The Underground of Happiness

himeji to los angeles. glasgow to berlin. belfast to nashville. enjoy. x Playlist 1. Oh No Noh – Dog years (Teleskop) 2. Bella Wakame – Shades of Nambei (Umor-Rex) 3. Echolalia – Little bird (Full Time Hobby) 4. Geckos – Lo Hice (Org Music/PIAPTK Recordings) 5. Junk Drawer – Nids Niteca (Pizza Pizza Records) 6. Keeley Forsyth & Matthew Bourne – Talk to me (Fat Cat Records) 7. Pierre Bastien & Michel Banabila – Closing time: The party is over (Pingipung) 8. Quinie – Macaphee turn the cattle (Upset The Rhythm) 9. Albertine Sarges – Stand near your fire (Moshi Moshi) 10. Deradoorian – Digital gravestone (Fire Records) 11. Le Volume Courbe – Two love (Duophonic Super 45s) 12. Sam Prekop – Light shadow (Thrill Jockey) 13. Water Machine – River (Fat Cat Records) 14. Damian O’Neill – Inside out (Tompkins Square) (Imaginational Anthem XIV) 15. Me Lost Me – A souvenir (Upset The Rhythm) 16. Lael Neale – Tell me how to be here (Sub Pop Records) 17. Eddie M...

hny everyone we're flicking from berlin to milan, glasgow to brooklyn, helsinki to dunedin in this first look back at the year that was enjoy x Playlist 1. Jimi Tenor Band – Selenites (Tapete Records) 2. Lande Hekt – Favourite pair of shoes (Tapete Records) 3. Prolapse – The fall of cashline (Tapete Records) 4. Astral Bakers – Healing (Sage Music) 5. claire rousay – somewhat burdensome (Thrill Jockey) 6. Cloth – Pink silence (Rock Action) 7. Lucy Gooch – Like clay (Fire Records) 8. Marta Del Grandi – Antarctica (Fire Records) 9. Prima Queen feat Girl Group – The prize (Submarine Cat) 10. Lightheaded – Same drop (Slumberland Records/Skep Wax) 11. The Chills – Dolphins (Fire Records) 12. The Cords – Fabulist (Skep Wax) 13. Joasihno – Characa orb. (Alien Transistor) 14. Anushka Chkheidze & Robert Lippok – Rainbow road (Morr Music) 15. The Alien Dub Orchestra – Vine and fig tree (Alien Transistor) 16. The Notwist – X-ray (Morr Music) 17. Emma Polloc...

enjoy people x Playlist 1. Cluster & Eno – Ho Renomo (bureau b) 2. Midori Hirano – Oto, Kioku (Thrill Jockey) 3. Jimi Tenor Band – Selenites (Tapete Records) 4. Lucy Gooch – Clouds (Fire Records) 5. Barry Walker Jr feat. Rob Smith & Jason Willmon – Quiessence (Thrill Jockey) 6. The Notwist – X-ray (Morr Music) 7. Bill Callahan – The man I’m supposed to be (Drag City) 8. claire rousay feat m sage – just (Thrill Jockey) 9. Clementine March – Fireworks (PRAH Recordings) 10. Lande Hekt – Favourite pair of shoes (Tapete Records) 11. Prima Queen feat Girl Group – The prize (Submarine Cat) 12. Anna Prior – True for you (Beat Palace Records) 13. Hater – This guy (Fire Records) 14. Haylie Davis – Country boy (Fire Records) 15. Homer – Chrysanthemum (Big Crown Records) 16. The Cords – Just don’t know how to be you (Skep Wax) 17. Ladytron – I believe in you (Nettwerk) (playing Gorilla, Manchester, Mar 21) 18. lucky break – Burning string (Fire Records) 19. Ma...

the search for new sounds does not have to be a treadmill enjoy x Playlist 1. CV Vision – R.T.B. (Bureau B) 2. Prolapse – The fall of cashline (Tapete Records) 3. claire rousay – somewhat burdensome (Thrill Jockey) 4. The Saxophones – Too big for California (Full Time Hobby) 5. Joasihno – Characo orb. (Alien Transistor) 6. Anushka Chkheidze + Robert Lippok – Rainbow road (Morr Music) 7. Kathryn Williams – Goodbye to summer (One Little Independent) ( playing The Folk House, Bristol, Oct 31 ) 8. Cian Nugent – I am asleep and do not wake me (Tompkins Square) (Imaginational Anthem XIV) 9. Ailbhe Reddy – Align (Don Giovanni Records) 10. Stereolab – Aerial Troubles (Duophonic/Warp) ( playing Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Feb 19 ) 11. Linda Smith – So long ago (Upset The Rhythm) 12. Cardiacs – Downup (The Alphabet Business Concern) 13. Me Lost Me – Ancient summer (Upset The Rhythm) 14. Chantal Acda – Hit the verge (Starman Records) 15. Clock DVA – Consent (Mute) 16. EERA...

