The Listening Club - 19th December 2021

Greetings and humbug to the lot of you.

Hope you're all doing as well as can be expected, possibly better than here in Amsterdam, where the "not quite a lockdown" has finally shed it's disguise to reveal, yep, an actual lockdown. So it's been rather a depressing, fretful week, watching social plans get vapourised, and travel plans (and their related covid-test requirements) getting shaken up with still no signs of settling. My fingers are truly worn out from crossing...

Still, here's hoping that you all successfully get to enjoy whatever it is you're planning over the holiday period with the minimum of disruption! *raises glass to everyone*

As mentioned previously, we'll be taking a break next Sunday, returning on the 2nd January to ring in the new (and hopefully improved) year with our customary #festivevortex, containing all your favourite tunes of 2021, so get them sent in to me (@kleptones) via email as soon as you get a chance, thanks!

Last Sunday it was @iamwahl in the chair, setting forth the soulful sounds of Remy Shand's "The Way I Feel", which grooved the assembled quite successfully, so it seems. Thanks to them for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to Wales, where @holette is waiting with the last intro of 2021...

"As I seem to have found myself hosting the LC Christmas party, I've ditched the downbeat selections and chosen a pro to bring you dance floor delight.

This is an early mix is by a producer and DJ who has gone on to make an ambitious range of music from soundscapes to the more banging end of the spectrum.

I write this from Wales, where today it was announced that nightclubs are being legally shut for the foreseeable from Boxing Day. 

So join me in listening to some dance music and celebrating that precious thing that is club culture. Set your fairy lights to flash mode and enjoy the vicarious deep thrill of dancing in a dark space with others lost in music. 

Alternatively good music to speed wrap Christmas presents by.

Drinking club: Mine’s a Tuaca and a bottle of water please"

Mmm, Tuaca. Shots all round I think! Download is here, stream's below:

See you 8pm BST tonight!

The Listening Club - 12th December 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. In a pretty grumbly mood here, to be honest, as we're faced with a semi-lockdown-curfewish christmas, which is dampening the enthusiasm somewhat, just crossing fingers things don't get any worse, sure you're all doing the same right now...

Looking to the calendar, we'll be taking 26th December off here, returning on 2nd January with ye customary #festivevortex, comprising of y'all's favourite tunes of the last 12 months, so get thinking...

Last Sunday it was me, @kleptones, in the chair, sending out a short and sweet dose of soulful chill in the shape of The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble's "This Is A Mindfulness Drill - A re-imaginging of Richard Youngs' 'Sapphie'", which seemed to go down very well, which was nice. All that remained was to sail the frisb over to @iamwahl, who's here with tonight's intro...

"Like so much of my music listening / collecting this album came to me in a round about way. I first heard a track or two on the radio and, as the artist seemed to be a favourite of the network I regularly listen to, the music kept coming around for a time. Although I liked what I heard, it wasn’t my “usual” and I wasn’t enough enamoured to seek out the album. A decade, give or take, passed and the album popped up while perusing the bins at one of the places I frequent when looking for albums of seasons past. Somehow the time seemed right to invest in a more fulsome listening of the artist’s work. The album delivered a very satisfying, smooth, and soothing groove that has sustained over repeated visits. 

So wrap yourself up, snuggle down and get cozy; set aside anything that might harsh the vibe; then let yourself drift away….

For #DrinkingClub I’d suggest whatever you turn to when looking to drive away the chill of a winter’s day and get your hygge on…."

Okaydoke. Download's here, stream's below:

See you 8pm GMT tonight.

The Listening Club - 5th December 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Cold and wet here in Amsterdam, as you'd expect, but as we're still stuck in a not-lockdown-not-curfew-honest-but-everything-fun-is-shut situation, it matters little, as there's not much to do anyway. Hoping that there will be some change to that before xmas, but it's doubtful. Already Le Guess Who back in November is seeming like a happy little mirage in my memory, sigh. So, to hibernate, mull wine and cross-fingers, eh?

Last Sunday saw the assembled looking to happier times with the construction of our first-ever-can-you-believe-it #christmasvortex, which jollied the assembled like a fat dollop of cream on a steaming pudding, for sure. Thanks to everyone who chipped in tracks, and to @JimMcCauley for wrapping the gift. Back to regular programming, we see, hey, it's me, @kleptones with the frisb, so let's get italic..

