On RATW the band were given free rein by Sony to indulge their whims. They ended up giving a bunch of friends and associates, including their hairdresser, the chance to get creative with cameras.On RATW the band were given free rein by Sony to indulge their whims. They ended up giving a bunch of friends and associates, including their hairdresser, the chance to get creative with cameras.
One film even featured Uma Thurman's brother dressed as Jesus, Tara Fitzgerald in a forest, and two samurai warriors with wooden swords. And while the end result was a glorious technicolour compendium of style and spectacle, it often detracted from the music.
This time around, for the Phantom Power release they've gone for a more low key approach. Gone are the big productions, and in their place are a series of films that could aptly be used as computer screensavers. So, there's the chance to listen to Liberty Belle while watching sunlight glinting on water, or to look at Gruff Rhys' pixelated face as he sings Hello Sunshine.
So far, so underwhelming. But according to No.Brake, the company that created the DVD, this is half the point: "The best way to watch it is to switch the lights off during the darker hours and get right into that 5.1 zone, relaxing on the floor. Once you let that music sink in you'll start to see a whole lot of interesting things going on around you."
As if to illustrate this, there's an option to listen to the entire album while watching wallpaper changing on the walls of a room in which the only features are a music box and a train track. Twice, during the Father Father instrumentals, the music box opens and a figure pirouettes, and during Out Of Control a couple of pandas trundle along the track in a railroad cart.
Other than that, it's morphing wallpaper all they way. Hey, it's more interesting than watching paint dry, OK?
But the DVD's real strength is the 5.1 surround sound mix. Listening to the discrete channels of the Phantom Power mix is a revelation: voices jump out from speakers, harmonies are laid bare and unexpected percussive elements spring from nowhere.
Most remarkable is Out Of Control, a whirlwind of feedback and vocals, which sounds simply incredible in 5.1. Listening to Gruff Rhys singing "Phantom LIES on the hour" is enough to put chills up the spine of the devil herself.
Similarly, Valet Parking - one of Phantom Power's weakest songs - sounds infinitely better in this new mix. If only they'd opted for something similar on the conventional CD.
Other DVD features include remixes by artists including Brave Captain, Killa Kela and Four Tet; a mock producers' commentary that pokes fun at Hollywood blockbuster DVD extras; between song animations by Pete Fowler and Neil McFarland; and a hidden treat which documents SFA firing the automatic guns on The Undefeated.
Super Furry completists will doubtless find much to enjoy, but for the more casual fan the Phantom Power DVD can be hard going. But anyone with the means to hear music in 5.1 should certainly give it a spin. Venus and Serena understand. Will you?
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