qurte drfferent. 'l'm tryrng to concentrate on the psychedelra | strll want to make a dance-floor frller, but I don’t go for cheap shots '

Delvrrrg rnto darker areas, one lrne from the album leaps Out 'lt's about trme for brarn surgery agarnl'

'Yeah,’ laughs Carter: ’My mrnd's messed up The musrc ’s a reflectron of that.’ (Rodger Evansr

SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

NME Tent Sat ll Jul.

’lt's been gurte a hectrc day I've been tryrng to buy a washing machrne and rt was a brt stressful,’ observes Gruff Rhys, frontman wrth the Super Furry Anrmals. ’l managed to buy a toaster, but rt took me srx hours to achreve. I went out wrth a hundred thrngs to do, but I ended up gOrng to a record shop rnstead and buyrng loads of records. I'll try agarn tomorrow.’

The reason for these farled attempts at domestrcrty? The Super Furrys' corkrng new srngle, the 'Ice Hockey Harr EP' zoomed rnto the proper, grown-up charts at number twelve, so Gruff can now afford a few of lrfe's comforts.

Actually, the success of ’Ice Hockey Harr’ rs all the more remarkable grven that the trtle track concerns frndrng love rn the face of a really bad harrdo, whrle the B-SIde, 'Smokrn" rs a super- funky hymn to cannabrs.

'If you smoke dope, I suppose rt's a good song for rt,’ concedes Gruff. 'I can rmagrne people drrvrng lorrres to rt

1' IN THE PARK

whilst smokrng a bong.’

Wrrtrng songs for ganJ-crazed truckers rs typrcal of the Welsh band who defy c'ategorrsatron and shy away from berng prgeonholed.

'lt's really problematrc drscussrng scenes,’ explains Gr‘uff ’The Sunday Times sard Mogwar were from Cardrff and we’ve been called a Scottrsh band. But the further away you are from London, the more c'reatrve you can be on your own terms and more open- mrnded to what's happenrng everywhere else rn the world. London does produce a lot of par‘ochral musrc.’

Makrng parochral musrc rs not a problem the Super Furry Anrmals face. Gettrng that damn washing machrne rs much more pressrng.

’I haven’t got a TV,’ says Gruff. ’So I’ll be lookrng at rt gorng round and round.’ (Peter Ross)

LAURENT GARNER

Slam lvluzik Tent, Sat 11 Jul. After hrs phenomenal DJ set at last year’s T rn the Park, Laurent Garnrer, Parrs’ sexrest techno DJ, comes back for more, thrs trme wrth hrs lrve show, an extravaganxa of musrcrans, a troop of fantastrcal dancers and yer man Garnrer rn the mrddle of rt all, twrddlrng knobs lrke nobody’s busrness.

Garnrer, who has JUSI won France’s equivalent of the MerCury prrze for hrs 30 album, could never do Just another anonymous techno grg, and prorectrons are Just so passe .

'People rn the electronrc mu5rc scene

grve such a cold rdea of our musrc,’ he says, speakrng from hrs Parrs studro where he rs Jammrng wrth a new vrolrnrst and vocalrst.

What he wants to do rs personalrse the musrc more and humanrse what, let’s face rt, rs a pretty dull medra to watch. 'USUally electronic shows are Just a coup!e of guys behrnd therr machrnes, wrth therr heads noddrng and them tweakrng knobs, but no-one knows exactly what the fuck they do,’ he says, explarnrng why he’s employed a bunch of people to run around beSrde hrm rn funny costumes. 'You need to grve somethrng a lrttle brt drfferent so people can carry on lookrng on stage rf they want to or maybe they can have a lrttle boogre.’

And the musrc rs drfferent too. The audrence can look forward to frve unreleased workrngs, tracks lrke ’Crrspy Bacon’, 'Acrd Erffel’ and hrs latest release, the awesome ’Coloured Crty’, all strrpped back to the bare samples and reburlt. Each show rs a progressron from the last, workrng towards a full two hour Laurent Garnrer show rn September ’l'm jUSl trying to brrng a drfferent colour to what you can see every day rn techno mu5rc,’ he explarns. (Rory Weller)

FOR FULL T IN THE PARK LINE UP, SEE NEXT

ISSUE OF THE LIST, OUT ON 9 JULY

From left to right Unbelievable Truth share a joke, Monkey Mafia‘s Jon Carter: don of DJs, Darren Emerson: musical futures analyst,

(top) Super Furry Animals: smell the fur burning and (below) Laurent Garnier: France's biggest techno export

INFORMATION

Tickets

T in the Park is at Balado, Perthshire on Sat 11 and Sun 12 July. At the time of going to press there are still some tickets left but if you fancy your chances then buy them soon. Remember that tickets and official camping site places sold out weeks ahead of the gig last year. Tickets can be bought from:

Glasgow

Tickets Scotland, Virgin, Argyle Street, 0141 204 5151 Ticketcentre, Candleriggs, 0141 287 5511

SECC Box Office, Finniestoun, 0141 287 7777

Edinburgh

Tickets Scotland, Virgin, 220 3234 Credit card

Way Ahead 0141 339 8383 Ticketcentre 0141 227 5511

Getting there

The easiest way is by shuttle bus. These depart Glasgow's Buchanan Street Bus Station from 8am on both days of the festival. They start making return trips from 9.30pm onwards. They cost £10 return.

The Edinburgh shuttle leaves from St Andrew's Bus Station from 8.30am on both days of the festival. They start making return trips from 9.30pm onwards. They cost £7 return.

If you must drive then take the main roads to Kinross and follow the T in the Park signs.

Don't leave a mess, don’t try and park anywhere except the official car parks and don’t try any commando camping. Or there’ll be trouble.

Most importantly of all, have a ball.

25 Jun—9 Jul 1998 THE LIST 19