The Listening Club - 28th January 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope you're doing fine. Busy week for me here in Amsterdam, as I know a fair few of you have seen across the social meeds, finally starting to put some new Kleptones stuff out, which is a lovely feeling. (No need to link here, sure you've had more than enough of me banging on about it this week.).

Also, of course, much sadness for the passing of Mr. Smith, whom I had the pleasure of meeting only once, sharing a DJ bill in Manchester. I was unsure how to behave, and voiced my concern to the assembled, a mutual friend said "Ask him what he's drinking", he turned up, I asked, he said "Pils, mate", I got him a Holsten, then turned away for a second, he immediately pulled me back round and said "Hey, I thought we were having a drink?"... and so we drank a few, then he wandered over to the decks, pulled a CD out of his pocket, stuck it on, then turned every single knob and fader on the mixer up to full, coming close to blowing the sound system, all the whilst standing there grinning that unmistakeable grin. A very unique human, we'll not see his like again.

Last week here chez #LC, @rougeforever was in the chair, getting down and dirty in the fumes of Julian Cope's "Autogeddon". Many thanks to her for the pick, and for flipping the frisb across to that @saucer, who's here with this week's intro...

"I'll be honest: I was fatally dazzled by choice from too much great, recent music, and gave up on picking something new. I like picking newish albums here but I just got tired of arguing with myself  :/

So instead I went to my happy place... that verdant internal realm where artists like this one live in peace and presence forever. 

So this evening we have an all-time favorite by an all-time favorite, who have not shown up in Listening Club save for once in a vortex a couple of years ago.

I feel incredibly lucky and truly blessed to have seen them twice, both times many thousands of miles from their home. Each time they transfigured the room and changed my life. I miss them.

I want to share this with you before the nukes hit or the oceans sweep us away. Not even joking."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, the ol' HearMeSpoilers stream is below:


See you at 8pm GMT.

The Listening Club - 21st January 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope you're good. Jetlag finally receding here in Amsterdam, which is most welcome, we've both had more than enough of passing out mid-way through the day. Dreams are still full of travel shenanigans though, which is grand. And many plans starting to poke their little heads above the soil, which is also grand. Festival plans are starting too, so if anyone fancies a Dutch trip this year, Down The Rabbit Hole at the end of June is boasting a very impressive line up for such a small festival...

Last week we rolled into 2018 with a coke-fuelled bang courtesy of @SimonLandmine's pick of Duran Duran's infamous 1995 covers album "Thank You". To which, personally, I had to say "No Thank You", but a few folks dug it, even resulting in a PPP (post-playback purchase). So wide our tastes, eh? Cheers to Simon for kickstarting the year, and for flipping the frisbo across to @RougeForever, who's here with this week's intro...

"The other week, we were considering doing a decade-themed vortex, and I sought to ban the 1990s, which I still maintain is a reasonable position.  I was determined therefore to pick something from that decade for my next LC choice, because, like Whitman, I contain multitudes.

My pick is a concept album. (A phrase designed to strike fear into the hearts of us all).  There were a few different albums I wanted to chose by this artist, (because there are several absolute CORKERS)  but I've gone for the shorter one, because Matt said that it was impolite to force people to listen to an album for over an hour.  So, if you hate this, you'll be glad to know you'll only be suffering 45 minutes.  

You'll also be pleased to know, pop, punk, folk, krautrock and good old rock&roll all collide in this one.  What's the worse thing that could happen in 45 minutes?   It'll be fun!    

And there's a special flavour of irony in here for those of you know what I do for a living.  Don't tell my employers I picked this one."

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




See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 14th January 2018

Greetings, and belated Happy New Year to you all!

Yep, we're back from the other side of the globule, and have the weapons-grade jetlag to prove it. A mighty time was had, not surprisingly; made some ace new friends, caught up with a few old ones unexpectedly, and generally had a ball. Kinda happy to be back in the old environs though, got a mission and a half planned for the forthcoming year, so onwards and upwards we go...

Hugest of thanks to @emmaprice for doing a cracking job of running tings here in my absence, and for assembling last week's #festivevortex, which is no mean feat, as I'm sure she's now well aware. Way back in '17, @simonlandmine was left holding the frisb, so here he is with the first pre-match of '18...

"I had some trouble deciding what to select this time around, so I made a shortlist - some folk, some dance, some indie - and then cast myself upon the winds of fate (by way of a d8).

And fate seemed relevant to this one. Last week, @emmaprice and I were talking about an experience that won't resonate at all with the download generation - that of walking into a charity shop or second-hand music shop, and rifling through the bargain bins, to take a punt on something you didn't previously know existed.

That's what happened with this album - a quid or two from a charity shop. A bit of research when I got home revealed that it had something of a reputation I hadn't been aware of. And listening to it provides a series of surprises. So, not to spoil them ... on with the album ...

#drinkingclub: Probably something from the mid 90s ..."

Okaydoke, direct download is here, and the spoiler-ridden HearThis stream is below:


See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 7th January 2018

Greetings all and welcome to the first Listening Club of 2018. I hope you all had a great festive season with good company, some fine refreshments and of course music.

Before we crack on with 2018 it's time for our #festivevortex covering our favourite musical discoveries of 2017. We've got a bumper crop of tracks for your delectation today for which thanks are due to all who contributed. I recommend getting some snacks in and ensuring your #drinkingclub supplies are well stocked as this is one of the longest mixes I can remember.

Next week we have @simonlandmine in the chair for your first regular #listeningclub of the year having caught the #frisbaton before the holiday season.

Share and enjoy!

Emma

Direct download is here and the herebefestivespoilers stream is below. See you all at 8PM GMT.