| Gruff Rhys — American Interior (2014) |
Gruff Rhys — American Interior Birth name: Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys
Born: July 18, 1970 in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Location: Cardiff, Bethesda, Gwynedd, Wales
Instruments: guitar, vocals, keyboard, saz, drums, harmonica
Album release: May 5th, 2014
Record Label: Turnstile/Caroline International S&D
Duration: 46:18
Tracks:
01. American Exterior 0:28
02. American Interior 3:16
03. 100 Unread Messages 4:32
04. The Whether (Or Not) 3:36
05. The Last Conquistador 3:58
06. Lost Tribes 3:01
07. Liberty (Is Where We’ll Be) 4:54
08. Allweddellau Allweddol 4:02
09. The Swamp 4:12
10. Lolo 3:49
11. Walk Into The Wilderness 3:49
12. Year Of The Dog 3:30
13. Tiger’s Tale 3:11
♦♥♦ All songs written by Gruff Rhys
Product Description:
♦ Gruff Rhys ventures into the American Interior
♦ Two men. Two quests.
♦ Two centuries apart.
♦ American Interior is a unique project that firmly establishes Gruff Rhys as a captivating storyteller, blurring the boundaries and possibilities of songwriting, music, literature, film and technology to create a multisensory experience telling the incredible true story of John Evans.
♦ In 1792, John Evans, a twenty~two~year~old farmhand from Snowdonia, Wales, travelled to America to discover whether there was, as widely believed, a Welsh-speaking Native American tribe — The Madogwys — still walking the Great Plains.
♦ During the course of an extraordinary adventure, Evans wrestled the largest river reptiles ever seen in the Mississippi, hunted Bison with the Omaha tribe, defected to the Spanish in St Louis, discovered imaginary volcanoes in Missouri, annexed North Dakota from the British, and created the map that guided Lewis and Clark on their legendary expedition.
♦ In the summer of 2012, over two hundred years later, Gruff himself a distant relative of Evans — retraced the explorer s route through the heart of the continent by means of an Investigative Concert Tour TM” — a series of solo gigs that saw him accompanied by little more than acoustic guitar, PowerPoint presentation and a three~foot high felt avatar of John Evans designed by artist and long~time collaborator Pete Fowler.
♦ Brilliantly documenting both Evans s and Gruff s odysseys, American Interior is released across four different formats, each of which explores the story from a distinct angle.
About the Artist
♦ Gruff’s fourth solo LP features thirteen phenomenal new songs inspired by Evans original journey. Written in part on 2012’s Investigative Concert Tour TM“, the record is a topographical rock n roll masterpiece.
REVIEW
Jon Dennis
The Guardian, Thursday 1 May 2014 21.30 BST | Score: *****
♦ The fourth solo album by former Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys is inspired by the 18th~century explorer John Evans, who mapped the Missouri river in a vain search for a lost, Welsh~speaking American tribe. As well as this Evans~themed concept album, Rhys has made a film documenting his 2012 tour (gigs featured a PowerPoint presentation on the theme of Evans); a book — sorry, a “psychedelic historical travelogue”; and for those who crave further “immersion”, an app. But all Rhys’s extra~curricular multimedia has not distracted him from making an album full of wit, originality and indelible tunes, from the rumbling rockabilly of 100 Unread Messages, the Bette Davis Eyes~referencing Lost Tribes and the mournfully mesmerising title track. American Interior explores myth and adventure, the meaning of failure, nationhood and Rhys’s own identity (he believes Evans was a distant ancestor). But its songs are not weighed down by the Evans concept, and are hugely enjoyable on their own merits. Fortaken: http://www.theguardian.com/
Artist Biography by Chris True
♦ Best known for his tenure in the hard~to~peg~down Welsh outfit Super Furry Animals, Gruff Rhys has a long history in British rock. Born in 1970, Rhys played in Creation Records’ Emily as well as Ffa Coffi Pawb, but his first foray into the musical arts was at the ripe age of five, when he wrote an odd little number about a train driver who’s contemplating his own death. In 1990, a chance meeting helped lead to the development of what would become Super Furry Animals. First a left~field techno group, then later a whacked~out guitar group, SFA got much of their character and respect from Rhys’ outlandish and obscure lyrical slants. After many critically acclaimed singles and full~lengths, Rhys released his solo outing Yr Atal Genhedlaeth in 2005. And in true Gruff Rhys form, it was an entirely Welsh affair. He followed up the release with a small sampling of dates in his native homeland. When Super Furry Animals moved to Rough Trade, the label also picked up Rhys’ solo work and released his second album, Candylion, early in 2007. The album was released by Team Love in the U.S. shortly afterward. That same year, Neon Neon, a collaborative project of Rhys and Boom Bip, released Stainless Style, an electro~pop concept album about auto tycoon John DeLorean. Rhys next stepped outside of SFA in 2010 for The Terror of Cosmic Loneliness, a duet album with Tony Da Gatorra. In 2011 Rhys released his third solo album, Hotel Shampoo, featuring production from Andy Votel.
