The Listening Club - 8th December 2019

Greetings folks,

Hope all is good. Another grey week here in Amsterdam as per usual, but we gained a wonderful flash of musical colour on Thursday night courtesy of !!! (or Chk Chk Chk, as their parents call them), who seriously produced the Fraggle Rock vibes, allowing us to dance our cares away quite successfully for an hour or so. Sometimes dancing really is the best revenge.

Goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, those in the UK, or from thereabouts, you know what you have to do on Thursday. Please, for the sake of the country's future, vote as tactically as you can, and encourage those around you to do the same... we cannot let these absolute cunts stay in power any longer.

Right then, last week @xpollen8 was in the chair, bringing us Bob Wiseman's 1995 album "Accidentally Acquired Beliefs", to a glowing positive response. Thanks to him for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to a power-cut-hit house in deepest Snowdonia, where @holette tapped this out in morse code by way of introduction to tonight's pick:

"Here in the UK, this seemed an appropriate week to celebrate music that embraces internationalism, marginal cultures, music without borders. 

The album came out this year and the artist/producer link up was brokered by Chrissie Hynde of all people. This multi instrumentalist artist tours and plays on records with many more mainstream artists. This is one of his own projects, partly recorded with musicians and a producer in Brazil. It's a beautiful curiosity. 

There's a real warmth and charm to the music. I  don't have a translation for the lyrics but I read that loosely they address "non explicit anti Brexit / anti Bolsonaro" themes. 

Whatever the actual words mean,  there's a sense of joy and positivity and some amazing musicianship.  So here's wishing you a little bit of joy in the season of goodwill."

Download's here, stream's below:

See you at 8pm GMT.