"I had plenty of possibilities to choose from this week, for a change. Tempted to submit y'all to the recently-departed Alvin Lucier's classic "I Am Sitting In A Room", but that might be a bit harsh for the uninitiated. Also was tempted to celebrate the recent Fab Four film thing with Laibach's fine cover version of the whole "Let It Be" album, but that got me thinking, so instead, here's a different kind of cover album, one from this year, yet sadly absent in the year-end best of lists so far (with one notable exception)... which is a real shame as it deserves it...

I first saw these guys...*googles*... blimey, 12 years ago at Glastonbury, where they blew the roof off the tent with a stunningly energetic mid-afternoon performance. This album, however, shows a different, far softer, more emotional side to them that is new to me, but very welcome indeed, especially after a year that promised so much, but seems to have delivered little, this could be seen as the perfect meditative balm. Hope you enjoy. (and bonus points if you recognise any of the guest voices...)

#Drinkingclub? Hmmn.... something strong, dark and long, I'd say.

Download's here, stream's below.

See you 8pm BST.

The Listening Club - 28th November 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay and keeping safe. Feeling cozy and replete here in Amsterdam after a rather fine Sunday lunch out, which is about all we can manage right now thanks to a gov't extension to our sort-of-lockdown-thing, so now nothing's allowed to happen after 5pm. Great, eh? It does seem to be having an effect though, as our curve is flattening, but hey, now we have a few planefuls of Omicron to deal with also. What a life, eh?

Last Sunday we had @akx in the chair, welcoming in the frosty season with his pick of Nils Frahm's "Wintermusik", which soothed the assembled quite successfully. Thanks to Aarni for the pick and for sailing the frisb over to me, @kleptones. Fortunately I have an extra week to ponder my pick, as first...

Yep, end of the month, so it's vortex time again, and this time, it's a i-cant-believe-we've-never-had-this-before #christmasvortex (not to be confused with the best-of-year #festivevortex, which will be happening this time next month!), so, as lovingly gathered and assembled by @JimMcCauley, here's a selection of christmas songs, or is it songs about christmas? Or a bit of both? Let's find out...

Download's here, stream's below.

See you 8pm GMT tonight!

The Listening Club - 21st November 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Yep, @kleptones here, back from Le Guess Who with plenty of stories to tell, as you'd expect. Thought I'd experienced most everything a festival could throw up by way of chaos elements, but having a last minute government-panic-partial-lockdown kick in halfway through? Yeah, that's a new one. Enormous respect to the festival organizers, who shuffled artists, venues and staff with barely a few hours notice to get a new timetable together that was both punter-agreeable and lockdown-legal. It certainly made for a unique weekend, more early rises than late nights, though we still got our fill of quality music, food and drink, caught up with some friends, and even got to see "The French Dispatch" thanks to the nonsensical partial-lockdown rules that meant cinema was allowed late even when gigs were not! Yeah, fucking bonkers, but as the Netherlands covid numbers have now risen to their highest level ever and beyond (thank you anti-vax fuckers), I can understand the govenments problem, even if I can't understand their solution. Same the world over it seems, at the moment, innit?...

Anyhoo, back in the #LC bubble last Sunday, @SimonLandmine was getting all singer-songwritery with his pick of Thea Gilmore's "The Counterweight", which seemed to work out well for those attending, from what I can see, which was nice. Also nice to see @akx holding the frosted frisbee with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"We just got our first few flakes of snow this morning - that reminded me of my favorite beverage-in-hand-sitting-by-the-window-looking-at-snow-quietly-falling wintermusik EP. (Depending on your location and time of day, you may need to imagine the snow.)

#drinkingclub: something warming, or a good whiskey or bourbon."

Download's here (gdrive) or here (direct), stream's below:

See you 8pm GMT tonight.

The Listening Club - 14th November 2021

Hello, boys and girls! Yep, @JimMcCauley here, doing the admin for @kleptones before heading off to panto rehearsals this evening. You won't be seeing much of me until mid-December; it's all coming together nicely, though, and tickets are on sale now. Exciting! (Oh yes it is, etc.)