the dub is the genius alien dub orchestra loads of brass love it x Playlist 1. Donna Regina – Nothing heavy (Karaoke Kalk) 2. Stella & The Dreaming – In another life (bandcamp) ( playing Coughlans, Cork, Sept 26, w/ Ana Palindrome ) 3. Emma Pollock – Prize Hunter (Chemikal Underground) 4. Thee Marloes – I’d be lost (Big Crown Records) 5. Sam Prekop – Light shadow (Thrill Jockey) 6. Kathryn Williams – Tender (One Little Independent) ( playing St Pancras Old Church, London, Oct 24 ) 7. Julie Odell – Orioles eating oranges (Frenchkiss Records) 8. The Cords – Fabulist (Skep Wax) ( playing Mono, Glasgow, Oct 5 ) 9. EERA – I’ll stop when I’m done (Test Card Recordings) 10. The Alien Dub Orchestra – Bike rack (Alien Transistor) 11. AVR – Renaissance (Holywood) ( playing The George, London, Oct 15 ) 12. Mark McCausland – We’ll be just fine (Deltasonic Records) (from the soundtrack of the film The Spin ) 13. Cormac O Caoimh – The heart of the human race (bandca...

middle of the year but not middle of the road a compilation of my favourite tunes of the year so far enjoy people x Playlist 1. Pierre Bastien & Michel Banabila – Closing time: The party is over (Pingipung) 2. Men I Trust – Heavenly flow (bandcamp) 3. Stereolab – Melodie is a wound (Duophonic/Warp) 4. Water Machine – River (Fat Cat Records) 5. Bella Wakame – Shades of Nambei (Umor-Rex) 6. Lightheaded – Same drop (Slumberland Records/Skep Wax) 7. Elaine Howley – Hold me in a new way (Modern Love) 8. Lael Neale – Tell me how to be here (Sub Pop Records) 9. Cloth – Pink silence (Rock Action) 10. Albertine Sarges – Stand near your fire (Moshi Moshi) 11. M(h)aol – Pursuit (Tulle) 12. The Chills – Dolphins (Fire Records) 13. Keeley Forsyth & Matthew Bourne – Talk to me (Fat Cat Records) 14. Echolalia – Little bird (Full Time Hobby) 15. Oh No Noh – Dog years (Teleskop) 16. Adrian Crowley – Brother was a runaway (Valley of Eyes Records) 17. Derya Yildi...

massive tunes backlog alert enjoy x Playlist 1. Amy Rigby – Bricks (Tapete) 2. Trust Fund – Has it been a while (Tapete) 3. David Murphy – Eleanor Plunkett (Rollercoaster Records) 4. The Byrds – You ain’t going nowhere (Columbia) 5. Sandy Denny – Blues run the game (Earth Recordings) 6. Trust Fund – The mirror (Tapete) 7. Stuart Moxham – Suburban Monochrome (Tiny Global Productions) 8. Minwhi Lee – Penitentiary (Alien Transistor) 9. The Music of Sound – Inner London Lullaby (Monochrome Motif Records) 10. ERNIE – Vineyard towns (ERNIE) 11. Aislinn Logan – Stolen days (soundcloud) 12. Albertine Sarges – Stand near your fire (Moshi Moshi) 13. Bananagun – Free energy (Full Time Hobby) 14. Derya Yildirim & Grup Şimşek – Cool hand (Big Crown Records) 15. Les Imprimés – With you (Big Crown Records) 16. Ella Raphael – Tangled love (Fire Records) 17. Naima Bock – Feed my release (Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction) ( playing Deaf Institute, Manchester, Nov 13 ) ...

More tunes from 2023. 20 more of the best. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. The Toads – Nationalsville (Upset The Rhythm) 2. Vanishing Twin – Afternoon X (Fire Records) 3. Me Lost Me – Eye Witness (Upset The Rhythm) 4. I Dreamed I Dream – The Bass (bandcamp) 5. Tandem Felix – There’s a new sheriff in town (bandcamp) 6. Terry – Gold duck (Upset The Rhythm) 7. Immaterial Possession – To the fete (Fire Records) 8. Lael Neale – I am the river (Sub Pop) 9. Death and Vanilla – Looking glass (Fire Records) 10. Trá Pháidín – m’anam go b’ea (bandcamp) 11. Nagasaki Swim – Sleep (Excelsior Recordings) 12. Nighttime – Veil (Ba Da Bing Records) 13. Symbol Soup – Overdressed (Sad Club Records) 14. The Notwist – Exit strategy to myself (Live from Alien Research Center) (Morr Music) 15. Aoife Nessa Frances – Automatic love (Partisan Records) 16. Spencer Cullum feat Erin Rae – Betwixt and between (Full Time Hobby) 17. BMX Bandits – Long forgotten summers (Tapete Records) 18. Holl...

