a sound reaction
THE legendary Yeti costumes worn by Super Furry Animals have been given the chop and their fur added to special box set editions of Super Furry Animals at the BBC.
“SFA DNA” in the form of “Yeti fur” embedded into vinyl records is the latest mind and format-expanding idea from the band, with envelopes containing a lock of genuine Furry follicles also included in the limited edition box set, which includes unreleased track, DX Heaven, an ethereal, bleepy composition left off 1999’s Guerrilla album, later recorded for John Peel.
Clippings of fur, inspired by the Yeti outfits famously worn by all five of Super Furry Animals, both onstage and in the video for 2003 hit, Golden Retriever, have been embedded into vinyl records, forming super-limited edition versions of the forthcoming compilation, released on Friday, November 23, on Strangetown Records. Limited to just 100 discs, handfuls of “Yeti fur” have made their way to Gotta Groove Records, based in Cleveland Ohio, where the “SFA DNA” has been pressed into plastic for just a few lucky fans to get their hands on.
Following a brainwave by long-time Furries collaborator, artist and designer, Mark James in discussions with the band about yeti-led artwork concepts, the band challenged the pressing plant to find a way of trapping the strands in a vinyl record. Clear vinyl discs showing off encased Yeti fur will form the fifth, bonus disc of the “Super Limited Edition” 100-copy box set, containing three songs from the band’s homecoming show at the Cardiff Indoor Arena in 1999. Genuine, stage-worn fur from the Furries’ outfits will also be contained in 500 numbered and hand-stamped envelopes, each containing a lock cut from the suits, available with both versions of vinyl box set.
Brand new Yeti cover artwork for all formats of the compilation was developed using the actual Yeti stage suits, with James unpacking a box of the original costumes and patiently modelling the fur by hand to resemble faces. Brushing the fur into position, he photographed numerous variations, conjuring up a succession of new characters, each selected by the band, to grace each of the vinyl sleeves.
Mark James says: “From the very start I wanted to do something with the Yetis and the fur, thinking about the idea of offering a piece of ‘SFA DNA’ to own as part of the package. They’re evident throughout the artwork, from the sleeves featuring each Yeti face to the new Yeti footprint illustration that Pete Fowler has drawn for the foil-blocked, limited-edition print. Giving people a piece of their own Yeti to own, not least the unprecedented inlay of fur into a vinyl record, has taken the concept a leap further. It’s more of an artefact, a bona fide piece of musical history, than just a record. The envelopes containing a lock of fur, including some still splattered with ‘blood’ from the killing off of the Yetis at Hammersmith Apollo in 2003, have all been filled by hand and hand numbered in the studio, by Cian.”
The box set is available to pre-order via: www.pledgemusic.com/superfurryanimals