stereo
". The group directed the surround sound mix
themselves, instructing audio engineers
to move instruments and vocal parts between speakers: "We want that one bit of sound to travel from the centre, over our heads and finish on my right shoulder ... Let's have the main vocal in the middle, then each harmony in its own speaker." They soon became equally as interested in the remixes, visuals and interactive elements however. Ciaran has described this process as "not always a nice position to be in" when, for example, they had to reject music videos they weren't happy with. The band asked different directors to make music videos for each song having tried unsuccessfully to make a film to accompany their 1999 album Guerrilla
themselves. According to singer Gruff Rhys
the band "tended to go for illustrators who could [make videos] cheaply using Flash
... and artists who like to work". The directors were asked to make the visuals as "extreme as possible" in an effort to avoid making videos that looked like just "another pop promo ... like MTV
" and, according to Ciaran, had to "work even harder at creating something interesting" due to the limited budget available. Many of those who made videos for the DVD release had no previous experience of making films resulting in a "really fresh ... kind of scruffy" end product. According to Rhys the band made separate music videos for Rings Around the Worlds three singles as they saw the videos included on the DVD release of the album as "pure art" whereas they needed promotional videos that were more like adverts for the songs. Rhys has stated that the Super Furry Animals felt that fans placed too much emphasis on the videos on Rings Around the World rather than concentrating on the music, as a result of which the band used "really bland images" on the DVD release of their next album Phantom Power
.
Although he enjoyed having so much control over the project Ciaran has claimed that it "sometimes felt like it would never end" and he was glad to get back to "the music side of things" upon the DVD's completion. Singer Gruff Rhys
has stated that he found being involved with all aspects of the DVD release "really exciting" and particularly enjoyed working with "so many people".
, vinyl
, MiniDisc
and DVD
on 23 July 2001 in the United Kingdom on Sony
's Epic
imprint and was the world's first simultaneous album/DVD release. The record reached number 3 in the UK Albums Chart
. In America Rings Around the World was released on 19 March 2002 by XL Recordings
with a bonus CD featuring seven tracks which appear on the DVD version of the album. Rings Around the World was released on 25 September 2001 in Japan with two additional tracks, "Tradewinds" and "Happiness Is a Worn Pun", added after "Fragile Happiness" at the end of the album. "Juxtapozed with U
" was released as the first single from the album, reaching number 14 in the UK Singles Chart
, followed by "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
" in October 2001 which peaked at number 28. The third and final single to be taken from the album, "It's Not the End of the World?
", was released in January 2002 and reached number 30 in the UK Singles Chart. The album has been certified
gold in the United Kingdom, denoting sales of more than 100,000 copies.
, denoting "universal acclaim". The album was nominated for 2001's Mercury Music Prize and was voted the best album of 2001 by Mojo
. PopMatters
called the record "near-perfect" and claimed that "we all should be thankful there are bands out there willing to throw everything they've got into a record just to see what happens" while Drowned in Sound
stated that the it is "SFA's best album to date", calling it essential and encouraging readers to "buy! buy! buy!". Uncut
agreed also calling it the band's best album, stating that it is "accessible and adventurous". The Independent
claimed that Rings Around the World "represents a quantum jump beyond the Furries' previous work" and described it as "one of the year's most engrossing – and, crucially, most entertaining – albums". Tiny Mix Tapes
called Rings Around the World "one of the, if not the, best releases of 2002" describing it as a "mixture of sugar pop of yesteryear and modern Britpop
" resulting in a "near perfect" album. Pitchfork Media
stated that the album's combination of "paisley, sun-heated, and layered" music with Gruff Rhys
's "satirical and heartfelt lyrics" makes it "timeless" and the band's best record. Stylus
stated that the Super Furry Animals are "Gleefully working outside of a scene or prototype ... dabbling in a world of musical influences and Western hegemony, playing the merry prankster to Radiohead
's gloom – and all with a smile, and in three-part harmony" on the album. Entertainment Weekly
claimed that "At its best ... the album recalls a lost Brian Wilson
-style psychedelic marvel" but went on to state that it is "at times marred by forced eccentricity", citing the "heavy metal
gorgon voice booming through "Receptacle for the Respectable"" and the "awful lite-rock homage" "Juxtapozed with U
" as examples. Writing for Allmusic Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the record, claiming it "shines brightly" compared to the "dead world of mainstream and indie rock in 2001" but expressed disappointment that it is "the first SFA album not to progress from its predecessor". Q
stated that, although songs such as "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
", "Shoot Doris Day" and "Presidential Suite" are "excellent", the album features "nothing to change anyone's world" and the NME
claimed that, despite containing some great songs, it is the band's worst album. The album was included in the 2004 edition of the Rolling Stone Album Guide
and given a rare 5 star accolade, ranking it as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Accolades
* denotes an unordered list
All songs by Super Furry Animals
except "[A] Touch Sensitive" which contains a sample of "Ann" by Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton
, Scott Asheton
and Iggy Pop
.
Bonus tracks on Japanese CD release
Bonus disc included with American CD release
All songs by Super Furry Animals.
DVD
All songs by Super Furry Animals except "[A] Touch Sensitive" which contains a sample of "Ann" by Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton and Iggy Pop.
Band
Additional musicians
Music video directors (DVD)
Remixers (DVD)
Recording personnel
DVD production
Artwork
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
. Released on 23 July 2001 by Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
in the United Kingdom, it was the first album by any artist to be simultaneously released on both audio CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. The record reached number 3 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
and includes the singles "Juxtapozed with U
Juxtapozed with U
"Juxtapozed with U" is 3 minutes 8 seconds long and is in the key of A major. The track begins with a drum fill, featuring flanging, before a harp, strings, acoustic guitar and bass join at 2 seconds. An electric guitar joins at 13 seconds playing a melody line...
", "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
(Drawing) Rings Around the World
" Rings Around the World" is a song by Super Furry Animals and was the second single taken from the band's fifth album, Rings Around the World. The track reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart on release in October 2001. Singer Gruff Rhys has described the song as being about "rings of...
" and "It's Not the End of the World?
It's Not the End of the World?
"It's Not the End of the World?" is a song by Welsh band Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be released from the Rings Around the World album and reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in January 2002...
