The Underground of Happiness

And so the final part of this journey back through 2014. I've titled this bunch in favour of the Orchestral/Jazz end of the pop spectrum but there are certainly a few refugees from Dream Pop, Folk, maybe even Soul (and one showtune). Who's counting though. There are also a good number of Electronic pieces in here as promised, but more of minimalist, downtempo and/or industrial leanings. Mood wise, I think this set hangs together pretty well. Whatever, there's a lot of great music in here for sure. Just as a reminder, here are the other three parts of my 2014 Review. http://www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.ie/2014/12/best-of-2014-part-1-folkrootscountry.html http://www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.ie/2014/12/best-of-2014-part-2-soulpopjangleelectr.html http://www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.ie/2015/01/best-of-2014-part-3-psychkrautrockpunkb.html 1. Polar Bear – Two storms (Leaf) A wonderfully spacious late night saxophone ele...

My favourite song from a beautiful album of folk, psych and chamber pop strands, with some baroque and minimalist shapes for good measure, put together by a kind of English underground pop supergroup based around a core of Second Language artists. This tune is derived from a poem by William Blake and lands gorgeously on the dreamy psych pop end of the scale. Anna Bronsted of Our Broken Garden sings through a haze of clip-clop drum machines, circling Spanish guitar and the most perfect trumpet part in the second half. There’s also whistling involved. The song doesn’t seem to reside fully in either a major or minor key, so there’s a slightly disorientating effect. Plus there’s a strange feeling of something ancient wrapped in something modern. Surrender to the blur anyway, it’s glorious. The album features the mother of all collaborative efforts, of the like perhaps not seen since Ivo Watts-Russell persuaded the considerable talents of the 4AD roster of the mid 1980s to record...

Something of a sombre/sedate/low-key tone to this week's show, it goes like that sometimes. Gospel meditation from Peter Broderick from a couple years back, he plays Cork soon. So does Sean Nicholas Savage , making gorgeous bedroom soul. Wildbirds & Peacedrums exploring the overlap between rhythm and desire, thrillingly. Sumptuous jazz pop from Bill Wells and (mostly Japanese) friends; spare piano from Soley ; Bell Gardens with lovely drifting drones; A Winged Victory For The Sullen , orchestral grandeur; Little Tornados , quixotic dream pop. Then two Second Language releases to finish. Silver Servants (pictured below the cover of their s/t album), a kind of English underground pop supergroup, with glorious dreamy psych pop. And Mark Fry (who is also part of Silver Servants) channelling Bert Jansch to great effect. More on these pages as always. Sept 16 2014 w/ Bill Wells,Bell Gardens,Soley,Little Tornados,SIlver Servants,Wildbirds&Peacedrums++ by Th...