The Underground of Happiness

A bumper crop for this late summer. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. The Doomed Bird of Providence – Businessman found dead in a shop at Mildura (bandcamp) 2. Sam Prekop & John McEntire – A ghost at noon (Thrill Jockey) 3. The Magnetic Fields – ’69: Judy Garland (Nonesuch) ( playing Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Sept 8 ) 4. The Burning Hell – Dirty microphones (BB*Island) ( playing Bush Hall, London, Oct 21 ) 5. Kathryn Williams – Radioactive (One Little Independent) ( playing Purbeck Valley Folk Festival, Wareham, Aug 18-22 ) 6. Craig Fortnam – New gold (Best Behaviour) 7. Mitski – The only heartbreaker (Dead Oceans) 8. Sinead O’Brien – Holy country (Chess Club) ( playing Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Oct 26 ) 9. Æ Mak – Sun God, I'll Be Your Woman (Spacer Records) 10. Elephant – Calling (Excelsior Records) 11. Thee U.F.O. – Transparent seed (Gelatinous Records) ( playing Electric Avenue, Waterford, Aug 13 ) 12. The Besnard Lakes – A jacket for a rainy lady (Full Time Hobby) 1...

The human voice. Singers. Vocalists. Solo. In groups. Harmonies. Dissonance. A capella. Sotto voce. Screeches. Swoops. Croons. Devotional. An attack. A glide. A growl. A swoon. A yearning. Jazz. Blues. Folk. Pop. Psych. Electro. Classical. Doo Wop. Whatever. Sometimes the simple effect of massed voices. Sometimes singing just for the joy of it. Sometimes a voice not technically great but still with something great about it. Intonations are involved too. Maybe not even words. A voice below the brain. Giving breath to feelings. Backing vocals. Sometimes so crucial and innovative they are the true heart of a song. Backing vocals that don’t deserve to be called backing. Some of my favourite singers and vocal arrangements and performances. Enjoy. ************************************************** Playlist Cocteau Twins – Cherry coloured funk (4AD) Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares – Pilentzee Pee (4AD) Julianna Barwick – The magic place (Asthmat...

A collection of recent favourites here at UOH Towers. Mostly new or upcoming releases. Across genres. The way it should be. Plus a few of an older vintage. Enjoy. Playlist Elaine Malone – You Josephine Foster – Shepherd moon of starry height (Fire Records) Todd Tobias & Chloe March – Lillavva (Hidden Shoal) Kamasi Washington – Will you sing (Young Turks) Szun Waves – Moon runes (The Leaf Label) Spike & Debbie – Always sunshine (Tiny Global Productions) The Free Design – Make the madness stop (Project 3) Alison Statton & Spike – Open portal (Tiny Global Productions) Terry – The whip (Upset The Rhythm) Comet Gain – If not tomorrow (Tapete) Hater – I wish I gave you more time because I love you (Fire Records) The Chills – Deep belief (Fire Records) The Big Lovin’ – Adiadiadio The Honey Hahs – River (Rough Trade) Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread – When (Full Time Hobby) Lee Hazlewood – My autumn’s done come (Light in the Attic) Kathryn Jo...

A playlist for summer. Sunshine. Heatwave. (We've been having that around this neck of the woods.) When the heat does things to you. Changes your brain. Makes everything blurry. So it shimmers. Enjoy. Kacy & Clayton – The light of day (New West Records) Gene Clark – Why not your baby (A&M Records) The Byrds – Wild Mountain Thyme (Columbia) Jess Williamson – I see the white (Mexican Summer) Naim Gabriel Amor – Just before revelation (Vacilando ’68) Kamasi Washington – The Space Traveller’s Lullaby (Young Turks) Esquivel – My blue heaven (RCA) Ennio Morricone feat. Edda Dell’Orso – Una spiaggia a mezzogiorno (from the soundtrack of the film Vergogna Schifosi) (Ariete) LWW – CTP (radio edit) (The Leaf Label) Szun Waves – Constellation (The Leaf Label) Kody Nielson – Bic’s birthday (Flying Nun) Os Mutantes – Bat macumba (Polydor) Malena Zavala – If it goes (Yucatan Records) Tenniscoats – Ende (Alien Transistor) The Saxophones – Aloha (Full Ti...

******************************************************************************************************** Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble – Undying love for humanity (from the album Find me finding you , Drag City) Wonderful Brazilian twist on Laetitia’s signature kosmische. It’s hard to pick out any one element but I must say the vocals are a particular joy. Not just the lead which is as clear and pure as the best Stereolab . But the inspired backing ba da das which drive the playout. Still sounds fresh as a daisy almost a year after release. Michael Nau – I root (Full Time Hobby) Sublime hazy memories of love from Maryland in the US... ... as if Harry Nilsson turned his mind to happier fuzzier times. There’s very little detail to list here – a one and a half note guitar figure, a snare roll, a ride cymbal, a dream of a voice – but really the story is more to do with the atmosphere. Languid is a word. Sleepy maybe. Intimate for sure. ...

