The Underground of Happiness

new music for the new year enjoy x Playlist 1. BMX Bandits – Long forgotten summer (Tapete Records) 2. Arborist – Dreaming in another language (Kirkinriola Records) 3. Danny Carroll – Affection (bandcamp) 4. David Brewis – Surface noise (Daylight Saving Records) 5. Hiro Ama – Ultramarine (Silent Way) 6. POZI – Failing (PRAH Recordings) ( playing Shacklewell Arms, London, Feb 3 ) 7. The Notwist – Sans soleil (Morr Music) 8. Death and Vanilla – Looking glass (Fire Records) ( playing The White Hotel, Manchester, Apr 22 ) 9. Amber Arcades – Odd to even (Fire Records) ( playing The Hug & Pint, Glasgow, Feb 5 ) 10. Decisive Pink – Haffmilch holiday (Fire Records) 11. Faten Kanaan – Florin Court (Fire Records) 12. Gemma Rogers – The great escape (Tiny Global Productions) 13. Ghost Woman – The end of a gun (Full Time Hobby) ( playing The Lexington, London, March 8 ) 14. Boa Morte – Hard to know (Gare du Nord) 15. Josephine Foster – Pendulum (Fire Records) 16. ...

Final instalment of my favourite music of 2022. Cork. Limerick. Waterford. Kerry. Glasgow. Dublin. New Orleans. Melbourne. Leipzig. Nottingham. Copenhagen. Tokyo. Harrogate. Brussels. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. Fuxa feat Britta Phillips – Help me please (Rocket Girl) 2. Henrik Lindstrand – Gammafly (One Little Independent) 3. Julie Odell – Cardinal feather (Frenchkiss Records) 4. Keeley Forsyth – I stand alone (The Leaf Label) 5. Bróna McVittie – Living without you (Company of Corkbots) 6. Miss Grit – Follow the cyborg (Mute) 7. Mitski – The only heartbreaker (Dead Oceans) 8. Monolithe Noir feat Jawhar & Mirabelle Gilis – Barra bouge (Capitane Records) 9. Mt. Misery – The time it takes (bandcamp) 10. Naima Bock – Every morning (Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction) 11. Núria Graham – The catalyst (Primavera Labels/New Deal/Verve Forecast/Universal) 12. Oh No Noh – Drift (Teleskop) 13. Robert Sotelo – Above (Upset The Rhythm) 14. Sinéad O’Brien – Holy c...

Another batch from end of year compiling. Some you may have heard of. Some you probably haven't. Enjoy them all. x Playlist 1. BJ Cole – Ely revisited (Tompkins Square) ( Luke Schneider Presents Imaginational Anthem vol. XI : Chrome Universal - A Survey of Modern Pedal Steel ) 2. Yuko Kono – Ginger (Morr Music) ( Minna Miteru 2 ) 3. Jimi Tenor – Lifehugger (bureau b) 4. L.A. Salami – Desperate times, mediocre measures (Sunday Best Recordings) 5. Shake Chain – RU (Upset The Rhythm) 6. The Umlauts – Sweat (PRAH Recordings) 7. Etienne Jaumet & Fabrizio Rat – Visione pop (bureau b) 8. Aoife Nessa Frances – Emptiness follows (Partisan Records) 9. Marina Allen – Or else (Fire Records) 10. Telefís feat Sean O’Hagan – Space is us (Dimple Discs) 11. Yosa Peit – Anthy (Fire Records) 12. The Burning Hell – Dirty Microphones (BB*Island) 13. Modern Studies – Geese (Fire Records) 14. Bjork – Sorrowful soil (One Little Independent) 15. The Orchids – This boy is...

The first instalment of tunes that caught my ear last year. A combination of albums I played a lot and one off tracks that stuck with me. Call them earworms. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. Harmonious Thelonius – Soft opening machine (bureau b) 2. Ghost Power – Asteroid witch (Duophonic Super 45s) 3. Astrel K – Is it it or is it I (Duophonic Super 45s) 4. Albertine Sarges – Hold on (Moshi Moshi) 5. Chalk – Velodrome (Dutch Tilt) 6. Chewy She – Mustard (Chewy She) 7. Donna Thompson – Be with you (PRAH Recordings) 8. Guerilla Toss – Cannibal capitol (Sub Pop) 9. Josephine Foster – Hum menina (Fire Records) 10. Junk Drawer – Tears in Costa (Art For Blind Records) 11. L’Exotighost – Exotique mecanique (Everlasting Records) 12. Rozi Plain – Help (Memphis Industries) 13. Silverbacks – A job worth something (Full Time Hobby) 14. splint – Military procedures (Nice Swan) 15. Sprints – Literary mind (Nice Swan) 16. The Garbage and The Flowers – Eye know who you are (Fire...

For those of you who prefer the long read format, here are all 30 chapters plus bonus in one piece...enjoy x I'm going to post out some thoughts on live shows I was at this year. I'll put them out between now and the end of the year. It's a bit of an experiment because, unlike whenever I've written live reviews^ before, this time (for the most part) I was writing at a remove of many months. These were not thoughts I put down at the time of the gig. So these are thoughts dependent on memory - I suppose all thoughts are but with these ones longer term memory - in that whatever I've written consists of impressions that have stayed with me over time. I like the idea of forcing myself to depend on memory this way. It might create a different kind of review. Less detail probably, but heavier on general currents, patterns, trends. Shorter (good says you). Plus it would presumably incorporate more of an overview of all the shows together. Because, whether these arti...