".
The album, which singer Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
describes as "a very ambitious project", was recorded between April and September 2000 at Monnow Valley Studio
Monnow Valley Studio
Monnow Valley Studio is a recording studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales.-History:In the 1970s, Monnow Valley Studio was the rehearsal facility of the famous Rockfield Studios. It became an independent studio in the 1980s and has been home to many top bands including Oasis, Stereophonics, and...
s in Rockfield, Monmouthshire
Rockfield, Monmouthshire
Rockfield is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom.- Location :Rockfield is located two miles north west of Monmouth on the B4233 road.- History & Amenities :...
, Wales and Bearsville Studios
Bearsville Studios
Bearsville Studios was a recording studio at Bearsville, New York just west of Woodstock, New York.The studio was opened in 1969 by Albert Grossman, manager of Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin and Todd Rundgren....
, New York with the band acting as co-producers
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
alongside Chris Shaw. The majority of the songs on Rings Around the World were written by Rhys on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
with keyboardist
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals.Ciaran is the brother of Dafydd Ieuan . He plays keyboards, electronics and occasional guitar, drums, steel drum and vocals...
contributing "[A] Touch Sensitive" and "Miniature" as well as collaborating with other members of the band on "Run! Christian, Run!", "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street" and "No Sympathy". Ex-Beatle
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and former Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
member John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
make cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s on the album.
Musically Rings Around the World is an eclectic record incorporating pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, prog
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, jungle
Oldschool jungle
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that incorporates influences from genres including breakbeat hardcore, and reggae/dub/dancehall. There is debate as to whether jungle is a separate genre from drum and bass as many use the terms interchangeably...
, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
and death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
. Rhys has offered several explanations of the album's lyrical content, claiming the record is "about Earth, and the pollution of space" and also that it addresses the human condition. Critics meanwhile have referred to the record as "thematically eccentric" and lacking an "overarching theme". Critical reception was generally positive with the album being nominated for 2001's Mercury Music Prize and placing at number one in Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
's "best albums of 2001" feature. Some reviews claimed it to be the best record of the band's career although the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
described it as the band's worst album.
Origins and recording
Rings Around the World was the Super Furry Animals' first album for Epic RecordsEpic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
following the demise, in 1999, of their previous label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Creation
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
and the success of 2000's Mwng
Mwng
Mwng 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...
, which was issued on the band's own label, Placid Casual
Placid Casual
Placid Casual is the Cardiff based record label set up in 1998 by Super Furry Animals.According to the label's website "Placid Casual retains an amateur status and an a&r policy of blatant nepotism...
. Singer Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
has stated that the band aimed to make a "laid back and sort of wiped clean" record with Rings.... In a 2008 interview with Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
Rhys described the album as "a very ambitious project" stating that "We were trying to make a blockbuster album that was going to be like The Eagles ... We were trying to make utopian pop music that had pretensions of being progressive and exciting." Rings... was originally going to be called Text Messaging is Destroying the Pub Quiz as We Know It and released as a double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
containing 75–90 minutes of material with Rhys stating that he was "into the excess of it, that was the whole point". The group eventually decided against the idea but, drawn by the technical capabilities of the format and the desire to do something that had never been done before, produced a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
version of Rings..., making it the first album to be simultaneously released on CD and DVD. The DVD features a surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
mix
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
alongside music videos and remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es and was made possible only by the financial backing of Epic.
Recording sessions began in April 2000 at Monnow Valley Studio
Monnow Valley Studio
Monnow Valley Studio is a recording studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales.-History:In the 1970s, Monnow Valley Studio was the rehearsal facility of the famous Rockfield Studios. It became an independent studio in the 1980s and has been home to many top bands including Oasis, Stereophonics, and...
s in Rockfield, Monmouthshire
Rockfield, Monmouthshire
Rockfield is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom.- Location :Rockfield is located two miles north west of Monmouth on the B4233 road.- History & Amenities :...
, Wales with co-producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Chris Shaw and engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Eric Tew. The band moved to Bearsville Studios
Bearsville Studios
Bearsville Studios was a recording studio at Bearsville, New York just west of Woodstock, New York.The studio was opened in 1969 by Albert Grossman, manager of Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin and Todd Rundgren....
, New York before returning to Monnow Valley some months later where recording was completed in September 2000. Bearsville was chosen because of its drum and live rooms, which the band felt were desirable as they were using more microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
s to capture audio for the surround sound mix included on the DVD version of the album than they would normally when simply recording in stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
. The group were mindful of the capabilities of surround sound and recorded sub-bass
Sub-bass
Sub-bass is a term used to describe audible sounds below 90 Hz and extending downward to include the lowest frequency humans can hear, typically 20 Hz. Sound systems often feature one or more subwoofer loudspeakers that are dedicated solely to amplifying sounds in the sub-bass range...
on tracks such as "[A] Touch Sensitive" and "Juxtapozed with U
Juxtapozed with U
"Juxtapozed with U" is 3 minutes 8 seconds long and is in the key of A major. The track begins with a drum fill, featuring flanging, before a harp, strings, acoustic guitar and bass join at 2 seconds. An electric guitar joins at 13 seconds playing a melody line...
", which could only be heard through a low-frequency subwoofer
Subwoofer
A subwoofer is a woofer, or a complete loudspeaker, which is dedicated to the reproduction of low-pitched audio frequencies known as the "bass". The typical frequency range for a subwoofer is about 20–200 Hz for consumer products, below 100 Hz for professional live sound, and below...
channel in the surround mix. The band recorded onto two-inch analogue tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
until they had a take
Take
A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production.-Film:In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup"...
they were happy with, then transferred the results to Pro Tools
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
where individual songs were edited and overdubs
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
were added. According to Keyboardist
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals.Ciaran is the brother of Dafydd Ieuan . He plays keyboards, electronics and occasional guitar, drums, steel drum and vocals...
this meant the band could "edit some beats very precisely ... like the gated
Noise gate
A Noise Gate or gate is an electronic device or software that is used to control the volume of an audio signal. In its most simple form, a noise gate allows a signal to pass through only when it is above a set threshold: the gate is 'open'. If the signal falls below the threshold no signal is...
kicks at the end of the track "Sidewalk Serfer Girl"". Once they were happy with a song the group then transferred it back to tape before mixing took place as they liked the "tape sound".