Discography:
♦ 2005 Yr Atal Genhedlaeth (Placid Casual / Rough Trade)
♦ 2007 Candylion (Rough Trade)
♦ 2010 The Terror of Cosmic Loneliness (Ovni / Turnstile)
♦ 2011 Hotel Shampoo (Ovni / Turnstile)
♦ 2014 American Interior (Caroline / Universal)
Super Furry Animals:
♦ 1996 Fuzzy Logic Creation Records
♦ 1997 Radiator Creation Records
♦ 1998 Out Spaced Creation Records
♦ 1999 Guerrilla Creation Records
♦ 2000 Mwng Placid Casual
♦ 2001 Rings Around the World Epic Records
♦ 2003 Phantom Power Epic Records
♦ 2005 Love Kraft Sony BMG
♦ 2007 Hey Venus! Rough Trade Records
♦ 2009 Dark Days/Light Years Rough Trade Records
Neon Neon:
♦ 2008 Stainless Style Lex Records
♦ 2013 Praxis Makes Perfect Lex Records
Ffa Coffi Pawb:
♦ 1988 Dalec Peilon Ankst
♦ 1991 Clymhalio Ankst
♦ 1992 Hei Vidal! Ankst
♦ 2004 Am Byth (Compilation) Placid Casual
Website: http://www.gruffrhys.com/
MySpace: https://myspace.com/gruffrhys24hrs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gruffingtonpost
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/gruffrhys24hrs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gruffingtonpost
Press: UK Press — , , UK Online —
Agent: UK Booking — , US Booking —
Contact:
______________________________________________________________
| Gruff Rhys — American Interior (2014) |
Born: July 18, 1970 in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Location: Cardiff, Bethesda, Gwynedd, Wales
Instruments: guitar, vocals, keyboard, saz, drums, harmonica
Album release: May 5th, 2014
Record Label: Turnstile/Caroline International S&D
Duration: 46:18
Tracks:
01. American Exterior 0:28
02. American Interior 3:16
03. 100 Unread Messages 4:32
04. The Whether (Or Not) 3:36
05. The Last Conquistador 3:58
06. Lost Tribes 3:01
07. Liberty (Is Where We’ll Be) 4:54
08. Allweddellau Allweddol 4:02
09. The Swamp 4:12
10. Lolo 3:49
11. Walk Into The Wilderness 3:49
12. Year Of The Dog 3:30
13. Tiger’s Tale 3:11
♦♥♦ All songs written by Gruff Rhys
Product Description:
♦ Gruff Rhys ventures into the American Interior
♦ Two men. Two quests.
♦ Two centuries apart.
♦ American Interior is a unique project that firmly establishes Gruff Rhys as a captivating storyteller, blurring the boundaries and possibilities of songwriting, music, literature, film and technology to create a multisensory experience telling the incredible true story of John Evans.
♦ In 1792, John Evans, a twenty~two~year~old farmhand from Snowdonia, Wales, travelled to America to discover whether there was, as widely believed, a Welsh-speaking Native American tribe — The Madogwys — still walking the Great Plains.
♦ During the course of an extraordinary adventure, Evans wrestled the largest river reptiles ever seen in the Mississippi, hunted Bison with the Omaha tribe, defected to the Spanish in St Louis, discovered imaginary volcanoes in Missouri, annexed North Dakota from the British, and created the map that guided Lewis and Clark on their legendary expedition.
♦ In the summer of 2012, over two hundred years later, Gruff himself a distant relative of Evans — retraced the explorer s route through the heart of the continent by means of an Investigative Concert Tour TM” — a series of solo gigs that saw him accompanied by little more than acoustic guitar, PowerPoint presentation and a three~foot high felt avatar of John Evans designed by artist and long~time collaborator Pete Fowler.
