The Underground of Happiness

One thing I didn't expect to arrive in the post during the dark mornings and shortening evenings of October was a new bossa nova tune from an Irish singer-songwriter. 'Distance of her love' is the first single from Owensie's 2nd album, Citizens , which comes out at the end of this month. And it does indeed convey its message through the medium of bossa nova. Happily though, there's nothing tokenistic about the choice - the arrangement hangs on a comfortable array of classical guitar, murmuring saxophone, sympathetic, muted drums and Owensie's falsetto. It comes together brilliantly, all the more so because of the undertow of melancholy and loss in the lyric (a mother separated from her children, it seems through economic hardship and enforced migration) - the jaunty rhythm is particularly effective offset in this way. In fact, it tends to give the characters in the story extra depth. The best references I can find are Sam Prekop or José Gonzalez, pretty ...

We opened the show with some great bossa nova from Dubliner Owensie , a brilliantly catchy tune from his new album Citizens . We also had more brass-ornamented skewed pop from David Byrne & St Vincent ; two Galway bands playing live together this week, Yawning Chasm and Christian Bookshop ; Japanese legends Shonen Knife (pictured, as usual, great costumes), also on tour at the moment, the wonderful croon of Jon DeRosa , a track from a re-issued album by the incomparable North Sea Radio Orchestra , Limerick's windings , the orchestral flourishes of Jherek Bischoff , the choral beauty of Ombre . And a superb dub rework of Roll the Dice by Berliner Pole . Calling dub workers? Now there's a marching slogan... The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Playlist 238 Tues Oct 9 2012 11.00am-1.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on th...

Last year's In dust album by Roll the Dice was one of my highlights of the year, a great slow burning, rolling machine of a beast, but somehow warm and engaging at the same time. Now, the Swedish duo have enlisted Stefan Betke , better known as the influential Berlin electronic artist Pole , to perform some remixes from the album. Hard to say these days where an original begins and a re-do kicks in. In this case, it's as if the original pieces are in glitchy telephone contact with the updates, from a distant space colony of the future, while bass bins pound through the floor from downstairs. Ghostly dub, you might say, catchy and intriguing you might also say, and the effect is to make you hear the originals with a whole new perspective. Here's the beef. artist: ROLL THE DICE meets POLE title: In Dubs label: The Leaf Label formats: Limited edition 12” silver and black vinyl EP (DOCK 59 / UPC 843190055968) Digital (DOCK 59E / UPC 843190055999) release date: Mond...

We had a track from Jon DeRosa on the show this week, the gorgeous single 'Birds of Brooklyn'. The whole album is an absolute treat - if you like a good croon, you'll love it. Listen back to it on the podcast, it's Track 5, about 20 minutes in. Oct 2 2012 show w/ Melody's Echo Chamber, windings, Jon DeRosa, Ariel Pink, Thread Pulls, Goat++ by Theundergroundofhappiness on Mixcloud The songwriting throughout the album is sturdy as well as poetic, though, making for a strong combination with the delicate orchestral arrangements - it's why, beyond the voice, Scott Walker is a valid reference point. 'Snow coffin', 'Teenage goths', 'Hollow Earth Theory', there are too many memorable songs to single out. There's also a cover of the Blue Nile song 'Easter Parade' and this bruised ballad in waltz time. Plenty more from the album to come on the show over the coming weeks.

Beautiful album, released a couple of months back on Asthmatic Kitty , featuring a collaboration between two of its roster, Julianna Barwick and Helado Negro . She the one with the banks of celestial vocals (you'll find some more links in these pages), he with the sonic sculpts, or as the PR puts it, "rustic-Latin-psyche-folk meets big-city-blockparty" (nice). Anyway, I'm saying no more about this. This one's not for reading about, it's for listening. Believe You me by OMBRE

This week's show kicked off with windings' new single, a great piece of prog pop from the Limerick band. Melody's Echo Chamber was in there again, can't get enough of that; Jon DeRosa , from a beautiful album called A wolf in preacher's clothes , for fans of Scott Walker; some Goat , for that itchy funk fix, new music from Thread Pulls , more brilliant skeletal grooves and Melt Yourself Down , a new project from ex Acoustic Ladyland members, more great African-inflected live dance music. And of course Ariel Pink ..."you sank my battleship, no I sank your battleship...". Class. The Underground of Happiness uplifting pop music of every creed www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/theundergroundofhappiness Playlist 237 Tues Oct 2 2012 11.00am-1.00pm (repeated on Tuesdays 8.30pm) UCC 98.3FM listen live on the web at www.ucc.ie/983fm *listen back to this show here http://i.mixcloud.com/CBmesQ Playlist windings - This is ...

This song came into my life last week. And at the moment, it feels like my life is divided into the time before I heard it, and the time since. It's a fantastic slice of dreamy, bittersweet psych pop that is liable to haunt/soundtrack your waking hours. I've become quite obsessed with the way the bass and keys enter at different points to competely shift the mood of the arrangement. The woman responsible is Melody Prochet . My information on her is quite sketchy. She may or may not be French. Her debut self titled album comes out in November on Weird World (that already spectacular little label, only just over a year in existence) and was partly recorded in Perth with Kevin Parker from Tame Impala . There is something of that band's dense sound about the tune, although more about this track (all effected guitars and dropped snare beats), a 7" from last summer on Fat Possum (another fine label), which is also great. It's a bit like a Grizzly Bear tune pum...