The Underground of Happiness

Another sublime set of tunes from Craig Fortnam and company which combines folk, kosmische and avant garde classical strands, taking the legacy of former band Cardiacs into fascinating new territory. Woodwind and strings are strong and strident against a hushed motorik rhythm on centrepiece song ‘The British road’, a wonderfully sharp state of the nation analysis of Brexit era Britain – “when will they learn to fight like our men”, “how can I rise if you don’t fall.” These poised swooping strings, along with the cooing woodwind, the signature guitar style of Craig Fortnam – courtly, playful, lithe – buzzing synths and the great pure singing of Craig’s wife Sharon against Craig’s reedier tones provide the core elements throughout. The swoon of ‘Queen of all the day and night’, the cosmic twinkle of the title track, the plain straightforward beauty of ‘Alsace Lorraine’. An inspiring and uplifting set that stirs the heart and brain from one of England’s most consistently...

A wonderful return for ex-Cardiacs man William D Drake joined by friends from North Sea Radio Orchestra and Stars in Battledress among others, combining folk threads with medieval, British dancehall, sea shanties and avant garde musics. You’ll be hard pushed to restrain yourself when you hear opener ‘Distant buzzing’ with an irresisitible stomping rhythm lead by a winning sax honk and endearingly antique lyrics by Mr James Kelsey-Fry. Thereafter, enjoy the shanty swing with melodica of ‘Lifeblood’, the startling slave mutiny anthem ‘Heart of oak’ and the meditative medieval choral atmosphere of ‘Be here steryear’ with Drake’s constantly searching wrongfooting piano chords. ‘The Catford Clown’ comes on like a modern day madrigal, twirling melodies and undefined time signatures, until the breakdowns near the end which countenance heavy metal. By flirting with the spectre of ‘the novelty song’ the scathing satire of the lyric and wonderful instrumental technique are thinly an...

The Scaramanga Six - Cursed (Wrath Records) You'll remember the killer first single from this Sheffield 4-piece's (!) new album was mentioned here previously , the memorable power ballad Autopsy of the mind . Well there's plenty more to love on the rest of the album. Last roll of the dice starts life as a Joey Santiago instrumental before embracing a rousing horn section and massed harmonies. Walking through houses (the one song on the album produced by ex- Cardiacs man Tim Smith , before he was struck by illness in 2008, and to whom the album is dedicated - the full story is on the listening link below) is stalking post-punk masquerading as math-rock. Trouble is three minutes of retribution delivered with a croon. Dark matter is another rousing, brass-lead workout with strong cinematic leanings. The epic Like an insect takes the Kafka scenario literally and wraps it in glockenspiel, toms and a killer chorus. And, as also mentioned previously , closer Spent force comes ...

The new album from The Scaramanga Six , Cursed on Wrath Records , happily arrived during the week. It includes the wonderful single Autopsy of the mind , which has been spoken about here before, and is still available as a free download. The Scaramanga Six - Autopsy of the mind (Wrath Records, single) Top drawer power pop from the Ben Folds school by this Leeds 4-piece. A reflective piano intro gives way to a thudding backbeat, culminating in an acerbic chorus adorned by soaring backing vocals (they also make room to pay "fake brass" homage to Chicago's If you leave me now in the mid-section, a stand-out moment). Catchy as hell and they're giving it away for free. Autopsy Of The Mind by The Scaramanga Six The album has a number of memorable tunes and I'll come back to it in more detail once I've listened through to it for a bit longer. But the last song, Spent force , jumped straight out at me, primarily because it reminds me of prog-pop classic Eye i...

Some more beauties now plucked from the fog of the recent monthly round-up. William D. Drake - Rising of the lights (Onomatopoeia Records) Here's what I know about William D. Drake. He used to be in English band Cardiacs. He's obviously interested in English folk and medieval music - I have a hunch he enjoys silent film soundtracks too. His music is playful and quite surreal, but not at the expense of passion and energy. The instrumental track Ziegler starts like a Buster Keaton chase sequence (with twirling clarinet) before becoming very like the theme tune to (the fondly remembered Irish children's tv programme) Wanderly Wagon . He's a fantastic piano player, who sounds like he'd be right at home with jazz, classical, traditional or any other genre you'd like to throw at him. The song Ornamental hermit concerns the (presumably discontinued, although you never know) practice of wealthy English families keeping a hermit on their grounds. The title of the al...