Review of Separado! (2010) by Mike M — 24 Jul 2010

Segments of Goch's film feel a little rushed and underdeveloped, an issue perhaps to do with trying to combine tour and shooting schedules... Still, as with the White Stripes' leftfield tour feature "Under Great White Northern Lights", this is a case of a musician going off the beaten track and seeking to engage with something wider then their usual circles: the genial Rhys is tremendously good company throughout, and some of his findings - an Argentinian phone book replete with columns of Williamses; communities with names like Gaiman and Dolavon, stocked with tea shops and daffodils; the brothers Leonardo and Alejandro Jones, straight outta Betsw y Coed - are as unexpected and beguilingly odd as anything to be found on your standard SFA album.

Goch doesn't stray too far from the remit of a record company promo - Rhys's latest, eminently melodic songs are carefully showcased - but "Separado!" might just also be approached as an enjoyably trippy, shambling episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?".

"I was chased by an armadillo," our tourguide confesses at one point, "and I didn't know whether or not it was dangerous.".