The Listening Club - 6th July 2025

Greetings folks,

Yes indeedy, @kleptones here, back again from my travels, and in typical "need a holiday to get over the holiday" mode. It was worth it though, of course. Major thanks to @corin_ja, @saucer, @holette & @akx for keeping the boat afloat whilst I was away, really grateful to you all. Sadly the weekend here has been full of overcast soggy weather, which is fine for the greenery, but not so fine for Amsterdam Roots Festival, which is happening today and always seems to get the unluckiest weather forecast, year after year. Hoping it clears up before the end of the day so we can pop down for a bit, therefore tapping this out early just in case...

Last Sunday, as I was communing with many other folks of a certain age (including one Stewart Lee, celeb-spotters), watching the very legendary Roy Harper at Glastonbury, back here in #LC land twas the annual solstice-driven #LiveVortex, which looked like a mighty wide ranging selection as always. Many thanks to everyone for chipping in tunes, and to @akx for the mix. Back in regular programming mode, we find @ThatNewSound holding the frisb with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"The pattern so far has been old, new, old and so this one was meant to be a brand new one but Ive been feeling out of the groove recently and havent heard many really fresh releases that tickled me. Scanning my slowly growing collection of pre-saved maybes wasnt inspiring me too much either, there's some good stuff there but none of it felt right this time. For a brief moment I thought maybe something chilled and sunset ready would be good, but the weather looks like it might be a bit crap here this weekend.

Instead what Ive ended up doing is just picking something I like... again. This record is pretty noisy so you're owed a fair warning. It was released in 2025 but right back at the beginning and so I've given it a fair few spins since then and even seen the artist live which I will encourage you to do after the revel. There's a song on it about the commodification of queer culture and they've been pretty outspoken about the many forms of bigotry. It being Pride weekend this felt like it could be a winner and so it was chosen.

Non drinkers grab yourself something colourful but those attending drinking club should absolutely get themselves in a few cans of 'Existence As A Radical Act' from Queer Brewing... I'll probably be nursing a hangover they caused on saturday - hopefully this LC pick will bring me back to life."

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

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

The Listening Club - 29th June 2025

Greetings, people of Listening Club!

'Tis I, @corin_ja, in the caretaker's hut once more, tightening the dripping taps of musical ingenuity whilst the gaffer - @kleptones - is, I believe, sunning himself in the Vale of Avalon.

Been quite the musical week for me, from Wildwood disco in rural Cambridgeshire last weekend, to the still-turning-it-up-to-11 thrills of Iron Maiden at the London Stadium last night. From the sublime to the ridiculous, maybe?

Anyway, big shout out to @Holette and @saucer for minding the shop last weekend, and also for @Holette's choice of Macro by Brijean to entertain the masses, which it certainly did. Thanks very much indeed on all counts.

The frisbaton was expertly guided over in the direction of @ThatNewSound who has one more week to ponder their selection on account of the fact it is, as tradition and the concurrence of the Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts dictates, the regular end-of-June #LiveVortex

Expertly smushed by @akx let's crack open some warm ciders, slather ourselves in a mixture of suncream and mud, and listen to this with a stranger's armpit mere inches from our faces. Boys and girls and everyone in-between please welcome to the stage the one and only world-famous LIVE VORTEX 2025!!

Download is here, and the stream is below:

Show time is 8pm BST (GMT +1) 

The Listening Club - 22nd June 2025

Hello Listening Clubbers

It's Holette sitting in this week to send you a warm welcome “croeso cynnes” from the mountains of North Wales. Big thanks to @spiny for their cool debut pick last week of Up A Tree by Looper. We chatted about Scottish accents, made jokes about the Velvet Underground and spotted samples, so, a great use of time on a Sunday IMHO.

Big thanks to my co-host @saucer for handling tonight’s technicals as we hand over to, well, me, for this week’s selection.

“As some of our number ponder which combination of spangly tops, Aztec ponchos and 24 hour party/hiking shoes to pack for their Somerset camping trip, I thought I’d pick a suitably summery confection.

“I heard a shimmering pop psyche track by this band last year and was inspired to explore more. I found an album that starts in one mood and progresses into something more unexpected. This duo features a leading percussionist and multi instrumentalist so listen out for some nuanced rhythms and textures underneath the floaty vocals.

“As always, interested to hear the variety of reactions from you’s lot.”

Drinking club: Mine’s an Aperol Spritz. Iechyd da/cheers!

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

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

P.S. Next week it’s the last Sunday of the month, so today let’s talk vortex themes.

The Listening Club - 15th June 2025

 Hello there!

This is Corin here (nom-de-plume @corin_ja) standing in for @kleptones as he's away on his regular summer-time hollibobs. Hoping everyone is in good form? It's been a hot'n'humid week here in southeast London, UK, interrupted only by a couple of welcome thunderstorms overnight. Not enough rain for the flower pots but at least the electricity clears the air for a short while.

It was @AqiDrago's turn in the chair last week, who regaled us with her choice of the VAST album (yes, it was a double-disc but that's the name of the band) Turquoise & Crimson from 2006, which certainly kept the Club engaged and entertained, it seems, for the whole running time. Thanks indeed to Aqi Drago for the pick, and thanks also for hurling the frisbaton of selection responsibility over to @Spiny who was this to say about their debut at the helm:

"Slightly overwhelmed to be asked to do this, but here goes ...