Rhys wrote many of the tracks on the album on acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and brought them to the band either as fully formed songs or as ideas which the group would then jam
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
out. Ciaran wrote the songs "[A] Touch Sensitive" and "Miniature" and the intro
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
and outro of "Run! Christian, Run!". A jam between Cian and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Huw Bunford
Huw Bunford
Huw "Bunf" Bunford is the guitarist in the rock band, Super Furry Animals.-Biography:...
resulted in Rings Around the World's opening track "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street". The pair looped
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
a sample
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
of drummer
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Dafydd Ieuan
Dafydd Ieuan
Dafydd Ieuan is the drummer with the band, Super Furry Animals and The Peth. He currently lives in Cardiff with his wife Debbie, and their two children Cai and Lleucu....
playing the bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
and snare
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
and recorded themselves playing along on piano and guitar into a sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
. They then "chopped the playing up a bit" and filtered
Filter (signal processing)
In signal processing, a filter is a device or process that removes from a signal some unwanted component or feature. Filtering is a class of signal processing, the defining feature of filters being the complete or partial suppression of some aspect of the signal...
the drums and guitar to "give them more movement". Finally Rhys wrote lyrics and a string arrangement
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
was added by Sean O'Hagan
Sean O'Hagan
Sean O'Hagan is a founding member of Irish indie band Microdisney. In the 1990s he formed The High Llamas and released a number of highly acclaimed albums showing influences as diverse as The Beach Boys, Ennio Morricone, Antonio Carlos Jobim and avant-garde electronica...
. Cian also contributed the second part of the song "No Sympathy", sampling the "mellow acoustic guitars" from the first half to create a techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
"climactic ending".
Sessions for Rings Around the World saw the band concentrating on arrangements, particularly their vocal harmonies
Vocal harmony
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are sung at the same time as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical choral music and opera and in the popular styles from...
. On previous albums individual members of the group would "keep singing until [they] came up with harmonies that worked" but, encouraged by co-producer Chris Shaw, for Rings... the band took the time to work out harmonies in advance. The group used piano, keyboards or "whatever was available" to give themselves a starting note
Note
In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself....
before the five band members and staff at the recording studio began trying ideas out. Occasionally Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
was used to "re-pitch existing lines to see if different versions of them would counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
correctly", with the band then learning the new vocal lines and recording them as they did not want to use Auto-Tune on the finished album.
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
is credited as providing "celery and carrot" on the track "Receptacle for the Respectable". McCartney performed a similar role over thirty years earlier, chewing celery to form the percussion track of The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
song "Vegetables
Vegetables (song)
"Vegetables" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1967 album Smiley Smile with Al Jardine and Brian Wilson on lead vocals.- Information :...
" from the album Smiley Smile
Smiley Smile
Smiley Smile is the twelfth studio album by The Beach Boys, issued in 1967. Released in the place of the much-touted Smile, Smiley Smile is widely considered to be under-produced, and it was received with indifference and confusion upon its unveiling...
. The Super Furry Animals had met the ex-Beatle
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
at the NME Awards
NME Awards
The NME Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine, NME .The first awards show was held in 1953 as the NME Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of the magazine....
when a drunk Ciaran persuaded him to let them remix some Beatles material, resulting in 2000's Liverpool Sound Collage
Liverpool Sound Collage
Liverpool Sound Collage is an ambient electronic album by Paul McCartney, which is also credited to The Beatles, Super Furry Animals, and Youth. McCartney had previously released two projects with Youth under the moniker The Fireman...
album. The band asked him to "return the favour" and appear on Rings Around the World, recording his part over the phone. Huw Bunford has said of McCartney's contribution: "He took it with good nature. You kind of see how far you can go sometimes ... we figured we already had a bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and singers so we really didn't need any more musicians. So we figured he could crunch vegetables". Former Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
member John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
, a "sort of childhood hero" of Rhys's, also makes an appearance on the album, playing piano on the song "Presidential Suite". The Super Furry Animals had met Cale in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
when they acted as his backing band for a song which appeared on the film Beautiful Mistake. They originally asked him to arrange strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
for "Presidential Suite" but Cale turned them down reasoning that he would simply do what the band do: hum a melody to someone who could write the music down for him
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
.
Musical style
Rings Around the World is "very cinematic" and falls somewhere between the Super Furry Animals' 1999 album, the "instantaneous, easy to grasp, and almost disposable" GuerrillaGuerrilla (album)
Guerrilla is the third studio album by by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced by the band themselves, as regular...
, and its "exact opposite", 2000's Mwng
Mwng
Mwng 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 band combined the technology they used for the former with the simplicity of the latter, which featured "just the band playing in the studio". Singer Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
has described the album as the band's "cosmic rock record".
The album is a "kaleidoscopic blend of pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, prog
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, psych
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
, and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
". Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
describes it as similar to Guerrilla with "Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
-esque psychedelic pop ... put to techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
undertones" while the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
has called Rings Around the World an "expensive, glossy production ... lush and widescreen" and suggested that it "reaches for an effect so modern that at times it sounds like it could've been made in the '80s". The first single, "Juxtapozed with U
Juxtapozed with U
"Juxtapozed with U" is 3 minutes 8 seconds long and is in the key of A major. The track begins with a drum fill, featuring flanging, before a harp, strings, acoustic guitar and bass join at 2 seconds. An electric guitar joins at 13 seconds playing a melody line...
", is reminiscent of both the Philadelphia soul
Philadelphia soul
Philadelphia soul, sometimes called the Philadelphia Sound or Sweet Philly, is a style of soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featuring sweeping strings and piercing horns. The subtle sound of a glockenspiel can often be heard in the background of...
music of the 1970s, and the "plastic
Plastic soul
Plastic soul is a term coined by an unknown black musician in the 1960s, describing Mick Jagger as a white musician singing soul music.Paul McCartney heard the comment and later said that the name of the The Beatles album Rubber Soul was inspired by the term "plastic soul"...
