0.00 - Dubh Linn Blues
3.43 - Old Croghan Man (Seanfhear Chruacháin)
9.57 - Clonycavan Man
11.59 - Stiletto in the Ghetto
15.29 - Arch/Gate
16.40 - Faiche Stiabhana pt. 1
18.20 - Faiche Stiabhana pt. 2
20.23 - Asleep in the Peat (Kingship and Sacrifice)

DV56

Dear reader/listener,

In November 2013 I had the pleasure to travel Ireland and perform two concerts that Gavin Prior of the Deserted Village label had kindly arranged. Gavin also had the brilliant idea to rent a rehearsal space for a few hours, so we could jam together and possibly record something. The space in question was located downstairs from a martial arts club, so each time we took a little break from playing, we could hear the thudding sounds of people hurling each other around whilst training judo or karate or something. Apparently soon after my visit the place was closed down because somebody crashed though the ceiling!

We jammed for a few hours, me mostly behind a rudimentary drumkit and Gavin playing either his specially customized fretless bass or a junk shop guitar. Back at home, I edited the material down to what I thought was a coherent entity and added some overdubs. Gavin overdubbed some bass on "Clonycavan Man" and his friend Fergus Cullen added saxophone on "Old Croghan Man (Seanfhear Chruachain)" and "Stiletto in the Ghetto".

The track titles draw from various sights in Dublin: "Stiletto in the Ghetto" is a nickname given to The Spire of Dublin, "Faiche Stiabhna" is the Irish name for the park St. Stephens Green and "Arch/Gate" refers to the Fusiliers' Arch - also known as Traitors' Gate - that leads into the said park.

"Old Croghan Man" and "Clonycavan Man" are the names given to the two bog bodies that are on display at the National Museum of Ireland. "Asleep in the Peat (Kingship and Sacrifice)" is another reference to the bog bodies and human sacrifices that were carried out in Ireland during the Iron Age.

Perhaps this somewhat gruesome imagery affected the music, which I jocularly labelled as "Fenno-Hibernian Pagan Jazz". The cover shot features a skeleton of a male Megaloceros giganteus (a.k.a. The Irish Elk) that's on display at the Natural History Museum in Dublin. To commemorate these magnificent creatures which once roamed across the Irish landscape the release was dubbed "An Lá na Beann" - "The Day of The Antler" - a title I nicked from a La Monte Young bootleg recording. Finland too has its share of peat bogs, but the Irish bogs seem to be full of sacrificed people and skeletons of long-extinct animals!

The 23 minutes of material I pieced together was originally released as a cassette tape. The edition was limited to about 25-30 copies. These were mailed to a number of friends and acquaintances, plus to a few random people. With this new, unlimited digital edition I hope the music gains more listeners.

That's it from me! Thanks Gavin, thanks Fergus. And a secret handshake to Marko V. for a fix. Also very special thanks to the guys from The Jimmy Cake with whom I had the pleasure and privilege to perform in Ireland.

Tammela, September 2017.

J.K.H.