The Listening Club - 31st August 2025

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing well and good. Summer's hanging on by a thread in Amsterdam, as waves of small but potent rain showers threaten to wash out the weekend's events - We still managed a very pleasurable trip down to South East Jazz, which, it will come as no surprise, was in the far south-east of the city, and delivered many random stripes of very well performed jazz, mostly in dappled sunshine as well, phew.

Quick PSA - I will be away visiting family on Sun 14th September, so if anyone is available to manage the #LC shop for that one day, please let me know!

Last Sunday saw @woj in the chair, getting slinky with his pick of  Madeline Kenny's "Kiss From The Balcony", which swooned the assembled successfully I'd say. Thanks extended for the pick and for sailing the frisb across to @akx, who has an extra week to ponder because...

...yep, end of month means #vortex time again, and this time a #TruerWordsHaveNeverBeenSpokenVortex was agreed, and @JimMcCauley has delivered the combined submissions right here... Download est ici, et stream's below:

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) later today.

The Listening Club - 24th August 2025

Salutations, folks.

Hope you're all doing well and good. Busy weekend here in Amsterdam as predicted, as the weather stayed mostly dry and the city got a major dose of ships of all shapes and sizes. Despite the estimated 2.5 million visitors, it was a pretty relaxed affair, plenty of opportunity to stroll around and enjoy the maritime scenery, even for a land lubber such as myself. Add to that some outdoor Finnish cinema, a random polka punk band playing in a local square, and a couple of fine meals and it's been a pretty good few days, must say. And mostly free too - well, taxpayer subsidized, anyways, hemhem - but it's great when it works, eh? Now, let's get on with this before it gets any later...

Oh yeah, next Sunday is end-of-the-month, so it's ime for a #vortex - get your ideas for themes out later on, please!

Last Sunday saw @FaberFedor in the chair, hitting heavy with the soundtrack to the 1994 classic, "The Crow", which got everyone rockin' and a shufflin' like a Saturday night at The Bronze. Thanks to FF for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @woj who's got this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"A month or so ago, the introduction for that week's pick had me thinking it was one of two bands. The selection did turn out to be one of them (Fleetwood Mac). So, I decided then that my next pick would be one of the other band's albums as a sort of call and response kind of thing. But, now that the summer is winding down and the Autumn releases are starting to roll out, everything has changed. Quite a few really good new records have been released in August and this is one of them. And that's all I shall say about it!"

Right then, download's here, stream's below:

Hope to see you at 20:00 BST (GMT+1) later today.

The Listening Club - 17th August 2025

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing well and good. Been a lovely hot week here, which has been very pleasing for m'self and Hype Cat to name but two, as we're getting to that point in the summer where the end is in sight, so a little more attention is paid to getting out there and making the most of it. Still plenty more to do, tho, including the arrival of a whole ton of tall floaty things next week as Amsterdam does it's SAIL thing (cap letters mandatory, apparently) for the first time in ten years. I admit I'm not the most nautical person by a long chalk, but I do like a boat or ten (thousand), and I do like a spectacle, so quite looking forward to seeing what it's all about I'd say...

Last Sunday, chez #LC, we saw @SimonLandmine getting cinematic with his pick of Barry Adamson's "As Above, So Below" from 1998, which resulted in a goodly amount of thumbs up from the assembled, I'd say. Thanks to Simon for the pick and for sailing the frisb over to @FaberFedor, who's right here with today's intro...

"I've got a dozen or so CDs, EPs, and digital tracks sitting on my desk waiting to be vetted for y'all.

You'd think being laid up on my back for a month+ would be a great time to catch up on all of this (and other things you can do while lying on a couch all day), but NOooo. These drugs don't help out at all with that kind of music (and you can listen to just so much Pink Floyd).

So I give you one of my \#LC fallback choices; an OST for a decent film iirc, apropos for its times but maybe not today. Although, if you look around and squint just right..."

Right then, download's here in m4a, or if you want an mp3, click here and get it from HearThis, or just play the stream below, it's all bacon...

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) later today.

The Listening Club - 10th August 2025

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing well and good. Summer normality (rather than nominally) kinda returns to Amsterdam, as in reasonably hot and reasonably dry, which is definitely fine by me. So let's get this done and dusted so we can return to a greenery-shaded chair, a slighty toasted hype cat and a well iced vermouth, shall we?

