The Listening Club - 6th March 2016

Greetings all,

Pissing down here, and has been for some time, but despite the grot, me and @nessiest are off to Groningen for a couple of days to see the Bowie exhibition, formerly of the V&A in London, and, well, potter around a different town for a day or two, hence the early tappings...

Last week, despite attempts to erase it from the collective consciousness, it was the #cringerapvortex and well, let's never speak of it again. Such things should never be brought into existence again.

Back, thank the gods, on regular turf, thanks to @wojsvenwoj for coming thru with his pick a few days early due to the above trip, so here he is with the intro....

"In the post-apocalypse ushered in by the #CringRapVortex, I was thinking about the introduction that @cdrose_writer penned for Yorkston/Thorne/Khan's "Everything Sacred" and, at the risk of sounding corporate, the key take-away for me was comfort. And I started thinking about some of the records that I find most comforting, reminding me of good times and cozy listening. For various reasons, most of them did not seem like good candidates -- although I hasten to point out that turning the collective attention of the Listening Club to albums and artists I hold near and dear to my heart was not one of those reasons...

One band, in particular, kept coming up as I perused the collection. Formed in 1999 and active through most of the century's first decade, they are a favorite of mine who, as it turned out, I first saw perform live about in early March in 2004. The planets were aligning and one of their albums seemed like a natural choice! So, of course, I elected to go with something else, though it didn't fall far from the vine.

This week's record is by a band that could be characterized as a supergroup of sorts, I suppose. Two members are from the aforementoned favorite band. One was a long-time, though not founding, member of a legendary and influential band. The fourth is producer and engineer of some repute. This is their third record, closing a loose trilogy of sorts though these are not concept records. It's a bit heavy, a bit cinematic, and a bit epic. Dense and dark but, for me at least, a rewarding listen. And it's a good record to play guest appearance bingo with too!

Hope you enjoy..."

Direct download is here or the HearThis stream is...

The Listening Club - 6th March 2016 by listeningclub on hearthis.at

See you at 8pm GMT!