I've been thinking about what I'd offer up to listeningclub for literally years, it needs to be good, 

but not so good that everyone knows it, but not so obscure that its just bad.

So for my first time here i've chosen an album I got many years ago as it was a 'side project' of a 

band I love, they have done at least five albums under this name, with the last release being in 2023, this however, is the very 

first one. It has some marvelous stories. I hope that it is new to at least some of you and that I haven't 

unwittingly chosen something that everyone knows :)"

Sounds intriguing. Download here and streaming link is below:

See you at 20:00 BST (GMT +1) tonight.

The Listening Club - 8th June 2025

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Mixed bag of a week here in Amsterdam, plenty of showers keeping the tourists hydrated as they zip about helplessly from place to place. Everything's looking and smelling nice and clean though, so there's that... Not so much of a concern personally as we're busy sorting and pre-packing, as I will be away for the next three Sundays, and am still looking for help running things here in my absence - if you can help, please reach out asap, thanks!

Last Sunday we had @AccordionBruce in the chair for his debut selection, for which, after some consideration, he decided to live up to his name with his pick of Accordion Tribe's 1998 eponymous debut album, which definitely opened the assembled's ears in positive ways, for sure. Thanks to Bruce for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @AqiDrago, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"There are going to be some bigger changes happening in my life in the near future. For better or for worse, this chapter is coming to an end and another chapter is about to begin. It does come with uncertainty, discomfort and a dash of sadness. What better then to turn to comfort music from the past that I sought solace from in turbulent times. 

This is an artist whose albums I listened to up and down. One of the few I have listened to all of their music and loved it. I think their last single was out in 2018, I do hope they will create more music. 

Their music never gained popular international traction. Their material is all original and made by one person only. When they were 13, they were profiled as a promising guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine. I believe they are worth discovering and I’m happy to share their music with you all. 

As a drinking club suggestion choose something nostalgic."

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

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

The Listening Club - 1st June 2025

Greetings, pinch and a punch and all that.

Hope you're doing okay. Good weather abounds here in Amsterdam, which is grand, as Summer finally beckons us, which means knuckling down and finishing the to-do list of spring cleaning that has yet to be done, in order to get on with making a right summer mess, of course. It is the way. Speaking of which, advance notice that I will be away for not one, not two, but three consecutive Sundays in June - 15th, 22nd and 29th, so if you feel like giving us an administative hand for one or more of those Sundays, please let me know, I'd appreciate it.

Last Sunday, as is end of month, a #DayTripToVortexOnSea was agreed, and with @saucer at the wheel, a mighty fine time was had by all. Thanks to everyone for chipping in tunes, and the aforementioned gent for the fine audio routemap. Moving back to regularly-scheduled programming, we find @AccordionBruce holding the frisb with this to say by way of introduction to his debut pick...

"My first time picking, so hard to choose. 

Then accordionist started dying this past few weeks, so that led me to put non-squeezebox choices on the shelf. 

Bravely I offer perhaps my favourite from more than 5,000 accordion albums I own. This one helped kickstart the squeezebox obsession that got me into an almost 20 year radio “career”, a book, and otherwise spending an inordinate amount of time listening to other people playing this instrument. Still remains solidly not only one of my favorites, but one I recommend to people when I want to open their ears to the instrument a bit.

It's among the top “I didn’t know accordions could sound like that” records I know of. All acoustic, with no wild electronics on this one (those I have to save for other accordion records). It seems like a brave pick, it’s kind of long, we’re entering the CD era so they had 75 minutes to fill up, and did. There's lots of short pieces going from one flavour to another, so if one piece is annoying don’t worry it won’t last long. Feel free to put it on and do dishes or something. Turn it up and wait for somebody to walk by and say, “What are you listening to?” Great record for playing loud with the top down for the neighbourhood to hear.

There’s more than one accordionist/composer, so the texture gets rich and varied. If you look at the waveform you can see it's very healthy, and demonstrates the dynamic range of the instrument, with its ability to play quite loudly and very quietly.

Games to play: 

a. How many accordions are there (varies on different pieces)? 

b. Try to guess how many different composers there are in the group.

c. Where are the players from? What kind of instruments are they playing? (There’s I think one non-accordion in there.)

It’s a live recording taken from a series of shows. You can hear the performers having a good time, making a few mistakes, goofing a bit, and the audiences' response. Wish I could have been there.

There’s a film documentary about this tour that’s worth seeing. Just a joy."

Right then. Download's here, stream's below:

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 25th May 2025

Howdy folks,

Hope you're doing okay. Seems like the weather gods heard my comments about dryness last week, as it's been a very soggy weekend indeed - not complaining though, the neighbourhood needed a good rinse, and now everything looks and smells a whole lot better. So you can turn off the tap now, okay? Hello?

Last Sunday, whilst I was awol watching the Mekons rip it up at the Paradiso, we had @wbwolf in the chair, delivering Cree Summer's 1999 album "Street Faërie" which had the assembled guessing and pontificating in equal measures, so it seems. Thanks to Wilford for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @AccordionBruce, who has an extra week to ponder, because...

Yes, end-of-month means #vortex time, and this time the assembled agreed that we require a bit of a magical mystery tour, and have decided on a #DayTripToVortexOnSea. So pack your trunks, knot your hankies and let's get going... @Saucer is at the wheel, armed with a fine selection for the journey.

Download's here, stream's below:

Hope to see you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) tonight!