The Listening Club - 21st July 2013

Hey there,

Tapping this out a day early to avoid last week's late arrival panic - seriously, last minute uploading is never a good idea, is it? especially with a monumental hangover. So, as I'm off later today to Buiten Westen festival for a bit of a bop, thought I'd better get my shit together in advance, especially as it's my pick this week...

Also don't forget #videovortex is happening next week, please, please get your selections in as soon as you can so we can get them assembled in good time!

Last week, in the flurry of last-minuteness, @holette hit all the right hazy summer buttons by picking Frank Ocean's "Channel Orange", welcomed by both those who knew it and those who didn't (I always love seeing "I never would have listened to this unless..." type tweets), so many thanks to her for the pick and for flipping the frisbee across to... yep, it's me. So, over to me!...

"As usual when it comes to making a #listeningclub pick, first thing I think over is what's been floating my boat lately, album wise. The thread this year in my favourites seems to be impressive songwriting and particularly lyrics, preferably blended with a slightly unexpected musical core (hey, you know what I'm like ;) Both Bowie and John Grant have delivered that in spades recently, and with a new Prefab Sprout album on the horizon (which you nearly got the demos for, as they've leaked online, but as the albums getting a full release in October I thought that'd be unfair) and this one, it's already been quite a year for fans of musical wordsmithery.

All of which is by way of introducing a rather unique collaboration between two artists, one vocal and one instrumental, both of which I already knew and admire, although the end result doesn't sound that close to either of their solo work. These tracks feel more like short stories or diary entries than songs, and in my opinion lend themselves way more to a quiet, reflective, late-night glass or three of whisky than a balmy summer evening, so I'm not sure how it will work tonight (reckon this will be one of those "less chatty" #listeningclub nights ;), but hell, it moved me, so I think it's worth the risk. Hope you like it."

Okay, Direct download is here, Mixcloud stream (which may well reveal the track titles, you have been warned!) is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow@listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST/EST (GMT+1)!