" approximation of that music on David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's 1975 album Young Americans
Young Americans (album)
Young Americans, released in 1975, shows off David Bowie’s 1970’s shift to his “obsession” with soul music . For this album, Bowie let go of the influences he had drawn from in the past, replacing them with sounds from “local dance halls”, which, at the time, were blaring with “…lush strings,...
, while "No Sympathy" has been described as the "missing link between Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young-scatted harmonies
Vocal harmony
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are sung at the same time as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical choral music and opera and in the popular styles from...
, jungle
Oldschool jungle
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that incorporates influences from genres including breakbeat hardcore, and reggae/dub/dancehall. There is debate as to whether jungle is a separate genre from drum and bass as many use the terms interchangeably...
hi-hat
Hi-hat
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
s and berserk sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
techno". The Dallas Observer
Dallas Observer
The Dallas Observer is a free alternative weekly newspaper distributed around the Dallas, Texas . At its inception, it was conceived as a weekly local arts and cinema review publication, with the credo "Advocate for Excellence in the Arts" on the cover. For a time during the early years, the paper...
compared "It's Not the End of the World?
It's Not the End of the World?
"It's Not the End of the World?" is a song by Welsh band Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be released from the Rings Around the World album and reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in January 2002...
" to tunes such as The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
' "Waterloo Sunset
Waterloo Sunset
Waterloo Sunset is a song by British rock band The Kinks. It was released as a single in 1967, and featured on their album Something Else by The Kinks...
", Dennis Wilson
Dennis Wilson
Dennis Carl Wilson was an American rock and roll musician best known as a founding member and the drummer of The Beach Boys. He was a member of the group from its formation until his death in 1983...
's "Forever
Forever (Beach Boys song)
"Forever" is a song written by Dennis Wilson and his close friend Gregg Jakobson. It was released in 1970 as the ninth track on The Beach Boys' Sunflower album and features Dennis on lead vocals. The song, along with the rest of the album was produced by The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson declared,...
" and Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
's "Theme for an Imaginary Western" while The Big Issue
The Big Issue
The Big Issue is a street newspaper published in eight countries; it is written by professional journalists and sold by homeless individuals. It was founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991...
called "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" "surf
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
-punk electro pop". Elsewhere on the album the eclectic range of sounds continues from the trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
of "[A] Touch Sensitive" to the Status Quo-esque "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
(Drawing) Rings Around the World
" Rings Around the World" is a song by Super Furry Animals and was the second single taken from the band's fifth album, Rings Around the World. The track reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart on release in October 2001. Singer Gruff Rhys has described the song as being about "rings of...
" and the "electro country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
" of "Run! Christian, Run!".
The track "Receptacle For the Respectable" reflects the eclecticism of the album as it "undergoes a complete personality change" over the course of its four-minute thirty-two-second duration, veering from prog rock to death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
. The song begins as an acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
-driven pop song and then shifts into a slower bridge section
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
which leads to an even slower coda which has been compared to the music of Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and The Beach Boys' Smiley Smile
Smiley Smile
Smiley Smile is the twelfth studio album by The Beach Boys, issued in 1967. Released in the place of the much-touted Smile, Smiley Smile is widely considered to be under-produced, and it was received with indifference and confusion upon its unveiling...
album and features Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
chewing carrot
Carrot
The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...
s and celery
Celery
Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac , depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten: celery refers to the former and celeriac to the latter. Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall...
to the beat. The track ends with a "pantomime death metal" section with Rhys's "distorted, bellowed vocals" screaming the title phrase. According to Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals.Ciaran is the brother of Dafydd Ieuan . He plays keyboards, electronics and occasional guitar, drums, steel drum and vocals...
, the song initially comprised just the first two parts when recorded at Monnow Valley Studio
Monnow Valley Studio
Monnow Valley Studio is a recording studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales.-History:In the 1970s, Monnow Valley Studio was the rehearsal facility of the famous Rockfield Studios. It became an independent studio in the 1980s and has been home to many top bands including Oasis, Stereophonics, and...
s but, by the time the group relocated to Bearsville Studios
Bearsville Studios
Bearsville Studios was a recording studio at Bearsville, New York just west of Woodstock, New York.The studio was opened in 1969 by Albert Grossman, manager of Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin and Todd Rundgren....
, Rhys had written and added the third section. While there the band added the fourth section by "pissing about with Pro Tools
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
", looping the bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
from the end of the third section "by accident" to create the musical backing. A fifth, hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, section was discussed but the band decided against it, reasoning that "if you're going to do a fifth bit, you'd probably do a sixth, and before you know where you are, you're doing a concept album made up of nothing but bits!". According to the band, the track is the only time on the album where they tried to achieve comedy and "completely went with [their] silly streak".
Lyrical themes
Singer and chief lyric writer Gruff RhysGruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
has given several explanations of the lyrical themes present on the album. He has claimed that the record is "about Earth, and the pollution of space: it's about debris" and that it was originally going to be a "state of the planet concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
" before the band decided against it. Rhys has also stated that the album is about the human condition, citing tracks such as "Fragile Happiness" and "Receptacle For The Respectable" as examples. Critics have referred to the album as "thematically eccentric" and lacking an "overarching theme" with The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
claiming it leaps "from religious fundamentalists to modern telecommunications and the old Hollywood star system with disorienting glee".
In contrast with 1999's Guerrilla
Guerrilla (album)
Guerrilla is the third studio album by by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced by the band themselves, as regular...
, which featured songs with "self-consciously disposable, happy" lyrics, the tracks on Rings Around the World are, according to Rhys, "broodier and more revealing". The track "No Sympathy" was originally written for a film entitled Plop, which followed three unsympathetic characters who lived for a week as though it were their last. Rhys has described the song as quite a departure for him as a lyric writer and claimed that out of context it could appear bleak and scary. "Presidential Suite", about former United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and Russian
President of the Russian Federation
The President of the Russian Federation is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Russian Federation...
presidents Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, is a "a reflective look back at the decadent nineties" during the Lewinsky scandal
Lewinsky scandal
The Lewinsky scandal was a political sex scandal emerging in 1998 from a sexual relationship between United States President Bill Clinton and a 25-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of...
and asks if "we need to know if he really came inside her mouth?". "Juxtapozed with U
Juxtapozed with U
"Juxtapozed with U" is 3 minutes 8 seconds long and is in the key of A major. The track begins with a drum fill, featuring flanging, before a harp, strings, acoustic guitar and bass join at 2 seconds. An electric guitar joins at 13 seconds playing a melody line...