Last week, then, and it was @samquitter on duty with some actual modern music in the form of Lynks, and Smash Hits, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which I completely missed but I'm catching up with now, and yeah, I can dig this, which seems to match the general reaction from last week. So thanks to Sam for the pick and for flinging the frisbaton at @SimonLandmine, who emailed me at 5AM with the following:

"Well, I did say last time that I'd probably pick a singer-songwriter again this time ... and so I have (after some prevarication trying to decide between others on my shortlist). If I'd given myself more time to think, rather than spending time trying to sort out stuff for last night's DJ set, maybe you'd have got something else. Or maybe not. 

"Anyhow, this is an album from a few years ago by an artist that I think I've dropped into a vortex in the past, but frankly they deserved more than just the one track. I heard of them via a compilation, then a friend mentioned them, and I looked for more of their stuff. This was the first album of theirs that I bought at time of release (rather than catching up some time later). Since this, they've released a couple more, gone on hiatus for a while, and have recently released their final album (for now) under this name, together with a new album under a new recording identity. I've seen them live a few times, and they've been excellent every time. I do very much like their songs. 

"Drinking club? I don't know, what have you got handy?" 

Well there you go. Direct download's right here, or stream below.

Have a good one in my absence; kick-off's at 8PM (GMT) as per. Laters!

The Listening Club - 7th November 2021

Greetings,

Hope you're all doing good in your 'hoods. Plenty hoods here in Amsterdam as we slog through another week of colder and wetter, as you'd expect. Still, we're off to Le Guess Who? next weekend for a better soundtracked form of cold and wet, so at least there's that. Speaking of which, I still need someone to take charge here next Sunday, so if you can help out, please let me know!

This time last week we we're all hiding behind the sofa as the #EvenScarierVortex played out, and mighty scary in a diverse kinda way it was. Thanks to everyone for chipping in tracks and to @akx for doing the grabbing and glueing, it was a blast! Back to regular programming, we see @samquitter holding the frisbee, with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"How do you do, fellow kids? Look I know you guys look to me to find out who the latest beat combos are and what the kids are listening to, so I didn't want to let you down. Yes, this week's pick includes music from this very actual year, 2021. (Not strictly all of it, because I went for the two-EPs-by-same-artist format which I believe is within the rules.)

Earlier in this summer I went to Latitude with the family, and while it didn't quite live up to its reputation as the world's most middle-class festival, it wasn't the usual crowd, with a disproportionate number of both under-20s and over-50s. 

This being the first live music anyone there had seen for the best part of 18 months, the excitement was palpable, particularly for the first few acts, who generally could not believe their luck to a) be playing at all, and b) have amazingly enthusiastic audiences going wild from the start of the sets. 

This act came on the main stage as an early lunchtime act and seemed astonished and delighted - particularly given the distinctly un-rocky nature of the music - to have a massive mosh-pit of kids (including my own offspring) in front of them, many of whom had been too young to mosh pre-pandemic and now found themselves set free after being kept in their homes for over a year. It was a genuinely wonderful sight. And I liked the music too, which provided an amusing soundtrack to our journey home as well. 

Hope you enjoy it. Sam X "

Okaydoke. Download est ici, and stream's below:

See you 8pm GMT tonight!

The Listening Club - 31st October 2021

Scary greetings to you, if that's your sort of thing. Yep, it's the day of spook, which doesn't mean much in these parts, it has to be said, apart from a few fancy dress parties here and there. Just as well really, as it's been pissing down all day, so any hopeful trick or treaters are going to be very soggy indeed, even before we get the hose out to remove them from the premises (joke, probably). 

Last Sunday we had @unmannedfuture in the chair, spacing everyone out with their choice of "Stateless" by Dirty Beaches from back in 2014. Many thanks to them for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @samquitter, who has an extra week to ponder because...

Yep, #vortex time again, and on a day like today, it can only be an #evenscariervortex. Another helping of spooky and scary sounds from your minds, as gathered and assembled by @akx... 

Download is direct here, or gdrive here, stream's below...

AND THE CLOCKS HAVE CHANGED. So it's 8pm GMT, see you then!

