The Underground of Happiness

If the out there New Zealander’s second album is a trip to the outer galaxies of Deep Funk, this is the luscious, succinct theme tune. Glassy guitars, a sensual vocal of Prince proportions and an insidious tune make this essential romantic music. Mention as well to the album’s lead single ‘I’m the man, that will find you’ which is strange and wonderful in equal measure. Its combination of falsetto with on-helium singing makes the title refrain seem like the kind of creepy promise you might feel compelled to (probably ill-advisedly) encourage.

A few themes on this week's show, kicking off with the garage pop two-punch of Dott and Crystal Stilts . Mmm. SlowPlaceLikeHome plays Cork tomorrow and Keith Mannion of SPLH I know is partial to a bit of Connan Mockasin , who is doing the filthiest impression of Prince since Prince was Prince. Then husband and wife, kind of. The wonderful Britta Phillips guest sings on the last song of the latest Fuxa album, brilliantly refashioning the Mike Nesmith classic 'Different drum' (seguing from Randall Niemann's 'Stand by me'). And she's married to Dean Wareham who has a new EP out, the first under his own name, solo like. Britta plays bass on it and (I think) sings too. It's great. Then a kind of mid-show, broadly folk theme. The Doomed Bird of Providence chart early Australian immigrant experience through song - compelling and not for the faint of heart. littlebow (lowercase) ply a beguiling brand of folk exotica. And Dan Haywood is a songwr...

So we've had our summer here in Ireland, in the shape of an Easter heatwave. Normal service has been resumed now in the shape of rain (sometimes wholehearted downpours, sometimes a cheeky drizzle, just for variety). More great music to listen to (indoors) this month, with chamber pop particularly to the fore. But you'll also find orchestral, psychedelic, garage-rock and IDM flourishes, among others, below. What's a pop music tag between friends anyway. All albums, unless otherwise noted. The Doomed Bird of Providence - Will ever pray (Front & Follow) It's quite unusual to find an album that is the result of, in effect, a research project. What a bonus when the music has a mysterious and compelling quality (although we partly guessed as much based on the band's fine eponymous EP of last year). The research in question, by singer Mark Kluzek, focuses on early Australian history and reveals harrowing tales of death and delinquency in the inhospitable tropics an...

Connan Mockasin - Forever dolphin love (Full length original) (Because Music, single) A genuinely mind-bending and envelope-pushing addition to the canon of surreal New Zealand pop. Atonal piano string arpeggios, followed by the fusion of several high-pitched synth drones, before falling away to be replaced by jam-room bass and drums introducing some lovely woozy guitars. That's just the prelude. At that point the tune kicks in with underwater atmospherics around a chillout drumbeat and high tone bass sound. Plus the vocal has an outer space character as befitting a lyric about inter-species amour. It sounds ridiculous on paper but believe me it's completely convincing in the flesh. It's intriguing, slightly haunting and makes you want to press play again and again. (Stay around for the full 10-minutes of very strange theatre below.) *As for the rest of the album, experimentation is never for its own sake or at the expense of catchy hooks. For example, the sublime tr...

The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Playlist 171 Tues Apr 12th 2011 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) Cork Campus Radio, 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/ccr *listen back to this show at http://rapidshare.com/files/457071633/UOH_Podcast_Apr_12_2011.mp3 Playlist Agnes Obel - Riverside ( playing Sugar Club, Dublin, Apr 16 ) The Phoenix Foundation - Flock of hearts ( playing Forbidden Fruit Festival, Dublin, June 4 ) Connan Mockasin - Forever dolphin love (radio edit) ( playing Tripod, Dublin, May 15, w/ Warpaint ) Warpaint - Undertow (radio edit) ( playing Tripod, Dublin, May 15, w/ Connan Mockasin ) The Go! Team - Apollo throwdown Land Lovers - The conema bell ( playing Crawdaddy, Dublin, Apr 30, w/ Wave Pictures ) Damon & Naomi - Shadow boxing ( playing Cube Cinema, Bristol, May 14 ) Steve Mason - All come down ( playing Bu...