Listening Club - 28th October 2012

Good hello to you all,

Unlike last week's brief musing on the ol' elasticity of time, this week I can say with certainty that a particularly big chunk of time has now passed, as we here in jolly old Britain make the transition from British Summer Time back to plain old Grey-and-Miserable Time (see what I did there?), so those of you from outside these shores should check the changes in timezones and plan accordingly. We'd hate for you to be out of sync with the rest of us, y'know.

Last week, as you should recall, we bade farewell (from these shores, anyway) to @MonkeyTypes, as he paused packing his life up into boxes to supply us all with a suitably Teutonic soundtrack (given his new locale), Einstürzende Neubauten's "Tabula Rasa" from 1993, which rattled everyone's cages with the er... sound of rattling cages. Fine work from Blixa & Co, and very much appreciated. Thanks to @MonkeyTypes for the pick, and for skimming the LC frisbee (we really should make some of these as a merch item, don't you think?) across to @dingster for this week's selection. And here he is...

"Well Kev, thanks for the frisbee. Quite an act to follow given the enormity of the audio assault we had delivered to our aural receptors last Sunday.

This has obviously put ridiculous pressure on me to find a suitable follow up. I won't go in to the "usual panicked music listening on Monday morning trying to find a suitable shortlist that would hopefully be whittled down by Friday and then ultimately changed on Sunday anyway just before we mail Eric with the blurb you are currently reading" process. Wait a second...

Anyway, I actually spent a good deal of the week going back over past choices, hoping to find a glaring hole that had yet to be filled sonically. Obviously this proved to be fruitless from one perspective but exceptionally enjoyable as well. I'm not saying we've covered it all, but I think I can speak for everyone when I say we've had a very wide range of musical styles on a Sunday evening.

So, I should probably quit rambling, thank Eric for actually starting this and actually get on with what I want to say about the choice (thanks Eric!).

This is a fairly recent second studio album from a duo whose first offering was not quite what I was expecting, nor was I particularly impressed with it considering the calibre of those involved.

However, a few weeks ago a friend sent me a YouTube link featuring track 6 from this album as the new album preview track. And it piqued my interest a bit. Well, actually more than a bit, because it was nothing like the first album.

I've probably only listened to this a few times all the way through which is why I think this could be a fun one to share. I'm sure there are going to be people who HATE this with a passion, and I apologise for that in advance. But hopefully it will speak to a few of you. It is also weighs in at just over an houR, none of this 35 minute nonsense...

Anyhoo. Enough waffle. Let me just go find my riot shield and we'll get this show on the road."

There you go. Download is here (Dropbox link) or you can listen via Mixcloud here.

Start time, as I noted above, is 8pm GMT. Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow@listeningclub for the admin.

Check your zones, and see you at eight!

Listening Club - 21st October 2012

Hello to you all,

Sometimes it feels like a lifetime has passed since I last did an LC intro, sometimes the opposite - this week most definitely feels like the latter, a reflection possibly of my current Groundhog Day-esque existence trying to sort out a new home. Hopefully by this time next week I'll be in the endgame, but for now, LC provides a shining jewel in a grey situation, so big up y'all!

Last week I wasn't around, as @rebeldiamond7 tiptoed back into the spotlight to deliver Band Of Skulls' "Sweet Sour". Her initial trepidation proved unnecessary, as everyone embraced it with open arms. Big thanks to her for the selection, and to pick the soon-to-be-departing @MonkeyTypes to pause his packing and give us one more choice from this side of the pond. Over to him for the pre-match...

"There is never a bad time to be passed the Listening Club frisbee but this week was probably not the most ideal one for me to be in the hot seat. As you listen to this week's choice I will probably be running around doing last minute packing, losing my passport and suddenly remembering something vital that it's too late to do anything about. Then I'll be disappearing into the night before jetting off to Germany, where I start a new job on Monday.

I had chosen something entirely different to what you're going to hear. I was even in the process of uploading it when I suddenly had second doubts. Making another selection wasn't too difficult. This album has been lurking in the back of my mind and nearly made an appearance last time I got to choose. It harks back to my Industrial days and given my current circumstances, it felt appropriate.

It's a diverse album and at times has the feel of a soundtrack.In places it's surprisingly gentle but this is merely the foreplay leading up to the grand finale of tracks 7 and 8. So, as ever, sit back and turn it up loud.

I'm now going to stop typing and send this off before I have any further doubts. Plus I have a leaving party to attend in less than an hour."

Download is here (Direct Dropbox link) or you can listen via Mixcloud here.

Start time, as always, is 8pm BST (GMT+1). Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow@listeningclub for the admin.

Listening Club - 14th October 2012

Hello to you all!

Back to normality here after a particularly frenzied Bootie London on Friday, which brought out a fine selection of familiar faces (including a mini-LC meetup), most of whom I didn't get time to say more than a fleeting "hello" to as usual... pleased with the turn out and the response though, and I definitely needed to cut loose a bit after yet another week of slog, trying to find a new home without having to sign off rights to my eternal soul. Big city living, huh?

Anyhoo, cast your minds back to last week, when @Jayesofine delivered unto us all Whitey's "Canned Laughter", which, tweet-for-tweet, saw one of the funniest LC experiences to date. Not sure if the planets just happened to be perfectly aligned, or Whitey's oddball clash of perky melodies and bedsit ennui tickled our collective funny-bones, but that was a right hoot. Thanks to Jaye for the pick, and, after a serious period of deliberation, selecting @RebelDiamond7 for this week's choice. Over to her for the preamble...

