The Underground of Happiness

A tune that we've played on the show several times of late is the new Rozi Plain single, See my boat , which comes out next week on Need No Water Records (on lovely red vinyl, too). The Bristol-based artist has been touring the UK lately with KT Tunstall and is very much part of what seems to be a vibrant folk-ish scene in that city, along with the likes of This is the Kit and Rachael Dadd (both of whom you've heard of here before). The single starts life as an intimate, fingerpicked affair with chiming guitars, before transforming into a delirious folk stomp with handclaps, massed vocals and a four to the floor bass drum. There's even room for a swirling ending with some French jazz violin on board. It's massive craic altogether, and what's more, it's a storming tune. http://soundcloud.com/neednowater/roziplain-see-my-boat The previous single, Humans , is similarly irresistible, in a folk music gone off the rails, kind of way. The video features bal...

Qluster - Haste Tone (Bureau B, from the album Fragen ) From Hans-Joachim Roedelius, who (along with Dieter Moebius and others) brought you Kluster, Cluster and Harmonia, and sound installationist Onnen Bock. Meditative, swelling synths ebb and flo like the tide, punctuated by discreet bells and obscure gurglings, until a beautiful piano and flute duo sails into view. Sublime stuff from a master. QLUSTER - LIVE PREVIEW 2011 from luma launisch on Vimeo . Cashier No. 9 - Lost at sea (Bella Union, from the album To the death of fun ) An uplifting wall of 60's sound, with a melancholy vocal in the middle and a lonesome harmonica in the wings, from the Belfast band's David Holmes-produced debut album. Tympani and castanets make up the intriguing supporting cast. There's the glorious whiff of the Brill building about the songwriting too. And here's the equally great first single from the album, Goldstar , sounding a shade like The Stone Roses taken in hand by Lee H...