The Underground of Happiness

We started last week's show with 'Los Angeles' by Gene Clark. This week two contemporary LA-based artists, Jessica Pratt & Ariel Pink , the latter someone described recently by the former as one of the leading lights of the LA underground of weirdos. Nice. New single from Tune-Yards , with a memory from Talking Heads from 1979. Syn-cop-a-tions. A new band on me called Barringtone , reminding me a bit of classic rushing XTC - so they're paired with some classic rushing XTC from 1978. Three new instrumental pieces in the middle - The Notwist (cinematic), Troyka (ambient drift), Sam Prekop (euphoric). The Altered Hours play the Quarter Block Party in Cork this weekend, St Vincent plays three Irish dates in July. And some new essential folk cuts from Elephant Micah , Steve Gunn & The Black Twig Pickers & Alasdair Roberts . More on these pages. Feb 3 2015 w/ Jessica Pratt,Ariel Pink,Altered Hours,Alasdair Roberts,Notwist,Troyka++ by The Un...

Tantalising follow-up EP to last year’s tasty Love this giant album from this pair, who trot out at the Electric Picnic Festival in Ireland this weekend. You might find a hint of Bjork’s Dancer in the Dark soundtrack in the austere, awe-inspiring brass tones and mechanical percussion (by John Congleton) of lead track ‘Cissus’. Although that’s the EP highpoint on track one, there are still enough bonkers flights of fancy and musical nuggets on the rest to blow the opposition out of the water. Including a couple of live tracks from their touring over the last year (one Talking Heads number ‘Road to nowhere’, one St Vincent , the marvellous ‘Marrow’) and a couple of remixes. Whatever this pair get up to, they can do no wrong in my book.