aka Massive Summer Backlog Mix Lots of cello going around at the moment. Not sure why. But always welcome. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. Decisive Pink – Destiny (Fire Records) 2. Bruce Haack – Cherubic hymn (Columbia) 3. CV Vision – Die frommen wanderer (bureau b) 4. Mera Bhai feat Stealing Sheep – Evil butter (Morning Raga Recordings) 5. Air Waves – Star earring (Planningtorock’s Planning to Star Version) (Fire Records) ( playing The Shacklewell Arms, London, June 19 ) 6. Modern Cosmology – Le train ne passera pas (Duophonic UHF Disk) 7. The Chills – Party in my heart (Fire Records) 8. The Chills – Double summer (Fire Records) ( playing Whelan’s, Dublin, June 22 ) 9. Caoilian Sherlock – Push the oil away (bandcamp) ( playing The Green Room, Cork Opera House, July 1 ) 10. MD Pallavi & Andi Otto – Flute boy (Pingipung) 11. Eden Ahbez – Eden’s Island (Trunk Records) 12. Minwhi Lee – Borrowed tongue (Morr Music) 13. The Saxophones – Boy crazy (Full Time Hobby) 14....

A bit of a backlog here at UOH Towers so this one's a bit longer than usual. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. Harmonious Thelonius – Soft opening machine (bureau b) 2. Robert Forster – She’s a fighter (Tapete) 3. Albertine Sarges – Hold on (Moshi Moshi) 4. Bert Jansch – Trouble in mind (Earth Recordings) (Bert at the BBC Box Set) 5. Chalk – Velodrome (Dutch Tilt) 6. Shake Chain – RU (Upset The Rhythm) 7. Chewy She – Mustard (Chewy She) 8. David Brewis – The last day (Daylight Saving Records) 9. Fenella – The Metallic Index (Fire Records) 10. Modern Studies – Geese (Fire Records) 11. Pearls Before Swine – Where is love (Earth Recordings) 12. Rozi Plain – Help (Memphis Industries) 13. Slug – Casual cruelty (Daylight Saving Records) 14. splint – 145 (Nice Swan) 15. The Go! Team – Divebomb (Memphis Industries) 16. Ways Of Seeing – Every night (bandcamp) 17. The Single Cells – Zimmer (bandcamp) 18. Le Millipede – 8th leg (Gutfeeling Records/Broken Silence) 19. Will ...

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...

Another instalment of June earwigs. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. Astrel K – Is it it or is it I? (Duophonic Super 45s) 2. Ghost Power – Asteroid witch (Duophonic Super 45s) 3. Jimi Tenor – Life hugger (bureau b) 4. Charles Watson – All my mountains (Moshi Moshi Records) 5. Dana Gavanski – I kiss the night (Full Time Hobby) 6. elkyn – If you’re still leaving (Curation Records) 7. Guerilla Toss – Live exponential (Sub Pop) 8. Marisa Anderson – Waking (Thrill Jockey) ( playing Clonakilty International Guitar Festival, Sept 16-17 ) 9. Naima Bock – Every morning (Sub Pop) ( playing End of the Road Festival, Sept 1-4 ) 10. Sam Prekop and John McEntire – A ghost at noon (Thrill Jockey) 11. The Notwist feat Juana Molina – Al sur (Elijah Minnelli Remix) (Morr Music) 12. Soccer96 feat Salami Rose Joe Louis – Yesterday knows me (Moshi Moshi Records) 13. Film Noir – Erotica (Albé Productions/Un Plan Simple) 14. The B-52s – Give me back my man (Island) 15. The B-52s – Planet Cl...

An early summer backlog. Music from Cork, Dublin, Malmo, Tokyo, Helsinki, Berlin, Madrid, San Francisco, New York and more. RIP Cathal Coughlan. Enjoy. x The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.mixcloud.com/theundergroundofhappiness Twitter: UndergroundOfHappy UCC98.3FM www.ucc.ie/983fm Playlist 1. Etienne Jaumet & Fabrizio Rat – Visione pop (bureau b) 2. Povoa feat Páula – Intuition (Moshi Moshi) 3. Cephas Teom – Primordial forms (METR Music) 4. Silverbacks – A job worth something (Full Time Hobby) 5. Albertine Sarges – Bird’s life (Moshi Moshi) 6. Hater – Something (Fire Records) 7. Sack – Sleeping on the floor (Dimple Discs) 8. Craig Fortnam – Even on Sundays (Lunar One series - bandcamp) 9. Craig Fortnam – Gigant (Believers Roast) 10. Butcher Boy – Dear John (Needle Mythology) 11. The Plastik Beatniks feat Angel Bat Da...

