photos from France

Just got a package from Inge in S. France, including some recordings of her band 'Farat El Moultazov' and some photos from my recent visit.

me and Inge, Les Hourquets, March '05 - Listen Here
Colin (drumming on bucket), Inge, me and Joel - Colin appears to be having his life-force extracted through his right eye by the alien entity which has caused the lower-left corner to burst into flames with a swooping energy-ray. Or were we just sitting around a fire?

We all travelled together with the Dongas in Cornwall from 1997 to 2000. Joel and Sarah (not pictured) have now bought a place in the Pyrennees, and Colin was visiting to lend a hand sorting the place out, so we went up to visit and play some music. Despite being pictured with a guitar above, Joel is an absolutely fantastic hurdy-gurdy player, once part of Red Dog Green Dog, and winner of various prizes at the San Chartier festival (hurdy-gurdy Mecca). He's now teaching traditional French hurdy-gurdy to French people, as well as playing in Inge's band.

Joel, foot-on-monitor, heavy metal style (actually it's his hurdy-gurdy case, I think)
These pictures reminded me that I had a few rather nice minutes of saz and hurdy-gurdy which we recorded in a caravan in a muddy field in Dorset very late one night last December, so I've uploaded them to the archive:
Listen Here