The Underground of Happiness

I know, I know, it's February, leave 2015 alone. But some things are too good to let lie. So another mini list, four great albums from last year. Get them into your life. ******************************************************************************** Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express – Junun (Nonesuch) A thrilling cross cultural project involving the Israeli singer and composer Shye Ben Tzur, Radioheader and composer in his own right Jonny Greenwood and a bunch of fantastic musicians from Rajasthan in India (the making of the album was also documented by Paul Thomas Anderson in the film of the same name released last year). Who contributes what can get a bit fuzzy at times (the sign of a true collaboration, perhaps) but the guttural, percussive vocals of Ben Tzur in Hebrew are a joy, Greenwood’s electronic interventions intrigue and the brass and string and mass vocals of the Express uplift and entrance. Fantastic and playing at the Barbic...

The wonderful Light in the Attic Records has been pursuing a raft of Lee Hazlewood reissues in recent years and what a beautiful thing that is. This winter saw the reissue of his three MGM records from the mid 1960s. In the wake of ‘These boots are made for walkin’’, the smash hit in early 1966 written by Lee for Nancy Sinatra , LH was given the run of the studio with his pick of the cream of session talent. This was what came to be known as the ‘Wrecking Crew’ and the personnel on these albums includes such greats as Glen Campbell, Chuck Berghofer, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Al Casey and Larry Knechtel. There’s a whole bunch of treasures on all three albums ( Its cause and cure and Something special are the others) but I would have to say that LH hit a particularly rich seam on the first one, The Very Special World of Lee Hazlewood . In fact, the first half of the album alone contains at least four all time classics in the genre LH invented, that strain of world weary, sumpt...