The Underground of Happiness

So as you know, Erased Tapes is 5 years old (reminder here ). And, unlike most 5-year olds, who tend to be on the receiving end of presents, this one just keeps on giving. Among other things this week, new music from Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds . It's a 7 inch single featuring two pieces of music written for dance performances. Here's some detail on it. This limited edition single captures two exciting tracks for two dance projects. The first 'Endalaus II' was created for 'Endalaus' by Norwegian Choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen, commissioned and performed by the Iceland Dance company. Fans will recognise the track as one of the highlights from Ólafur's recent live shows, creating an emotional punch against the classical strings. 'For Teda', the second song is for London-based company Neon Dance and part of choreographer Adrienne Hart's on-going project 'Archived'it'. It brings forward a new concept in online interaction b...

One of my favourite labels, Erased Tapes , celebrates 5 years in business. It's been responsible for some of the best music of the last few years, music that I'm fondest of, that's really stayed with me. The first time I came across the label was when I interviewed Peter Broderick in 2009 when he played in Cork. After the interview, as we were passing the merch stand, he handed me a CD copy of Music from Falling for Trees , a soundtrack to a recently composed dance piece. It was quite brilliant, I soon discovered. And that lead on to Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, World's End Girlfriend , and so on. To mark the 5 years, the label are undertaking a landmark tour with three of the aforementioned. Here are the details. London/Berlin-based record label Erased Tapes celebrates five years of fusing classical and contemporary music. To recognise this milestone, Erased Tapes label founder Robert Raths has set up a number of events and releases...

Beautiful new animation to Olafur Arnalds' Near light , from last year's Living Room Songs EP on Erased Tapes . The film was made by Lam Ho Tak and it comes across like a monochromatic, Twilight Zone version of Studio Ghibli . And of course the music is a perfect balance of restraint and emotion. Arnalds is just about to embark on an extensive European tour, check the dates here .

One of our favourite labels around here is Erased Tapes , home to some of the most beautiful records of the last few years - Peter Broderick's soundtrack work, Nils Frahm's solo piano (and collaborative) albums, Olafur Arnalds' chamber music and, most recently, A Winged Victory for the Sullen's swoonsome, ambient instrumentals, to name just a few ( the latter's gig in Cork a few weeks ago was also up there for me among my all-time highlights of gigs in this, or any, city). Well, they're celebrating their 5th birthday and to mark the occasion they're giving away a free sampler featuring everyone on the roster. You can sample the sampler below, to avail of the download just register on their website . There was apparently a surprise party for label founder Robert Raths in Berlin , some of which was recorded - have a look at Peter Broderick, Nils Frahm and friend Martyn playing here. "Erased Tapes: Five Years Old!" from Erased Tapes on Vimeo...

The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Playlist 198 Tues Nov 22 2011 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here https://rapidshare.com/files/1569957061/The_Underground_Of_Happiness_Nov_22_2011.m4a Playlist Left with Pictures - River Avon ( playing Arctic Circle @ Union Chapel, Islington, Dec 10, *midday ) Olafur Arnalds - Near light Bachelorette - Blanket ( playing Whelan's Upstairs, Dublin, Dec 1 ) Butcvher the Bar - Alpha Street West The Grunts - Into submission ( playing The Roundy, Cork, Dec 8 ) Crystal Stilts - Dark eyes *d'load i'view with Crystal Stilts here http://soundcloud.com/underground-of-happiness2/crystal-stilts-interview Bill Ryder-Jones - Give me a name Future Islands - Balance ( playing Whelan's, Dublin, Mar 10 2012 ) Mint Julep ...

As a follow-up to the post the other day on Olafur Arnalds' new release, Living room songs , you can also stream my favourite track from it on Erased Tapes' soundcloud now. The aquatic electronics and sumptuous strings make it worth every second of the 3.28. Ólafur Arnalds - Near Light by erasedtapes

It’s a triple whammy for Erased Tapes this month (following Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick albums). We were big fans around here of Arnalds’ last album, …and they have escaped the weight of darkness . This latest project saw him create and record a song from scratch every day for a week in October, making the results available immediately in video format to fans, from his apartment in Reykjavik . It’s a stunningly beautiful collection, laden with strings but lightened by skipping electronics, and grounded with trademark lachrymose piano. I notice Arnalds is currently on tour with Ryuchi Sakamoto and there is a valid comparison to be drawn in the air of dignified melancholy you’ll find here. Superb.

Bill Ryder-Jones – A leave taking (from the A leave taking Soundtrack EP, Double 6) The Coral cropped up recently in relation to Neville Skelly and here they are again, kind of. Bill Ryder-Jones was the original guitarist in the band, before striking out on his own a few years ago. Here's a quote from him worth copying - ‘ When I left the band I wasn't playing much music at all but in 2009 a friend got in touch asking if I would write something for this short he was making, which I did. It's pretty much the only thing I wrote that year but the process opened another world up to me. We thought it'd be nice to give it away to the people who have been interested in what I've been doing on my own and also to hint at the future a little bit. My album, which is a soundtrack inspired by a novel, is pretty much a progression from the things learnt when writing for Leave Taking .’ And apparently, this is the novel. As he says above, this 4-track EP is available ...