The Listening Club - 27th May 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope you're doing fine. Melting a little here in Amsterdam, as Summer hits with an early vengeance, and in between the thunderstorms, there's not much that can be done apart from drawing a chair outside, grabbing your current reading matter and watching the world go by whilst sipping a cool beverage. Here's hoping the rest of the Summer maintains... this is rather pleasant.

Last week chez #LC, @ohmyliver was in the chair, pulling people out of their comfort zones with his pick of Peverelist's "Tesselations", which went down rather well, so it seems. Thanks to Oli for the pick, and for raffling the frisbaton to @akx, who is here with this week's pre-match...

"Hey hey hey!

Summer has come - unexpectedly and prematurely - to Finland, so I figured this week's pick should be something summer-appropriate. After a long while hemming and hawing in front of my CD shelves, vinyl shelves, list of digital albums and Bandcamp collection, I finally realized the genre I wanted to play tonight. Then there was the problem of figuring out what, or whom, exactly to play, so I thought what the heck . . . So here's a triple feature - three EPs (somewhat trimmed, mind) from three artists that are on top of the Japanese/Korean future funk/synthwave/vaporwave game. And I can guarantee this is fresh stuff; one of these EPs was released this week. :)

Weather allowing, I'd recommend listening to this outside (balcony, patio, walk, bike ride -- all good!), and grabbing a cold drink (something sweet, maybe, #drinkingclub)."

Right then. Direct download is here (right-click, save as), and the HearBeSpoilers stream is below:



Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST (GMT+1).

The Listening Club - 20th May 2018

Hey there folks,

Hope all is going good for you all. A mighty fine day here in Amsterdam, which is much appreciated, as there's a free world music fest happening this afternoon in the Vondelpark, and a slice of live Italian soundtrack grooves courtesy of Calibro 35 to follow after, so it's all hands to the pumps right now...

Last week, @samsmitter was in the chair, smoothing us out in unexpected ways with his pick of "Classic Mellow Mastercuts Vol.2" by those legendary multi-billion sellers, Various Artists. Thanks to Sam for the mellow vibes, and for sailing the frisb across London to @ohmyliver, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"So I caught the fabled Listening Club frisbee  What to pick? 

Been listening to a bit of Drill, the newish sound of disaffected youth, which has emerged from Brixton in the last couple of years.  If you don’t know it, it’s the more trap influenced child of Grime, with the angry electronic innovation of youth making music with whatever they can get hold off like the PlayStation’s Music 2000 replaced by a less interesting heavy influence of US trap beats, and bars glorifying the behavior that manifests in things like the wave of stabbings and shootings by London youth.  Fear not I didn’t pick an example of this genre. Not out of Daily Mailesque moral panic, but because I don’t find the genre that interesting, probably because I’m too old.

A couple of weeks ago I badgered, in a fanboy way, Lawrence from Felt/Denim/Go Kart Mozart on the 55 bus as it slinked westwards from Old Street roundabout.  It was slightly depressing, especially as I love his work, to see a man seemingly shrunken by the disconnection between his talent and how much fame and success he actually got. He repeatedly asked if I had brought any of his records, and told me to buy his new record (he was on his way back from recording in Stokie) a number of times. As a consequence I’ve been adding to his Spotify play count whilst at work.  But I presume everyone’s familiar with his work, so didn’t pick any of that.

I did think about picking an album by Scott Bradlee’s Post Modern Juke Box, but whilst I love their cover of Bizarre Love Triangle, the rest of their stuff in all of its late-night talkshow knowing cleverness grates after a few songs.  

So I went for this, released last year.  It’s sort of post-dubstep Techno, done by the ex flatmate of Bristol’s Pinch (who’s track Qawwali is one of my favourite tracks from the ‘00s) who has veered away from Dubstep to something more Techno, because in parts, it has the feel of music that should be experienced to the backdrop of a still stimulated, but yawning, dawn of a sunny summer day.  Which, err, might or might not work at 8pm on a Sunday evening, but in parts it’s very good."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the HearBeSpoilers stream is below:


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 13th May 2018

Greetings and salutations,

Hope you're all doing fine. Amsterdam has lobbed a wet grey day out after a glorious week, sadly curtailing any outdoor perching, which is a shame, so instead I'm inside working my way through a pile of art films looking for bits and bobs to appropriate, as I'm wont to do.

Chez #LC, last week, @eastvanhalen was in the chair, taking us down to New Orleans with her pick of Dumpstaphunk "Live at 2011 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival", which was a funkin' good time for all assembled. Thanks to her for the pick, and for sailing the frisb back over to London, where @samsmitter is waiting with this week's intro...

"My pick today is one of a series of CD compilations that I started to collect in the early 90s. These were very clearly a labour of love for the compiler, this much was obvious from the detailed liner notes, careful selection, and overall quality of production. It seemed very much like one man's mission to share his 12" collection with the world in the new CD era. As well as being full of great music, these things introduced me to a lot of artists and made me listen in a new way to stuff I might have turned my nose up at ten years earlier. The compilations covered different musical genres, and this one had a somewhat spurious "genre" as its heading, but it works, and of all of them on my shelf (and latterly, on my phone) it is the one I've gone back to the most. Hope you enjoy it! Sam x"

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the HearBeSpoilers stream is below:


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1).

The Listening Club - 6th May 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all fine. Blisteringly lovely weather has landed here in Amsterdam, so as soon as this is tapped out, I'm heading off into it!...

... and returning a good few hours later to see if the tunes have arrived. Which they have.

Last week it was me, @kleptones, in the chair, sending you into space and back again via "Planetarium", a collaboration between Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister, which most of you seemed to enjoy / endure. Kinda happy about that, and also happy to sail the frisb across to Vancouver, where @eastvanhalen is waiting with this week's intro...

"I just got to spend a couple of brilliant weeks in New Orleans, where you can't turn your head without finding a jaw-dropping gig. 

This is a band I managed not to get to, because there were too many other shows and I couldn't go to all of them. This album makes me want to go back immediately and see them, and then do it all over again."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the old HearBeSpoilers stream is below:


Enjoy the weather if you got it, and we'll see you on the veranda at 8pm BST (GMT+1) for a sundowner...