The Underground of Happiness

The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Playlist 214 Tues Mar 27 2012 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here https://rapidshare.com/files/3818709624/1100_The_Underground_Of_Happiness.m4a Playlist Tanlines - All of me Electric Guest - This head I hold ( playing Deaf Institute, Manchester, May 15 ) Matthew Bourne - Juliet Peter Broderick - It starts hear Neil Cowley Trio - Rooster was a witness ( playing Triskel Christchurch, Cork, Apr 15 ) Andrew Bird - Eyeoneye ( playing Forbidden Fruit Festival, Dublin, June 4 ) AU - OJ ( playing Shacklewell Arms, London, Apr 25 ) Grimes - Oblivion ( playing Forbidden Fruit Festival, Dublin, June 3 ) Junior Electronics - Mike McCOnnell Halves - Haunt me when I'm drowsy (live) (Live at Unitarian Church) Mairi Morrison &...

Just got this album today – belatedly, it came out at the beginning of March – and I’ve immediately fallen in love with it. Short and very sweet, with a beautiful breathy voice at the centre, it’s just a joy from start to finish. Bill Callahan crops up twice for vocal support but it’s the beautiful balance of the production that catches the ear most – a US west coast folk sound with a twist of RnB. It’s basically brilliant. For example, the utterly captviating Close to me , which starts like a Led Zep outtake with Stevie Nicks guesting, but soon morphs into something approaching Olivia Newton John’s disco period, only so much better than that might make you think.

Another gem on Erased Tapes , which seems like it's a bottomless pit of treasures in fairness. Here's an album of carefully shifting but still affecting electronica. From the swirling, beat-driven Cogs and chemicals ; to the sublime drift of the title track with its chopped up piano pattern and layered harmonies; to the euphoric, shoegazey uplift of Where you go I will follow and something like pastoral drum machine music on Crack in the clouds . Also the glorious machine drone of Irons in fires is a great way to end the album. Thoroughly recommended. The British Expeditionary Force – Commotion (Official Music Video) from Erased Tapes on Vimeo .

Light and airy, but full of an irresistible pop sweetness. Garage pop gems like ESP, Brahma and the title track don’t come along every day and should be cherished when they do. The first psychedelic wave may be a major musical influence but the presence of Daniel Lee’s smooth croon adds extra depth and intrigue. Make it your soundtrack for the summer.

The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Playlist 213 Tues Mar 20 2012 11.00am-12.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here https://rapidshare.com/files/2852672361/The_Underground_Of_Happiness_Mar_20_2012.m4a Playlist Lightships - Sweetness in her spark The Salim Nourallah Treefort 5 - Everybody knows Mairi Morrison & Alisdair Roberts - Mile marbhphaisg air a' Ghaol Yann Tiersen - The trial Hooded Fang - Brahma The Agency - Not singular Chairlift - I belong in your arms It's a Musical - For years and years Shearwater - Breaking the yearlings Yawning Chasm - Life is elsewhere Julia Holter - In the same room ( playing Forbidden Fruit Festival, Dublin, June 4 ) Milagres - Doubted ( playing Electric Picnic, Stradbally, Aug 31-Sept 2 ) Salli Lunn - The first cause F...

Remember when The Flaming Lips released one of the great pop records of the 1990's (any decade?), The soft bulletin . That was the album that introduced the name of Dave Fridmann to the world, for it was he who recorded it at the then new Tarbox Road Studio . That wild drum sound rocked my world that year. But also the melodies and keyboards used as knock-off orchestras. Backing vocals taking the place of guitar parts. It was a monumental sound and it was all over the radio. Seeing the band play at The Olympia Theatre in Dublin later that year, on tour with Cornelius , was something like a religious experience for me. That was the time when Wayne Coyne used the puppet nun and fake blood as stage props. You can relive the whole thing now courtesy of a Pitchfork documentary, featuring all the principals speaking about the background to and recording of the album. Have a listen to Part 2 here, soundtracked by the majestic What is the light .

An album we've had on heavy rotation lately is AU's Both lights on Leaf . The second single Get alive has just been released from it. It's got another great rumbling rhythm - a kind of mutant two-step, with invigorating brass punctuation - and more soaring vocals from Luke Wyland with guest Holland Andrews (she also sang on first single Solid gold ). It kinda reminds me of the best gospel music in that it's just effortlessly uplifting.