The Listening Club - 25th November 2018

Howdy folks,

Hope all is good with yourselves, mellow here in Amsterdam as the greyness blankets us, but upcoming grooviness this coming week from Underworld and Beak> should help that, also plonked money down for Snapped Ankles' visit to these shores in Feb, for which #LC is wholly responsible... hoorah!

Last week in these environs, @akx was in the chair, dosing everyone up to the eyeballs with his pick of Lindstrom's "Six Cups Of Rebel", which lived up to his description pretty accurately. Many thanks to Aarni for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @xpollen8, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"2017 marked my return with a vengance to buying vinyl, and one small label in particular I practically cleaned out.

Among their offering was a mysterious band from Cleveland, Ohio, the sole information I know is what was published on the record's "buy" page:

"The album was recorded completely DIY in their living room, with help from friends, reels and recorders purchased off craigslist, and a lot to learn as they went. The result is a work of art thoroughly representative of the band’s vision – a nugget of pure, independent, alt-rock beauty."

So - a debut/only album by a group of ambitious kids, and a label which stopped selling vinyl shortly after the 125 copies of this record sold out.

Enjoy this dynamic charmer. Wish I knew who they were!"

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


See you at 8pm GMT tonight!

The Listening Club - 18th November 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope all is good with you. Yes, I'm back, after a seriously culturally nourishingly weekend at Le Guess Who, still holding high it's title of finest and most diverse inner city fest in all the lands. From symphonic drone in a church to Mudhoney on an industrial estate, it continues to enchant in new and unusual ways every year. A double whammy to be able to share the experience with @holette and @matthewesdigs amongst others, all of whom seemed to have a very jolly time indeed. Following that on with a visit from the mighty Decemberists here in Amsterdam mid-week, and really I'm full to bursting with quality sounds. Still, always room for one more wafer thin mint, eh?...

Last week, @jimmccauley expertly held the reigns here, and bless him for doing so, as @saucer bedazzled the assembled with his pick of The Space Lady's "On The Street Of Dreams" which seemed to work its spell on everyone to positive effect. Thanks to @saucer for the selection, and for sailing the frisb across to @akx who's right here with tonight's intro...

"It seems like it's getting harder and harder to find albums to share
with you guys -- what with millennial lack of attention, maybe, I find myself listening far less to albums and more to Spotify's Discover Weekly or mixtapes or short EPs off Bandcamp... but hey, after two days (which, full disclosure, were not exactly fully spent fully looking for a Listening Club pick) of hair-pulling, deliberation and even external consultation, I finally came across this album in my virtual _and_ physical shelf.

It's a seven-movement, maximalist, exhilarating Norwegian cosmic synthesizer opera (from an artist who had previously released a half-hour synthesizer space opus, so you know) -- and fear not, it's not all just synths and electronics, there's (real, live human!) vocals in there too, on occasion!

Either way, I hope you dig this thing as much as I did when I came across it.

#drinkingclub: something that'll last you long enough to minimize having to get up for refills."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here (right-click save-as), and the HearThis stream is below:


See you at 8pm GMT tonight!

The Listening Club – 11th November 2018

Evening all, @JimMcCauley clocking in and holding the fort while @kleptones and other Listening Clubbers are off doing their thing at Le Guess Who. Quite a pleasant day here in Bath, something that I haven't had a chance to appreciate thanks to a broken kitchen tap that I've finally managed to bodge into a working state. Now I just need to find a plumber who can come and replace the whole thing, which turned out to be beyond the limits of my plumbing abilities *eyes grazed knuckles ruefully*.

Last week I was at a fancy hotel for an anniversary night away, so I missed @EastVanHalen's jazztastic pick of an eponymous LP from Vancouver's Malleus Trio, featuring Mr EastVanHalen on tenor sax. I'm just catching up with it now and yeah, I'm digging it, a sentiment that the assembled seemed to agree with last week, so thanks to Steph for the pick, and for targeting @saucer with the special thing. Here he is now!

"The frisbee of excellent doom was uncannily named, as it played out, because this was by far the most difficult LC pick for me ever. Way, way too much second guessing of my many candidate albums. You don't want to know how late I stayed up to get something over to Jim. I'd like to blame it on the very unhealthy air we're stuck with now in the Bay Area, blown directly at us from fires 200 miles away, making eyes burn, throats swell, and functioning generally difficult.

"But time didn't wait for me so I finally settled on a pick. 

"This recording is disarmingly gentle, minimalist, and sincere. And uncannily affecting and lovely.

"I hope I'm awake for its LC appearance."

Righty ho! Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream (spoilers etc.) is below:


See you at 8PM (GMT)!

The Listening Club - 4th November 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing fine. In the midst of a mellow weekend here in Amsterdam, doing a little lineup research for next weekend's frolics at Le Guess Who, speaking of which, still looking for a volunteer to run things here, please let me know if you can help out next Sunday, thanks!

Last week it was me, @kleptones, in the chair, wobbling your synapses with a dose of Angelique Kidjo's full album cover of Talking Heads "Remain In Light", which seemed to go down very well indeed, I'm delighted to report. After that onslaught, all that remained was for me to sail the frisb across the Atlantic to @EastVanHalen, who is right here with tonight's intro...

"Hello LC lovelies:

As part of my intermittent foisting of music I love, played by people I love, on the LC massive, here's a recent-ish album of originals by a Vancouver jazz trio I'm particularly fond of.

It comes in at under 40 minutes, so I recommend something really, really boozy for #drinkingclub. 

xx

EVH"

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

See you at 8pm GMT tonight!