The Listening Club - 30th November 2014

Now then, alreet there, how's it all going?
It's all going a bit Christmas here, cats eating tinsel, boy eating baubles, wife shopping and me grumbling cos it's still only fucking November. I trust you all managed not to punch anyone over a discount and avoided any Black Friday free for alls? That said a few have been quiet so maybes still in the clink.

So, last week, was me (@jonnydapigg) with the excellent DJ Food and DK with mix and match effort that is Now, Listen! which I think went down rather well (maybes not the softer ending though, but hey, it had Spock reading Ray Bradbury in amongst some funky beats, what more could you really ask for). Next week sees the return of @faberfedor to the hot seat, but he must wait as first we have business to attend.

Yes indeedy it is time for #herematyoureallyneedtohearthistrackvortex or #HMYRNTHTTV if you so desire. So best warn the neighbours, put the cat out, make sure the dog is feeling safe as I think this one may get a little loud. For now we are metaphorically elbowing our way to the hi-fi to grab the attention of everyone at the party, "Here, mate..."

Your download link can be found here, and should you wish to use the services of mixcloud, head here. I shall post the tracklist in the comments at the end.

Note: Returning to the helm next week is Mr Kleptone so if any of you wish to delete the nudes you've been sending me through the twitter account, I've screenshot them all (double in some cases!!!) so help yourselves.

Enjoy
JonnyDaPigg

The Listening Club - 23rd November 2014

Whey, alreet there,
yup it's me (@JonnyDaPigg) doing the intros and blurbs this week and next as Eric is off gallivanting at a festival. In his absence I'm going to encourage all manner of mischief, noise, swearing, drunken ramblings, hey, if you fancy breaking something don't let me stop you. I may even do a little wee somewhere.

Before I get on with the show an item of note to be discussed this week is the #vortex. We need a theme. I have such great ideas for this whilst in the bath but never the technological means to record said ideas and upon leaving the bathroom my mind returns to a vacant lot. So, ideas please. Upon reaching a theme can you send your choices to mrjonnypigg @ gmail.com (take the spaces out, you know the score). Now,  as Newcastle don't have a home game next week so I'm more than happy for late entries but if you could get them to me by Saturday that would be awesome.

So, last week @emmaprice added LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver to the jukebox list of awesome that is the ListeningClub picks. Went down rather well, certainly my next door neighbours agreed as they were banging in time with it once I added a touch of volume to the evening. Top pick! Some how my shameless self promotion of number two offspring to be had the LC frisbee heading back over in my direction. So, here's me, introducing me...

"Well then, not long since I last had it but I really have an album that I want to play, so after a quick album top trumps to test it's worthiness it prevailed (shaking off a very late challenge from a recently purchased new entry) and I'm sat here getting it ready for upload... Nah, hang on, gotta stop myself there. I've only gone and changed my mind, as I'm uploading. This seems wrong. Now I feel like I'm cheating on an album but my new pick has all the ingredients of a LC album. Sunday evening culinary delight, it has a soupson of everything in this. Be fair warned mind, upon ingesting this with your ears some dancing may occur..."

Right then, cheers for that, erm, me. Download link is here and mixcloud if it behaves itself is here.
Enjoy.

P.S. Not even proofreading this #hardcore

The Listening Club - 16th November 2014

Hey everyone,

Hope all is fine with you all - A grey rainy weekend here in A-dam, which is actually fine by me, as I'm readying myself for two weekends away in the coming weeks, so a bit of time inside learning all about my new DJ controller (Akai APC40 mk2 if you're interested) is very welcome. Next weekend I'll be off in Utrecht with @nessiest for Le Guess Who festival (seriously, check out this lineup!), but rest ye assured the most excellent @JonnyDaPigg will be running things here in my absence. Speaking of which, we'll be needing a #vortex theme soon also, so suggestions and ideas welcome, as per.

Last week, @saucer took his debut turn in the big #lc chair, and sent forth The Herms, from San Francisco, with their 2006 album "Drop Out" which seemed to go down very well indeed. Big thanks to him for the pick, and for flipping the frisbee across to @emmaprice, who's here with the pre-match...

"I'm sitting here with happy tears streaming down my face over the little space robot that's 300 million miles away after 10 years travelling to land on a comet for a few short hours. An amazing human endeavour and one of those moments which transcends the routine of normal life and reminds us that there is a whole universe out there which we need to explore.

As I cried over a small spacecraft dying so far from home I was reminded that what separates us from machines is the capability to love, to emote, to feel pain, joy, sadness and to just dance round the room in your socks because that track came on. This is what music can do for us, to tap into the place deep within our soul & remind us what we're capable of.

