The Listening Club - 30th October 2016

Greetings folks,

Happy clock-dicking about week. Yep, it's goodbye to walking home in the early-evening embers, and hello to dark & gloom at the end of the day for a few months, well for me anyway. So it goes. At least it's a little less time per day I have to spend looking at the grim grey sky. No, it's not my favourite time of year, can you tell?

Back in hardy perennial #LC land, last week @cdrose_writer was in the chair, and despite my best efforts to link everyone back to the previous week, finally got there with his pick of Ruby's "Waiting For Light", which went down very well with the assembled. Cheers to him for the pick and for sailing the frisb across to the kitchen of @JonnyDaPigg, who is here with this week's appetizer...

"How do chaps and chappesses, gonna keep this brief as I'm need to keep putting more Hey Duggee's on the telly. Today's choice was helped narrowed down by my current listening situation, #kitchenclub, which basically meant I had to remove anything bass heavy. Which was quite a lot. Then removed was all choices marked summer, ah, summer, see you next year. Top of the pile was this offering which came into my possession upon receiving a new instrument one Christmas. To get me into playing (which actually I'm not allowed to do as the noise offends the gift giver) I went searching for some artists and albums featuring said instrument. This one is the second one I got and my favourite. I'm not sure why if I'm honest, but it never fails to bring a smile and get my foot tapping. It also sounds great on my laptop speakers so we should be all good to go.  

Recommended #drinkingclub: bourbon.   

Enjoy."  

Direct download is here, and the ol' spoiler-tastic HearThis stream is...

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 23rd October 2016

Hola folks,

Hope you're doing fine, Amsterdam is bouncing and full to capacity, as three or four hundred thousand boppers decend upon the city for Amsterdam Dance Event weekend. I'm feeling a little ragged here following The Bug's cracking 7" vinyl + FX set last night, so a gentle Sunday is in order, for me and probably several hundred thousand other folks in the vicinity...

Last week chez #LC, @Holette was in the chair, weirding folks out with Anna Meredith's debut album "Varmints", which garnered a mixed reaction, but all agreed it had some fine moments. Many thanks to @Holette for the pick, and for sliding the frisb across to @cdrose_writer, who's here with this week's intro...

"Return of the re-forgotten, part 48.  A couple of months back I got a text from a friend tipping me off about an artist we’d both liked back in the early 90s now playing a gig in the backroom of a pub near my house.  I went along to find literally twelve other people there (I counted them), most of whom seemed to know or be related to said artist.  Undeterred, said artist - armed only with a laptop and a couple of strange little boxes - threw out a set that was challenging, funny, visceral and emotional.  I got the record: it’s as good as the show was.

Drinking recommendation: a smooth whisky.

(N.b. bonus points will go to the Listening Clubber who can spot the link between this artist and the Twitter name of one Listening Club regular!)"

Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream (may be spoilers) is....

Okaydoke, see you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 16th October 2016

Greets folks,

Tapping this out early before a day in Den Haag with my visiting mum, forecast is for unseasonal warmth & sun, so let's have it. But first...

Last week @akx was in the chair, spinning heads as usual with his selection of DJ Kentaro's "On The Wheels Of Solid Steel" mix, which want down very well indeed in all quarters, as well it should. Thanks to Aarni for the pick, and for flipping the frisb across to @holette, who has this to say by way of introduction...

"I first heard the lead track on this album recently and listened, slack-jawed. Bold, bonkers and banging, it made me want to find out more. Released this year, the album is packed with surprising sounds orchestrated by an artist well known in her field but previously unknown to me.  Just when you think you're entering familiar musical territory, it skitters and slithers off somewhere unusual and cleverly catches your attention.

Be interesting to see what the Listening Club Massive make of this. Easy on the volume button. Drinking Club: something fortifying."

Reety-ho. Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream is...


Unfortunately it looks like HearThis now has automatic track detection that can't be disabled unless you pay, so don't click through to the full HT page unless you want to risk spoilers. Goddamit.

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 9th October 2016

Greetings folks,

Hope all is fine with you all. Ups and downs here in Amsterdam, after seeing a fine set from Ben Watt on Friday, I've managed to come down with some sort of stomach lurgi, which has put the mockers on the rest of the weekend's activities, save for a rather fruitless attempt to grab Glastonbury tickets - was looking like our streak of good ticket fortune had come to an end, but fortunately others in the posse had better luck and got our names in, so hooray for that, at least!

Chez #LC, last week @saucer was in the chair, and cranked up the distortion to give us Teenage Cool Kids' "Denton After Sunset", which went down pretty good, much to his surprise I think. Thanks to him for the pick and for sailing the frisb across to @akx, who's here with this week's intro...

"For once, I actually immediately knew what to pick when I snatched the frisbaton.

This is a turntablist DJ mix in a series we've actually heard one
installment of before, back in November 2014, but I'm preeeetty sure we haven't heard this one.

Anyway - dunno what I can tell you other than that it's a ride alright, and you should play it suitably loud.

#drinkingclub suggestion: something loud."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream is...


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 2nd October 2016

How do, folks.

Yeah, so finally summer doth come to an end, with grey grotty grimness gleefully descending on Amsterdam, and the summer togs getting pushed to the back of the wardrobe once more. Still, plenty of things to keep us occupied, still buzzing gently from seeing one of my all-time favourites (and previous #LC picks) Negativland on their first European tour for 20-or-so years last Wednesday, and mighty fine they were too. A nicer bunch of lunatics you couldn't hope to meet, truly.

Chez #LC, last week. whilst myself and @nessiest were off having our minds triangulated by Plaid at the Melkweg, the right honorable @RougeForever was folking it up with her selection of Kathryn Williams' "Hypoxia", which seemed to have quite an emtional effect on the assembled. Many thanks to Liz for the pick, and for sailing the frisbo across the sea to @saucer, who has this to say by way of introduction...

"Tonight's pick is the missing link, as it were, between the origin story of one of my favorite, active American bands and what they became... are becoming. In fact, in April of this year they released a new, "mature" album, guest star and all (and it's great). But this isn't that.

Rather, this is the final evolution of one band that changed a great deal across three albums and then ended, so the next one could start.

I am a happy completist of everything the central figure in this story created/is creating/will create. Within his growing catalog, tonight's pick is special... balanced between morosophy and mastery, brilliance expressed through lizard brain, plain and direct and urgent.

Then without further decoration or delay, let's have a listen and I hope you enjoy."

Right. Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream is...



See you at 8pm!