The Underground of Happiness

Three nights running. Dan Walsh was back in the game following his marathon Year of the Dan in 2022. This time a solo Fixity . No drums this time. One man and his flute. With drum machine. Samples. A mixing desk. Effects. He also sang. It was wonderful drifty kosmische and what’s more you could dance to it. Dan the headtheball had another show later. The Tan Jackets in Coughlans . He played bass in that one and sang primal rock n roll. Grand for a Saturday. FIXITY by Dan Walsh

For those of you who prefer the long read format, here are all 30 chapters plus bonus in one piece...enjoy x I'm going to post out some thoughts on live shows I was at this year. I'll put them out between now and the end of the year. It's a bit of an experiment because, unlike whenever I've written live reviews^ before, this time (for the most part) I was writing at a remove of many months. These were not thoughts I put down at the time of the gig. So these are thoughts dependent on memory - I suppose all thoughts are but with these ones longer term memory - in that whatever I've written consists of impressions that have stayed with me over time. I like the idea of forcing myself to depend on memory this way. It might create a different kind of review. Less detail probably, but heavier on general currents, patterns, trends. Shorter (good says you). Plus it would presumably incorporate more of an overview of all the shows together. Because, whether these arti...

And one more bonus chapter. One more dan for the road. Back to Plugd where the year almost started. Dan Walsh with friends. Specifically... Elaine Howley on keys and vocals. Cathal MacGabhann on organ. Elaine Malone on guitar. Chris Quigley on guitar. Micheál Fitzgerald on bass. Krautrock Christmas 7 . Improv. Krautrock. Jams. But not aimless. Dan on the tiller. Deciding when each beat, each sequence has run its course. Seamlessly chiselling a new beat out of the old one. A new direction. Right hand man on bass. Laying down ferocious markers. High tone. High fret. Plectrum. Battering the fucking thing. Proper to the horizon bass playing. Proper autobahn grooves. Stabs of organ fed through wahwah. Snaking guitar fuzz. Reverb vocals circling and repeating. The whole thing probing the meaning of repetition. Like Can going off on one. In all. Let’s call it a year there so. Thanks Dan and friends. See you again in 2023.

Chapter 16 I finished July with Peter Broderick in Plugd . This was a highly entertaining evening featuring – as well as the expected heartfelt alt folk songs – an overhead projector presentation of Peter’s book Bob and stuff. A book of his drawings. Rudimentary would be a word. But it’s a children’s book so it works. I bought a copy along with a few other nuggets from the well stocked merch stand. I was glad to contribute to Peter’s burgeoning cottage industry. My 11 year old enjoyed the book but thought it was more a downstairs book than an upstairs book. Musically Peter seems to be in a happy place although I wonder if his material was stronger when he seemed to be on more of an adventure – searching, restless – as opposed to having arrived at journey’s end. Just my impression. Having said that his cassette of Arthur Russell covers is very beautiful. And he is a wonderful piano player. A word on Peter’s tour companion McCloud Zicmuse , apparently an ex-pat American long b...

Chapter 3 Dan Walsh featured prominently in my 2022. (that title...) I saw him first this year in Plugd at the end of March. Covid played ball and gave me one blue line the day before. Dan had just released an album of drums. The gig consisted of Dan at the drums. For about 35 minutes. It was fucking gripping. One of the greatest musicians ever to come out of Cork taking us on a rollercoaster journey through the beat. We had BYO beer from Bradleys. What a night. DRUMS & CYMBALS by Daniel Walsh

Here's the full audio now of that interview with Laurie Shaw - we had a few minutes of it on the show this week. We recorded it sitting outside at The Pavilion in Cork during the June heatwave, while Laurie was taking a break from rehearsing for an upcoming gig with his band. Laurie is originally from The Wirral near Liverpool (as is quickly evident from his accent) but has lived in Kerry for almost 10 years. He started recording using his Dad's equipment at home and has amassed more than 30 albums to date. You can find a selection on these links - http://laurieshaw.wordpress.com/music/ and https://soundcloud.com/laurie-shaw . I'll post some examples down the page. I first came across his name through Plugd Records in Cork last February, when they posted one of his soundcloud or youtube links. I believe you can buy some of his music in there too. Which is something you should do. The first bunch of songs I heard had a distinct Garage Rock flavour (Laurie himself ...

You'll be aware that Record Store Day 2012 happened last Saturday, April 21st. To mark the day, I participated in a special outside broadcast with my UCC 98.3FM station colleague Stephen Purcell at Plugd Records in Cork. That's the one independent record retailer in Cork city, one of only a handful in the whole country. And Plugd are also just now celebrating the 1st anniversary of their move to the current premises, at Triskel Arts Centre on Tobin St. Steve and myself were just two of a number of different DJ's playing in the shop throughout the day. Here are a few words I put together about the day in Plugd for We Are Noise - it was a most heartwarming event, I must say. http://wearenoise.com/index.php/2012/04/record-store-day-at-plugd-records-apr-21-2012/ You can also check back on the ob with this podcast - it's mostly made up of music, not too much talking, the likes of The Kinks, Tangerine Dream, Paul McCartney and Bouts from Steve; I had some Peaki...

You could have been in Eastern Europe at times. If you stared up at the renovated church ceiling, you could have been back in time by a couple of hundred years, such was the antique quality of the music*. This was Ryan Francesconi playing at Triskel Christchurch in Cork last Friday, a sublime match-up of artist and venue, if ever there was one. Before saying any more about the gig, here's a few lines from a review of his current album that caught my eye. " Skirting any obvious models, this is an attempt to establish his own original voice on the instrument ... These are polished and meditative pieces, given to frequent pauses and moody moments. On the title track Francesconi can flight out sparkling ornaments that recall Toumani Diabate's kora ... The music is sophisticated, but there's an escape from the urban, a sort of West Coast Buddhist romanticism. That's not meant as a snide comment - this is a beautiful album, carried off with poetic aplomb ....

I paid my first visit to the recently re-opened Triskel Arts Centre over the weekend. They've incorporated several changes as part of the renovations, including restoring the 18th century Christchurch next door and turning it into a performance venue under the auspices of Triskel. You'd have to see the place to do it proper justice but the next best thing is to take a look at the picture gallery here . It's a stunning development, worthy of any major European city. Only last night, they hosted Hauschka playing a live soundtrack to Dreyer's silent classic Vampyr - I couldn't make it but you can read a review here - which is pretty damn impressive in anyone's book. There's a raft of other exciting events in the coming months, check em out. Another of the new elements in Triskel is the re-located Plugd Records , a perfect fit with the underground spirit of Triskel's history really (they're also running the Gulpd Café downstairs, purveyors of damn f...