"It is with some trepidation that I am holding in my sweaty grasp the listening club Frisbee...

It seems my last choice of Foxy Shazam was not loved or dare I say even liked by all – not the point of Listening Club I know; but still, my love for Foxy is so deep that I dragged the weight of this load around like a bag of bricks... I jest of course, but I’m sure we all would like others to enjoy / respect / appreciate what we love as much as we do. Like introducing a new pal to a group of friends and wanting them to find this new addition to the group as witty and loveable as we find them. That’s basically it in a nutshell I think. But with that in mind (and I don’t need to say this but...) don’t hold back! Say what you think – it’s great to have an evening tweeting about such a diverse selection of music whilst most of the nation is sat in front of their TV’s watching puppets and victims - like a musical version of The Running Man.

So here is my latest sacrificial offering up to the Listening Club alter. I’ve said it before but I reckon compared to many of you Listening Clubbers I’m pretty mainstream / vanilla if you will ... in my music taste – ahem... (Although that said, I did learn about red and black handkerchiefs last week thanks to @Jayesofine...)  I like guitars, drums, interesting lyrics and unique voices. Lyrics often feed that into my art which is very music related so I hold onto them quite tightly.

So to the band; they are a band! A three piece – I always think that looks good on stage. I adore them. I’ve seen them live a few times and they just get better and better. They are just so flipping intense, vital and tight. They totes get me going. Proper guitar porn, with some slick and greasy riffs.

So for your delectable pleasure on the menu this evening we have some nice big, sweaty, bluesy rock dishes and some less bombastic but nonetheless tantalising, softer ones. Personally, I like the big greasy fat ones the best ;)

Lyrically I think there are some corkers but I’ll let you decide that...

I do hope you enjoy at least one track on here. I particularly favour 1, 2 and 4. But 7 is pretty hot stuff too. Hell who am I kidding! I love them all!"

Okay, there you go. Download is here (WeTransfer link) or you can listen via Mixcloud here (in a playlist this time, so just click the green "Play All" button and it should work!)

Start time, as always, is 8pm BST (GMT+1). Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow@listeningclub for the admin.

Listening Club - 7th October 2012

Greetings to you all!

A crisp sunny day here in London, so I think an afternoon of fine lunching and city strolling is in order. Days like this I rather miss Hove seafront, which on a clear, windless day is a mighty fine place to promenade, however, in reality, a windless day down there is about as likely as somebody picking "The Dream Of The Blue Turtles" for #LC, so the bulk of the fun usually comes from watching parents trying to stop their toddlers being elevated by the elements and swept off by their mittens into the middle distance. Ah, the beauty of the rose-tinted imagination, eh?

Back on planet #LC, last week @FaberFedor chose to stretch the non-existent Rules Of The Club in a most excellent way, by picking episode 1 of Tim Baker's "Digital Debris" podcast, which was all very Hell-themed indeed. The longest #LC to date, but pretty much everyone went the distance and were considerably rewarded. A great mix, thanks to @FaberFedor for the pick, and for flipping the #LC frisbee across to @JayeSoFine for this week's choice...

"Here we go again…

OK, before we go any further if you can’t stand miserablist thought provoking lyrics walk away from this Listening Club NOW! If you’re of the disposition that Morrissey* makes you suicidal then I don’t want to be the one to send you over the edge, we don’t need ‘Listening Club Suicide Pact’ plastered all over the tabloids, do we now…

So, this Listening Club is the first album that I’m bringing to the twitter/download/Mixcloud table that people should get/have heard straight off or at least in my head everyone should’ve heard of this artist and be fully signed up to the ??????? is a genius fan club. To me this is the equivalent of choosing Radiohead’s OK Computer**, surely you know it?  But maybe you’ll not, you never really know who’s heard of what on the internet these days.

I’ve been following the tribulations of this guys career almost since the beginning thanks to a track slipped into a 2 Many DJ’s mix around 2003/4 to which I instantly became hooked. For a few brief years he was the cool kids name to drop, producing some amazing remixes for Kylie, Chromeo and Soulwax but thanks to a leaked second album and a supposed hissy fit with his record label he appeared to disappear.

In 2010 he returned with tonight’s album, and I have to say initially I was a bit disappointed after the grinding dirtiness of the first two albums. With hind sight I think that this is probably his best and shows far more subtlety and restraint as well as showing off his song writing skills, musicianship and production skills. I think this album has similarities to the Dan Deacon album as well as similarities with all the albums I’ve bought to Listening Club, Andrew Weatherall, Leslie Winner, Bonaparte in so much as it’s just one person who made this album.***

One person who does everything, writes the music, the words, records the music, makes it gleam, mixes it to perfection and then designs the graphics too. I just find that level of involvement and drive inspirational.

What also beggars belief about this artist is that up until recently no record label would touch him, every cool label it would appear has turned him down at some point which is insanity! The advantage of this is that he’s released his entire back catalogue as well as his amazing new album on Bandcamp.

Anyway, I’ll stop my gushing and see you at 8pm Sunday for the usual random tweets, factual inaccuracies and thinly veiled innuendo…

Enjoy!

*This album is not by nor in anyway related to the works of Morrissey, he was the first most popularist miserablist I could think of.

**A vastly over rated group.

***may be factually incorrect as there is so little info about him."

Okay, there you have it. Download is here (direct Dropbox link) or you can listen via Mixcloud here, if the gods are merciful!

Start time, as always, is 8pm BST (GMT+1). Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow@listeningclub for the admin.