The Underground of Happiness

Storming backbeat with an irresistible motorik pulse... ...and the irrefutable presence of what sounds very like an air raid siren. Complete with dancefloor breakdowns. Lovely laid back jangle pop guitar which works for some reason. And David Byrne style delivery. Plus they’re from Manchester. It’s all good. https://soundcloud.com/melodic-records/w-h-lung-want

A great collection to mark 10 years of the Manchester-based label featuring 25 artists who have graced its releases over that time. My own personal highlights are – the beautiful delicate cello lines of Andy Nice the bracing pre-modern overbowed violin swells of Laura Cannell the compelling folk narratives of The Doomed Bird of Providence the wonderful loops and samples of Sone Institute building guitar slides and phrases with birdsong and electronic pulses. It warms the heart and the ears that this label is alive in the world. LESSONS by Various Artists

Another gorgeous helping of late night lounge love songs smouldering with desire and longing. There are a couple of new songs. Some recycled. And the majority live from last year’s tour of Future Standards . The great news is the central presence of Lonna Kelley who is becoming a regular collaborator of Gelb’s. Her persuasive voice mercifully free of vibrato is a wonderful foil to Gelb’s insinuating melodies. The two new songs ‘Presumptuous’ and ‘All you need to know’ are both worthy additions to Gelb’s epic canon of work and to the body of the classic American songbook. What’s also fascinating is to ponder how Tucson – a part of the US you might associate with the Mexican border and country music and what might be called Americana or folk or roots – can give rise to this convincing blend of jazz and blues and maybe Gershwin. Amounting to a brand of lounge that detours in a carefree manner around the dreaded Easy Listening label. That is to say they contain a ...

There’s a kinda core of lounge music at the heart of this week’s show. Howe Gelb has expanded on last year’s Future Standards album with the wonderful Lonna Kelley joining him for some new songs and a few updated. Check that for the voices alone, the sumptuous backing is a bonus. The late Andy Williams has always had a lot of love round here. Here he is with a gorgeous arrangement of a classic. And some great Italian jazz from Armando Trovajoli . Brilliant and thanks to Trunk Records for the tip. As we’re at it let’s throw Lee Hazlewood into that basket too. From his masterful Swedish soujourn in 1970. Tenniscoats , a different kind of lounge, a beautiful drifting naive folk pop one. And Loma . Not lounge per se. But slow moving and weighty and absolutely compelling. More on thesepages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Twitter: U...

A lovely slice of psych with a small p pop from the band lead by David Thayer which draws collaborations from such as Laetitia Sadier (Thayer is also part of the Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble ), John Herndon of Tortoise and Giorgio Tuma. On this single Caroline Sallee of Caroline Says sings her own lyrics while chorusy guitars cavort analogue synths swoop and field recordings of birds flit in and out. It comes across like a chilled but insistent Sterolab offcut with the bass in particular beautifully high and close and warm in the mix. Sumptuous and slinky.

There’s a wonderful weight to this music. Could be the weight of longing. Or regret. Or desire. Maybe even fear. But the air is thick with it. It is Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater with Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record . It is the kind of song that could haunt your waking hours.

A new project to mark your cards with on the show this week. Loma is Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater , with Emily Cross & Dan Duczynski of Cross Record . Together they make some wonderful slow moving weighty sounds. A little ambient. A little epic. They would remind you a bit of the great Low , who are in here too, as well as Old Fire with an interesting cover of a Low song. Chloe March is back with a new album which is great news – stunning rarefied synth compositions with layers of her remarkable voice. Plus still not sick of the marvellous 'Semicircle song' from The Go! Team . More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Twitter: UndergroundOfHappy Playlist 469 Tues Nov 21 2017 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here ...

Bonny Doon sounding like an in their 20s Silver Jews with the poetry and the guitars and the wonderful bittersweet stance on life. The tone is laconic self deprecating. But full of emotion in between the lines. The poetry of these says it all - liquor store slippery floor I saw my reflection in a bottle of wine like a neon sign And especially this coup de grace – I got a couple of texts from my mom one said happy birthday and the other one was a smiley face a sideways heart xoxo we miss you won’t you come on home Meanwhile the guitars and drums keep a stoic presence. It's soulful in the way white people can sometimes be. It’s a very beautiful thing.

Something I’ve been thinking about for a while is a cello themed show. Well a little preview in the middle of this week’s show. Penny Rimbaud was in Crass and has made a very interesting new album of treatments of Wilfrid Owen’s war poems, featuring some gorgeous piano and cello. I wouldn’t call it backing, it’s more like a jazz trio with one of the parts being a voice. Also in there is the Andy Nice contribution to the Front & Follow compilation celebrating 10 years in the world, beautiful loops and layers. And Solo Collective teasing out the durational element of this endlessly fascinating instrument. Little Tornados making beguiling dream pop featuring Caroline Sallee of Caroline Says . Who is in there in her own right with one of my favourite songs of the year somehow bridging the gap between bossa nova and kosmische. And Bonny Doon sounding like a young 20s Silver Jews with the poetry and the guitars and the wonderful bittersweet stance on life. More on the...

Centrepiece of this week’s show was a little piece of an interview with Kramies who has a new single out now on Hidden Shoal . He’s an interesting guy and has worked with plenty of other interesting people – Jason Lytle and Todd Tobias to name a couple. Also this week we had euphoric prog pop from Montero . Sumptuous lounge music from Howe Gelb with the brilliant Lonna Kelley . Bonkers and charming naive pop from Tenniscoats . And klezmer jazz from Berlin 1941 courtesy of the great Lift it up compilation on Gut Feeling . More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Twitter: UndergroundOfHappy Playlist 467 Tues Nov 7 2017 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here goo.gl/koM2Te Playlist Montero – Vibrations ( playing Vicar Stre...