ACL 2012: The Happiest Music of the Year

Some may call this a guilty pleasure, but we all need happy music: joy without melancholy, cheer without irony.  These ten releases – some short, because happiness is hard to sustain – each offer listeners a brief burst of ebullience.

Son Clair ~ Birdsong

I normally stick my headphones on the moment I leave the house or office, like a pathetic music junkie craving his fix. This means I sometimes miss out on sounds which are part and parcel of our environment (beeping horns,