The Underground of Happiness

The third and final part of my Best of 2018 round up. Some folk sounds. A few soundtrack cuts. Hint of ambient. A share of dream pop. Great memories of 2018 for me. And again it must be said that it was another wonderful year for music in this neck of the woods. Enjoy. Playlist Jessica Risker – I see you among the stars (Western Vinyl) Jim Ghedi – Sloade Lane (Basin Rock Records) Alasdair Roberts, Amble Skuse & David McGuinness – Babylon (Drag City) Jack Hayter – At Crossness Pumping Station (Gare du Nord) Caroline Says – First song (Western Vinyl) The Saxophones – Aloha (Full Time Hobby) Jennifer Castle – Texas (Paradise of Bachelors) Gabriel Naim Amor – Just before revelation (Vacilando ’68) LOMA – Dark oscillations (Sub Pop) Tenniscoats – Ende (Alien Transistor) Spirit Fest – Anohito (Till the gate) (Alien Transistor) Landless – Caoin (Humble Serpent) Kathryn Joseph – we have been loved by our mothers (Rock Action) Low – Always trying...

A selection of miscellaneous favourites from UOH Towers lately. It so happens they tend around the psych/kosmische/dream pop axis for the most part. Also a bit of jazz and instrumental, a children's tv soundtrack (Bagpuss) and a concept piece about WWI survivors (Thankful Villages), for good measure. All new releases. Enjoy. Playlist Todd Tobias & Chloe March – Lillavva (Hidden Shoal) Darren Hayman – Bigby ( Thankful Villages Vol 3 , Belka Records in association with The Arts Council and Caught By The River) Yann Tiersen – Tempelhof (Mute) The Magic Lantern – Darling day (Hectic Eclectic Records) Peace Signs – Satellite Hitori (Gare du Nord) Camera – Super 8 (Bureau B) Lewsberg – The smile Methyl Ethel – Scream whole (4AD) O Emperor – Effort (Big Skin Records) Hilma Nikolaisen – Only me (Fysisk Format) Snapped Ankles – Drink and glide (The Leaf Label) Orchestra of Spheres – Chimes (Fire Records) Harmony Rockets – Atropos (Tompkins Square) Sone ...

******************************************************************************************************** Bill MacKay & Ryley Walker – Spider Beetlebee (Drag City) Beautiful album of bright and bracing guitar instrumentals from this Chicago duo collaboration. The range of styles spanned over the course of just half an hour is a clue to the open mindedness and sense of adventure of both musicians. There’s a real sense of the shared joy in playing about the whole piece. A gorgeous miniature body of work and in many ways perfect music for this time of year. SpiderBeetleBee by Bill MacKay & Ryley Walker Laura Cannell – Lines of copper gold (Brawl Records) Bracing is also a word to describe this blast of overbowed fiddle from Laura Cannell of East Anglia recorded in a semi ruined church from her current album Hunter Huntress Hawker . Call it early music. Improvised. Experimental. It is primal and it is stirring. It feels essential. HUNTER HUN...

A great collection to mark 10 years of the Manchester-based label featuring 25 artists who have graced its releases over that time. My own personal highlights are – the beautiful delicate cello lines of Andy Nice the bracing pre-modern overbowed violin swells of Laura Cannell the compelling folk narratives of The Doomed Bird of Providence the wonderful loops and samples of Sone Institute building guitar slides and phrases with birdsong and electronic pulses. It warms the heart and the ears that this label is alive in the world. LESSONS by Various Artists

Just the way it fell but a bit of a 1980s theme this week. The new Creation Records box set is out on Cherry Red and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy (thanks Ricky). It covers 1983 and 1984, the first two years of the label, and how great it is to hear gems like The Pastels & The Loft . Cardiacs are also being reissued, from 1984, and The Go Betweens from the same year, well we don't need an excuse. Also some winter themes - Laura Cannell , arresting Laura Cannell remixed by Lutine , haunting C Duncan , fantastic misty dream pop Jóhann Jóhannsson , slow moving grandeur Slow Moving Clouds , stringed majesty. And Mikael Tariverdiev , wonderful Russian film music from the 1960s. More on these pages. Dec 1 2015 w Sea Pinks,The Drink,Laura Cannell,Jóhann Jóhannnsson,Go Betweens,Cardiacs++ by The Underground Of Happiness on Mixcloud The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com w...