" addresses social injustice and is about "house prices going up, and people being left behind by the super rich" and has been described by Rhys as "grotesque in its upness and lift". "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" was initially written about Patti White Bull, a girl who fell into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
for 15 years, awaking in 1999, but became an amalgamation of the lyrics of several different songs, including one section in which Rhys describes his disdain for extreme sport
Extreme sport
An extreme sport is a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger...
s. "Receptacle for the Respectable" is about simultaneously being in awe of, and being hurt by, a "girl around town" while "It's Not the End of the World?
It's Not the End of the World?
"It's Not the End of the World?" is a song by Welsh band Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be released from the Rings Around the World album and reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in January 2002...
" is "a romantic song about growing old". "Run! Christian, Run!" was influenced by guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Huw Bunford
Huw Bunford
Huw "Bunf" Bunford is the guitarist in the rock band, Super Furry Animals.-Biography:...
's interest in "doomsday cult
Doomsday cult
Doomsday cult is an expression used to describe groups who believe in Apocalypticism and Millenarianism, and can refer both to groups that prophesy catastrophe and destruction, and to those that attempt to bring it about...
websites". Bunford printed out several essays from these websites and gave them to Rhys who used them as inspiration for his lyrics along with his own recollections of watching Christian television shows
Religious broadcasting
Religious broadcasting refers to broadcasting by religious organizations, usually with a religious message. Many religious organizations have long recorded content such as sermons and lectures, and have moved into distributing content on their Internet websites.While this article emphasises...
during the band's American tours. The album's title track, "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
(Drawing) Rings Around the World
" Rings Around the World" is a song by Super Furry Animals and was the second single taken from the band's fifth album, Rings Around the World. The track reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart on release in October 2001. Singer Gruff Rhys has described the song as being about "rings of...
", is based on an idea put forward by Rhy's girlfriend's father and is about "all the rings of communication around the world. All the rings of pollution, and all the radioactivity that goes around". "Shoot Doris Day" refers to shooting American singer and actress Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
with film
Film stock
Film stock is photographic film on which filmmaking of motion pictures are shot and reproduced. The equivalent in television production is video tape.-1889–1899:...
—"a very cinematic reference" for a song which Rhys claims is "over-the-top lyrically". The track is about "how people change" and also references Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
'spin doctor
Spin (public relations)
In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure...
' Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
, in the guise of 'Victor Panache'.
DVD
The DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of Rings Around the World contains the 13 songs featured on the CD version of the album along with 7 bonus tracks. These 20 songs are presented in surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
and are accompanied by "low budget" music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s. The release also includes 16 remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es and interactive menus featuring ambient music created by the band. According to
Keyboard player Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals.Ciaran is the brother of Dafydd Ieuan . He plays keyboards, electronics and occasional guitar, drums, steel drum and vocals...
the group were worried that "doing a DVD might seem elitist, because only certain people have DVD players and systems, even now" but reasoned that "most people will have DVD playback systems at home within five years. Even if it doesn't take off, the stereo version of the album will always be there". The DVD release received a '15' certificate
Motion picture rating system
A motion picture rating system is designated to classify films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content...
from the British Board of Film Classification
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
, meaning that no-one under the age of 15 could buy or rent it in the United Kingdom.
Ciaran has stated that the Super Furry Animals were "very hands-on" during the making of the DVD. Initially the band were mainly concerned with the sound quality, describing the presentation of the album's tracks in surround sound as "radical, like the change from mono
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
to stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
". The group directed the surround sound mix
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
themselves, instructing audio engineers
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
to move instruments and vocal parts between speakers: "We want that one bit of sound to travel from the centre, over our heads and finish on my right shoulder ... Let's have the main vocal in the middle, then each harmony in its own speaker." They soon became equally as interested in the remixes, visuals and interactive elements however. Ciaran has described this process as "not always a nice position to be in" when, for example, they had to reject music videos they weren't happy with. The band asked different directors to make music videos for each song having tried unsuccessfully to make a film to accompany their 1999 album Guerrilla
Guerrilla (album)
Guerrilla is the third studio album by by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced by the band themselves, as regular...
themselves. According to singer Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
the band "tended to go for illustrators who could [make videos] cheaply using Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
... and artists who like to work". The directors were asked to make the visuals as "extreme as possible" in an effort to avoid making videos that looked like just "another pop promo ... like MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
" and, according to Ciaran, had to "work even harder at creating something interesting" due to the limited budget available. Many of those who made videos for the DVD release had no previous experience of making films resulting in a "really fresh ... kind of scruffy" end product. According to Rhys the band made separate music videos for Rings Around the Worlds three singles as they saw the videos included on the DVD release of the album as "pure art" whereas they needed promotional videos that were more like adverts for the songs. Rhys has stated that the Super Furry Animals felt that fans placed too much emphasis on the videos on Rings Around the World rather than concentrating on the music, as a result of which the band used "really bland images" on the DVD release of their next album Phantom Power
Phantom Power (Super Furry Animals album)
Phantom Power is the sixth album by Welsh indie rock band Super Furry Animals, released on 21 July 2003 by Epic Records in the United Kingdom....
.
Although he enjoyed having so much control over the project Ciaran has claimed that it "sometimes felt like it would never end" and he was glad to get back to "the music side of things" upon the DVD's completion. Singer Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
has stated that he found being involved with all aspects of the DVD release "really exciting" and particularly enjoyed working with "so many people".
Release
Rings Around the World was released on CDCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, MiniDisc
MiniDisc
The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on 23 July 2001 in the United Kingdom on Sony
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was a recorded music company, which was a 50–50 joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann AG...
's Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
imprint and was the world's first simultaneous album/DVD release. The record reached number 3 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. In America Rings Around the World was released on 19 March 2002 by XL Recordings
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire...
with a bonus CD featuring seven tracks which appear on the DVD version of the album. Rings Around the World was released on 25 September 2001 in Japan with two additional tracks, "Tradewinds" and "Happiness Is a Worn Pun", added after "Fragile Happiness" at the end of the album. "Juxtapozed with U
Juxtapozed with U
"Juxtapozed with U" is 3 minutes 8 seconds long and is in the key of A major. The track begins with a drum fill, featuring flanging, before a harp, strings, acoustic guitar and bass join at 2 seconds. An electric guitar joins at 13 seconds playing a melody line...
