The Underground of Happiness

We played a track on the show this week by an Irish band called The River Fane . I came across the band through one of its members, Johnny Fox , who is on something of a sabbatical in Sao Paolo at the moment. (I say sabbatical, although he's "churning" out his own solo material at a ferocious pace - http://johnnyfox.bandcamp.com/album/more-or-less .) Johnny directed me to his band page, currently hosting EP 2 recorded in 2011 in Dublin, which opens with Kaleidoscope , the track we played on the show. It's an absolutely glorious broken-down piano ballad, with woozy double bass and reverb-soaked vocals. As Johnny himself commented in correspondence, it was written at a time of a major Beach Boys obsession (which is grand with me). It reflects the overall ethos of the EP, showing an endearing blue-eyed soul demeanour. The production is direct and in service to the songs, which are superb. It sounds like nothing Irish, and that, to me, is also a fine thing in itse...

A few new albums in this week and we featured a couple of tracks on the show. Wires Under Tension graced us with a brilliant, frantic, brass-laden instrumental - B. Fleischmann's album is called I'm not ready for the grave yet and he chipped in with Don't follow , a meaty, polyphonic backbeat boasting a wonderfully downbeat vocal. Mumblin' Deaf Ro was back with the heartbreak and absolute class of Little mite , Jon DeRosa's baritone made a welcome return too, Roll the Dice meets Pole, Sone Institute, Rozi Plain's compelling choral dynamics, and the irresistible dream pop of Melody's Echo Chamber . Richard Hawley and Susanna (she of the Magical Orchestra) both play Cork soon (I can't wait), and Dublin duo Thread Pulls show how much drama you can wring out of a drum set and a bass (some electronics too, in fairness). And The River Fane , the most sublime distillation of the best bits of The Beach Boys, which is no disservice to its gorgeousness. ...