Autumn music to start the show this week, the classic bittersweet hymn to the changing of the seasons from The Kinks - trumpets, backwards tape, Sunday roast, the whole lot. C Duncan dreaming of winter and Pure Bathing Culture praying for rain. Some excellent drone material in the next section - Owensie with a flamenco guitar flavour, The Leaf Library giving a nod to Yo La Tengo (shakers), Steeple Remove pumping out the motorik jams. Arresting pastoral tones from Laura Cannell ; deep folk from Finland/Ireland by Slow Moving Clouds . And gorgeous chamber pop with a Peeping Tom edge from Paperface . More on these pages. Nov 3 2015 w/ Pure Bathing Culture,SPLH,Owensie,Steeple Remove,HeCTA++ by The Underground Of Happiness on Mixcloud The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Twitter: UndergroundOfHappy Playlist 376 Tues Nov 3 2015 11.00am-12.0...

Another singular Front & Follow release from the English multi-instrumentalist Laura Cannell . The instrument on show in this track is the remarkable sounding double recorder, which seems to combine notes from different registers. The best comparison I can think of is the uilleann pipes with the drone operating underneath the melody line. The effect is something between medieval music and the freaked folk of The Wicker Man soundtrack. A rural sound certainly, a cousin of birdsong but with bracing notes of dissonance. This from the press release sums it up nicely. Tapping the potent rural landscape and long-dormant musical modes, this album encompasses both wild animal calls and long forgotten liturgical chords, which drawn through Laura’s music seem to originate from the same ahistorical place. It’s tremendous and is guaranteed to make you forget about social media for a while. *This second album track showcases Laura’s other main instrument, the violin, ag...

Another compelling release from Mark Kluzek and friends which builds on previous explorations of early Australian colonial history. It is wonderfully atmospheric and evocative, thick with drama and intrigue underscored by sawing strings and rowdy percussion. This treatment gives a kind of doom folk meets cabaret feel, an incongruous but authentic sound very much supportive of the subject matter. For their forthcoming release The Doomed Bird of Providence have been busy developing musical pieces based on one person who perhaps no one would know about were it not for some of the historical reseach taking place in Tasmania. That person is Maria Murray, a woman born into slavery in British Honduras (now Belize) in the early 19th century. Her story took many turns, often for the worst but sometimes for the better. The song ‘Fedicia Exine’ from the band’s first album ‘Will Ever Pray’ is loosely based on her life and that of her child – Fedicia. This EP attempts create a bro...

New music this week from The Doomed Bird of Providence , an English-based folk ensemble who play the songs of Mark Kluzek , an Australian who has been researching his native country's early colonial history for some years and translating it compellingly into song. The new You brought the knife EP traces the life of one Maria Murray, a former slave and convict who forged a new life down under, amid rugged strings and brilliant no nonsense colloquial vocals. Qluster (yes with a Q) is Hans Joachim Roedelius with Onnen Bock and Armin Metz all on piano making gorgeous meditative music which still retains an ambient undercurrent. New/old guitar instrumental from William Tyler , his first EP is reissued on Merge. Laetitia Sadier tours the UK this month, anyone there should check out her sublime cosmic soul from the last album. Virginia Wing are at Liverpool Psych Fest in September, another great live band from what I've heard. The Jean Paul Sartre Experience , classic Flying ...

A special extended 2-hour show this week to usher us back in after the August recess. And there was quite the backlog of stonking new music to get through. Like Wildbirds & Peacedrums , stripping the punk out of punk funk to leave you with something sounding like Nina Simone jamming with LCD Soundsystem. And Caribou , with more delicious deep soul/house grooves. There's some gorgeous new folk cuts from Rachael Dadd, Lutine and Mary Lattimore & Jeff Zeigler finishing this first hour. Some intriguing psych from Brother Earth , and cosmic country from The Asteroid #4 . And kosmische from the debut SlowPlaceLikeHome album, that's a beaut; and the new Laetitia Sadier project, Little Tornados . Like The Fall, she's always the same, always different. Plus a Japanese memory from 1996 by Takako Minekawa , alongside something from her new album with Dustin Wong , the completely unhinged and wonderful slice of wonky pop that is 'She he see feel'. Sep...

Another tune that was floating around my ether over the summer, from the great Front & Follow label based in Manchester. The title track is a wonderful Krautrock concoction, dominated by a motorik bass and phasing synths. There's an epic four-note melody across the middle and some very tasty percussive touches later. It's pleasingly relentless, with a lovely industrial chug about it and seven minutes positively flies by. It reminds a bit of Roll The Dice's post-industrial soundtracks of late, except that this one could rule the dancefloor aswell as offer a compelling 21st century narrative. Full details on Pye Corner Audio at http://www.frontandfollow.com/ . Followers of The Outer Church and TYPE Records will already be familiar. The Black Mist EP by Pye Corner Audio