The Listening Club - 26th July 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Sunshine and showers continues in Amsterdam as per standard, this afternoon being sunshine for a change, so let's get on with this so I can return to the stoop with a beer before it vanishes, yes?

Last Sunday @unmannedfuture was in the chair, with a dose of Hole's "Live Through This", which rocked the assembled quite successfully, I'd say. Thanks to Ann for the pick, and for sailing the frisb south to @FaberFedor, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"Continuing the long tradition of throwback albums started by @unmannedfuture last week, I give you another (grunge) throwback album.

You've heard of "one hit wonders"; those bands that had one hit song and never heard from again? Well this is a "one hit album wonder"; this album produced five or six top ten hits and then...crickets. I remember my freinds and colleagues being amazed how many hits came off this album. 

Let's see how well it holds up 26 years later."

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


See you 8pm BST/CEST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 19th July 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you & yours are all doing okay. Weather a bit blah here, but we're doing our best to enjoy the occasional blue sky as it sails past. Feeling happy though, as our new fuzzy house companion was let back out into the wider world for the first time today and, after a period of climbing around the neighbourhood and saying hello to the other local fuzzballs, he returned home for a snack and a long nap. Which is as it should be, phew.

Last week, chez #LC, @wojsvenwoj was in the chair, blending modern and trad into an agreeable soup with his pick of Snakefarm's "My Halo At Half-Light" which went down very well indeed with the assembled. Thanks to them for the selection, and for sailing the frisb over to @unmannedfuture, who is right here with tonight's intro...

"What if back in the day Creem magazine had used its power to encourage girls to learn to play like Jimmy Page instead of sleep with Jimmy Page? We’ll never know."

Okay. Direct download here, and stream's below:


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

The Listening Club - 12th July 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Not much to report here, the weather is a bit blah and a few more tourists have returned to the city, but house spirits are good, as "Fuzz" (our new feline friend) has settled in very well, seems to be slowly recovering from his time roaming the streets, and is already providing regular doses of fuzzy joy to our world. Bless 'im.

Last week chez #LC, @saucer was in the chair, with a soothing Sunday selection in the shape of Jenny O's "Peace & Information", which went down very well with the assembled. Thanks to them for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @wojsvenwoj, who has this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"As you may have noticed, I have an affinity for modern takes on folk music, whatever the tradition. I think I’ve only picked one album in the past that actually fits into that category but there have been several that came close to being selected...and may yet still be!

Anyway, like most imperial, capitalist, American pig dogs, I usually gravitate towards the music of other cultures when it comes to that sort of thing but there are lots of interesting takes on the folk songs of the United States (which, of course, are the amalgamation of many other traditions). This is one such album.

This band is a side project by a not-unknown-but-relatively-obscure woman and her also not-unknown-but-relatively-obscure husband. The first album they recorded for this project came out in 1999 and was one of my favorites that year. This is their second album, released in 2011, which I kind of slept on but have recently rediscovered and dig. Maybe you will too..."

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


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 5th July 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Amsterdam has slipped slightly into holiday mode, as the school year finishes and, like clockwork, tons of Dutch families immediately take their summer vacations. Given the global situation it will be interesting to see where they're headed, and also, given the travel rule changes over the past week in the UK, it will also be interesting to see who will soon be heading for us.... feeling very cautious about it all, I must say.

Last week in #LC land, it was me, myself and I, @kleptones in the chair, providing new from old in the shape of Bob Dylan's "Rough And Rowdy Ways", which seemed to go down really rather well indeed. All that remained after that was to sail the frisb across to @Saucer, who is right here with tonight's introduction...

"After five years of listening clubbing it is no easier to pick an album. It is more fascinating now. This time my short list (ha ha) grew to 28 (in this go-round spanning 1968 to 2020, country to breakcore to experimental noise to sludge to NYC, SF, Chicago, and LA rock, to what this is).

Last week's Dylan pick reminded me how much I care about lyrics and lyrical delivery. And my recent binging of Lola Uppochner (Lola Upside Down) reminded me what art feels like. So that was my mood going in.

I started with my new favorite lyricist and singer... who ended up on my SSD as a random discovery (I sometimes like to bounce around Bandcamp with minimal control to see what appears, and that's how I found this). It pulled me in first with the words, even though the nearly surreal sweetness that coated them confused me, at first.

Twenty-seven earnest attempts to find something more entertaining/first-listen-palatable for you led me on a wild chase that led right back to where I started.

I really love this album

It is very, very sweet. But antidote sweet not banal sweet. 

If this doesn't penetrate on first listen, you might want to give it a second chance. And then you might want to buy all her EPs and preorder her next album and harbor a crush. Just saying. I wouldn't judge you.

Oh, drinking club, I suppose I'll recommend a nice Armagnac."

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


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