release date : AUGUST 16th, 2004

FFA COFFI PAWB, ‘AM BYTH’* is a compilation of songs recorded between 1986 and 1992 principally for those few Ffa Coffi Pawb fans whose tapes have long since been chewed up in cassette machines that were thrown out years ago.
The band recorded 3 albums for the Ankst label, one on their own Siwgwr label and released numerous 12”, flexi-discs and one-off songs on Welsh language compilation albums. This is the first attempt to bring some of those disparate recordings together and is also the first time many of these songs have appeared on c.d. Most of the master tapes are lost, so this collection was mastered direct from a variety of formats; cassette, vinyl, mini disc, dat tapes and of course flexi-disc.

The Ffab 4 formed in Bethesda, North Wales in ’86 and were instantly banned from the local media as their name, which translates literally to ‘Everybody’s Coffee Beans’, phonetically translates to ‘Fuck Off Everybody’. The band split in the summer of ’93 to end their perpetual tour of Wales that was broken only twice by two London pub gigs and a tour of Holland and Friesland. This was only a few months after releasing what is regarded as their finest album ‘Hei Vidal’ in December 1992.

In time vocalist and guitarist Gruff Rhys and drummer Dafydd Ieuan went on to form Super Furry Animals with members of other bands from the imploded Welsh language music scene of the time, Huw Bunford and Guto Pryce from Cardiff’s U.Thant and Dafydd’s brother Cián Ciaran from electronic experimentalists Wwzz.
Guitarist Rhodri Puw joined Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci following John Lawrence’s departure and played on the How I Long to Feel That Summer In My Heart’’ and ‘Sleep/Holiday’ albums. He also records as Psycho VII.
Bassist Dewi Emlyn has toured extensively behind the scenes with numerous bands including Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Super Furry Animals, Mogwai and Cornelius.

* ‘AM BYTH’ translates as ‘FOREVER’

tracks