The Listening Club - 31st May 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Sunny and warm here in Amsterdam, and one can feel the city bracing itself as the majority of public places reopen tomorrow, under strict rules, natch. We shall see...

Last week, chez #LC, @akx was in the chair, with a supreme dose of afro-futurism in the shape of Janelle Monae's "The ArchAndroid", which hit the spot for most folks. Thanks to Aarni for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @xpollen8, who, after some deliberation, has this to say by way of introduction to tonight's selection...

"Just an awful frame of mind this week as the mild Spring melts away leaving the weak to wither and the stupid brutes to thrive.

With only a single response to my plea for help in choosing which direction to take, I was forced to go with C) Bootleg.

Backstory: for a brief time in the mid 90s, recording engineer/producer Martin Stebbing (ex Wolfhounds, ex Jazz Butcher sound/eng) was in my band, because he was amused by what we were doing and wanted a part.

This brush with greatness exposured me to his friends when they were in town: Moonshake, Stereolab, and the like. I was recording everything to DAT at this point in my life, and the following is a recording from 1996 when a band that's quite popular in Chicago flirted with performing techno in realtime with a scaled-down version of their band.  Martin performed/ran sound on this, and my DAT was sucking up the soundboard.

To my knowledge, this is the only time they performed in this incarnation, and you are definitely the only people other than the 50 present at the time - to hear this. I just transferred it today.

Being (weird) mid-90s-rave music, some bits go on too long, but the concept is interesting, and the musicianship is certainly top-notch."

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


See you at 8pm BST.

The Listening Club - 24th May 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Grey and wet for a change here in Amsterdam, but a bit of rain is always welcome to wash away the sea of dried blossom that dusts up the city at this time of year. Pleased to see that cafes and restaurants are opening back up here in a week or so, under strict rules of course, will be interesting to see how everybody handles that, but I'm seriously looking forward to some considerate restauranting over the coming weeks, it's been too long...!

Last week chez #LC, @holette was in the chair, very much in the here and now with her pick of BC Camplight's recently-released "Shortly After Takeoff", which, inbetween the flood of theramin puns, seemed to go down very well indeed. Thanks to Sarah for the selection, and for sailing the frisb across to Finland, where @akx is waiting with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"This pick's been on my shortlist several times but never made the cut for one reason or another... but after having spent most of last night shuffling through my music library, it's time for a psychedelic
neo-soul afrofuturist science fiction concept opus (a part of a series) from 2010, the artist's Grammy-nominated debut studio album. (To those who know, that'd give it away...)

#drinkingclub: something fizzy and something smooth, on rotation?"

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


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 17th May 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. A pleasant Amsterdam Sunday here, reasonably warm and sunny, neighbours sitting out, @Nessiest doing things with plants, it almost seems... normal? Well, we're getting there, slowly but surely. I've even managed to get a haircut, which is truly a weight off my mind. Arf.

Last Sunday @ohmyliver was in the chair, sending out old skool selections in the shape of the "Retro Techno: Detroit Definitive" compilation from way back in 1991, which got the assembled bipping and bopping. Thanks to Oli for the pick, and for sending the frisb over to Wales, where @Holette is waiting with tonight's intro...

"I’ve seen a couple of raucous shows by this artist. Hell, I even got the T-shirt in the crush at the merch stall - remember those?

The T-shirt is kind of provocative,  attention- grabbing, intriguing. It resonates with people who often raise a wry smile. It's a statement of scrambled emotions and a source of amusing photo opportunities.  It’s hand screen printed but not made of 100 % organic cotton.  Hey, you can't have everything. 

This is the brand new release by this artist who doesn't shrink from confrontation and grand musical gestures. I think it's a brave album filled with beautiful melodies, bleak humour, brutal honesty, bombast and nuance.

The lyrics and production reward listening closely so I thought it would be an interesting one to share. You might get to see the T shirt too."

Reet then. Direct download is here, and the stream's below:


See you 8pm BST (GMT+1).

The Listening Club - 10th May 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. A sunny weekend here in Amsterdam, but lockdown persists, although a slight easing in restrictions is expected soon, which is good news for me and my barber, as the hair helmet is starting to reach the seriously annoying stage, and the clippers are looking more inviting by the day (a lot of the local kids have already voluntarily clipped themselves which is kinda funny, all they need is some bovver boots and we'd be back in the early 70s).

#LockdownRadio is back on the rails though, thanks to @JimMcCauley for his cracking debut set this week. Anyone else fancy a go? The more the merrier, no experience necessary or required, etc.

