The Underground of Happiness

You've heard of a raindance. This is a kind of sundance set, a playlist dedicated to songs about, of and reminiscient of summer. (Much as I love Don Henley's 'The boys of summer', I'm thinking more outside the box than that for this playlist. 'Summer of 69' is right out.) In here you will find nostalgic cuts (summers of the past), psych pop meanderings (summers of the imagination?), love songs, film music, plenty of soul and buckets of melody. There are also trumpets involved. You'll find a blow by blow underneath, extra background and reasons why I picked these songs. They're divided into categories which are a little arbitrary. Also, because there was only room for 18 in the hour long show, I might post another set, part 2, later in the summer. July 22 2014 Summer Songs Special w/Go Betweens,XTC,Serge & Jane,Crystals,Lee Hazlewood,Chills++ by Theundergroundofhappiness on Mixcloud The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music...

Whatever the weather is doing in Éire (which is probably what Queen Elizabeth called Ireland as a child), you know it's summer when tunes like the new Pains single are unleashed. As predicted here last month. (The video has a kind of High Fidelity meets School of Rock vibe - suggests it should have starred Jack Black...). The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Heart in your heartbreak (Fortuna Pop/PIAS, from the album Belong ) Perfect slice of sunshine, shoegaze pop (sungaze anyone?), from the New Yorkers' second album. The soundtrack of your summer, if you're lucky.