The Listening Club - 28th December 2014

Festive greetings!

Yep, here we are, in the depths of the mighty, name-donating, leftover-munching, board-game-playing, family-amusing, ferrero-rocher-scoffing (hem), great-escape-watching, empty-pub-observing FESTIVE VORTEX. Woo. And Yay. Compliments of the vortex to you all! Hope you're enjoying it as much as I.

Speaking of woo and yay, thanks to @eastvanhalen for last week's pick of the most excellent, parent alarming "Run The Jewels 2" from El-P & Killer Mike, which went down pretty good I reckon, and thanks to Steph from flipping @faberfedor back in the chair, not long after his previous pick. We'll be hearing from him next week but now...

Yea, and verily, the #festivevortex2014 est arrive! 31 quality selections, from the truly sublime to the truly ridiculous, your favourites of the year have been selected, mailed and assembled, and here they are. Prepare your libations and make 'em strong, as we peel back the clingfilm on the aural buffet of the year.

Direct download is here, Mixcloud (let's see what it's made of, eh?) stream is here!

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 21st December 2014

Seasons greetings folks!

Can't think of any witty festive banter to go here as my brain is seriously fogged with hangover - god damn those tasty Belgian beers... Hope you all have a grand holidaytime anyways, whatever you're up to. Don't forget next week is #festivevortex, so if you haven't send me your two favourite tunes of the year yet, please do!

Last week @akx was in the chair, continuing the current trend of spaced out listening with "Program Music 1" by Kashiwa Daisuke, which went down very well indeed, much to the surprise of some of you. Many thanks to Aarni for the brain stretching tunes, and for flipping the frisbee across the Atlantic to @EastVanHalen, who's here with the intro...

"Hey all!

In a pleasant change from my usual dithering, I knew what to play this week before @akx's frisbee had reached my hand, because I have pretty much had it on repeat non-stop for the past couple of weeks and it is SO GOOD.

This album is showing up on everyone's best-of lists for 2014, and there will be tons of writing about it. So I'll just say I love it because it's furious, righteous, revolutionary -- dangerous, even. Its braggadocio is interposed with heartbreaking and hilarious interrogations of masculinity. And it's and outrageously, exquisitely filthy.

Track four is probably my favourite song of this year. Track nine is just...oh hell, you have to hear it.

The download includes the PDF booklet that came with the release, so don't look if you don't want a spoiler.

Also, #drinkingclub is definitely #smokingclub this week."

Okay doke! Direct download is here, Mixcloud (it knows! and tells!) stream is here.

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 14th December 2014

Greetings one and all,

Hell, it's scary typing that date out. 14th already? Where does the time go... For once, I'm not feeling the full shilling here, having been struck down by a rather odd lurgi that's left me feeling slightly feverish. rather washed out and seriously lacking in energy. Would be concerned that I'd brought something back with me from warmer climes if it wasn't for the fact that @nessiest has it too. So, one of those "something going around" things, then. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I was feeling under the weather sorting out #lc, but I can't be arsed to look. Don't remember it happening tho. Anyways, grumble grumble etc. Be thankful and all that.

Don't forget, #festivevortex coming up! Two of your most excellent tunes of the year each please - mine are already selected and in the baggie, so to speak, so get your annual caps on and submit, submit!

Last week @faberfedor continued his fine stream of selections by sending us all to outer space quite literally, supplying the "Symphonies Of The Planets" (Part 1, no less), as experienced by Voyager 1 & Voyager 2 as they zoomed about the solar system. Impressive stuff to be sure (although sadly I can't say the same about the cover artwork, yuk), and quite a bar to set for @akx, who is tasked with this week's follow up, and here he is...

"After last week's cosmic symphony going down a treat, let's see
how this fares..."

Well then, that's you lot told. Direct download is here, Mixcloud (crying into it's beer cos it can't recognise anything anymore) stream is here.

See you at 8pm GMT, in sha Allah!

The Listening Club - 7th December 2014

Well, hello there! Long time no see...

Yes, I'm back after a couple of rather excellent weekends away, first at Le Guess Who in Utrecht, which was a whole mega-smorgasbord of quality musical delights, then off down the west coast of Africa for some delights of a very different nature. Nice to be back tho for a well needed mellow weekend in the 'Dam, even though it's pissing down outside...

So last week, @jonnydapigg run tings, and compiled the
#herematyoureallyneedto
hearthistrackvortex or #HMYRNTHTTV, which brought forth a damn fine selection of tunes that, well, we really needed to hear. Merci beaucoup to you all for the contributions!

Next #vortex, as u well kno, will be the daddy of all vorticons, the 3rd annual #festivevortex. So yes, from each of you we'd like your two favourite tunes created in this year, thee twenty fourteen. Playback will be on Sunday 28th December, and will be a right merry ding dong as usual, please get your picks in as soon as you know 'em, so as to give me a decent run up in compiling inbetwixt other festive activities...

(Also you'll be interested to hear that the fun of the last couple of vorticons has given me another cracking idea for the January vortex. Would maybe be better suited to December but we already have one sorted for then, so I will pitch it to you all in the new year and see what you reckon...!)

Back in real time, @faberfedor is in the chair, and here he is...

"After last week's rousing selection by, well, all of us, (loving the vortices, btw) and @jonnydapigg's the week before, and what with the mad rush of the holidays looming before us, I decided to go in the opposite direction energy-wise. This week's selection is mellow.

Very. Mellow.

Melll

Freakin'

Loooow

I'm talkin' tranquilizer-level mellow.

For those of you where night has fallen, get all comfy and cozy with a glass of your favorite alcoholic beverage (but preferably a spliff), lower the lights, turn up the stereo or, better yet, put on headphones and get ready to drift off. 

For those of you where the sun is still shining, come back at the end of your day. Follow the above instructions.  Don't worry, you not going to miss anything in conversations; I suspect no one on the night side is going to be typing anything for the next half hour.

Finally, there is a very interesting back-story to this week's entry; one, I think, that will blow your mind.

It's included in the download and will also be posted to the blog shortly after the playback."

Direct download is here and the Mixcloud (caveat emptor and all that, but in this case I'll be bloody amazed) link is here.

See you at 8pm GMT!