Last Sunday saw @Saucer in the chair, sending out a curve ball in the shape of "Sounds Made By Humans", performed by Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires, which seemed to go down just fine, judging by the comments. Thanks to Murray for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @SimonLandmine, who has this to say by way of introduction to today's pick...

"After the special knock opens the unmarked steel door set in the bare brick wall beneath the flickering neon, nod to the door staff and make your way down the dingy staircase and past the shadowed bar. Pull a chair up to one of the tables in the darkened room, and wait for the music ...

Yep, I spent a while dithering before deciding on this one, but it's been on my 'short' list for quite a while, and I felt it deserved to finally make it to the Club. Some of you are very likely familiar with it, but if not, I hope that you like it. It's an artist with quite the varied career before they started working on their own projects, which have featured a range of collaborators, and they've been cited as an inspiration by some musicians you might not expect from this album.

Drinking club: something cool and smooth.

Parental advisory: does include some swearing."

Right then, download's here, stream's below:

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) later today!

The Listening Club - 3rd August 2025

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing good. Another week of sunshine and showers here in Amsterdam, unfortunately a bit too much of the latter, which has dampened the squibs of most outdoor events this week - the annual Pride parade got away without much of a soaking yesterday, but Dekmantel festival seems to have been a soggy weekend of poncho dancing - if it subsides today, we may pop down, but I'd much rather be leaving the raincoat at home, tbh - like hype cat, I'm quite solar powered (you might have noticed, heh). Still, all good for the garden and the greenery eh? etc etc, sigh.

Last Sunday saw us in a contemplative mood with a #RecoveryRedemptionRebirthVortex, which saw a fine, wide range of interpretations indeed. Many thanks to everyone who chipped in tunes, and to @saucer for the fine blend'n'mix. Looking back we find that very same @saucer holding the frisbaton, so over to them for today's intro...

"When I catch the frisbee it's my cue (to spend time) to catch up on what's new. Permission to delay a life responsibility in favor of discovery. Explore that part of the dynamic range.

Between frisbees I'm always thinking... maybe this time I can ward off the deadline stress of casting what represents me to y'all as "saucer musical taste" for the coming half year or so (how vain). You know, wouldn't it be nice to just choose an album ahead of time so it's ready to go. 

Has never happened in 11 years of listening clubbing, ha ha.

But I can say I really like what popped into view four days ago, this time.

Kind of C86/Sarah, kind of 2025 tech dystopia, gets better with repeated listening, and whose very existence brings me visceral joy.

I hope it's fun for you too!"

Right then, download's here, stream's below:

Hope to see you at 20:00 BST (GMT+1) later today.

The Listening Club - 27th July 2025

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Tapping this out early as the sun is poking its head out after a mostly humid and overcast week, so a trip out to a market followed by a picnic in a park beckons. So let's on y va, shall we?

Last Sunday saw @eryngium in the chair, delivering a seriously global sound with Juanita Euka's "Mabanzo" from 2022. Many thanks to Eryn for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @saucer, who has an extra week to ponder because he's got something else to take care of first...

...indeed, it's end of the month, which as u kno means #vortex time, and this time, for whatever reasons you may surmise, a #RecoveryRedemptionRebirthVortex has been called for, with the aforementioned @saucer at the helm, gathering and blending your submissions.

The resultant download is here, and the stream's below:

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) later today.

The Listening Club - 20th July 2025

Salutations folks,

Hope you're all doing good - It's been another week of sunshine and showers here in Amsterdam, which is no problem for the most part, as long as it's not stopping us getting out and enjoying little local festivals, alfresco tapas gatherings, oddball psych rock gigs, mates' DJ sets and of course neighbourhood visits to find out which bush Hype Cat is sleeping under today, which is all well and good. For once, I really can't complain... 

Reminder that it's end-of-the-month-time next week, so as is customary, we're looking for #vortex themes again, bring your ideas tonight and pitch 'em, please and thank you!

Last Sunday saw @soundclamp in the chair, delivering The Coctails eponymous, yet final album from 1996, which definitely hit the sport with quite a few of the assembled. Many thanks to Dan for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @eryngium, who's here with the intro to today's pick...

"I heard a song from this artist on the soundtrack of a television show and promptly went off in search of the rest of the album. You’ll hear a mix of influences, languages, and beats reflecting the different countries this artist has called home. This is the artist’s first solo album, but they have previously been a vocalist for various bands, including some that are geographically local to a few of you. And if you are at all like me, you may want to clear some floor space in case you hear something that makes you want to get up and dance."

Right then, download's here and the stream's below...

Hope to see you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) later today.