Some odds and ends here. Mixture of things that fell through the cracks towards the end of last year, plus some new releases from January. More great sounds in the world. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. God is God – The song Part II (bureau b) 2. The Monochrome Set – Hello, save me (Tapete) 3. Analphabet – The wirtschaftswunder (bureau b) 4. Blue States feat Allison Brice Grasso – Alarms (Memphis Industries) 5. Guerilla Toss – Cannibal capitol (Sub Pop) 6. Junk Drawer – Tears in Costa (Art For Blind) 7. Lael Neale – Hotline (Sub Pop) 8. Naima Bock – 30 degrees (Sub Pop) 9. Prima Queen – Chew my cheeks (Nice Swan Records) 10. Sprints – Little fix (Nice Swan Records) ( playing Ulster Sports Club, Belfast, Mar 6 ) 11. Saroos feat Sequoyah Tiger – Frequency change (Alien Transistor) 12. Odd Nosdam & Rayon – From nowhere to north (Morr Music) 13. Abiodun Oyewole – My life (AFAR) 14. Anita Lane – Home is where the hatred is (Mute) 15. The Burning Hell – Bird Queen...

A backlog of music in the autumn time. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. Buffet Lunch – Cheeks (Upset the Rhythm)( playing Mono, Glasgow, Nov 11 ) 2. Faust – I’ve got my car and my tv (Bureau B) 3. Harmonious Thelonious – Ayranman (Bureau B) 4. Herbert feat Mel Uye-Parker – Hypnotised (Accidental Records) 5. SUEP – Domesticated dream (Memorials of Distinction) 6. Clear History – Solar death ray (Upset The Rhythm) 7. Sone Institute – Echo Zulu India (Mystery Bridge) 8. Margot – Watercolour (Full Time Hobby) ( playing Sebright Arms, London, Nov 11 ) 9. Shuko feat Lee Fields & Nia Wyn – Nothing’s gonna change (For the Love of It Recordings) 10. The Magic Lantern – There’s a light (Hectic Eclectic Records) ( playing Wardrobe, Bristol, Dec 13 ) 11. Abiodun Oyewole – Harlem (Afar) 12. Anna Vincent – Thin skin (Ultimate Blends) ( playing Waiting Room, London, Nov 1 ) 13. Barry Adamson – The climber (Mute) 14. Pretty Happy – Sea sea sea (Art For Blind) ( playin...

Something very active in my ether this month and a sound that would remind you of Berlin. Warm fluid dance music in the territory of a Caribou or a Floating Points. Soulful. Hook laden. Insinuating. Wonderful pop music.

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...

A thoroughly fascinating proposition from the godfather of punk in a collaboration which looks the most unlikely on paper. The poetry of Walt Whitman recited by Pop, with backing from electronic gurus Tarwater & Alva Noto . There’s an intense brooding quality to Pop’s delivery - although it’s quite laid back in one light – and the soundscape behind teases that out brilliantly, with ambient washes and gurgles and clicks giving a very different view of the nature referenced in Whitman’s writing. No need to say any more except you need to hear this.

“Your bibles are printed on dollars Your dollars are printed with blood Oh God I’m in the corner of the ring With Bono and Sting.” Hilarious, but yet serious and strangely touching. The German veteran has smuggled a beguiling form of protest song into an album of cut-up guitar riffs, drifting electronica and motorik pulses. Protest songs seem to be in the air again finally – I feel a playlist coming on… Nov 20 20123 Show w/ Serge & Jane, B Fleischmann, Little Annie/Baby Dee, Mice Parade, Sfumato++ by Theundergroundofhappiness on Mixcloud

Irresistible indie pop from the Berlin-based boy-girl duo Robert Kretzschmar and Ella Blixt , with dual lead vocals, infectious drumbeats and swirling organ riffs. If that description makes you think of Quasi, there is something of their aesthetic going on, although this pair operate at a less frenetic pace. This (their second album) is full of perfect pop songs like Point Back, Team that never wins (an Eleventh Hour cover), Pictures, The dream and the title track, one of the sweetest, most defiant putdowns in the pop canon. They also have one ear firmly on the dancefloor. If you’re anything like me, you won’t be able to get enough of this. Highly recommended. *Extra kudos for the name, to my mind answering the ageless question, “ What kind of music do you play ?”. For Years And Years by It's A Musical