Last week chez #LC the very same @JimMcCauley was in the chair, riding it down memory lane in the shape of Genesis' 1972 opus "Nursery Cryme", which brought forth some very polarized opinions indeed, as you'd expect. Thanks to Jim for the pick, for giving me the opportunity to use the word "opus" and for flipping the frisb down the M4 and round the M25 to London (Sarf), where @ohmyliver is waiting with this to say...

"So I got the frisbee this week.

It was an easy pick in a way.  This is a gatefold album I brought in ‘92, or late ‘91.  I blame last week’s pick for emboldening me in picking something that I loved as a youth and still love, and hang the potential opprobrium.    

In a way it was obvious that I’d love this album, as after being played Radioactivity by my father as a kid I became a Kraftwerk fan, and went on to love Electro tracks like Planet Rock, and British early 80s synth pop.  All it took was chemically prying my ears open to the 4/4 beat in places like The Zap Club to push my stupid indie kid attitude aside, although I did love indie-dance, which was a gateway scene to this sort of stuff.  

Anyhoo I’m going to try and stop drenching this in sirupy nostalgia, and give a not too spoilery intro

Yes, this is a compilation.  Yes, if you don’t like 1980s drum machines like the 606, 808, and 909, you’re not going to like this.  Yes, you really should hear these tracks in some sort of mix, in a club. Yes, there was a compilation from the same scene released 3 years before which had more of an impact. Yes, some of the tracks go on too long. But…..

It’s a nicely chosen selection of tracks from a *hugely* influential scene in the mid to late 80s born in the suburbs of an American city which has given the world so much musically. It gave a name to a genre which would take off in places like the UK, Germany, and Belgium, even if it took the US slightly longer to get it.  It has cast a shadow over virtually every electronic dance music genre which has come after.  The tracks are from predominantly 3 people under a range of aliases, whilst they represent 3 distinct strands of this scene, a fair whack of these tracks are relatively obscure mixes done by one of the other 3. 

It’s influenced by Kraftwerk, and I like the way it’s therefore also an indirect way of paying respect to the sadly recently departed Florian Schneider. But it’s also very influenced by P-Funk, things like African polyrhythms, and the then new dance sound of places like The Warehouse in Chicago.  Machine soul, some might call it. One of the tracks on here is my favourite track of the whole genre, sounding like a slightly melancholy journey under twinkling stars through a futuristic cityscape.

So, despite the fact that the US government has recently made an announcement which proves the chorus of the first track incorrect, and I still slightly cringe at the ‘Your Love’ style breathy vocals on the second track, let's go back to a time where the future was a thing of exciting possibilities, and to quote the b-side of the opening track ‘calculators, and micro-cassettes’.  It’s a better future than this increasingly dystopian late stage capitalism one we turned out to get. 

Oh and the last track, it’s a kickdrumless version of one of the biggest tracks from that time/space."

Okidoke. Direct download is here, and the stream's below:



See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

  

The Listening Club - 3rd May 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing OK. Same same here in Amsterdam, not much change in circumstances, although infection numbers are dropping, but we're still a long way off from normality. I'm keeping busy though, not via Lockdown Radio this week (apologies if you were expecting a show or two), as I've been kept busy doing a little work on my own tunes, and also doing some investigation into methods for playing online back-to-back DJ sets (if you have any ideas on this front, or are interested in helping me try out some possible apps and platforms, let me know!)

Last week, o my #LC brothers and sisters did conspire and, with the mighty helping hands of @JimMcCauley, did surprise me with a Secret Kleptones Vortex, on the occasion of me becoming a bit more justified and ancient.

I have to admit that I did not see it coming at all, and therefore was pretty damn shocked. But I extend huge thanks to all of you for picking your faves and joining in to help me celebrate remotely, and double plus huge thanks to Jim for doing an awesome job sequencing the finished article. You're all very lovely.

Speaking of @JimMcCauley, seems the frisb landed in his court after @EmmaPrice's sweet deception last week, so here he is with tonight's back-to-normal broadcast...

"I absolutely, unironically love this album, and have done ever since I bought it on vinyl 30-odd years ago, either in Scorpion Records in High Wycombe, more likely in Our Price. I'd figured I should try something by this band, and this one, with its ludicrous, naive and grotesque cover art, cried out to me. It didn't disappoint.

I've nearly picked it on a number of occasions and always talked myself out of it at the last minute. Finally it's time to grasp the nettle. Bite the bullet. Get it over and done with. Grab the bull by the horns. Face the music.

You'll thank me later, maybe. Enjoy!"

Okaydoke. Direct download's here, and the stream's below:


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