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 couple of surf references in this week’s show which is nice on the cusp of winter/spring. La Luz are a 4-piece from Seattle (or I’ve also seen LA) and their tune ‘Cicada’ is a brilliantly propulsive piece of surf noir, that’s what they’re calling it. Sven Libaek soundtracked a surf documentary in 1968. Here we had the wonderful theme from that OST which sounds a little like The Byrds gone lounge. (What a lost opportunity says you.) Also Nightports with Matthew Bourne making beautiful piano (re)shapes. Tune Yards going full soul diva on the excellent ‘Heart attack’. Brickwork Lizards carving a space for Egyptian fusion in Oxford. And a little Petula Clark to show everyone how to make perfect pop music. 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 479 Tues Feb 20 2018 11.00am-12...

A couple of great Thrill Jockey releases on the show this week, both duos. House and Land are Sally Anne Morgan and Sarah Henson , both steeped in Appalachian folk music and here giving a haunting take on that tradition. Golden Retriever are from Portland and consist of analog synthesist Matt Carlson and bass clarinetist Jonathan Sielaff . They make glorious slow moving ambient drones, this one appropriately titled 'Pelagic tremor'. Matthew Bourne and the title track from his upcoming new album. Another brilliantly arresting spare piano piece with cello drones. Also The Magnetic Fields singing a song to 1969 and namechecking Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin's '69 Année Erotique, which we also heard. And Edward Williams with one of the great (neglected) soundtrack albums as given a life by Trunk Records - utterly otherworldly and deeply moving. More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www....

Mick Harvey has just released his 4th album of Serge Gainsbourg interpretations, the wonderful Intoxicated Women . The first track on it is a great cover of 'Je t'aime', in German ('Ich liebe dich') with the memorable vocals of Andrea Schroeder taking the part of Jane Birkin . Depending on your susceptibility to female sighs and intimations, very possibly not safe for work. Any excuse for a classic cut from the man himself Serge, a bit of Melody Nelson with tremendous orchestrations by Jean Claude Vannier . Benoit Pioulard, August Wells, Happyness, OOIOO all playing around or about these parts soon. Basil Kirchin is a revered cult figure in outsider music (subject of a recent festival in Hull), check his gorgeous mixture of jazz and birdsong/field recordings. And The Saxophones , a sublime late night disquieting dream of a song. More on these pages. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundo...

A Trunk Records Special before the summer break for the show, paying tribute to the wonderful, varied catalogue on that esteemed English label. It's associated with cratediggers and record collectors a lot - possibly novelty records too - but really there's plenty of very accessible material in its archive. It manages to accommodate artists operating on the fringes or the shadows alongside household names (although fewer of the latter in fairness). Certainly, there's no snobbery attached, something you sometimes find in collector circles. It's a label quite obviously run by music fans. There's something in it for everyone, the kind of comment that might be taken as derogatory but is the highest compliment in this case. The archive is also the result of curation and the utmost commitment to promoting lost treasures in many cases. I've discovered quite a few of my favourite albums of all time from Trunk. Full playlist and further background info below. And of ...

Sao Paolo to Tokyo, Cork to Perth. There's a new OOIOO album out soon, it's influenced by the sound of Javanese Gamelan music. I decided to build a mini-set around a track from it, with a classic Tropicalia cut from Os Mutantes , the current single from The Altered Hours and a new remix from perth (the band from Perth). The theme of this mini-set? I dunno...pop music infiltrated by psych pop and global folk musics? A new single from Rachael Dadd which is great and Joan Shelley , who tours Ireland this month - what a wonderful pure voice she has. New music from Orcas , a lovely ethereal sound a little bit reminiscient of Talk Talk ; we also had the latter, from the superb Spirit of Eden album. Then, more searching folk music from Arch Garrison , The Monks Kitchen doing Ray Charles, Trans Am doing JAMC. And Joe Meek shooting into outer space. May 13 2014 w/ Os Mutantes,OOIOO,Orcas, Talk Talk, Joe Meek,Arch Garrison,Trans Am,Tune-Yards++ by Theundergroundofhappines...

Some more this week from the Bernard Cribbins album on Trunk Records, the wonderful ‘Gossip Calypso’. Ennio Morricone was announced to play Dublin this week, we had some classic soundtrack work from the master, paired with the great new Nancy Elizabeth single, which evokes the great man. Beautiful ambient drift from Pieter Nooten’s epic new double album, some neat electro pop from ESB feat. Perry Blake , and Polly Scattergood’s new single. New Irish music from Biggles Flys Again (great voice), O Emperor (an intriguing folk-krautrock hybrid) and some lovely lyrical surrealism a la Pavement from Wicklow’s Policy . April March & Aquaserge and Elephant were back again – can’t get enough of those tunes – and more from the great new William Tyler album of incredibly evocative guitar instrumentals, alongside a classic from The Byrds , who tap into some of the same 12-string electric guitar sources. Mar 26 2013 show w/ Ennio Morricone,Pieter Nooten,Biggles Flys Again,O Emper...

We mentioned an album last month, the great Eden's Island by Eden Ahbez, which has been re-issued on Trunk Records . First of all, you need to hear that. But secondly, it made me think again about another Eden Ahbez song, Nature boy , which was made famous by Nat King Cole . Here's some footage of the Nat trio doing a version, very close to the recorded one. The date isn't given but I'd guess it's around 1948 or so, when the song was a hit. That's one of the high water marks in pop music history, hands down. I went through a period, some years ago, of being quite obsessed with the tune, but I haven't listened to it in too long (my CD copy went astray). It's great to hear it again. Plus Nat could play one mean piano, in fairness.

Another lost classic re-issued by the wonderful Jonny Trunk . This album was originally released in 1960 on Del-Fi Records and features one of life’s proto-hippies in the shape of Eden Ahbez (an assumed name, as you may have guessed, born Alexander Aberle in Brooklyn in 1908), a drifter, performer, student of Oriental mysticism, who moved west and reportedly lived outdoors with his family in Los Angeles , under the first L in the Hollywood sign. He was also a regular performer at the city’s coffeehouses in the 1940’s, mixing poetry with flute and bongo arrangements. And, most famously, he was responsible for the song Nature boy , that superb evocation of innocence abroad which was turned into a hit by Nat King Cole in 1947. All those elements are present on this album, along with a strong undercurrent of Central American rhythms which tends to bring Esquivel to mind (this is always welcome). Especially on songs like Full moon , a beautiful, sombre vibes arrangement with a spoken word p...