Part 3 of this epic poem, again in no particular order. And as a companion piece, check also this Best of 2016 mix which includes many of these tunes, along with a few from the upcoming Psych section, the final instalment. ************************************************************ 1. Tortoise – The Catastrophist (Thrill Jockey) Another wonderful album from Chicago’s finest and apart from anything else (the glorious hooks, the minimalist chops, the thrilling musicianship etc) a reminder of just how fucking groovy they are. Marvellous music for the brain and the feet. 2. Syrinx – Tumblers from the vault: 1970-1972 (RVNG Intl) A bolt from the blue for me and a fantastic compilation of ecstatic kosmische/dream jazz from this Toronto 3-piece. Also a thoroughly fascinating slice of the 70s underground (albeit unexpectedly accessible) and another great piece of archive work by RVNG Intl. 3. Fixity – Hungry clouds (Kantcope) Tremendous cut from the very...

Musical moments and memories from the year gone by. In no particular order. Enjoy. ******************************************************************* 1. North Sea Radio Orchestra – Dronne (The Household Mark) Another sublime set of tunes from Craig Fortnam and company which combines folk, kosmische and avant garde classical strands, taking the legacy of former band Cardiacs into fascinating new territory. Woodwind and strings are strong and strident against a hushed motorik rhythm on centrepiece song ‘The British road’, a wonderfully sharp state of the nation analysis of Brexit era Britain – when will they learn to fight like our men, how can I rise if you don’t fall. These poised swooping strings, along with the cooing woodwind, the signature guitar style of Craig Fortnam – courtly, playful, lithe – buzzing synths and the great pure singing of Craig’s wife Sharon against Craig’s reedier tones provide the core elements throughout. Essential food for the ears, th...

This week's show was dominated by a look back at some of my favourite music of 2014. (There'll be more on this in the next few weeks by the way, stay tuned for details.) So plenty of album of the year candidates in Caribou and Wildbirds & Peacedrums , Future Islands and East River Pipe (albeit reissued), Adrian Crowley and Aldous Harding . There was also some new music from Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Slow Dancing Society , more from both of those in the new year. And a Hawaiian Christmas treatment from Arthur Lyman (thanks Trunk Records ), just to keep things seasonal. As I said, more on the blog over the next few weeks on my fave music of 2014. And the next show is on Jan 6th. Happy holidays. Dec 16 2014 w/ Caribou,W&P,Adrian Crowley,Jessica Pratt,Aldous Harding,Cool Ghouls,East River Pipe++ by The Underground Of Happiness on Mixcloud The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com...

Centrepiece and crowning glory from the Swedish duo’s wonderful third album. Ominous bass drum thuds set the bleak urban scene, industrial rattles fill the middle ground, a lonely piano line front and centre. Then the orchestra cruises in with a melody of stately melancholy, carrying the sense of human toil and ambition under attack from an indistinct tumult of external sources. It’s becoming a bit of a cliché these days to describe a piece of music as being widescreen or cinematic, but this one has a genuine emotional sweep to it. It’s all over before you want it to be, leaving you bereft just like the protagonists of the narrative. (It's also free to download on their bandcamp page here.) Until Silence by Roll The Dice *Check also the air raid sirens, clattering backbeat and stabbing strings of ‘Perpetual motion’ for a later chapter in RTD’s compelling narrative. Until Silence by Roll The Dice

Brilliantly spacious piece from the jazz fusion (it’s a terrible term but it somewhat describes what they do) group’s new album. A pair of saxophones are foregrounded - one on a climbing figure, the other holding melody and then wailing in agony - against a shuffling percussion wash and double bass. It’s sparse, soulful and absolutely haunting. In Each And Every One by Polar Bear

Broadly, there was a kind of genre flow to this week's show. We began with a run of electronic pieces of different shades - Future Islands, Eyedress ("nothing special" is the subtitle of the song by the way, not a comment from me on the quality of it - I think it's quite special), Matmos with some mental radio, new Roll the Dice ,an industrial meltdown with sumptuous strings and culminating in a wonderful track from the debut SlowPlaceLikeHome album, due next month. The mid-section featured a series of singers - Cormac O Caoimh with some lovely jazz-folk tones from his fine new album, the unforgettable Angel Olsen who plays Cork with Jaye Bartell next month, Sontag Shogun from NY feat. the great voice of Liam Singer . A bit of punk rock in the shape of Thomas Truax and Shonen Knife . And some kosmische to finish from Eat Lights Become Lights plus the Conny Plank-produced Eno-Moebius-Roedelius . More on these pages as always. May 6 2014 w/ Roll th...

