Ysbeidiau Heulog
Encyclopedia
"Ysbeidiau Heulog" is 2 minutes 51 seconds long and is in the key of B major
. The track begins with an intro
with a lead guitar
melody, which plays twice, accompanied by drums
, bass
, distorted rhythm guitar
and saxophone
. The first verse begins on 14 seconds with Gruff Rhys
singing the lines "Fe gawsom ni, ysbeidiau heulog, ysbeidiau heulog" with a vocoder
being used on the second "ysbeidiau heulog". This entire phrase is then repeated, with Rhys accompanied by harmony backing vocals
. Throughout this first part of the verse the only instrumentation is a distorted bass guitar and drums. The second half of the verse begins at 28 seconds with rhythm guitar, playing the chords
B, B, A and E twice with little sustain
, joining the drums and bass, which is no longer distorted. 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 syllable
s 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 Rhy's vocals. A short bridge plays at the end of the chorus with Rhys singing "Oedd ein cariad ni, heulog tan ddaeth glaw yn llif". 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
.
label on 1 May 2000. It was the band's first single to chart outside the UK Singles Top 75
peaking at number 89. It received a generally positive response from critics. The track was awarded 'Single of the Week' in the May 10-16 2000 issue of the Melody Maker
by guest reviewers the Dum Dums
who gave the song a perfect five star rating and claimed that it is a "summery, karaoke-pop hit". Pitchfork Media
called "Ysbeidiau Heulog" the best track on parent album Mwng
and described it as a "decidedly retro number that combines the swingin' sounds of the '60s with some high-tech vocal effects". In a 2006 feature on the Super Furry Animals' back catalogue Incendiary Magazine called the track a "clever slice of pop". In a play on words on the track's meaning in English, Drowned in Sound
stated that "Ysbeidiau Heulog" was Mwng's "sunny interval" and wouldn't feel out of place on 1999's Guerrilla
. Both the NME
and Rolling Stone
likened the track to the work of Roxy Music
with the former calling it "happily woozy" and the latter claiming it is a "spunky, sax-spiked bop". The NME
also placed the track at number 33 in their single of the year
list for 2000. Yahoo! Music
described the track as a "playground free-for-all ... frazzled and psychedelic". Art Sperl, writing for Rock's Backpages
in December 2000, was critical of the track, calling it "flimsy". The track appears on vinyl
and 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.
B major
In music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....
. The track begins with an intro
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
with a lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
melody, which plays twice, accompanied by drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, distorted rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
and saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
. The first verse begins on 14 seconds with Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
singing the lines "Fe gawsom ni, ysbeidiau heulog, ysbeidiau heulog" with a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
being used on the second "ysbeidiau heulog". This entire phrase is then repeated, with Rhys accompanied by harmony backing vocals
Vocal harmony
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are sung at the same time as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical choral music and opera and in the popular styles from...
. Throughout this first part of the verse the only instrumentation is a distorted bass guitar and drums. The second half of the verse begins at 28 seconds with rhythm guitar, playing the chords
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
B, B, A and E twice with little sustain
Sustain
In music, sustain is a parameter of musical sound over time. As its name implies, it denotes the period of time during which the sound remains before it becomes inaudible, or silent.Additionally, sustain is the third of the four segments in an ADSR envelope...
, joining the drums and bass, which is no longer distorted. The track breaks down
Break (music)
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....
for the first chorus with Rhys singing "ysbeidiau heulog" four times backed by harmony vocals and occasional keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
noises with the band rejoining on the last "heulog", the rhythm guitar playing an A chord on each of the word's two syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
s which are emphasised by cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
crashes. After a drum fill
Fill (music)
In popular music, a fill is a short musical passage, riff, or rhythmic sound which helps to sustain the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody....
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
Audio feedback
Audio feedback is a special kind of positive feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output...
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 Rhy's vocals. A short bridge plays at the end of the chorus with Rhys singing "Oedd ein cariad ni, heulog tan ddaeth glaw yn llif". Instrumentation is sparse with a guitar, featuring flanging
Flanging
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, with one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resultant frequency spectrum,...
