The Underground of Happiness

Another bumper crop of Irish music on the show this week. New music from Adrian Crowley with James Yorkston , September Girls , Elastic Sleep , My Pilot and Benny Smiles . Folk to shoegaze and many points in between. A bit of Moondog - every day should have some - and a great song from the new Dean Wareham EP, so good to hear from him again. I've been enjoying the new Piper's Son album very much lately, find more on it on the blog. Beautiful ambient piano work (if that's not a misnomer) from Richard J Birkin . And some dub to finish. Georges Vert taking us into deep space, Bill Callahan more of a funk variety, speaking of fertile dirt, lovemaking and other essential things. More on these pages. Nov 19 2013 w/ Moondog,Adrian Crowley & James Yorkston,Elastic Sleep,Dean Wareham,Bill Callahan++ by Theundergroundofhappiness on Mixcloud The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot....

Plenty of wonky pop on the show this week, of different hues. Just the way it goes sometimes. Julia Holter , wonky in a floaty, enigmatic, showtunes-gone-fringe kind of way; Beaty Heart , more of a psych pop flavour; Piper's Son , very interesting offbeat guitar pop. Bill Callahan was back, taking country music into dub territory; Georges Vert is far out in dub space already; Major Lazer featuring Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig on guest vocals is an insinuating, smouldering slow reggae jam. Room for classic pop too. The Would Be's , top class indie guitar pop; Best Boy Grip , sharp/tender piano-lead power pop; and Dott (pictured), taking the legacy of 60's vocal girl groups and re-shaping it sublimely for 2013. They play Cork this week, their very fine debut album is out next month. More on these pages as always. Nov 5 2013 w/ Dott,The Shaker Hymn,Would Be's,Georges Vert,Beaty Heart,Chin of Britain,Bill Callahan by Theundergroundofhappiness on ...

Chances are many people have never associated Bill Callahan with soul music. There was always plenty of soul in his music of course but it was usually disguised within strains of what is generally called Americana (isn’t soul American too?) – country and folk. On this, his fifth album under his own name (18th when you count Smog), his wry, blackly comic observations are set against the funk. There are bongos and dub echo on ‘Javelin unlanding’ alone. Perhaps he’s just given into a longstanding urge. As if to signal his intentions in fact, the first song ‘The sing’ namechecks Marvin Gaye – “I’ve got limitations, like Marvin Gaye” - although perversely that arrangement is wrapped in a very country confection of fiddle and sumptuous low note electric guitar. Still, it is some kind of signpost. To ‘Spring’, with an ensemble of flute, bongos and authentic blues guitar, which culminates in the fervent line – “all I want to do is make love to you, in the fertile dirt with a ca...

Just got this album today – belatedly, it came out at the beginning of March – and I’ve immediately fallen in love with it. Short and very sweet, with a beautiful breathy voice at the centre, it’s just a joy from start to finish. Bill Callahan crops up twice for vocal support but it’s the beautiful balance of the production that catches the ear most – a US west coast folk sound with a twist of RnB. It’s basically brilliant. For example, the utterly captviating Close to me , which starts like a Led Zep outtake with Stevie Nicks guesting, but soon morphs into something approaching Olivia Newton John’s disco period, only so much better than that might make you think.