The Listening Club - 27th July 2014

Hey there!

Hope your weekend is proving satisfactory. I'm huffing to get this sorted asap so we can zoom off and spend the afternoon checking out Jimmy Cauty's new artwork which has landed in Mediamatik Amsterdam for a couple of months - yay!

Last week, @cakehugga was in the chair, and got everyone's attention with K.Flay's "West Ghost", prompting one of the most all-round positive reactions I think we've ever had. Excellent stuff indeed, big thanks to her for the pick, and for flipping the frisbee across to @JimMcCauley for next week...

(A quick aside, I was thinking that we could maybe do with a little new blood around these parts, so pondering ways that we could gather a few new folks and trumpet the all-round joyfulness that is #lc - any suggestions more than welcome, let's have a membership drive!)

But lo, what lurks upon the horizon? *raises looking glass* By jove, it's the good ship #nauticalvortex! Yep, we have 16 fine sea-faring shanties for you. There was a couple of twice-picked tunes, so I've press-ganged a few of the swarthy backup selections into service also. A seriously fine selection this one, even if I do say so myself, yaar!

Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!

The Listening Club - 20th July 2014

Hello hello,

Well then, looks like the hottest weekend of the year here in Amsterdam - 34 degrees yesterday, therefore much lazing about in the park sipping wine was the order of the day, mainly because it was pretty darn impossible to muster the energy required to do much else. A little cooler today, which is most welcome, but still requiring the assistance of a tall iced coffee and a mighty floor-standing fan to keep typing. On we go...

Next week, being end of the month and all that, tis #vortex time again, and after some discussion (and a good few ideas for next month to tuck under the belt), we're going with a #nauticalvortex, so don your sailor thinking caps and search out a hearty sea-faring song for the treasure chest. Anchors away next week at 8... (*collapses under the weight of nautical metaphors*)

Back to last week, @JonnyDaPigg was in the chair, and sent us forth into a flurry of different moods with Hybrid's collection of film soundtrack music "Scores". Many thanks to Jonny for the pick, and for sailing the frisbee across to @cakehugga for this week's pick. And here she is...

"Hello Again LC peeps, 

I discovered this artist when Jaye and I were watching an episode of Girls. One of her songs was playing during a party scene. Jaye and I were both blown away by the song. We ended up pausing the episode, rewinding the song and shazaming it to find out who the artist was (the joys of modern technology). 

Jaye then tracked down all of her back catalogue which we listened to and loved.  Jaye was listening to the whole back catalogue on random on the day she died so I guess it makes me feel connected to her to listen to this album. 

This album has a darkness, intelligent lyrics and the ability to make me move. It’s also by a female artist and I love representing for the ladies. 

I hope that you enjoy."

Reety-ho. Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!

The Listening Club - 13th July 2014

Hey ho, folks...

Hope all is fine and dandy with yourselves in the midst of all this summer sport crazyness. Wheels, rackets and balls flying in all directions so it seems. And as it will tonight, as England's footballing public enemies No's 1 and 2 come face-to-face at exactly the same time that #listeningclub starts! I mean come on!... I told them I had the slot booked but they just wouldn't listen. Stood there blabbering about global audiences and whatnot. So we'll just have to go head-to-head. I can multi-task (have done for most of the other matches) and I'm sure you can too, unless you're wanting to be in a public beer-supplying big screen offering sort of place. In which case, this'll be waiting for you when you get back... no worries.

Last week over yonder, @pamac66 delivered unto us all Kid Loco's 2001 album "Kill Your Darlings", which brought forth a mixed bag of reactions, some love, some indifference, all good and varied and that's what it's all about. Big thanks to Paul for the pick and for flipping the frisbee across to @jonnydapigg who now has the World Cup Final dilemma blues...

"Initial joy at the prospect of playing listeningclub hunger games with my choices this week was cut short be the fact the that the world cup final kicks off at the same time. So the latecomer to to the challenge that I was going to go with has been pushed back to another time as I suspect tonight's attendance may be lacking, in fact I feel a touch of football fever coming on myself. Still there's those of you who may not enjoy the beautiful game or are content to watch and listen, and to you I offer this selection. 

It actually ranked well in the to the death top trumps style way I go about making my choices, in fact this group had 3 albums in, all doing well and only trumped initially by something I'd recently discovered. Of the 3 I went for this because of it's rarity (though I confess I didn't know how rare it was until about 5 minutes ago) (also @faberfedor may note it is relatively short).  I suspect many will know the group after the first track but maybe not the album. So sit back and enjoy this perfect accompaniment to a summers evening."

Okaydoke. Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!

The Listening Club - 6th July 2014

Greetings folks,

Hey hey, back from the funny farm and feeling all the better for it. A fine time as usual, despite a mild dose of the obligatory mud and sunburn, a welcome opportunity to flex my DJing fingers, and some wonderful musical and peepular experiences indeed (including an in-the-wild #listeningclubber and fine old friend in the shape of @matthewesdigs). Back to earth with a bump this week also as usual, tired but happy. Maybe with a little forward planning we could have an #lc posse there next year? Couldn't think of a better place, really... hehe.

Anyhoo, big up @JimMcCauley for taking the reigns last week and sorting out the mighty return of the #livevortex - a cracking selection of performances indeed. Thanks to you all for chipping in a tune! Back in the mists of time @pamac66 was chosen for this week's pick, so here he is with the intro...

"Like my last pick, here's someone new to me (but probably not to you). Discovered using the 'similar artists' button on Deezer, I've discovered a lot of new stuff that way.

Anyway, as I say, I'm not familiar with this guy's work and, reading some reviews of this album online, it would appear it's not regarded as one of his best. I like it though - easy on the ears, perfect for a Summer Sunday evening, sitting around the barbecue with a glass or two of wine ;-). My only criticism is that it's too short (only 44 mins), which gives you plenty of time afterwards to check out his other albums. Enjoy."

Okaydoke! Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!