The Underground of Happiness

A 2 hour show that went out on Mar 1st 2021 on UCC98.3FM. One in a series of occasional Lockdown Specials. Lot of new releases in this one, lot of good tunes. Enjoy x Playlist 1. The Chills – You’re immortal (Fire) 2. The Chills – Monolith (Fire) 3. Buffet Lunch – The power of rocks (Upset the Rhythm) 4. Cathal Coughlan – Owl in the parlour 5. The Hamrahlid Choir – Sonnets (One Little Independent) 6. Boa Morte – By the time 7. Colleen – Gazing at Taurus-Santa Eulalia (Thrill Jockey) 8. Lucy Gooch – Ash and orange (Fire) 9. Sarah Neufeld – Stories (One Little Independent) 10. Cory Hanson – Paper fog ( Drag City) 11. Jack Cheshire – Tiny hands (Loose Tongue Records) 12. Esther Rose – Keeps me running (Full Time Hobby) 13. M Ward – You’ve changed (ANTI) 14. Sam Brookes – 18 and sleeping 15. Goose – Viper 16. Dntel – Fall in love (Morr Music) 17. Ed Dowie – Number Eight wire (Needle Mythology) 18. Nation of Language...

This is quite the departure for anyone familiar with the last two albums by Colleen . Those featured prominently the viola da gamba, a Renaissance instrument not a million miles from a cello. In Colleen’s hands though it shook off any hint of baroque, instead zoning in on a kind of musique concrete taking loops and cut ups and field recordings and fashioning them into meditations on the elements and the natural world. There are no strings at all on the new album ( A flame my love, a frequency , due in October), ditched in favour of Moog pedals and Critter and Guitari synthesizers of all things. The lyrical themes show a certain thread mind you and the overall impression is of a fragile and trancelike brand of kosmische. Her voice is once again awash in echo while the backing shimmers and pulses insistently. It has very much the feel of chance music about it as the moog arpeggios skitter off in a thousand different directions. In keeping with those elemental medita...

We lead off with Low and Colleen this week, two artists coming to Cork later this year. 'Just make it stop' is the most glorious, soulful song of the year, while the whole of the Colleen album, The weighing of the heart , is like a treasure trove of found sounds magically coalescing into poetic musical works. There's a review of the album on the blog. More also from The Last Sound and Eat Lights Become Lights , both keeping the motorik pulse alive and well in 2013. There was Oliver Cole sounding just like a 'Little wolf' (wah-ooo), some great scattergun pop from Kiran Leonard , sun-baked folk from Plankton Wat and very endearing blue-eyed soul from Hero & Leander . And Halves , from their sublime new album Boa Howl . We'll have an interview with them on the show next week. June 25 2013 Show w/ Oliver Cole,Halves,The Last Sound,Colleen,Eat Lights Become Lights,Little Bear+ by Theundergroundofhappiness on Mixcloud The Underground of...

The first album in 6 years from Cécile Schott aka Colleen brings an intriguing earthy spiritualism and a meditational atmosphere built around a core of layered hushed vocals, circling classical guitar and viola de gamba motifs. The sense of meditational music is only added to by the use of toy gamelan, bells and chimes. The album unfolds as a series of vignettes or episodes based around pastoral settings – ‘Push the boat onto the sand’, ‘The moon like a bell’, ‘Humming fields’. I love the way ‘Push the boat...’ develops a lovely flowering arrangement, gathering loops of vocals and plucked strings before stripping back again. The brilliant combination of woodwind, drum and shakers on the instrumental ‘Going forth by day’. On ‘Breaking up the earth’, the pairing of tuned drums and high-toned plucked strings, with under the breath humming making for quite a shamanic display. And the burst of church organ two-thirds way through ‘Moonlit sky’ after an opening of oboe and plucked strings...