The Underground of Happiness

Final instalment of my favourite music of 2022. Cork. Limerick. Waterford. Kerry. Glasgow. Dublin. New Orleans. Melbourne. Leipzig. Nottingham. Copenhagen. Tokyo. Harrogate. Brussels. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. Fuxa feat Britta Phillips – Help me please (Rocket Girl) 2. Henrik Lindstrand – Gammafly (One Little Independent) 3. Julie Odell – Cardinal feather (Frenchkiss Records) 4. Keeley Forsyth – I stand alone (The Leaf Label) 5. Bróna McVittie – Living without you (Company of Corkbots) 6. Miss Grit – Follow the cyborg (Mute) 7. Mitski – The only heartbreaker (Dead Oceans) 8. Monolithe Noir feat Jawhar & Mirabelle Gilis – Barra bouge (Capitane Records) 9. Mt. Misery – The time it takes (bandcamp) 10. Naima Bock – Every morning (Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction) 11. Núria Graham – The catalyst (Primavera Labels/New Deal/Verve Forecast/Universal) 12. Oh No Noh – Drift (Teleskop) 13. Robert Sotelo – Above (Upset The Rhythm) 14. Sinéad O’Brien – Holy c...

For those of you who prefer the long read format, here are all 30 chapters plus bonus in one piece...enjoy x I'm going to post out some thoughts on live shows I was at this year. I'll put them out between now and the end of the year. It's a bit of an experiment because, unlike whenever I've written live reviews^ before, this time (for the most part) I was writing at a remove of many months. These were not thoughts I put down at the time of the gig. So these are thoughts dependent on memory - I suppose all thoughts are but with these ones longer term memory - in that whatever I've written consists of impressions that have stayed with me over time. I like the idea of forcing myself to depend on memory this way. It might create a different kind of review. Less detail probably, but heavier on general currents, patterns, trends. Shorter (good says you). Plus it would presumably incorporate more of an overview of all the shows together. Because, whether these arti...

Chapter 18 Roadtrip Number Three. This might be my favourite live show of the year. Even if it is the year of the dan. Mid August. Heatwave ongoing. It started on a big green bus. Mercifully air conditioned. Wearing as little as possible. Arrive Kilkenny sultry evening time. Locate B&B on Castlecomer Road. Feels like halfway to Castlecomer. One cold shower later I meet P in Cleeres Bar . He is ensconced in conversation with a local who is in possession of a box of books. Specifically local GAA books bought off a man in Meath. The story of Cavan’s 1947 All Ireland triumph for example. We learn he writes about sport for The Examiner. Could this be an installation performance, perhaps as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival . Cleeres Bar. Audience of two. He departs with his box and we go to find The Set Theatre where Keeley Forsyth will play. She is compelling from the first note. Her accomplice Matthew Bourne arrives onstage first setting brooding drones in mot...

Tunes. To take stock. Hibernate. Consolidate. Elucidate. Funny old world. Stick with the noise. Enjoy. Playlist Slow Moving Clouds – Karelian (from the soundtrack of Loch na hEala/Swan Lake ) Owen Tromans – A dialogue (Sacred Geometry) Gene Clark – No other (Remaster, 4AD) Aoife Nessa Frances – Here in the dark (Basin Rock) Skinshape – I didn’t know (Big Crown Records) Charles Rumback & Ryley Walker – Half joking (Thrill Jockey) OTTO – Roter teppich (Bureau B) Hochzeitskapelle – Sonido Amazonico (Gutfeeling Records/Broken Silence) Lal & Mike Waterson – Red wine promises (Domino) Bananagun – Out of reach (Full Time Hobby) Holy Hive feat Shannon Wise – Golden crown (Big Crown Records) Keeley Forsyth – Debris (The Leaf Label) Craven Faults – Deipkier (The Leaf Label) Caribou – Home (Merge) Percolator – Freshin (Penske Recordings) Rothko – The day before the day after your death (Trace Recordings) Rachael Dadd – Arrows (Memphis Industrie...