Brendan Perry - Happy Time

4AD
SHUFFLE
1993



Sorry for the gap between postings. I had this weird dream where I was in a smallish theatre watching Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen, and me and about 20 other members of the audience got out of our seats and went down the front to dance. We were really giving it some, the tune finished then they went into Under Pressure.

I've no idea what significance there is in dreaming a British trad jazz trumpeter playing Under Pressure (please leave any suggestions in the Comments), but it has been quite unsettling.

Actually, it's got nothing to do with the gap in postings, but I just wanted to mention it. Wouldn't you if it had happened to you?

So, enough of this hoo-hah, let's get on with some sublime music.

This is the gorgeous Happy Time, the opening track from Tim Buckley's 1969 album Blue Afternoon, covered by the bloke from Dead Can Dance.

Brendan retains the soaring sweetness of the song but lends it his trademark Moses-esque gravity.

It was relased on 4AD Presents The 13 Year Itch. 4AD was a hell of a label for weirdness and peculiar releases. There was the time Cocteau Twins had an album's worth of stuff but released it on two EPs of four tracks each in consecutive weeks.

There's the This Mortal Coil project, where assorted mixes of 4AD musicians record covers and stuff.

There was Lonely Is An Eyesore, a compilation with companion video, which had a limited edition box set of both items and some artwork. Not a 12 inch cardboard box, a big fat wooden thing with an engraved lid and dovetail joints and stuff. Mental.

The 13 Year Itch was put together to celebrate 4AD's 13th birthday. It was released for one week in July 1993 before being deleted, and even then only 2,000 copies were pressed. All tracks are unique to the compilation.

Which is a crying shame, as Happy Time alone would justify massive sales. Bright, bubbling, sweeping, liberated joy. Glorious.

[MP3 deleted to make way for new ones. Sorry!]