, playing several licks
Lick (music)
In popular music genres such as rock or jazz music, a lick is "a stock pattern or phrase" consisting of a short series of notes that is used in solos and melodic lines...
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
Fade (audio engineering)
In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theater lighting, in much the same way ....
.
Release and critical response
"Ysbeidiau Heulog" was released as a limited edition 7" vinyl single on the Super Furry Animal's own Placid CasualPlacid Casual
Placid Casual is the Cardiff based record label set up in 1998 by Super Furry Animals.According to the label's website "Placid Casual retains an amateur status and an a&r policy of blatant nepotism...
label on 1 May 2000. It was the band's first single to chart outside the UK Singles Top 75
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
peaking at number 89. It received a generally positive response from critics. The track was awarded 'Single of the Week' in the May 10-16 2000 issue of the Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
by guest reviewers the Dum Dums
Dum Dums (band)
The Dum Dums were a British guitar-pop band. London based, they split up in August 2001. The band members were Josh Doyle - vocals and guitar, Steve Clarke - bass and vocals, Stuart 'Baxter' Wilkinson - drums and vocals.-Career:...
who gave the song a perfect five star rating and claimed that it is a "summery, karaoke-pop hit". Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
called "Ysbeidiau Heulog" the best track on parent album Mwng
Mwng
Mwng is the fourth studio album by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals, and the first by the group to have lyrics written entirely in the Welsh language. Mwng was released on 15 May 2000 on the band's own record label, Placid Casual, following the demise of their former label Creation...
and described it as a "decidedly retro number that combines the swingin' sounds of the '60s with some high-tech vocal effects". In a 2006 feature on the Super Furry Animals' back catalogue Incendiary Magazine called the track a "clever slice of pop". In a play on words on the track's meaning in English, Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
stated that "Ysbeidiau Heulog" was Mwng's "sunny interval" and wouldn't feel out of place on 1999's Guerrilla
Guerrilla (album)
Guerrilla is the third studio album by by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced by the band themselves, as regular...
. Both the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
likened the track to the work of Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
with the former calling it "happily woozy" and the latter claiming it is a "spunky, sax-spiked bop". The NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
also placed the track at number 33 in their single of the year
NME single of the year
Every December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best single or track of the year. It was started in 1975. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December 9...
list for 2000. Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
described the track as a "playground free-for-all ... frazzled and psychedelic". Art Sperl, writing for Rock's Backpages
Rock's Backpages
Rock's Backpages is an online archive of music journalism, sourced from freelance contributions to the music and mainstream press from the 1950s to the present day. The articles are full text and searchable, and all are reproduced with the permission of the copyright holders. The database was...
in December 2000, was critical of the track, calling it "flimsy". The track appears on vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
copies of the band's singles compilation album Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1 collects all of the Super Furry Animals singles released between 1996 and 2004 as well as B-side "Blerwytirhwng?" . Songbook... was released in the UK in October 2004, debuting at #18 on the UK album charts...
but is not included on the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release as no music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was made.
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melody Maker Melody Maker Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody... |
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
Single of the week May 10-16 | 2000 | — |
| NME NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... |
Singles of 2000 NME single of the year Every December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best single or track of the year. It was started in 1975. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December 9... |
2000 | 33 |
Tracklisting
All songs by Super Furry Animals.- 7"Single (music)In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
(PLC02)
- "Ysbeidiau Heulog" – 2:52
- "Charge" – 3:19
Personnel
- Gruff RhysGruff RhysGruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
– vocals - Huw BunfordHuw BunfordHuw "Bunf" Bunford is the guitarist in the rock band, Super Furry Animals.-Biography:...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Guto PryceGuto PryceGuto Dafydd Pryce is a bass guitar player in the band Super Furry Animals.The name Guto is pronounced in Welsh....
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Cian CiaranCian CiaranCian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals.Ciaran is the brother of Dafydd Ieuan . He plays keyboards, electronics and occasional guitar, drums, steel drum and vocals...
– keyboards - Dafydd IeuanDafydd IeuanDafydd Ieuan is the drummer with the band, Super Furry Animals and The Peth. He currently lives in Cardiff with his wife Debbie, and their two children Cai and Lleucu....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Gary Alesbrook – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Matt Sibley – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Singles chart positions
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
89 |