This album reminds me what it is to love.

I recommend friends, a comfy sofa and an after party that goes on until the dawn."

Well then, better get on it, eh? Direct download is here and the Mixcloud (caveat emptor and all that) link is here.

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 9th November 2014

Hey hey hey,

Hope you're all doing fine. Amsterdam has finally entered the brr-zone, after a good few bonus warm weekends. Blessed we have been this year, I'd say, but now time to reach for the coats and scarves, and ready ourselves for the chilly times...

Over in #lc land, last week saw @mrhig flipping his selection across the Atlantic from Los Angeles in the shape of Aimee Mann's "@#%&*! Smilers" (pronounced "Fucking Smilers"), which didn't quite result in as many smilers as anticipated, but he did issue a gloom warning, so fair call there, I think. Thanks to Matt for the pick, and for sailing the frisbee across to @saucer, for his debut selection. And here they are...

"Shocked, is what I was, honestly, when I looked up from my Activia yogurt (as it's called in the U.S.) and saw @mrhig happily tossing the @listeningclub frisbee at my head. Rather than duck... I leapt like a trusting dog and caught the surprisingly fast-spinning projectile in my teeth. Ouch.

I'll spare you the wrenching details of how harrowing and daunting this first-time selection process felt (you've, most of you, done it to live another day), although I will tell you that I auditioned and rejected DIY/outsider pop, Swedish pop, computer/noise, Neokrautrock, First-wave Europsychedelia, experimental jazz, '80s synthpop, Lounge/noir, and Dada/chamber-pop before settling on this week's album.

This duo (+ borrowed drummer) hailed from (city elided) and so very well exemplified the area's musical Ortgeist (to awkwardly coin a German word for which there ought to be a German word). Oh so sly, erudite, understated, transgressive, seriously playful, playfully serious. Not easy listening at times, but so worth it.

Looking forward to hearing who you hear them referencing (always on purpose, mind you), and joining me in bemoaning the tragedy of their minuscule recorded output relative to their outsized musical genius.

Here, then, is my first try at this listening club thing. I hope you enjoy."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here and the Mixcloud (caveat emptor and all that) link is here.

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 2nd November 2014

Hello there,

Jeeps, another 20-odd degree weekend in Amsterdam? Hottest November day since 1984 (and before that 1948) say the bods. Yay to that. Sadly daylight saving has pushed the sun away an hour earlier, so back inside earlier to tap away at this...

Last week, holy mackerel fillets, was the #exquisitecorpsevortex, which will provide anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists with fuel for years to come, figuring out exactly how those connections got made. An overall travel vibe for sure, but even in some of the selections that didn't have a perambulating precursor. Hive mind at play, or pure chance? We'll never know... Big fun regardless, huge thanks to you all for your participation!

Back in regular mode, kinda, @mrhig is currently on holiday in the US 'o' A, but has sent forth a missive... here he is.

"Set phasers to glum!

I promised myself after choosing several men in a row for my Listening Club picks when I have been passed the frisbee previously that the next time I got an opportunity to choose something to play for everyone, I would pick a woman, or a female-fronted band. After all, I listen to a lot of music that fits into that category too and it doesn't seem fair for men to get all the attention.

Since then it seems that the last few listening club picks have been of women, but that's no reason to renege on my own flimsily-imposed selection criteria.

This artist is so infamous for the following characteristic that it probably almost counts as a spoiler to even mention it, but the woman I have gone for is known (perhaps unfairly) for shoe-gazing, for inward-looking, and for writing many songs that seem to be about failed or failing relationships or a life gone irrecoverably wrong with no light at the end of the tunnel.

No, it's not Taylor Swift.

So it seemed fitting to choose an album by this artist the very title of which was conceived as a "Screw You" to people who want you to be cheery. Sometimes life isn't cheery. Sometimes the right thing to do isn't to plaster an artificial frozen rictus onto your face to make other people feel comfortable.

I think the following album is a good reflection of some of what this artist is capable; superb lyrics, evocative themes and beautiful melodies. She also has a way with writing the odd short, succinct song which nevertheless is complete in and of itself. If you think this whole album is a dreary downer, we may have been listening to different things. 

There's something American about this series of vignettes of characters' lives, too, which suits my current position and location as we're vacationing in California at the moment. Enjoy!"

Right then. Direct download is here and the Mixcloud ("Surprise Ruiner of the year 2013") link is here.