'where I would be...' (alula down at carnival records)

horsemouth is back from great malvern  having watched alula down at carnival records. 

but first to get there (and to get back successfully) 

to do this horsemouth had to wrangle the great herefordshire transport system. 

first off he had to get to pontrilas - but fortunately his mum was taking some letters down to nearby ewyas harold to be posted. having helped with this horsemouth wandered off down the road towards pontrilas. (it was a sunny beautiful day so this was no major loss)

but at pontrilas there were roadworks and the bus stop had been closed. at the second bus stop horsemouth discovered that it had been moved to the bus stop outside the saw mill (about half a mile up the main road) and off horsemouth trotted along the motorway, cars whizzing past his ear a grande vitesse (because sad to relate there was no pavement).

at the sawmill a wait (and a chat with a local young man who had had a collapsed lung - he believed as a result of vaping). then the bus to hereford bus garage (45 mins or so) and then a quick walk over to the station. the train over to great malvern (30 mins or so). 

and at the notoriously hilly great malvern horsemouth made his first mistake and (failing to find any maps of the neighbourhood at the station or on the local bus stops) turned the wrong way out of the railway station and headed off downhill (it made sense to him that civilisation would be downhill). he encountered what looked like civilisation but, upon asking, was told that wasn't it. some ladies (care workers) he asked showed him on their phone - but horsemouth headed off the wrong way. about a mile later he had worked out that he had gone wrong and asked again and came into possession of the crucial bit of information (that it was up hill).

and so up the hill it was. 

with the aid of two locals (thank you). horsemouth was eventually on the right track and found church street. he was looking for 83 (carnival records). he saw the sign for it (it was down a back alley). alula down were setting up in a small courtyard, he went and said hi and then killed a little time sitting in the churchyard opposite (in the shade) drinking orange juice.

(would it not just be easier to get a smart phone horsemouth?)

before the gig he bought  their latest lathe cut 10" (as seen above on sonido polifonico). he should have taken the opportunity to pick up more of their stuff on  CD also. as well you know horsemouth's decks are no longer set up. he hasn't played a record in years (matter of fact he has barely played a CD in the last few years). 

so the gig was mostly the material from the 10" and a song from the earlier  st.michael's leyline themed CD apparently many of sites on the leyline are uphill so horsemouth shouldn't feel so bad. 

- the nailmaker's lament (so not a collective subject uttering lament but an individual nailmaker).

- the derby ram is a tale of a prodigious magical beast.

-  katy cruel well you know this one. 

- the smugglers song

at the gig the instrumentation was double bass, uke, violin, voices, foot operated shruti box, some kind of sampling keyboard (mostly loaded with birdsong apparently). there was a decent crowd. great gig. horsemouth really likes what they do. 

anyway after the brief gig. horsemouth said his goodbyes and scooted off to the railway station. there he jumped almost immediately on a train and arrived back in hereford to discover that he had missed the 1620 bus out by about 10 minutes. this meant he had to wait for the last bus out at 1820 (saturdays). he walked across town to the oxfam but the third volume of ltc rolt's autobiography had vanished into the stacks and so he wandered back. 

he hid in the pub next to the wetherspoons (hogarth's similar but with music) and nursed a pint. the following songs were played teenage kicks, a-ha (take me on), barbie girl, zombie nation, hey jude, common people (pulp). 

and then to the bus to pontrilas (together will some initially rowdy but later sleepy dudes who had been in the pub earlier) and lift from his mum back to the homestead. 

tonight at 6pm on RTE lyric fmRTE lyric fm a show in honour of  michael o'shea (inventor of the mo' chara). horsemouth does not know if it will be archived anywhere (if it is he'll put up a link to it). 

if horsemouth were truly keen he'd be off to milton keynes to see stick in the wheel who are appearing today as part of a celebration of the astronomical alignment of one of the roads. .

anyway. breakfast.