Listening Club - 29th April 2012

Greetings,

Hope you're all fine and dandy. Weather here in London is the pits (48 hours of rain and counting), however it's not dampening my joy and excitement in bringing you another installment of Listening Club! (*slips £5 to scriptwriter*)

So yea, verily last week @tibieryo obliterated us all with the mighty power of Polysics "We Ate The Machine", which certainly shook all of us out of our Sunday reveries, and provoked one of the best comment piles so far. Many thanks to him for the pick!

Also thanks to @tibieryo for deciding that this week's selector is to be @JimMcCauley, so heeeeeere's Jim...

"I’ve managed to absolutely decide what’s definitely going to be my Listening Club choice quite a few times this week. I had this one thing lined up and it’s great, and I can say, yeah, it comes from this point in my life when this happened, but then I auditioned it on the way into work and it didn’t feel quite right. A bit four in the morning and peters out at the end. Love it, but still. Then I came up with something else that ties to another point in my life, but then I realised that’s not a story I especially want to tell, so that got shelved too. 

I briefly toyed with the idea of deliberately choosing a well-known or at least important album that I’ve come to embarrassingly late (there are quite a few of those) and seeing who knew it, who didn’t, and what people had to say about it. I still quite like that idea, but it can wait. And then there was this other thing that was my favourite album of a few years back, but it was slightly too long and impossible to cut and maybe just a shade too hippy-drippy.

So I’ve chosen this instead. It’s a bit glam, a bit punk and a bit pop (a mix that I can totally identify with), and despite there being a genuine legend behind it I think there’s a good chance it’ll keep most of you guessing. (Mind you, track 7 may have you going, hang on, isn’t that thingy? It definitely sounds like thingy. And while it definitely isn’t thingy, you’ll be surprisingly close.)

Enjoy!"

So there you have it... Download link is here (direct dropbox link), and Mixcloud is here for all you streamers.

(If you're wondering why @holette's name is on the Mixcloud, it's my fault, as I set up an account for her album and have also sorted the stream for Jim's, but can't change the name on the account.)

Start time, as always, is 8pm BST (GMT+1), search #listeningclub and follow @listeningclub to see what's going on... see you then!

Listening Club - 22nd April 2012

Good day to you all,

Yes indeed, the world has rotated another 1/52th already (okay, slightly less than that, pedants), bringing you back here to this blog once more, ready to see what mysterious delights await...

But first, as is the custom in these here parts, I must extend the thanks of us all to @monkeytypes for last week's excellent choice of Sparklehorse's debut album, "Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot" (yes, I did cut and paste that). A bit of a classic, and one that got pretty much all of you in it's spell, although some sad moments followed as those less knowledgeable about the band caught up on their history. A much missed talent indeed.

(respectful pause)

Anyhoo, @monkeytypes has passed the (recently polished) LC baton across to @tiberyo for this weeks choice, so over to him for the intro:

"When I was younger, I was friends with a guy--let's call him Steve. Steve was a pretty cool guy. He was a bit more into drugs than I was and he seemed really mentally scarred in a number of ways, but he was a good guy to have around and everybody liked him.

Now, Steve and I were good friends. But Steve had a really cool older sister--let's call her Olivia. Olivia was everything I was attracted to at that moment. And she and I started hanging out. We'd go out to movies, get high together (only once or twice), swap records and call each other. We eventually became better friends than me and Steve. Shame, but that's how life works.

Olivia would go on to university a year before I did, in a city far away. We stopped texting around January of her first year. We're still friends on Facebook, cos that's how the 21st century works, apparently.

Anyway, the first time we swapped CDs from our collection, she nearly stapled one into my hand. She was absolutely certain I would love it like only she did of her entire social circle. When I got home and listened to it for the first time, it was a revelation. It was absolutely fantastic from start to finish, and I subsequently sought out every release by that band after that album.

The album we're listening to this week isn't that first record. It's the record after the record after it. But it's also damned good, and I hope you like it."

Direct download here (via Mediafire), or streaming option here (via Mixcloud).

Kick-off, as always, is 8pm BST (GMT+1), search #listeningclub and follow @listeningclub to see what's going on... see you then!

