The Underground of Happiness

The band is so groovy. Woah oh oh oh... Danceable. Even some sublime Beach Boys moments. A ferocious band. Fierce. And funny. And so fuckin groovy. Best band in Ireland. I met Tadhg at Lankum the following night and he agreed. Maija Sofia also intriguing. Songs about menstrual blood & Saint Sebastian. Theremin. Beautiful bass playing. Solamh on drums. A distinctive voice. Waltzes. A swirl of magical keys. Greater Than Or Equal To The Bonk by The Bonk True Love by Maija Sofia

Final instalment of my favourite music of 2022. Cork. Limerick. Waterford. Kerry. Glasgow. Dublin. New Orleans. Melbourne. Leipzig. Nottingham. Copenhagen. Tokyo. Harrogate. Brussels. Enjoy. x Playlist 1. Fuxa feat Britta Phillips – Help me please (Rocket Girl) 2. Henrik Lindstrand – Gammafly (One Little Independent) 3. Julie Odell – Cardinal feather (Frenchkiss Records) 4. Keeley Forsyth – I stand alone (The Leaf Label) 5. Bróna McVittie – Living without you (Company of Corkbots) 6. Miss Grit – Follow the cyborg (Mute) 7. Mitski – The only heartbreaker (Dead Oceans) 8. Monolithe Noir feat Jawhar & Mirabelle Gilis – Barra bouge (Capitane Records) 9. Mt. Misery – The time it takes (bandcamp) 10. Naima Bock – Every morning (Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction) 11. Núria Graham – The catalyst (Primavera Labels/New Deal/Verve Forecast/Universal) 12. Oh No Noh – Drift (Teleskop) 13. Robert Sotelo – Above (Upset The Rhythm) 14. Sinéad O’Brien – Holy c...

chapter 29 the bonk seems to be a band in coughlans for the quiet lights festival and i had to go to this one cos they were supposed to play in july but it got cancelled last minute probably covid you know yourself gutted like they didn’t bring the bass drum but it turned out they had all the other drums – stuck at the back was hard to see it was stuffed naturally and there was a drum machine for sure which is a departure from the last time i saw them and these were filthy beats now as if it was techno slowed down right down while the jazz stew cooked up around them – dirty beats alright yes they were five with phil of course and the brother on drums then dan walsh not surprisingly involved on sax and clarinet and piccolo flute i think it might have been sure he even pulled out a harmonica at one point and the two other lads on guitar and trumpet ripping it up i don’t know their names but fuckit they’re good african jazz influences and of course american jazz somebody t...

An instrumental mix for this summer/autumn crossover (sum/tumn). Some of my favourite soundtrack cuts in here. Also a few notable new releases. Some on the experimental end. Plenty of drones. Enjoy. Playlist William Tyler – I’m gonna live forever (If it kills me) (Merge Records) Glenn Jones – From Frederick to Fredericksburg (Thrill Jockey) Richard Osborn – Streets of Laredo, A Pastorale (Tompkins Square) Spindle Ensemble – Moonbow (Adderwell Music) Sebastian Reynolds – Mahajanaka (Remix by Emseatee) ( www.sebastianreynolds.co.uk ) Bernard Herrmann – Scene d’amour (from the soundtrack of the film Vertigo , Varese Sarabande) Moondog – Theme (Columbia) Soccer 96 – Button basher (Slowfoot Records) Infinite Music – Magenta ( Infinite Music: A Tribute to La Monte Young , Fire Records) Jodie Lowther – Dream of the Melting Plane ( The Blow Vol 4 , Front & Follow) Eat Lights, Become Lights – Modular Living (Rocket Girl) Tangerine Dream – Teetering scales (from ...

New John Parish album coming soon. The first song from it is a remembrance of the late Mark Linkous feat. PJ Harvey , both of whom worked with Linkous. And some wonderful slowcore Americana from the man himself. Gone too soon, 8 years already. Bedouine plays Dublin in May, a sublime slice of soulful folk from her debut album. Both Fixity and The Bonk playing live shows this month. Sample their brilliantly atmospheric mongrel jazz. And Lee Hazlewood giving expression to a mature years world view with grace and genius string arrangements. More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com Twitter: UndergroundOfHappy Playlist 485 Tues Apr 10 2018 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here goo.gl/UJAsbD Playlist Sparklehorse – Homecoming queen John Parish feat PJ Harvey – Sorry fo...

There’s a bunch of Best of 2017 cuts in this week’s show (the 2nd last of the year), all of which you’ll be hearing more about when I do my end of year round ups later in the month. Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble , brilliant Brazilian inflected kosmische Loma , magnificent slowcore meaderings Matthew Bourne , exquisite use of silence piano cello and a room The Bonk , jazz having its knees scuffed by prog pop Laura Cannell , bracing pre modern invocations. And Bonny Doon , one of the most poignant lyrics of the year wrapped in Silver Jews clothes. More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Twitter: UndergroundOfHappy Playlist 471 Tues Dec 5 2017 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here goo.gl/LHt96o Playlist Jason Falkner – ...

Centrepiece of this week’s show was a little piece of an interview with Kramies who has a new single out now on Hidden Shoal . He’s an interesting guy and has worked with plenty of other interesting people – Jason Lytle and Todd Tobias to name a couple. Also this week we had euphoric prog pop from Montero . Sumptuous lounge music from Howe Gelb with the brilliant Lonna Kelley . Bonkers and charming naive pop from Tenniscoats . And klezmer jazz from Berlin 1941 courtesy of the great Lift it up compilation on Gut Feeling . More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Twitter: UndergroundOfHappy Playlist 467 Tues Nov 7 2017 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here goo.gl/koM2Te Playlist Montero – Vibrations ( playing Vicar Stre...

A couple of main themes this week. Seminal psych folk or country figures in Gene Clark and Bob Lind . Chris Gantry is getting a reissue on Drag City , Nashville but not as you probably dreamed. And Michael Nau and Damien Jurado , two contemporary US songwriters bringing great psychedelic undercurrents to modern folk music. The second section is all about the soundtracks. A couple of brilliant pieces from the year just gone, Nicholas Britell and Mica Levi respectively, from two excellent films also, Moonlight and Jackie . And some jazz inflections from Mikael Tariverdiev (classical Russian style) and Martial Solal (frantic French Nouvelle Vague style). Plus The Bonk , lovely prog pop shapes weaving dreamily around jazz and other things. More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Twitter: UndergroundOfHappy Playlist 464 Tues ...

Things you should know. Phil Christie of O Emperor is involved. Bit of Beefheart. Bit of doomsday jazz. Bit of improv spirit. Bit of mongrel swamp rock action. Prog pop tendencies. More than the sum of its parts. In short very good. Cipher by The Bonk Monologue by The Bonk Ancestor by The Bonk

Wonderfully wonky new single from Cate Le Bon appropriately titled 'Wonderful'. New Robert Pollard album out, why not dig out a GBV classic from 1996, and as we're at it some classic Pavement from around the same time. What a great time for "alt rock" that was. The Bonk , making some tasty psych sounds, playing in Cork this weekend. Damien Jurado picking up where he left off with his last great psych folk album, playing Whelan's this week. The Chap with some salutary advice for students, touring Europe now. The Chills with some salutary advice for the human race, playing Primavera in June. Rejoice. More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Twitter: UndergroundOfHappy Playlist 397 Tues Apr 12 2016 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm ...