solstice survived - now hiding out in the countryside until the hue and cry dies down

the last time you heard from horsemouth howard was finishing work (and going for a celebratory pint) and john was coming to visit. now read on...

john has departed but before that horsemouth has removed (by bus, by tube, by expensive part private part state funded railway, by a lift in his brother’s car) to his parents in the green. his brother, his brother’s wife and their two frighteningly tall offspring are here also (but they’re away tomorrow)...

but before all that horsemouth (and some others - howard, myk, mike t, martin) went out to a gig to celebrate the winter solstice - stick in the wheel played (howard pronounced himself most impressed) as well as three other rising folk acts.

sadly horsemouth failed to watch stick in the wheel as he was chatting up a delightful mallorcan girl and a delightful hungarian girl near the front door well away from the action (it was similar to the time he reviewed flux of pink indians from the bar on their uncarved block tour - in about 88 that would have been).

while howard pronounced himself pleased martin remained resolutely unconvinced. as to the other acts broadly people split into two camps - myk and john found themselves in sympathy with the earlier acts, martin and howard less so. jon boden - can play, but not horsemouth’s kind of thing (so he couldn’t comment), laura smyth & ted kemp - horsemouth liked the a capellas (as did john, as did howard), the other things didn’t really do it for him (howard was moaning their accents weren’t poor and downtrodden and northern enough), lisa knapp (andy barnes had come to see her specially) horsemouth quite liked but he was towed off in the direction of more beer.

later they went on to the pride of spitalfields and later still horsemouth made an unconscionable arse of himself (he does hope no one was too offended).

the next day a contrite (if not technically hung over) horsemouth sat with howard while they mixed their recordings from earlier in the year - howard has added a vocal to Sliabh... it all sounds pretty good (he opines modestly) and it all hangs together as a thing. there may be more work to be done on it (or there may not) - horsemouth awaits the rough mixes.

manwhile howard has also been working on the golden glow  - here are two mixes to celebrate the end of the year