The Listening Club - 16th February 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope all is good and well in your hood. Wet, yes, again in Amsterdam, as Storm Dennis floats across the country giving it a good wash and blow dry, unlike Ciara, which missed us for the most part. Have you had a storm named after you? Was it a good one? Leave us a comment! Or don't!

Last week, @har_shone was in the chair bopping to the retro-futuristic sounds of Caravan Palace's "<| '_' |>", which divided opinion, some positive, some negative, which is absolutely as it should be. Thanks to Harriet for the pick, and for sailing the frisb back across to me, probably due to my clearly expressed dislike for the aformentioned. Which then, therefore, brings me to tonight's intro...

"Yes, opinions are tricky buggers, aren't they? Sometimes they should be expressed more diplomatically than others, but emotions and history tend to get in the way, both of which are also tricky buggers. Things have a tendency to get rather messy, rather quickly.

All of which is something that the vocalist on tonight's pick knows full well. 

This is a legendary album from a long time ago, containing several indie disco perennials, but still near-perfect in its pacing and execution (and also an all-time favourite of my own), but sadly the humour and poetry that balanced the vitriol and discontent in these grooves has long since vanished (along with the musicians), leaving, yep, just an unloveable c***. 

Still, it's good to be able to listen back to a time when the lyrical nuances were perfectly balanced, the music rose to the occasion, intense emotions were welcomed, and for many, a chance to wax nostalgic about a time when the battle lines were way more clearly defined than they are today.

"Has the world changed, or have I changed?". Both most likely. Opinions welcome!"

Direct download is here, and the stream is below:


See you at 8pm GMT!