The Goats & The Peacock was recorded between 1997 and 1999 - mostly at a shared flat in Stamford Hill. Some of the "classics" from this album such as Papal Bull were recorded during the Christmas period of 1997 under the influence of Tim Buckley, Leonard Cohen and The Danielson Famille.
As I wrote at the time:
"two years in the making, the goats and the peacock had a difficult childhood: materials gleaned from several bouts of recording and rejecting, the split up of a long-time relationship and the infamous dunsmure road sunday jams. contains a much greater proportion of songs and words than anything since the v1.0 tape. also important to the recording of this tape was the introduction of a 12-string guitar (often i actually had eleven strings!) and the use of found sounds on some of the more atmospheric pieces. the final product wasn't actually mixed until i moved into my own flat in blackhorse lane. where do we go from here?"