Welsh bands in particular have done well of late, led by the Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia and Super Furry Animals.

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Elsewhere, Neon Neon is the latest project by Super Furry Animals oddball-in-chief Gruff Rhys and producer Boom Bip, so is technically a debut album.

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Off-site children's theatre will include Bank On It, a topical production about economics, while Super Furry Animals singer Gruff Rhys has co-created a theatre show called Praxis Makes Perfect.

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After Super Furry Animals took notice of El Goodo's debut in 2005, the band has been building up their resume by touring in both the UK and stateside with acts like Beulah, Essex Green, and The Zombies.

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And a host of music stars including Bryn Terfel, Katherine Jenkins and rock band Super Furry Animals wrote to the then First Minister Rhodri Morgan in 2006 urging an end to the "postcode lottery" for music lessons.

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In addition to Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, other artists appearing on Dark Night of the Soul include The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy and Admiral Radley, Frank Black of Pixies, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel, and The Gerbils.

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