♦ Brilliantly documenting both Evans s and Gruff s odysseys, American Interior is released across four different formats, each of which explores the story from a distinct angle.
About the Artist
♦ Gruff’s fourth solo LP features thirteen phenomenal new songs inspired by Evans original journey. Written in part on 2012’s Investigative Concert Tour TM“, the record is a topographical rock n roll masterpiece.
REVIEW
Jon Dennis
The Guardian, Thursday 1 May 2014 21.30 BST | Score: *****
♦ The fourth solo album by former Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys is inspired by the 18th~century explorer John Evans, who mapped the Missouri river in a vain search for a lost, Welsh~speaking American tribe. As well as this Evans~themed concept album, Rhys has made a film documenting his 2012 tour (gigs featured a PowerPoint presentation on the theme of Evans); a book — sorry, a “psychedelic historical travelogue”; and for those who crave further “immersion”, an app. But all Rhys’s extra~curricular multimedia has not distracted him from making an album full of wit, originality and indelible tunes, from the rumbling rockabilly of 100 Unread Messages, the Bette Davis Eyes~referencing Lost Tribes and the mournfully mesmerising title track. American Interior explores myth and adventure, the meaning of failure, nationhood and Rhys’s own identity (he believes Evans was a distant ancestor). But its songs are not weighed down by the Evans concept, and are hugely enjoyable on their own merits. Fortaken: http://www.theguardian.com/
Artist Biography by Chris True
♦ Best known for his tenure in the hard~to~peg~down Welsh outfit Super Furry Animals, Gruff Rhys has a long history in British rock. Born in 1970, Rhys played in Creation Records’ Emily as well as Ffa Coffi Pawb, but his first foray into the musical arts was at the ripe age of five, when he wrote an odd little number about a train driver who’s contemplating his own death. In 1990, a chance meeting helped lead to the development of what would become Super Furry Animals. First a left~field techno group, then later a whacked~out guitar group, SFA got much of their character and respect from Rhys’ outlandish and obscure lyrical slants. After many critically acclaimed singles and full~lengths, Rhys released his solo outing Yr Atal Genhedlaeth in 2005. And in true Gruff Rhys form, it was an entirely Welsh affair. He followed up the release with a small sampling of dates in his native homeland. When Super Furry Animals moved to Rough Trade, the label also picked up Rhys’ solo work and released his second album, Candylion, early in 2007. The album was released by Team Love in the U.S. shortly afterward. That same year, Neon Neon, a collaborative project of Rhys and Boom Bip, released Stainless Style, an electro~pop concept album about auto tycoon John DeLorean. Rhys next stepped outside of SFA in 2010 for The Terror of Cosmic Loneliness, a duet album with Tony Da Gatorra. In 2011 Rhys released his third solo album, Hotel Shampoo, featuring production from Andy Votel.
Discography:
♦ 2005 Yr Atal Genhedlaeth (Placid Casual / Rough Trade)
♦ 2007 Candylion (Rough Trade)
♦ 2010 The Terror of Cosmic Loneliness (Ovni / Turnstile)
♦ 2011 Hotel Shampoo (Ovni / Turnstile)
♦ 2014 American Interior (Caroline / Universal)
Super Furry Animals:
♦ 1996 Fuzzy Logic Creation Records
♦ 1997 Radiator Creation Records
♦ 1998 Out Spaced Creation Records
♦ 1999 Guerrilla Creation Records
♦ 2000 Mwng Placid Casual
♦ 2001 Rings Around the World Epic Records
♦ 2003 Phantom Power Epic Records
♦ 2005 Love Kraft Sony BMG
♦ 2007 Hey Venus! Rough Trade Records
♦ 2009 Dark Days/Light Years Rough Trade Records
Neon Neon:
♦ 2008 Stainless Style Lex Records
♦ 2013 Praxis Makes Perfect Lex Records
Ffa Coffi Pawb:
♦ 1988 Dalec Peilon Ankst
♦ 1991 Clymhalio Ankst
♦ 1992 Hei Vidal! Ankst
♦ 2004 Am Byth (Compilation) Placid Casual
Website: http://www.gruffrhys.com/
MySpace: https://myspace.com/gruffrhys24hrs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gruffingtonpost
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/gruffrhys24hrs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gruffingtonpost
Press: UK Press — , , UK Online —
Agent: UK Booking — , US Booking —
Contact:
______________________________________________________________