The Underground of Happiness

*Dedicated to LK who loves autumn* Autumn. Fall. I’ve been threatening to do one of these for a while. What are autumn songs? What is autumn music? There are the ones that reference autumn explicitly. Leaves. Wind. Rain. Colours. Sun lower in the sky. Those unforgettable moons. But beyond that there’s the metaphor of time passing. A certain mood. The beginning of the end of something. That can still be beautiful. Lots of music taps into this well for its atmosphere. A certain meditative quality might be in it. A contemplation of something. Maybe nostalgia. Often a minor key. Or at least bittersweet. (Possibly related – many of the tracks here feature woodwind. Flutes. Clarinets. Double recorder. The force of breath? There’s even the sighing of an accordion. And a harmonica.) There might even be spirits involved. Souls. Halloween. Contact with another world. Or like birds taking off for warmer climates some kind of migration. Transformation. Death or decay...

A playlist for summer. Sunshine. Heatwave. (We've been having that around this neck of the woods.) When the heat does things to you. Changes your brain. Makes everything blurry. So it shimmers. Enjoy. Kacy & Clayton – The light of day (New West Records) Gene Clark – Why not your baby (A&M Records) The Byrds – Wild Mountain Thyme (Columbia) Jess Williamson – I see the white (Mexican Summer) Naim Gabriel Amor – Just before revelation (Vacilando ’68) Kamasi Washington – The Space Traveller’s Lullaby (Young Turks) Esquivel – My blue heaven (RCA) Ennio Morricone feat. Edda Dell’Orso – Una spiaggia a mezzogiorno (from the soundtrack of the film Vergogna Schifosi) (Ariete) LWW – CTP (radio edit) (The Leaf Label) Szun Waves – Constellation (The Leaf Label) Kody Nielson – Bic’s birthday (Flying Nun) Os Mutantes – Bat macumba (Polydor) Malena Zavala – If it goes (Yucatan Records) Tenniscoats – Ende (Alien Transistor) The Saxophones – Aloha (Full Ti...

Some events happening which tie in this week. Gene Clark died 25 years ago this year. The very good people at Young Hearts Run Free are putting on a tribute event in Dublin next month featuring a host of people playing GC songs. Should be great. Slow Moving Clouds start a short Irish tour this w'end in Cork - go. Julia Kent is back in Dublin next month also, cellos all round. Other than that, if you're in the UK you can check Aldous Harding, Nadia Reid, Anna von Hausswolff, Kathryn Joseph in the next while - spoiled ye are over there. And JC Vannier rules of course. I'm sure he's not at all inconsolable, contrary to what Lake Ruth would have us believe. 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 399 Tues Apr 26 2016 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC ...

I've been meaning to put down a few thoughts for quite a while about Van Dyke Parks . He's one of these Zelig-like characters, appearing at many crucial junctures in pop music history. This much I knew. I knew he played keyboards on the title track of The Byrds' 1966 album 5-D (I can hear that sunburst organ on the playout now - actually so can you, here). I knew about his association with Brian Wilson , co-writing several songs with him for the lost Smile album. Including this absolute classic, Heroes and villains . What a great lyric - I'm fit with the stuff To ride in the rough And sunny down snuff I'm alright He was also involved in plenty of other Beach Boys compositions, co-writing with Brian mostly, not always with the approval of the other 'Boys (Mike Love in particular, I think). And I notice he crops up on backing vocals on one of my all-time favourite Beach Boys songs, A day in the life of a tree from Surf's up , 1971. Mmmm. ...