88 MAKEUP PALETTE

I’ve got a problem. You see, about five or six years ago, I discovered the fantastically weird world of the Super Furry Animals, led by Gruff Rhys and I can’t get his songs out of my head. It was spring in the year 2000 and everywhere, things were starting to grow again. I found Mwng first while on the streets of NYC. I read in a mag that it was one of the only albums being released completely in Welsh. Intrigued, I picked this up and loved the sweet melodies the likes of I had never heard before. It didn’t sound like anything being created in North America or anywhere else for that matter.

I immediately fell in love and it was deep but it was about to get worse because soon after picking this one up, Rings Around the World (2001) came out. It felt more rock and psych influenced and immediately filled me with happiness. I had picked up the dvd edition so I was able to enjoy all my favorite songs on video like “Juxtapozed with U” where a giant microphone dances around with a video camera. If hostile aliens were about to attack Earth and I could only choose one song to play them in order to convince them to halt, I think I’d probably play this one. I don’t know how anyone could destroy such a place while a person like Gruff was living on it.

Weirdest of all in the video collection was “Receptacle for the Respectable” with it’s twisted and strange animation. It was almost like Wales was its own world the way Gruff thought. Probably the other song that changed me is “It’s Not the End of the World?” It gets stuck in my head at the most random moments and makes me smile sometimes even when that’s the last thing I feel like doing. My love grew again even more while listening to Phantom Power two years later in 2003. Gruff was clearly a man who could rock out with “Golden Retriever” and be gentle again with “Piccolo Snare” as well as “Venus and Serena.”

But nothing in heaven and Earth could prepare me for the intensity of love I’d feel after listening to 2005’s Love Kraft There are some days when I put it on in the morning and can listen to nothing else. I’ve listened to “Zoom!” on repeat for several hours. If time is a landscape, then in the desert of my days, the music has been played loud and has influenced every cell of my body to become a fan of this band as well.

Now, I should mention that I do like the newest one Hey Venus! even if I am not experiencing the same passion with it that I did for Love Kraft. I love the psych rock of “Into the Night” and “Baby Ate my Eightball” especially. But what I really wanted to talk about is Gruff.

Do you know the feeling you get when you just love music so much and you literally fall in love with songs, lyrics, melody lines. It’s like everything in this whole world could be obliterated but as long as the songs were there, you could drift along in the wasteland that was left and play it to the dead rocks and the tainted seas. It’s like, people weren’t born before this music because how could they have survived without it’s creation? Or, on the first through 7th days God created the Earth and all that other stuff but somewhere down the line, he created music and musicians and Gruff Rhys and there was much rejoicing.

Perhaps I’m going a little overboard. I’ve always been slightly over the top and melodramatic. It’s my way. When I love something, I really love it. When I dislike something, I really hate it. That’s simplified but you get the idea. Anyhow, I’m always afraid that the people behind the music are going to be snotty or full of themselves or just aloof. Then, you worry you won’t be able to connect with the music anymore on an emotional level because you’ll be thinking about how bad the interaction went.

But Gruff isn’t any of those things. He’s sweet and charming and even though he’s very much a man, he’s pretty much downright adorable. Nine times out of ten, I would rather take photos of a woman than a man. The tenth time, the man is Gruff.

I’ve always had a theory about concert photographers. There are alot of us and as the years have gone by, I’ve met more and more. They usually vary between fans of the music and people who are just doing this because they are paid to do it. But, my feeling is that if you aren’t connecting with the music, it will show. As for me, with a couple of exceptions, most of the photos I take are for bands I really love. I’ve done a couple of favors here and there but I’d say a huge percentage of the bands I take photos of, I am there on purpose.

That said, I am done with my brief (yes, brief!) autobiography of my love affair with the music of The Super Furry Animals. There are few bands that if I could I would follow around the world. Caribou is one as well as A Silver Mt. Zion. Super Furry Animals is definitely another, because they are one of the best bands of our time and undoubtedly put on one of the most thrilling live performances I’ve ever seen. So, I hope you enjoy these photos and hopefully it shows how much I love the S

"Reflections"

Look at your face
When all I could see was myself looking back at me
Reflection
And all I could do was think about sleeping next to you

What would it take to make a women like you
View a wolf like me for what I really might be
Listening to the lyrics only here's what I allow
You gotta try and make me testify for here and right now
Lets have a confrontation over a cold one
I'll give you conversation just to see if you can hold em
I play so dumb
Because I know some of these star struck small talk art fucks is no fun
I'm the blood type that goes straight for the guns
Like before you even spoke already knew what your loves like
So what you thinking?
Because I'm thinking we should jump into your ocean
Let's go girl this ship is sinking

Look at your face
When all I could see was myself looking back at me
Reflection
And all I could do was think about sleeping next to you
Now there's no reason to lie, I've had a lot of lovers
In my reality its impossible to avoid it
But theres one reason for life gotta provide some supper
Gonna build a family just to watch some one destroy it
Do you really think you really wanna get to know me better
Don't you see the drama
Don't you feel the pressure
Don't get me wrong it would be my pleasure
To sing a song that could remove your shoes and your sweater
Bartender let me get a shot of bean
Cause this girl over here is trying to get me out my jeans
And she doesn't seem to believe I'm just another thief
Came to take a piece and make you stutter when you breath

Now girl you to smart to be a tour mark

Set to play correct from the start with your pure heart
And when your all alone ill sing into your phone
If you don't know the words you can make up your own

The first time she met the devil was at first avenue
Went back stage with him into the dressing room
Sexy ego trip
Taller than expected
About six foot three
Seemed to thrive on his misery
Critical observant big words
Sweaty hair sunken eyes and thick nerves
She said ill make em smile for the simple fact that he needs it
I'll make him smile just so I can kill it an eat it

You look like you were built for me
You talk like you want to steal my drink
You kiss like you already came
And that's a Lifter Puller line for those with out any game

It's like damn baby
You know you can't save me
But you should still tell your people that your leaving with the band
Maybe you can show me your hustle
Neither one of us would be so lonely
If only you would come over here and hold me
I caught you trying to hide your smile behind your glass
But all of your secrets become a swing set when you laugh
And all of your regrets that you're carrying a burying
Don't mean a damn thing if there's nobody to share them with

We've been following each other all night now
We ought to be all over each other like right now
I don't like crowds lets take flight now
Cause that face that you make
Reminds me of my life now

Look at your face
When all I could see was myself looking back at me
Reflection
And all I could do was think about sleeping next to you

"Only trying to find myself inside of you"

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