I had the great pleasure to meet Julia Kent last month, having been a fan of her solo work for a few years. She was in Cork (and Dublin the following day) to play her first ever Irish show. Unfortunately, this occasion was marked by her cello being waylaid at the airport in Paris. Luckily the resourceful people at Fractured Air and Plugd (who co-promoted the Cork show) were able to locate a replacement instrument in Cork (her own cello was re-routed to Dublin and she got it back the next day). When I arrived at the venue, Julia was getting acquainted with this unfamiliar cello and understandably a little bit put off by the turn of events. Despite the hitch, she was very gracious with her time and we spoke in the Triskel Arts Centre foyer as the sizeable crowd gathered for the show. One of the most interesting things about the chat for me was her description of her classical music studies as "traumatic...super competitive", something she fled from to New York. There, ...

The centrepiece of this week's show was some clips from the interview with Julia Kent . I spoke to her when she played in Cork last month at Triskel Arts Centre, she's a really interesting character. There are two clips - by the way apologies for the background noise, you might need headphones to appreciate properly. The full interview (14 mins or so) will be here to stream soon. New music also from Diane Cluck (she plays Belfast, Cork & Dublin this w'end) - beautiful, eerie, spectral folk music - Sabina and her world of wonders, Benjamin Schoos with Laetitia Sadier swinging brilliantly. And the brilliant synth-inflected folk tones of Arch Garrison , another in a long line of great work from Craig Fortnam . More on these pages. Apr 1 2014 w/ Sabina,Benjamin Schoos,Diane Cluck,Arch Garrison,Elastic Sleep & Julia Kent I'view++ by Theundergroundofhappiness on Mixcloud The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theu...

Great news last week of a Cork gig for Julia Kent (pictured) in March (also Dublin). We took a track each from her last two albums, Character and Green and grey , each quite different but equally great. O Emperor are deservedly up for the Choice Irish album of the year, although no excuse needed to hear 'Holy fool'. Band of Clouds also play a rare gig in Cork in March - 'Cats cuts' is a great slice of fuzzy dream pop and both bands were in the Best of 2013 round up on the blog lately (so were My Pilot actually). Some brilliant Spaghetti Western cuts from Bruno Nicolai and Alessandro Alessandroni (thanks for the nod PMcD) either side of some more recent soundtrack work from John Parish . A couple of "archive" classics from Bjork's Medulla album and XTC's Apple Venus Vol 1 . (Can less then 15 years old be considered archive?) And Ezra Furman taking a page from The Modern Lovers' book, thrillingly. More on these pages as alway...

One of my favourite songs of last year was a thrillingly groovy piece of...well you might call it world music although there’s plenty more than just that involved, lead by a twin saxophone attack with furious percussion and a vaguely unhinged shrieking vocal. The band was Melt Yourself Down - a group featuring some well known names from other bands including Acoustic Ladyland, Zun Zun Egui and Rokia Traore – and their self-titled album came out in June on the ever wonderful Leaf label. The album takes the lead track’s dance music origins and raises them brilliantly via some reverb-drenched electronics, pounding backbeats and a series of memorable choruses, of which the first single is one of the best. **Watch out for the strobes in this video.** I love their press releases too, full of some kind of magic realism with playful word games which I reckon are only half joking. In fact, they are well worth reading through and taking at face value. Their first introduction had a ...

The great Melt Yourself Down were seen in the wild last week kicking out some jams on Jools Holland . For a band making their debut on the goggle box they made quite an impression - vocalist Kushal Gaya threatened to take out a cameraman with one of his scissor kicks a couple of times. You can check back on the performance of first single 'We are enough' here. It's also featured on their debut s/t album which is a must hear and comes out on June 17. Melt Yourself Down by Melt Yourself Down

Some more this week from the Bernard Cribbins album on Trunk Records, the wonderful ‘Gossip Calypso’. Ennio Morricone was announced to play Dublin this week, we had some classic soundtrack work from the master, paired with the great new Nancy Elizabeth single, which evokes the great man. Beautiful ambient drift from Pieter Nooten’s epic new double album, some neat electro pop from ESB feat. Perry Blake , and Polly Scattergood’s new single. New Irish music from Biggles Flys Again (great voice), O Emperor (an intriguing folk-krautrock hybrid) and some lovely lyrical surrealism a la Pavement from Wicklow’s Policy . April March & Aquaserge and Elephant were back again – can’t get enough of those tunes – and more from the great new William Tyler album of incredibly evocative guitar instrumentals, alongside a classic from The Byrds , who tap into some of the same 12-string electric guitar sources. Mar 26 2013 show w/ Ennio Morricone,Pieter Nooten,Biggles Flys Again,O Emper...