The Underground of Happiness

More Quarter . Asked and given. In The Nest which is the outdoor section of Coughlans and I could hear the tunes on the way down High Street in the afternoon. Belfast 4-piece. Pleasingly stoner vibe. Major Pavement buzz. Twin guitar attack/glorious jangle. Also featuring nice organ when it decided to work. Some psych wig out action. Sublime. Plus the singer has a lovely falsetto. Occasionally. I already loved Tears in Costa. Hearing it live made my day. Thanks for coming south folks. Listening Face played first. Dan Breen and friends. Dan is one of the best singers I know. Like, a belter. They made an excellent noise. Plus they enjoyed themselves. As did all of us. Thanks Quarter. The Dust Has Come To Stay by Junk Drawer

A spellbinding a capella lament from four young women based between Belfast and Dublin. Ghostly trails of natural reverb hang from long wordless vocal drones. It is traditional but there’s a strong element of avant garde about the treatment. Dissonance. Bent notes. Every audible breath put to use. Medieval sacred choral music comes to mind. Folk music of unknown provenance is invoked. Bulgarian female choirs maybe. The sigh of existence. Bleaching Bones by Landless

You may have noticed Easter happened the other week. We started this week's show with some devotional sounds, first Polar Bear from their new album (intense) then a quite odd effect from Ralph Carmichael courtesy of Trunk Records (always good for the oddness). A few near duets around the middle of the show. The sublime Vic Chesnutt with Emmylou Harris & backed by Lambchop , new music from Arborist with Kim Deal guesting and the recent release from Elephant Micah , another stunning turn with Will Oldham helping out. All under the folk umbrella, all showing great vocal chemistry. New music also from Jon DeRosa , another great duet with Carina Round from his new album; and Rozi Plain , more beautiful kosmische folk from her upcoming 3rd album. Tender Prey (pic) doing great work in the pow wow punk genre. And in advance of Record Store Day 2015 , when Fire Records reissue the first three Close Lobsters albums, 86-89. Always room on this show for superior misty-eyed jan...

In a break with tradition, I've decided to put up an interview without broadcasting an excerpt on the show first. So here's Crystal Stilts speaking to me before they played in Dublin , just over a week ago. The soundcheck was running late when I arrived at the venue (just as well as I was running late myself) – I learned that the band had missed their flight from London earlier in the day. I occupied myself downstairs with a beer and the crossword, while taking note of what passes for hipster in Dublin - it seems to be all about the manicured beards. Presently, the excellently moustached (but far from manicured) keyboard player Kyle found me at the bar and we repaired to the band’s dressing room, which was festooned with fake trophy antlers and period furniture. Kyle fell asleep, citing jet lag, but the rest of the band contributed fully to a discussion of… …the cultural landscape of South Florida (where Brad & JB grew up - it's dominated by beaches and techno, app...