The Underground of Happiness

The opening piano riff of Double summer. And I am in tears. For the 1990s. For my wasted/wonderful youth. For my 24 year old self. Regret and joy and yearning. For something. But that melody. That chorus. Gives me strength and hope. Here goes double summer. Sharing with one another. There was also Heavenly Pop Hit. My leather jacket. Male monster from the id. Monolith. You’re immortal. In the latter the bass player even played trumpet with one hand and bass with the other which was memorable in itself. But mostly thank fuck for Martin Phillipps .

Tune-Yards - whokill (4AD) After recording her debut, Bird-Brains , using a dictaphone and freeware, album number two sees Merrill Garbus making full use of a studio, in terms of scope and sound. Unlike that album, there's a lot less ukulele in sight (one exception is Wolly wolly gong with its spooky fairytale quality, a kind of hip-hop lullaby). The other main difference is a more prominent dub influence running throughout - a prime example is Powa with its lovely loping tempo and heavily reverbed vocals. The single Gangsta has a great caustic energy (brass and strident vocals); check out the street funk of My country , with a memorable fuzz synth line, freewheeling brass section and playground chant na-na-na-na-na outro. However, if you have no other contact with this album, you must at least hear the transcendant moment during Doorstep when a bevvy of layered Merrill's (all sha-la-la's and whoa-oo-whoa's) contrive to produce an intimate atmosphere straight off a ...

Great to hear some new music from Tune-Yards the other week, a track called bizness , ahead of her new album, whokill , due out in April. You can listen here: http://tune-yards.com/ Here's what I thought of it: Tune Yards - bizness (4AD, from the upcoming album whokill ) Picking up where Merrill Garbus left off with her wonderful debut Bird Brains but with a less ramshackle feel (recorded in a studio as opposed to on a dictaphone). Fantastic, gymnastic vocal loops get things going, before a west African-style groove of staccato bass and a matrix of guitars locks in, with a bank of horns as the cherry on the cake. Wonderful foretaste of her upcoming new album. And a live date in Whelan's in Dublin has been announced for June 17th (she's also part of the mouthwatering bill of the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona at the end of May), the first visit to this country in almost 18 months (tickets here - http://www.whelanslive.com/  ). Here's what I thought of...