a chapter from an historical novel

'There is nothing better than the hackney road, at least not in the seaside towns; for there it is everything. What does this street – the beauty of our seaside towns – not shine with! I know that not one of its pale and clerical inhabitants would trade the hackney road for anything in the world. Not only the one who is twenty-five years old, has an excellent mustache and a frock coat of an amazing cut, but even the one who has white hair sprouting on his chin and a head as smooth as a silver dish, he, too, is enchanted with the hackney road. And the ladies! Oh, the ladies find the hackney road still more pleasing. And who does not find it pleasing? The moment you enter the hackney road, it already smells of nothing but festivity.' - adapted from gogol's 'the nevsky prospect' (a short story much concerned with mustaches).

the last time horsemouth and howard were in the pub (slightly over a week ago) howard opined that the beard (as social phenomenon and facial appurtenance) was dying back - nevertheless horsemouth could immediately count 7 in the beer garden.

horsemouth has been reading gogol and has to modify his previous opinion - gogol’s technique works with/ against just about any type of material - it is just that the recognisably modern world of the nevsky prospect and the overcoat is closer to us  than the ukrainian tales ( flying to st. petersberg on the back of a devil to steal the tsarina's shoes). (he has been neglecting the return of the political - chantal mouffe for a gogol compilation).




two and a half hours of john fahey

and his label takoma records - commencing with fahey playing 'in christ there is no east or west' ending out with robbie basho playing 'mountain man's farewell'. along the way there's harry taussig, homegas, bukka white, leo kottke, robert 'pete' williams, peter walker, bola sete, richard ruskin, william ackerman, six organs of admittance, cul-de-sac and calexico.