The Underground of Happiness

Still working through the summer backlog this week. New albums from two English artists - Jack Cheshire , some nice Nick Drake-ish jazz folk tones, and from Satellites , something slightly more epic. V.O. back with a new single, what a great band, and I've also been liking Mick Harvey's latest album a lot recently. Three acts playing the Liverpool Psych Fest at the end of the month, showing just how much variety you can fit under that banner - The Lucid Dream (psych rock), Plankton Wat ( sun-baked folk ) and Eat Lights Become Lights (krautrock). Two from the Hidden Shoal label, lovely dream pop from Kramies , and something more of a chamber persuasion from Liam Singer , brilliant. Sophia Knapp sounding like a woozy Stevie Nicks and some tropical sounds from Delorean , you can't beat it. Sept 10 2013 w/ V.O.,Mick Harvey,ELBL,Jack Cheshire,Satellites,Grant Hart,Sunray,Plankton Wat++ by Theundergroundofhappiness on Mixcloud The Underground of H...

Just got this album today – belatedly, it came out at the beginning of March – and I’ve immediately fallen in love with it. Short and very sweet, with a beautiful breathy voice at the centre, it’s just a joy from start to finish. Bill Callahan crops up twice for vocal support but it’s the beautiful balance of the production that catches the ear most – a US west coast folk sound with a twist of RnB. It’s basically brilliant. For example, the utterly captviating Close to me , which starts like a Led Zep outtake with Stevie Nicks guesting, but soon morphs into something approaching Olivia Newton John’s disco period, only so much better than that might make you think.