" was released as the first single from the album, reaching number 14 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, followed by "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
(Drawing) Rings Around the World
" Rings Around the World" is a song by Super Furry Animals and was the second single taken from the band's fifth album, Rings Around the World. The track reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart on release in October 2001. Singer Gruff Rhys has described the song as being about "rings of...
" in October 2001 which peaked at number 28. The third and final single to be taken from the album, "It's Not the End of the World?
It's Not the End of the World?
"It's Not the End of the World?" is a song by Welsh band Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be released from the Rings Around the World album and reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in January 2002...
", was released in January 2002 and reached number 30 in the UK Singles Chart. The album has been certified
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
gold in the United Kingdom, denoting sales of more than 100,000 copies.
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 25 September 2001 | Epic Japan Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A... |
Compact disc Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
ESCA-8341 |
| United Kingdom | 23 July 2001 | Epic Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A... |
Compact disc | 5024132 |
| Minidisc MiniDisc The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record... |
5024130 | |||
| DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
201457 9 | |||
| Vinyl record Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove... |
5024139 | |||
| United States | 19 March 2002 | XL Recordings XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire... /Beggars Banquet US Beggars Banquet Records Beggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels... |
Compact disc | BXL 026 CD |
Critical reception
Rings Around the World received generally positive reviews from critics with a score of 86 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, denoting "universal acclaim". The album was nominated for 2001's Mercury Music Prize and was voted the best album of 2001 by Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
. PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
called the record "near-perfect" and claimed that "we all should be thankful there are bands out there willing to throw everything they've got into a record just to see what happens" while Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
stated that the it is "SFA's best album to date", calling it essential and encouraging readers to "buy! buy! buy!". Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
agreed also calling it the band's best album, stating that it is "accessible and adventurous". The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
claimed that Rings Around the World "represents a quantum jump beyond the Furries' previous work" and described it as "one of the year's most engrossing – and, crucially, most entertaining – albums". Tiny Mix Tapes
Tiny Mix Tapes
Tiny Mix Tapes is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, as well as its mix tapes generator.-History:Originally called Tiny Mixtapes Gone to Heaven and...
called Rings Around the World "one of the, if not the, best releases of 2002" describing it as a "mixture of sugar pop of yesteryear and modern Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
" resulting in a "near perfect" album. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
stated that the album's combination of "paisley, sun-heated, and layered" music with Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
's "satirical and heartfelt lyrics" makes it "timeless" and the band's best record. Stylus
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
stated that the Super Furry Animals are "Gleefully working outside of a scene or prototype ... dabbling in a world of musical influences and Western hegemony, playing the merry prankster to Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
's gloom – and all with a smile, and in three-part harmony" on the album. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
claimed that "At its best ... the album recalls a lost Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
-style psychedelic marvel" but went on to state that it is "at times marred by forced eccentricity", citing the "heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
gorgon voice booming through "Receptacle for the Respectable"" and the "awful lite-rock homage" "Juxtapozed with U
Juxtapozed with U
"Juxtapozed with U" is 3 minutes 8 seconds long and is in the key of A major. The track begins with a drum fill, featuring flanging, before a harp, strings, acoustic guitar and bass join at 2 seconds. An electric guitar joins at 13 seconds playing a melody line...
" as examples. Writing for Allmusic Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the record, claiming it "shines brightly" compared to the "dead world of mainstream and indie rock in 2001" but expressed disappointment that it is "the first SFA album not to progress from its predecessor". Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
stated that, although songs such as "(Drawing) Rings Around the World
(Drawing) Rings Around the World
" Rings Around the World" is a song by Super Furry Animals and was the second single taken from the band's fifth album, Rings Around the World. The track reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart on release in October 2001. Singer Gruff Rhys has described the song as being about "rings of...
", "Shoot Doris Day" and "Presidential Suite" are "excellent", the album features "nothing to change anyone's world" and the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
claimed that, despite containing some great songs, it is the band's worst album. The album was included in the 2004 edition of the Rolling Stone Album Guide
Rolling Stone Album Guide
The Rolling Stone Album Guide, previously known as The Rolling Stone Record Guide, is a book that, along with its sister publication Rolling Stone magazine, contains professional reviews of popular music...
and given a rare 5 star accolade, ranking it as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eye Weekly Eye Weekly Eye Weekly was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following week, Torstar launched a successor publication, The Grid.-... |
Canada | Albums of the year 2001 | 10 | 2001 |
| Les Inrockuptibles Les Inrockuptibles Les Inrockuptibles is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. The name is a play on "Les Incorruptibles", the French title of the American television series The Untouchables... |
France | 2001 Critics Albums | 37 | |
| Iguana Music | Spain | Best albums 2001 | 6 | |
| Mondo Sonoro | Best records 2001 | 9 | ||
| Rock De Luxe | Best records 2001 | 22 | ||
| Mercury Music Prize | United Kingdom | 2001 shortlist | * | |
| Mojo Mojo (magazine) MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music... |
Mojo albums of 2001 | 1 | ||
| NME NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... |
Albums of 2001 NME album of the year Every December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best albums of the year. It was started in 1974. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December the 9th... |
11 | ||
| 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade | 29 | 2009 | ||
| Q Q (magazine) Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology... |
End of year lists | * | 2001 | |
| Record Collector Record Collector Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:... |
Best of 2001: New albums | * | ||
| 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd... |
United States | 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die | * | 2006 |
| Spin Spin (magazine) Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard... |
The 40 Best Albums of 2002 | 38 | 2002 | |
| The Village Voice The Village Voice The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City... |
Pazz & Jop Albums of 2001 Pazz & Jop The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics... |
126 | 2001 | |
| Pazz & Jop Albums of 2002 | 29 | 2002 |
Track listing
CD/Vinyl/MiniDiscAll songs by Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
except "[A] Touch Sensitive" which contains a sample of "Ann" by Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton
Ron Asheton
Ronald Frank Asheton was an American guitarist and co-songwriter with Iggy Pop for the rock band The Stooges.Asheton is ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stones list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time....
