Ysbeidiau Heulog
| "Ysbeidiau Heulog" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Super Furry Animals | ||||
| from the album Mwng | ||||
| Released | 1 May 2000 | |||
| Recorded | Famous Studios, Cardiff | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 2:51 | |||
| Label | Placid Casual | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Super Furry Animals | |||
| Producer(s) | Gorwel Owen, Super Furry Animals; Engineered by Greg Haver | |||
| Super Furry Animals singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Ysbeidiau Heulog" (pronounced UK Singles Top 75 peaking at number 89.[3][4] The Welsh language song has been described by singer Gruff Rhys as "throwaway pop" and likened to the music of ELO, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and Os Mutantes.[1]
Critical reaction to the track was generally positive with some reviewers comparing the song to the work of Roxy Music. The track appears on 2004's singles compilation album Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1 but is not included on the DVD release as no music video was made.[5][6][7]
Themes and recording
Singer
engineered by Greg Haver. Overdubs were added at Ofn studios, Llanfaelog, Wales with the help of Gorwel Owen who also mixed the song at the studio along with the Super Furry Animals.[8] B-side "Charge" was recorded for an episode of BBC Radio 1's The John Peel Show, which aired on 1 March 2000.[9] The track was produced for the BBC by Simon Askew and engineered by Nick Fountain.[9]
Musical structure
"Ysbeidiau Heulog" is 2 minutes 51 seconds long and is in the key of
sustain, joining the drums and bass, which is no longer distorted.[11] The track breaks down for the first chorus with Rhys singing "ysbeidiau heulog" four times backed by harmony vocals and occasional keyboard noises with the band rejoining on the last "heulog", the rhythm guitar playing an A chord on each of the word's two syllables which are emphasised by cymbal crashes. After a drum fill an instrumental passage begins at 53 seconds. This follows the same arrangement as the intro although the lead guitar plays a melody line just once during the second half of the section, simply feedingback for the first half. The second verse starts at 1 minute 8 seconds leading into the second chorus which this time features drums fills and rhythm guitar alongside Rhys' vocals. A short bridge plays at the end of the chorus with Rhys singing "Oedd ein cariad ni, heulog tan ddaeth glaw yn llif".[11] Instrumentation is sparse with a guitar, featuring flanging, playing several licks alongside bass and drums, which are heavily affected by flanging. The bridge leads into the third and last chorus, which follows the arrangement of the second chorus although this time the drums feature flanging. The track ends with an instrumental outro similar to the intro. The outro begins at 2 minutes 16 seconds and features a second lead guitar with a wah-wah effect playing licks alongside the main lead guitar and saxophone. After the guitar melody has played twice the main lead guitar stops playing and the track begins to fade out
.
Release and critical response
"Ysbeidiau Heulog" was released as a limited edition
CD copies of the band's singles compilation album Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1 but is not included on the DVD release as no music video was made.[5][6][7]
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melody Maker | United Kingdom | Single of the week May 10–16[12] | 2000 | — |
| NME | Singles of 2000[18]
|
33
|
Track listing
All songs by Super Furry Animals.
- 7" (PLC02)
- "Ysbeidiau Heulog" – 2:52
- "Charge" – 3:19
Personnel
- Gruff Rhys – vocals
- Huw Bunford – guitar
- Guto Pryce – bass guitar
- keyboards
- Dafydd Ieuan – drums
- Gary Alesbrook – trumpet
- Matt Sibley – saxophone
Charts
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom (Official Charts Company)[4] | 89
|
References
- ^ a b c d "Super Furry Animals – Mwng track by track". BBC. c. 2000. Archived from the original on 2013-04-20. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- ^ a b "Catalogue". Placid Casual official website. Archived from the original on June 30, 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-190-X.
- ^ a b c Chart Log UK: S Zobbel.de
- ^ a b Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1 (CD). Super Furry Animals. New York: Epic Records. 2004. back cover.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1 (DVD). Super Furry Animals. New York: Epic Records. 2004. back cover.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b "Mwng". superfurry.com. c. 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ Mwng (CD booklet). Super Furry Animals. Cardiff: Placid Casual. 2000. p. [1].
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b Ysbeidiau Heulog (7" single sleeve). Super Furry Animals. Cardiff: Placid Casual. 2000. p. [1].
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Allmusic. c. 2000. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
- ^ ISBN 0-7119-3888-1.
- ^ a b Baker, Trevor (May 10–16, 2000). "Singles". Melody Maker: 50–51.
- Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- ^ Waterson, James (2006-04-03). "The Back Catalogue of Super Furry Animals". Incendiary Magazine. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- ^ Ansell, Rachelle (2000-05-15). "Super Furry Animals: Mwng". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- ^ Thomson, Neil (6 May 2000), "Super Furry Animals – London King's Cross Scala", NME: 32
- ^ Walters, Barry (2000-08-17). "Mwng". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ a b "NME 2000 Lists". RockListMusic. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ^ Gilbert, Ben (2000-05-12). "Mwng". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ (subscription required) Sperl, Art (November 1, 2000). "Super Furry Animals: Mwng/Gorky's Zygotic Mynci: The Blue Trees". Rock's Backpages. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
External links
