The Underground of Happiness

******************************************************************************************************** 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. ...

The Go! Team on the show again this week - better get used to that, it's one of the best pieces of music heard anywhere in some time. Moondog and Bob Lind to begin. An odd pairing you might say. But I wonder if Jack Nietzsche (whose genius you can hear in the production of 'Counting') was aware of the Viking of 6th Avenue? Something in that glorious swirling arrangement sounds to me like it's speaking to the marvellous rounds and overlapping rhythms and time signatures of Moondog. Drahla have a nice line in Sonic Youth esque tight jagged post punk. Lean Year and The Saxophones , two of a great current crop of American artists plying the edges of dream pop to intriguig effect. And speaking of that, one of the classics from Julee Cruise with the handiwork of Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch not far away. More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.face...

A musical collaboration between a film maker and a former academic. That’s the kind of set up liable to put some people off. But this project involving Rick Alverson and Emilie Rex has many great things. Textures to hang your hat on. Haunting melodies. Intriguing atmospheres. A sense of yearning and adventure. (Are they the same thing?) A certain kind of classic 60s folk music is clearly an influence although fed through a surrealist filter. The citing of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s film Holy Mountain in the song of the same name is a clue to where they’re coming from. In 'Come and see' a finger strummed guitar is the main company for the beautiful double tracks of Rex's vocal. One strained high. One soft close up. String swells make a compelling chamber atmosphere in 'Watch me'. In my favourite 'Her body in the sky' Rex's voice sounds like it will break at any second as a clarinet noodles around a to die for organ hoo...