, Scott Asheton
Scott Asheton
Scott "Rock Action" Asheton is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band The Stooges...
and Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
.
- "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street" – 4:31
- "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" – 4:01
- "(Drawing) Rings Around the World(Drawing) Rings Around the World" Rings Around the World" is a song by Super Furry Animals and was the second single taken from the band's fifth album, Rings Around the World. The track reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart on release in October 2001. Singer Gruff Rhys has described the song as being about "rings of...
" – 3:29 - "It's Not the End of the World?It's Not the End of the World?"It's Not the End of the World?" is a song by Welsh band Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be released from the Rings Around the World album and reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in January 2002...
" – 3:25 - "Receptacle for the Respectable" – 4:32
- "[A] Touch Sensitive" – 3:07
- "Shoot Doris Day" – 3:38
- "Miniature" – 0:40
- "No Sympathy" – 6:57
- "Juxtapozed with UJuxtapozed with U"Juxtapozed with U" is 3 minutes 8 seconds long and is in the key of A major. The track begins with a drum fill, featuring flanging, before a harp, strings, acoustic guitar and bass join at 2 seconds. An electric guitar joins at 13 seconds playing a melody line...
" – 3:08 - "New On The Party" - 4:03
- "Presidential Suite" – 5:24
- "Run! Christian, Run!" – 7:20
- "Fragile Happiness" – 2:35
Bonus tracks on Japanese CD release
- "Tradewinds" – 5:13
- "Happiness Is a Worn Pun" – 3:16
Bonus disc included with American CD release
All songs by Super Furry Animals.
- "Tradewinds" – 5:13
- "The Roman Road" – 5:18
- "Patience" – 4:04
- "Happiness Is a Worn Pun" – 3:16
- "Gypsy Space Muffin" – 3:29
- "Edam Anchorman" – 3:22
- "All the Shit U Do" – 2:31
DVD
All songs by Super Furry Animals except "[A] Touch Sensitive" which contains a sample of "Ann" by Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton and Iggy Pop.
- "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street" – 4:31
- "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" – 4:01
- "(Drawing) Rings Around the World" – 3:29
- "It's Not the End of the World?" – 3:25
- "Receptacle for the Respectable" – 4:32
- "[A] Touch Sensitive" – 3:07
- "Shoot Doris Day" – 3:38
- "Miniature" – 0:40
- "No Sympathy" – 6:57
- "Juxtapozed with U" – 3:08
- "Presidential Suite" – 5:24
- "Run! Christian, Run!" – 7:20
- "Fragile Happiness" – 2:35
- "Tradewinds" – 5:13
- "The Roman Road" – 5:18
- "Patience" – 4:04
- "Happiness Is a Worn Pun" – 3:16
- "Gypsy Space Muffin" – 3:29
- "Edam Anchorman" – 3:22
- "All the Shit U Do" – 2:31
- "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street (Bench Remix)" – 7:05
- "(Drawing) Rings Around the World (Llwybr LlaethogLlwybr LlaethogLlwybr Llaethog are an experimental Welsh language band that effectively mix such varied musical genres as rap, dub, reggae, hip hop, and punk in their music....
Remix)" – 3:33 - "It's Not the End of the World? (Force Unknown Remix)" – 3:52
- "[A] Touch Sensitive (Force Unknown Remix)" – 6:23
- "Shoot Doris Day (Wauvenfold Remix)" – 4:06
- "Miniature (GoemGoemGoem is the electronic music project of Frans de Waard, Peter Duimelinks and Roel Meelkop. Active since 1996, it is one of the most internationally visible project hailing from the Netherlands. They have released about twenty CDs and vinyls on various labels from Europe and North...
Remix)" – 0:43 - "No Sympathy (Kid606Kid606Kid606 is the stage name of Miguel Trost De Pedro, an electronic musician who was born 1979 July in Caracas, Venezuela, raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco...
Remix)" – 4:47 - "Juxtapozed with U (Super Furry Animals Remix)" – 3:23
- "Presidential Suite (The High LlamasThe High LlamasThe High Llamas are a London-based musical group, formed by the Irish guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Hagan after the demise of his group Microdisney. O'Hagan writes and arranges the music and the rest of the group consists of drummer Rob Allum, keyboardist/cellist Marcus Holdaway, and...
Remix)" – 4:18 - "Run! Christian, Run! (Massimo Remix)" – 7:18
- "Fragile Happiness (Brave CaptainMartin CarrMartin Carr , is a British musician and writer who was the chief songwriter and lead guitarist with the British band, The Boo Radleys.- Life and career :...
Remix)" – 4:01 - "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street (Atmos Remix)" – 4:42
- "Presidential Suite (Phat Eric Remix)" – 5:16
- "Fragile Happiness (Pieweighter Remix)" – 4:06
- "Juxtapozed with U (LesserJ LesserJ Lesser is the stage name for Jason Doerck , a musician known for his unrepentant approach to sound creation. Doerck was a member of the defunct laptop group Sagan, alongside Blevin Blectum, Wobbly, and video artist Ryan Junell....
Remix)" – 3:22 - "[A] Touch Sensitive (Force Unknown Remix 2)" – 7:54
Personnel
All track numbers refer to the CD version of Rings Around the World unless otherwise stated.Band
- Gruff RhysGruff RhysGruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
– lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, harmonica - Huw BunfordHuw BunfordHuw "Bunf" Bunford is the guitarist in the rock band, Super Furry Animals.-Biography:...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocals, pedal steel - Guto PryceGuto PryceGuto Dafydd Pryce is a bass guitar player in the band Super Furry Animals.The name Guto is pronounced in Welsh....
