AMGUEDDFA LLWCH

NHS and WHO guidelines for hand-washing state that soap and water are sufficient, provided that washing is thorough and the rubbing/lathering stage is performed for a minimum of 20 seconds. With this in mind, The Master Musicians of Dyffryn Moor hereby present a selection of hand-washing aids.

Each track features an introductory gong sound, followed, five seconds later, by 20 seconds of music.

1. Wet hands with water
2. Apply enough soap to cover all hand surfaces
3. When the music begins, commence rubbing hands, palm to palm
4. Rub back of each hand with palm of other hand with fingers interlaced
5. Rub palm to palm with fingers interlaced
6. Rub with back of fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked
7. Rub each thumb clasped in hand using a rotational movement
8. Rub tips of fingers in opposite palm in a circular motion
9. Rub each wrist with opposite hand.

Continue steps 3-9 until the music stops. Then:

10. Rinse hands with water
11. Use elbow to turn off tap
12. Dry thoroughly with a single-use towel.

A visual guide is included in the download.

Where were you at 11pm on 31 January 2020, as the United Kingdom left the European Union, 47 years after accession to the European Communities? Were you out in the streets, gleefully setting off fireworks and singing patriotic songs in celebration of 'getting your country back'? Perhaps you were watching the horror unfold from the safety of your own home, still furious and baffled at what was happening. Some of us were sitting quietly at home, eating biscuits. Some were trying to get home, some were late-night shopping, some were in the pub, some had retreated deep into the woods.

Following an open call for submissions, 25 sound artists around the UK recorded their immediate environment during the transition, taking in a few minutes before the 11pm deadline and a few minutes after. Some of the resulting recordings, taken at face value, seem uneventful, but what they do capture is hugely significant. Can we hear the transition? Does an oppressed nation ruled by unelected EU bureaucrats suddenly become a sweet, sonically-fragrant land of sunlit uplands? Or do the birds stop singing as the gates close on an open, tolerant society with freedoms, protections and standards, immediately turning it into a dreary, small-minded, monotone backwater? The reality, of course, is that there is no audible change, but it is true that the river at the start of Psmith's contribution is a different one to that at the end, whether it sounds the same or not. What happens to that river – and the woods, the roads, the people – in the coming months and years, only time will tell.

The curator's politics are well documented elsewhere, but for this release he has tried to remain a neutral observer. Some artists have been more outspoken with their track titles than others, but all have captured something important. The result is a poignant document of the most nationally significant moment in many of our lifetimes to date.

Money raised from the release will be donated to the Welsh Refugee Council, a charity organisation devoted to helping and empowering refugees and asylum seekers start a new life in Wales.

1. A spell to protect the NHS from those who seek to destroy it (4:19)
2. A hex on those who seek to destroy the NHS (8:47)

1. The greatest trick the Tories ever pulled was convincing working class British voters, who feel left behind, to blame the EU & immigrants for their troubles while also convincing them to continue voting for the very party actually responsible.

2. How could it not make you angry, and I mean deep down gut-clenched angry, to know this Government has spent the last 8 years easing taxes on the rich & turning a blind eye to the billions the country loses every year to tax havens & then fining the homeless for having nothing?

3. With every fibre of my being, I hate what is happening to my country. Liars, self interested disaster capitalists and charlatans have hijacked political discourse. We are headed to armageddon but none of those advocating for this will be hurt and they do not care for anyone else.

4. The revolting hypocrisy of Tory MPs & ministers posing for food banks. Their austerity policies, ‘welfare reform’, delayed payments & sanctions have engendered hunger & destitution. From 42,000 food bank users to 1.2m in 8 years. Pyromaniacs taking selfies at their own fires.

A1. Bendithgan y Mastiau Ffôn (Blessing of the Phone Masts)
A2. Swyn i Atal Toriadau i Wasanaethau Llyfrgell (A Spell to Ward Off Cuts to Library Services)
A3. Y Cynfas-farch (The Canvas Horse)

B1. Codi’r Tatws Cynnar (Picking the Early Potatoes)
B2. Dod o Hyd i Bornograffi yn y Coed (On Discovering Pornography in the Woods)

C1. Dawns Gwaith Atgyweirio Hewlydd ar Ddiwedd y Flwyddyn Ariannol #2 (End of Financial Year Roadworks Dance #2)
C2. Rhoi’r Biniau Allan (Putting the Bins Out)
C3. Seremoni Cau Cangen Wledig y Banc (Rural Bank Branch Closure Ceremony)

D1. Gwledd Ymddangosiad David Gray (Feast of the Apparition of David Gray)
D2. Dawns Gwaith Atgyweirio Hewlydd ar Ddiwedd y Flwyddyn Ariannol #1 (End of Financial Year Roadworks Dance #1)*
D3. Cerddoriaeth Angladdol (Funerary Music)*

*vinyl only - not available on digital formats.