The Underground of Happiness

Harp. Double bass. Drums. The Dublin couple next to us wonder if we’ve heard of Joanna Newsom. But you would be put in mind immediately of Alice Coltrane. In fact they play an Alice Coltrane song. Cosmic string washes. Punctuated basslines carrying the weight. Fluttering beats with gorgeous cymbal work. Songs of activism and engagement. Actual jazz. A glorious night in church.

A wonderful strangeness surrounds Susanna . The long flowing white gown. The elaborate eye make up. The choice of Baudelaire . Songs of sex and death. A voice like a bell. And perfect in an 18th century church. Baroque. Funnily enough life affirming in the end.

Chapter 20 August closes with Pretty Happy . One of Cork’s current finest. In Triskel Christchurch of all places. And showing a film they made also of all things. About Cork’s Arcadia legacy. For that alone huge credit. Acknowledging their post punk ancestry. After the film the band played. Arann begins with a sermon from the actual 18th century pulpit (this dedicated later to the recently deceased Cathal Coughlan). Then Abbey enters from the back of the room. Up the aisle spraying holy water. Yes the ghost of Cathal Coughlan is alive and well. The gig is a riot of fuzz in celebration of the everyday. Vignettes of hangovers and pseudocream and nights in A&E. Absurdist maybe but full of profound insights. And while Cathal Coughlan is there alright, it’s the spirit of Finbarr Donnelly which is particularly thick in the air – after all Finbarr was a huge influence on Cathal – challenging, provoking, disturbing. Also Arann on bass seems to be mining a Kev Hopper (Stump) str...

And so to another great gig (maybe concert is a better word, maybe not) to end a great weekend of music (go here if you haven't heard about the context for this, The Reich Effect Festival ). The Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson came to Triskel Christchurch last Sunday with the Iskra String Quartet (that's a photo - I assume from the soundcheck, seeing as the place is empty - taken from the Iskra blog ). I went along as a novice, in terms of familiarity with the man's music - but then going with a blank slate can be an interesting way to approach a performance. This venue opened last April and so has only hosted a handful of musical events to date. I'd hazard a guess that this is the first time that a combination of volcanic rumblings and brushed strings had been heard in the place. That number resolved into something like aircraft noise, a very un-concert hall type of sound. But this performance was unconventional in several ways, by concert hall standards. Th...

You could have been in Eastern Europe at times. If you stared up at the renovated church ceiling, you could have been back in time by a couple of hundred years, such was the antique quality of the music*. This was Ryan Francesconi playing at Triskel Christchurch in Cork last Friday, a sublime match-up of artist and venue, if ever there was one. Before saying any more about the gig, here's a few lines from a review of his current album that caught my eye. " Skirting any obvious models, this is an attempt to establish his own original voice on the instrument ... These are polished and meditative pieces, given to frequent pauses and moody moments. On the title track Francesconi can flight out sparkling ornaments that recall Toumani Diabate's kora ... The music is sophisticated, but there's an escape from the urban, a sort of West Coast Buddhist romanticism. That's not meant as a snide comment - this is a beautiful album, carried off with poetic aplomb ....

I paid my first visit to the recently re-opened Triskel Arts Centre over the weekend. They've incorporated several changes as part of the renovations, including restoring the 18th century Christchurch next door and turning it into a performance venue under the auspices of Triskel. You'd have to see the place to do it proper justice but the next best thing is to take a look at the picture gallery here . It's a stunning development, worthy of any major European city. Only last night, they hosted Hauschka playing a live soundtrack to Dreyer's silent classic Vampyr - I couldn't make it but you can read a review here - which is pretty damn impressive in anyone's book. There's a raft of other exciting events in the coming months, check em out. Another of the new elements in Triskel is the re-located Plugd Records , a perfect fit with the underground spirit of Triskel's history really (they're also running the Gulpd Café downstairs, purveyors of damn f...

So we had The Underground of Happiness screening of the Efterklang movie, An island , directed by Vincent Moon . (Sorry if you missed it, but not to worry, read on. Anyway, it was very limited capacity, restricted to the number of people that can fit on my couch, basically - what a select bunch... Check out the website for all the screening details further down the page, and see if you can spot our photo in the gallery here - flickr.com/photos/anisland) It was very enjoyable. As with all music films, it stands on the quality of the music itself, which of course is very good in this case. My 8-year old wondered about the narrative interludes ("Why are they walking in the forest?") but she found plenty of interest in the musical performances. Even the toughest critic in the room (my wife) was won over. I think my own favourite bit was the accompanying children's orchestra during the school sequence, and in particular the "newspaper section" (kids holding newsp...