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Cian CiaranCian CiaranCian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals.Ciaran is the brother of Dafydd Ieuan . He plays keyboards, electronics and occasional guitar, drums, steel drum and vocals...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, backing vocals - Dafydd IeuanDafydd IeuanDafydd Ieuan is the drummer with the band, Super Furry Animals and The Peth. He currently lives in Cardiff with his wife Debbie, and their two children Cai and Lleucu....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Howard Gott – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on tracks 1, 6, 11 - Harriet Harris – violin on tracks 4, 7, 10
- S. Herbert – violin on tracks 4, 7, 10
- Steven Hussey – violin on track 6
- Jackie Norrie – violin on tracks 1, 4, 7, 10, 11
- Sonia Slany – violin on tracks 4, 7, 10
- Lucy Theo – violin on track 6
- Brian Wright – violin on tracks 1, 6, 11
- Nick Barr – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
on tracks 4, 7, 10 - Sophia Sirota – viola on tracks 1, 11
- Clare Smith – viola on tracks 4, 7, 10
- Nick Cooper – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
on tracks 4, 7, 10 - Sophie Harris – cello on tracks 4, 7, 10
- Matt Sibley – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
on tracks 5, 7, 11 - Gary Alesbrook – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
on tracks 5, 7, 11 - Tony Robinson – trumpet, flugel horn and tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
on tracks 5, 7, 11 - Beti Rhys – harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
on tracks 10, 11 - John Telfer – fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
on track 10 - John CaleJohn CaleJohn Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
– additional pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
on track 11 - Osian Gwynedd – additional piano on track 1
- Kris Jenkins – percussion on tracks 9, 10, 11
- Anna Smith – backing vocals on track 1
- Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
– carrotCarrotThe carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...
and celeryCeleryApium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac , depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten: celery refers to the former and celeriac to the latter. Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall...
on track 5
Music video directors (DVD)
- 4k – track 11
- Spencer Bewley – track 17
- Co-Lab – track 2
- Concerko – track 2
- D.O.N.A. – track 10
- Pete FowlerPete FowlerPete Fowler is a Welsh artist best known for his artwork for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals. He is a freelance illustrator and "monster creator" inspired by Japanese art, folklore, myths, psychedelia and super nature...
– track 5 - Armand Geddyn – track 12
- Barbie Geddyn – track 12
- Peter Gray – track 7
- Johnny Hardstaff – track 14
- Sean HillenSeán HillenSeán Hillen is an artist whose work includes collages and the creative use of photographs.-Early life:Hillen was raised in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. He studied at the Belfast College of Art...
– track 3
- Jake & Jim – track 16
- Mark James – track 15
- Dylan Jones – tracks 4, 8
- Mike "Spike" Jonez – track 20
- Lazy Eye – track 17
- Martin McCartney – track 13
- Neil McFarland – track 6
- Simon Pike – tracks 2, 5
- John Shahnazarian – track 9
- Darren Watkins – track 1
Remixers (DVD)
- Atmos – track 32
- Bench – track 21
- bravecaptainMartin CarrMartin Carr , is a British musician and writer who was the chief songwriter and lead guitarist with the British band, The Boo Radleys.- Life and career :...
– track 31 - Force Unknown – tracks 23, 24, 36
- GoemGoemGoem is the electronic music project of Frans de Waard, Peter Duimelinks and Roel Meelkop. Active since 1996, it is one of the most internationally visible project hailing from the Netherlands. They have released about twenty CDs and vinyls on various labels from Europe and North...
– track 26 - The High LlamasThe High LlamasThe High Llamas are a London-based musical group, formed by the Irish guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Hagan after the demise of his group Microdisney. O'Hagan writes and arranges the music and the rest of the group consists of drummer Rob Allum, keyboardist/cellist Marcus Holdaway, and...
– track 29 - Kid606Kid606Kid606 is the stage name of Miguel Trost De Pedro, an electronic musician who was born 1979 July in Caracas, Venezuela, raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco...
– track 27
- LesserJ LesserJ Lesser is the stage name for Jason Doerck , a musician known for his unrepentant approach to sound creation. Doerck was a member of the defunct laptop group Sagan, alongside Blevin Blectum, Wobbly, and video artist Ryan Junell....
– track 35 - Llwybr LlaethogLlwybr LlaethogLlwybr Llaethog are an experimental Welsh language band that effectively mix such varied musical genres as rap, dub, reggae, hip hop, and punk in their music....
– track 22 - Massimo – track 30
- Pieweighter – track 34
- Phat Eric – track 34
- Super Furry AnimalsSuper Furry AnimalsSuper Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
– track 28 - Wauvenfold – track 25
Recording personnel
- Super Furry Animals – productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, string arrangementsString sectionThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
on tracks 1, 4, 7, 10, 11 - Sean O'HaganSean O'HaganSean O'Hagan is a founding member of Irish indie band Microdisney. In the 1990s he formed The High Llamas and released a number of highly acclaimed albums showing influences as diverse as The Beach Boys, Ennio Morricone, Antonio Carlos Jobim and avant-garde electronica...
– string arrangements on tracks 1, 11 - Marcus Holdaway – string arrangements on track 1, 11
- Sonia Slany – string arrangements on tracks 4, 7, 10
- Chris Shaw – production and engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Eric Tew – engineering
- Damian Shannon – engineering assistant (Bearsville StudiosBearsville StudiosBearsville Studios was a recording studio at Bearsville, New York just west of Woodstock, New York.The studio was opened in 1969 by Albert Grossman, manager of Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin and Todd Rundgren....
) - Richard Wilkinson – engineering assistant (Metropolis)
- Stuart Hawkes – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Julian Lowe – mastering
DVD production
- Mike Gillespie – production
- Super Furry Animals – executive production, DVD sound effects and music
- Anthony I.P. Owen – DVD authoringDVD authoringDVD authoring is the process of creating a DVD video capable of playing on a DVD player. DVD authoring software must conform to the specifications set by the DVD Forum group in 1995...
- Coffeecup New Media – DVD interface design
- No Brake Visual Engineering – DVD interface design
- John Mark James – DVD interface icon design
- Robert Burnett – video encoding
- Crispin Murray – audio encoding
- Mike Jones – film compilation
Artwork
- Pete FowlerPete FowlerPete Fowler is a Welsh artist best known for his artwork for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals. He is a freelance illustrator and "monster creator" inspired by Japanese art, folklore, myths, psychedelia and super nature...
– illustration - Simon Pike – illustration
- John Mark James – logoLogoA logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
s and fontFontIn typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...
s
Album chart positions
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
3 |
| U.S. Independent Albums Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
32 |