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Barafundle

I bought Barafundle on CD when it was released: a little something Welsh while I was still in Rome. I'd become aware of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci a couple of years earlier, after the release of their Llanfwrog EP, when I heard the track 'Miss Trudy' on the radio, and had thereafter acquired a cassette copy of the Bwyd Time album.

Barafundle is my favourite GZM record, hitting what is for me an ideal balance between the band's weird and whimsical sides. Barafundle Bay is an out-of-the-way beach in Pembrokeshire, and a few of the songs have an uncrowded sea-side feeling about them, including some of my favourites on the record, 'Starmoonsun' and 'Sometimes the Father is the Son', the former featuring a rare outing for the mediæval-style shawm on a pop/rock recording.

Other favourite tracks of mine are 'Heywood Lane', 'Miniature Kingdoms' and 'Hwyl Fawr I Pawb'. Much as I usually enjoy this record, it doesn't suit every mood and there are also occasions where I find myself immune to its subtle magic.

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