The Listening Club - 23rd February 2014

Hello to you all,

Hope all is fine wherever you are, all is good here in Amsterdam, feeling in a suitably discombobulated state of mind for the ol' #drinkingvortex this week, after witnessing a mighty show by the legend that is Bootsy Collins on Friday night, and ducking and diving around town consuming a whole lot of food and drink yesterday. So with an egg and bacon sandwich in one hand and a glass of red on the side, onwards we go, trying not to drip yolk on the keyboard...

Last week @faberfedor was in the chair, and as usual bent the admittedly-non-existent rulebook to offer up a selection of his favourite mashups, providing something for everyone for sure. Big thanks to him for the selection, and (I think) for picking @eastvanhalen to go in the chair next time. But first...

Yes indeed, it's time for the #drinkingvortex, so crack open those bottles and find yourself a comfy chair to behold these 17 wonderful alcoholic odes - thanks as always to everyone who chipped in a track!

Google Drive download is here (replaygain is set if you have it on your player (iTunes doesn't, I know), otherwise volume will vary, apologies!), and the (volume levelled) Mixcloud stream (which may 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 GMT!

The Listening Club - 16th February 2014

Greetings to you all,

Well then, again I'm drawn towards making comparisons betwixt the weather now and the weather this time last year ("doesn't he have anything else to go on about...?" nope, sorry) after a really lovely sunny weekend here in AMS. Markets were visited, lunch was very much "on the go", strolls were had and, apart from a rather blustery wind, joy was rather unconfined. Unlike the UK it seems, which looks to be sinking slowly into the ocean. I'm resisting any smug pro-Netherlands comments, as this place seems to be doing fine despite 26% of it already being below sea level, but they do take their water management rather seriously here (as you'd expect). Some lessons could, and should be learned pretty quick in the UK because this is sadly going to become more and more of a regular occurrence on those shores, as I'm sure you'd all agree.

Anyhoo, on a considerably lighter note, next Sunday will be #vortex time again, and as a fine companion to last month's #cookingvortex, it's going to be a #drinkingvortex! I can't think of a subject closer to the hearts of the #LC massive's collective consciousness, so this should be a great one. Tunes to me, Eric, this time please!

Last Sunday, @thejayarr was in the hotseat, and offered unto us all The Wrens 2003 album "Meadowlands" which received a mixed bag of reactions, although erring on the positive side, for sure. Thanks to Jon for the pick, and for skimming the frisbee across the (rapidly growing) Atlantic to @faberfedor, who, before he scooted off on a business trip, had this to say...

"Hello fellow LCers!

I've been selected again, so you know what that means! Rules will be broken! And this time, I'm breaking several rules.

Rule 1: I'm not submitting an album this time, but a list of songs. Your job, if you accept it, is to decide what the commonality is amongst them. The answer is in the playlist.txt file as is, as usual, the song names.

Rule 2: I'm flying out for business on _very_ short notice, so there's a very good chance I won't be at the club this weekend. :-( This is the first time the MC won't be MCing his gig.

Rule 3: Since I probably won't be with you ;-(, I'm going to throw the frisbee now. Since I won't know who will be attending, here are the frisbee targets in order: 

    1. Your favorite Canuck and mine, Eastvanhalen
    2. Our favorite type of monkey, MonkeyTypes!
    3. or JimMcCauley, just because. :-)

If I can, I'll join you. If not enjoy!  I'll follow the Twitter thread afterwards."

Well there you go. Never a dull moment, eh? Direct download mp3 is here, and the Mixcloud stream (which may 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 GMT!

The Listening Club - 2nd February 2014

Well then Listening Clubbers, last week was a positive stock pot of musical genres all norman cooked up and blended together with such culinary precision that would make Nigella trip balls was it not. Massive thanks to Jim McCauley for serving up that eclectic melodical feast that did so nourish our hungry ears.

So, onto this week's pick which is about to be introduced by me, JonnyDaPigg, as Mr ListeningClub is busy making power ballad related puns on his holidays. So without further ado, me.

“So, me again. I had thought that when it got back round to me I could pick one of the 3 or 4 possibles that have been on my list for a while. True to form this has not happened. I have had various things to consider this time, such as the fact that I needed to procrastinate my self assessment time away, just recently moved and haven't unpacked properly yet and most importantly, the derby on Saturday. (that's Newcastle vs the filth in case you were wondering). This in mind I could quite easily be in one of two frames of mind. Happy, joyus and smug, in which case anything of my list would sound like angels, or depressed, dejected and full of despair in which anything of my list would sound like Sting doing covers of his own stuff in the style of Shatner whilst sat on a pile of money wearing nothing but a loin cloth. In a flash of inspiration however, tonight's choice swung in. It's a genre only introduced to me a year ago during a gig and it blew me away. So upon returning I scoured the internet for live mixes and Bandcamp for albums, which is where I found tonight's offering. The juxtaposition of the genre's name only adds to the ability of this music to make me smile. Which is why it was picked. Win on Saturday, heed held high, lose on Saturday this'll make me feel better. So, flappers at the ready, put on your dancing shoes, have a gin cocktail or two and don't forget your glow-sticks, enjoy...”

Reets then. Direct download mp3 is here, and the Mixcloud stream (which may 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 GMT!

The Listening Club - 9th February 2014

Well hello there everyone!

Yes, I'm back from hols, looking more than a little tanned and culture-shocked after a couple of weeks trekking around the Western Cape, up mountains, down valleys, along beaches, around vineyards and in and out of many fine bars and restaurants, even finding time to get down with the Cape Town hipsters to John Wizards homecoming show after their long European tour. Holiday with a capital H indeed, much needed and much appreciated!

Thanks again to Jim for sorting out the #cookingvortex, and Jonny for his pick last week of highlights from "The Sounds Of The Speakeasy", holding the fort splendidly in my absence, looks like a fun time has continued to be had by all, and delighted to see plans for the #dambusters trip coming together too - that's going to be one hell of a weekend... Frisbee-wise, I see that @thejayarr is signaling his readyness, so over to him for the intro...

"This is a record that I've played the hell out of over the last year or so, and one I considered last time it was my turn in the hotseat, so this was a relatively easy pick. It’s the most recent record from this band, although it’s now over a decade old - apparently this year will finally see the release of the follow-up, but you never know.
                                                                                                
I only heard of it about three years ago, from a passing comment from someone I follow on twitter, and it was months before I actually listened to it properly. And even then it didn’t really click for me right away. It’s an album with a good reputation, which is fully deserved, but if ever there was a record that warrants multiple listens, it’s this one. Luckily there’s enough stand-out tracks to make it worthwhile for new listeners.
                                                                                              
Because of its reputation, I wouldn't be surprised if some people already knew this one, but hopefully if that’s the case, it’ll be worth re-visiting. Enjoy!"

Okaydokie! Direct download mp3 is here, and the Mixcloud stream (which may 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 GMT!