On my radar: Gruff Rhys’s cultural highlights
- ️https://www.theguardian.com/profile/killianfox
- ️Sun Sep 15 2019
Gruffudd “Gruff” Rhys was born in Haverfordwest in 1970 and raised in Bethesda, north Wales. His band, Super Furry Animals, broke through in the mid-90s, their freeform approach and penchant for psychedelia setting them well apart from their Britpop peers, with whom they were often grouped. Rhys, a passionate Welsh speaker, released his first solo album, Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, in 2005 and in 2007 he formed the electro-pop duo Neon Neon. His sixth solo album, Pang!, is out now on Rough Trade.
1. Novel
Speedboat by Renata Adler
This came out in 1976 but was reissued quite recently. Adler was a journalist for the New Yorker and Speedboat is one of two novels she’s written. There’s no real narrative, it’s just a series of anecdotes woven together – it’s more of a DJ set than a story – but it’s amazingly written. It’s a glimpse of New York life in the late 60s, early 70s, with quite offensive jetsetting, baby-boomer characters. It’s a bit like when you come across someone who assumes you know everyone they’re talking about but you haven’t got a clue. The whole book is a continuous monologue, but very addictive. And the writing is spectacular.
2. Podcast
I’ve found this weekly hour of “What the fuck is going on?” from the Irish broadcaster RTÉ, presented by Europe editor Tony Connelly, really useful over the past year or so. A lot of the information on Brexit coming through the British media is dictated by the Conservative party PR machine, and it’s interesting to get a view from another English-speaking state in the EU that isn’t pandering to the Brexit cult. Trade treaties and the like are not what I’m used to having to think about, but they might soon be having a very profound effect on my life, so it’s handy to listen to someone who sounds like they know what they’re talking about.
3. Animation
This is a Mexican animation series and illustration project by Gabriela Badillo, which I’m planning to exhibit in my Ara Deg festival in Bethesda next week. By coincidence, 2019 is the Unesco year of indigenous languages, and this animated series is narrated in the 68 Mexican indigenous languages, with the premise that “No one can love what they don’t know”. I haven’t seen the animation yet but the illustrations are beautiful and easy to grasp. And as Unesco is one of the establishments that the Conservative government is thinking of leaving, it’s a good enough reason to celebrate the year of indigenous languages in a predominantly Welsh-speaking area of Wales.
4. Nonfiction
Fully Automated Luxury Communism by Aaron Bastani
A friend gave me this book recently, in exchange for a guest-listing at a festival. It’s a manifesto that imagines life in a post-capitalist world where automation has replaced manual labour, and it applies the theories of Marx to show how this could save us from dystopia. In a time where it’s very easy to imagine future dystopias, having someone present an idea of the near future as a really great place is refreshing. There are a lot of interesting ideas in it – including some about the devaluation of music in the information age – that are presented really clearly and simply. It’s a pretty audacious book.
5. Music
This is a Welsh-language album recorded with a Brazilian rhythm section. Carwyn Ellis was touring with the Pretenders and Chrissie Hynde put him in touch with the Brazilian producer Kassin, who in turn introduced him to lots of great musicians in Rio. They’ve made such an approachable record, informed by tropicália and bossa nova, but with a psychedelic edge. The title is a Welsh twist on “joy”, but also a reference to the Caetano Veloso album Jóia, which I’m a massive fan of as well, so it ticks a lot of boxes for me. I know lots of people, including non-Welsh speakers, who are completely obsessed with this album: they’re listening to it five times a day. It’s a unique record, but very universal.
6. Art
This is an art movement from Slovenia, set up in 1984, when the country was still part of Yugoslavia. I understand it as a critique of totalitarianism, although it has provoked controversy by using the slogans and graphics of totalitarianism. I came across their work in Moscow, where they had an exhibition, and I’m familiar with some of the people involved in the original movement, such as the band Laibach and the theorist Slavoj Žižek. NSK created a state for the stateless, which apparently has 14,000 citizens, and issued passports, but I’m not organised enough to fill in forms and send off the postal order to get one.