The Underground of Happiness

Qluster - Haste Tone (Bureau B, from the album Fragen ) From Hans-Joachim Roedelius, who (along with Dieter Moebius and others) brought you Kluster, Cluster and Harmonia, and sound installationist Onnen Bock. Meditative, swelling synths ebb and flo like the tide, punctuated by discreet bells and obscure gurglings, until a beautiful piano and flute duo sails into view. Sublime stuff from a master. QLUSTER - LIVE PREVIEW 2011 from luma launisch on Vimeo . Cashier No. 9 - Lost at sea (Bella Union, from the album To the death of fun ) An uplifting wall of 60's sound, with a melancholy vocal in the middle and a lonesome harmonica in the wings, from the Belfast band's David Holmes-produced debut album. Tympani and castanets make up the intriguing supporting cast. There's the glorious whiff of the Brill building about the songwriting too. And here's the equally great first single from the album, Goldstar , sounding a shade like The Stone Roses taken in hand by Lee H...

It's quite unusual to find an album that is the result of, in effect, a research project. What a bonus when the music has a mysterious and compelling quality (although we partly guessed as much based on the band's fine eponymous EP of last year). The research in question, by singer Mark Kluzek , focuses on early Australian history and reveals harrowing tales of death and delinquency in the inhospitable tropics and on the high seas. The tales of various miscreants and misfortunates are recounted against a suitable backdrop of folk laments and dirges (violin and accordion are prominent throughout). In fact, the strength of the stories suggests a theatrical setting. Fedicia Exine deserves special mention, a song about "the little-known daughter of a convict" deported to Van Diemen's Land for murder. It contains a heartstopping moment a few minutes in when the drones drop out momentarily to be replaced by a light, airy folk tune on guitar, only for the narrator to re...