A final winter walk around the Lough, on the Southside of Cork City.

A final winter walk around the Lough, on the Southside of Cork City.

When I started at University College Cork, the southside of the City was as unfamiliar as any foreign street.

It often occurred to me on my journey to the college that , once I was across the South Channel of the river, I didn't know what lay in the alleys and avenues all around.
I had no clue what short cuts or scenic routes, hiding places or flat areas for playing football, could be found.
Yet, this wasn't a foreign City. It was the same Cork City.
The houses were the same and the people were the same, they were just built to a different map.

However, there is one thing they don't have on the Northside:

The Lough, a giant pond, a miniature lake in the middle of the city. A sanctuary and home to hundreds of rare birds since the time of Cromwell. Frozen over on New Years Day, when this recording was made, we came on to the Lough from the west, from the UCC side, then turned right and did our circuit.
Click here to download it (Once again let me know how the RTF embedding works out for you.)


Along the way you can hear:

Liam showing us where he fell in as a child,
Young kids getting too close to the water, being pulled back,
A few birds taking their chances with the few thawed patches of water,
Various scraps of conversation between birds and people,
The ice "is like a coffee table, it's that thick",
Some spontaneous words from Liam,
Around 7.00 someone can be heard smashing the ice with a stick, eventually breaking through,
Soon after we met some Indian people who seemed delighted by the novelty of it all,
Next, the sound of stones and other debris being thrown on the ice plate can be heard,
The sound waves vibrating the whole sheet like a tight drumskin,
After, we come to the roadside, where the Sunday Strollers meet the cars,
Finally, we leave the Lough and head back towards Barrack Street and some hot drinks.

Sligo Snow Tea Break

Between the heads is the Ulster Bank. You can't see the hands of Ulster from here but you can see the colour of the sandstone.

Field Recordings no. 1

More recordings from the field in Cork.

First is a great discussion between a couple in the Atlantic Homecare, Blackpool, Cork, about converting inches to feet and whether to check the B&Q sale or not.

The poor man can't handle the browbeating, but the poor woman can't seem to get him interested.
Similar scenes were repeated across the super store.
My dad says the anomie is caused by women encroaching into a traditionally male domain.
More power to them, says I.

Next we have great rock pub Fred Zeppelin's. One of the best pubs of it's type that I've ever been in.
Constantly in flux, yet always the same, almost a metaphor for metal itself.
Recorded, is a nice panoramic hubbub of chatter from just before the gig, you can make out details from a few different conversations happening simultaneously.

Soon the bombastic intro music for local metal heros, Flatline, strikes up.
As I had just seen the documentary "Metal" which heavily featured Megadeth, I found their good natured Mustaineisms not unagreeable.

Download the audio here.

Soupanova

Give yourself willingly to You're Only Massive

Download PDF for offline perusal :::

LIVE FROM H8R H8R: Under The Neon

This video was recorded live at H8R H8R on Monday 3rd August 2009, using just synth drums, vocals and a distortion pedal. The performance is presented unedited and unaltered. It is as it was.



"Under The Neon" the single is available as an itunes download or a 7" vinyl.


Buy the single online: itunes

Buy the 7" vinyl in your local record store in Berlin or at Road Records in Dublin.

LIVE FROM H8R H8R, 3rd Quarter 2009