Listening Club - 15th April 2012

Greetings to you all,

I'm wondering how many times I can write this intro and come up with something different... guess I'm failing a bit, as I've already resorted to the "I'm wondering how many times..." option, but there you go.

Huge thanks first to @dingster for last week's selection, "Coracle" by Walls, which wrong-footed most folks (in a good way), and sent quite a few of us into a deep, deep interplanetary orbit. Hopefully you've all managed to make it back into your own bodies relatively intact.

As is the custom, @dingster picked @monkeytypes as the next selector, so over to him for the pre-match chat:

"This came out of nowhere. I really wasn't expecting to choose this album. It wasn't even on my shortlist. I say shortlist. I think I must have gone through 20 CDs and still not made up my mind. Yet as soon I put this on, it seemed perfect for Listening Club. And no matter whether you enjoy it or not you'll be thankful that some of my first choices didn't make the cut. I'm not sure if our Sunday nights are quite ready for thrash metal/rap crossovers or Gabber concept albums yet. 

There's not much of a story attached to it. Hearing it now doesn't bring on the sepia tint of nostalgia like some music does. I bought it purely on a whim after reading some great reviews and being suitably intrigued. It's one of those albums that I instantly loved but never played that much. I'd forget I had it and then delight in rediscovering it every couple of years. I hope you equally enjoy (re)discovering it.

Very much looking forward to everyone's reactions, good or bad. 

Also, the temptation to choose Sting's Greatest Hits was extremely high."

Download is here (direct Dropbox link), and online streaming can be found here at Mixcloud.

Kick-off, as always, is 8pm BST (GMT+1), search #listeningclub and follow @listeningclub to see what's going on... see you then!

Listening Club - 8th April 2012

Hello all!

Well, this is a weird experience - thanks to BT ballsups I have no home Internet, so I'm tapping away on my phone to bring you this, in advance too as I'm off to the Netherlands tomorrow (Saturday) to play my first festival of the season.

Anyway, enough of my grubby little attempts at DJ superstardom, big round of applause is due for @Holette for last weeks selection of "Love Kraft" by the Super Furry Animals. Some of you were already fans (me included) but far less of us were well au fait with the album, and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Another grand choice!

And lo, from the multitudinal comments @holette chose to pass the (still fresh but slightly moist) LC baton to @dingster for this weeks pick, so without further ado...

"So...this album is still relatively new to me. I heard this for the first time about a month ago on a Sunday evening, feeling relatively chilled out in a herbal kind of way(!). So it's possible this will be a simple re-enactment of that for me. But with some abuse/banter from you folks to go alongside.

I chose it because my first two choices were albums that have been introduced to me by various people who are a part of this club so thought it best (that for now at least) to choose something they may not have heard before...(but knowing my luck).

Anyhoo, hope you enjoy it and I look forward to the abuse banter on Twitter."

Download the files here (direct link), or stream online at Mixcloud here.

Usual terms and conditions apply. I'll be back from the flatlands to join you all at 8pm BST (GMT +1) and I pray to the many tentacled gods that I never have to tap this out on a phone again!

Listening Club - 1st April 2012

Hello again and Happy April Fool's Day! No foolishness here today though, just another great album :)

First up, thanks to everyone that participated last week, and thanks to Jaye for the excellent selection - The album, as you all now know, was Andrew Weatherall's "A Pox On The Pioneers", which a couple of people guessed, but left most of us guessing until the end. Great record!

Jaye picked @Holette's comments as worthy of the next selection, so over to her for an introduction...

"This is one of those albums that I can play again and again over time and still love.   Most likely some of you will know it within seconds.  For others it may be a new pleasure.  And if you don’t like it, see me outside.

The special thing about some music is that it can take you to a different space, mood, world. Just switch on and …you’re somewhere else.   I also like records that announce their arrival with a slightly cheesy sound effect, so don’t miss the start. See also Roxy Music’s Love is the Drug and of course, Wham’s Club Tropicana for other examples. Don’t all rush at once though.

So settle down, let your mind wander, and see where it takes you."

Download link is here (mediafire link), or there's a stream available on Mixcloud here.

Kick off time is 8pm BST (GMT+1) .

As always, search #listeningclub and follow @listeningclub to see what's going on... as you should know by now, the best comment, as picked by @Holette, will get the chance to select next week's album.

See you at 8... try not to be late!