The Underground of Happiness

Press releases can be interesting. Especially ones that namecheck Nelson Riddle arrangements and the golden age of 50s crooners (sound reminiscient of), La Monte Young (studied under), Alan Sparhawk of Low (previous recordings with), Stephin Merritt (co-writer on this album) and Lydia Lunch (tour partner). An itinerary that's intriguing you'll agree. So is the music. Jon DeRosa moved to Los Angeles recently and even though this album was largely recorded in his former home of Brooklyn, there’s a distinct flavour of the west coast about the sound. Take the delirious mariachi of ‘When Daddy took the treehouse down’ (co-written with Merritt), the glistening guitars of ‘The sun is crying’, a kind of drunken wedding waltz, the open skies of ‘Coyotes’ where the big guitar riff calls to mind, dare I say, U2 from around The Joshua Tree era – appropriate perhaps given DeRosa has apparently taken to frequenting such ancient natural landmarks (fear not Bonophobes, the similaritie...

Two of my favourite albums over the last few months were in this week's show. Death & Vanilla play a wonderfully delicate brand of psych pop, haunted and gorgeous equally. And Jon DeRosa whose new album is a dream of crooning dream pop with unsettling undertones, not a million miles from the tone confusion you find with music in David Lynch films. Brilliant. Stump reformed in secret to play a show in Cork last weekend, any excuse to dip into their back catalogue. Three outstanding female innovators in pop music at the heart of the show - Circuit des Yeux, Holly Herndon & Bjork . Majestic if broken/industrial orchestral offerings from Beck & Roll The Dice . And soulful, cosmic, motorik beauties from The Great Balloon Race & Vinyl Williams . More on these pages. May 26 2015 w/ Circuit des Yeux,Holly Herndon,Stump,Roll the Dice,Jon DeRosa,Bjork,TGBR++ by The Underground Of Happiness on Mixcloud The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop mu...

We’re not doing a Christmas special as such this year, but I will slip in a few songs of the season before we take a break for the holidays. So we had Johnny Cash singing a June Carter song, Darlene Love with an incomparable wall of sound and Dean & Britta with some gorgeous dream pop. In one way or another, all three songs are about a return to another time or place, some kind of home. New music wise, The Great Balloon Race , a fantastic Cork band whose debut album is just out, also Adrian Crowley, Yo La Tengo, Sylvain Chauveau & FU . And from earlier in the year, Kyle Forester singing the wonderfully laconic songs of Joshua Stein, Dirty Projectors rocking out and the great cut up rhythms of Zammuto . In the “My Highlights of 2012” category, David Byrne & St Vincent and Ariel Pink , both on 4AD but poles apart in most other ways. And a pair of chamber pop beauties – Jon DeRosa from his great new album, and The Go-Betweens , from the 1986 classic album Liberty ...

As a companion piece to Little Annie & Baby Dee, try this, another type of New York lounge album, with loss and longing also at its heart. This one, though, draws on rock (post punk, drone - he used to front the drone rock band Aarktica ) rather than cabaret for its core sound. DeRosa has an irresistible croon which, allied with his lyrical observations of New York life (he also works as a bartender in the city), and the beautiful orchestral arrangements, all makes for a very visual effect. There’s also a cover of a Blue Nile song, and Julia Kent on cello is part of the musical cast, if you need any further persuading. Snow coffin is my favourite from the album (you can hear it below) - it's a beguiling mixture of insistent strummed bass and sweeping strings.

We had a track from Jon DeRosa on the show this week, the gorgeous single 'Birds of Brooklyn'. The whole album is an absolute treat - if you like a good croon, you'll love it. Listen back to it on the podcast, it's Track 5, about 20 minutes in. Oct 2 2012 show w/ Melody's Echo Chamber, windings, Jon DeRosa, Ariel Pink, Thread Pulls, Goat++ by Theundergroundofhappiness on Mixcloud The songwriting throughout the album is sturdy as well as poetic, though, making for a strong combination with the delicate orchestral arrangements - it's why, beyond the voice, Scott Walker is a valid reference point. 'Snow coffin', 'Teenage goths', 'Hollow Earth Theory', there are too many memorable songs to single out. There's also a cover of the Blue Nile song 'Easter Parade' and this bruised ballad in waltz time. Plenty more from the album to come on the show over the coming weeks.