The Underground of Happiness

And so Part 2 of this end of year series. There seems to have been less up tempo electronic music on my radar this year, hence a few crop up in this mostly-guitar set. (There are some ambient and other electronic cuts to come in the final part of the round-up.) Let's not get hung up on that. Enjoy. 1. Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting on you) (4AD) With all due respect to Hozier (who owed a lot in turn to the work of Feel Good Lost, plus maybe ‘Take me to church’ was more of a 2013 thing in any case?) and Kim Kardashian’s buttocks, here was the true thing that broke the internet this year. It showed the power to light up the world of sheer chutzpah – a short, barrel-chested man who can sing his heart out all night and dances like he doesn’t give a fuck who’s watching. On paper those are not the most promising ingredients, perhaps, but Sam Herring turns them into gold, when combined with the thrumming, soaring melodies of Will Cashion and Gerrit Welmers. Funnily enough,...

Debut single from Dublin 4-piece and it’s an absolute belter. The appearance of a 12-string electric alone makes it something of an event but apart from that there’s plenty more goodness in here. The tune itself is a blistering jangle pop gem, channelling equal parts Johnny Marr and Paisley Underground. There’s also a belligerence and bite to it that’s quite delicious. Check these lines – You’re a lost cause, you’re mindless and fickle Ignore your sister, she’s twisted and bitter Leave her alone with the babysitter . It’s most winsome and very clever but not at the expense of memorable hooks. It’s all enough to make you pine for the days when bands like Microdisney and Aztec Camera ruled the airwaves. It would certainly tend to restore your faith in guitar pop.

Another cut off the new Laurie Shaw album this week, along with a long-distance drone from Brisbane's Blank Realm . My favourite new song this week is from Dublin's Death in the Sickroom , a fantastic slice of jangle pop with teeth. More too from The Clientele reissue on Merge and Stars in Battledress with folk/classical gone wrong/right. Recent favourites Sabina, Tennis & Wussy . Plus some very dub-centred electronica from Automat , with a vocal turn from Genesis P-Orridge . More on these pages. June 10 2014 w/ Blank Realm,Laurie Shaw,Death in the Sickroom,Automat,Stars in Battledress++ by Conor O'Toole on Mixcloud The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Playlist 314 Tues June 10 2014 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here http://goo...