I seem to have a predominantly gloomy collection. From lovelorn singer-songwriter angst through the gothic folk of The Handsome Family via gloomy choral requiems, sad Leonard Cohen and on to the truly apocalyptic Nick Cave and Low!
So I tried to find some cheery stuff and ended up re-discovering a fair bit, especially african music. Bhundu Boys and Remme Ongala especially. That first Vampire Weekend album. A bit of the La La Land soundtrack and finally this great slice of indie guitar pop that is playing a lot on 6music just now. Hang in for the great duelling guitar solo.
Judith Owen - Happy This Way
from the album of the same name on the Scottish Label. A lovely sweet song which I first came across after we’d gone through a rough couple of years and it wonderfully summed up the feeling of having it behind us.
Fun fact - she’s married to Harry Shearer (aka Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap and Mr Burns in The Simpsons).