The Listening Club - 24th October 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. A regular kind of week in Amsterdam, bit wet, bit grey, but regular is okay all things considered (watches infection numbers warily). Very pleasant to be spending time listening to the vast list of performers playing at Le Guess Who in a few of weeks - yes, finally a festival! So I'll be needing a caretaker manager here on Sun 14th Nov if anyone fancies it, let me know...

Last Sunday we had @myemuisemo sending one in from about as far into left-field as you can get, in the shape of Randy Vanwarmer's "Terraform" from 1980, which boggled the assembled in the finest of ways. Many thanks to Eilonwy for the impressive pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @unmannedfuture, who's here with tonight's intro...

"So I did not know this of all things is what we were going to listen to, but it feels like a good soundtrack for trudging towards November, lying prone staring at ceiling, that sort of thing.  Perhaps contemplating the sonic landscape (there's a diagram in the liner notes I’ll post at the end) or perhaps the Artist’s Statement:  

All seasons are cyclical, like real life shit. We adapt and venture through each phase with intentions of engagement, embracing mistakes and chances that eventually become the foundation of identities and roles we take on in life. All pain is temporary, as in joy, anger, doubt and all human emotions. Nothing is forever. Just a constant cyclical randomization processed in patterns and algorithms. We can’t predict life, but we can try to brace ourselves for the ever changing tides of time.

Some dreams are worth breaking your limbs for.

 Dedicated to ALL the young gods out there."

Right then. Download's here, stream's below:

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1) for the last time, clocks change next week!

The Listening Club - 17th October 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Yep, @kleptones back again after an action packed couple of weeks off, dealing with much cavity swabbing on the way to and fro the sceptered isle (aka "Plague Island"), which seems to have passed without incident, although the level of paperwork and travel stress was considerably higher than any I have undertaken for many a year (probably since the last time I traveled to the USA... ah, NSA I do not miss your interrogations one bit, can't imagine what it would be like now...). Still, we got there, we experienced much reunions and rejoicing, and we got back okay, with a fine Nick Cave & Warren Ellis concert as a reward (front row to boot, yay!). So, nursing a small hangover, we proceed...

Last Sunday, @JimMcCauley run tings (thanks extended) and @corin_ja was in the chair, spacing folks out it seems with his pick of Gel-Sol's "Unifactor" from 2007. Thanks to Corin for the selection, and for sailing the frisb across to @myemuisemo, who is here with tonight's intro...

"This album’s a guilty pleasure, both for me and for the artist who recorded it. After a major hit with a ballad, this mystery songwriter turned to a more alternative sound for his next album. His label stepped into the traditional label role of villain by withholding support, so this one flopped hard. He never had another hit. Themes found in track 7 were especially dear to the artist’s heart, and that’s the track that fascinated me when I bought this album in a used-record store in Turlock, California, about five years after it came out. Some of my fondness for fusing singer-songwriter with electronic effects probably dates from listening to this album in college.

Pour yourself an amaretto sour and settle in."

Okaydoke. Download's here, stream's below:

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

The Listening Club - 10th October 2021

Afternoon, chums! @JimMcCauley at your service while @kleptones is off visiting some backwards washed-up hellhole country for a few days. Here in Bath it's turned out quite nice, so I have some washing out on the line, the cats are tucked up in their beds and I'm basically killing time until this evening's panto rehearsal (oh yes I am etc.).

Last week @emmaprice was at the decks, celebrating a new musical kindred spirit with her choice of Rory Gallagher's Deuce, which certainly seemed to do the job for everyone present. So thanks to Emma for the pick and for a well-aimed frisbaton flung squarely at @corin_ja, who will address you now from somewhere in the wilds of west Wales.

"Thank-you to @emmaprice for sailing the frisb my way, after a great selection last week. This was a tricky choice. I had 3 or 4 other records in consideration but this is something I've just been itching to play at other people for ages.

"I've missed a lot of Listening Clubs after attending the very first one ever back in March 2012, on account of usually spending Sunday night putting my kid to bed or just being too wiped out from the week to be even semi-coherent playing with others. So this record is in a sense a tribute to efforts to get some sleep, either mine or a wailing child's. Actually, this artist has other recordings that are better for that specific purpose, but this is a good compromise between inflicting one of those on the audience and playing something a bit more crowd-friendly.

"What I especially love here is the sonic effect, the sound of the production, and the sense of humour. Gotta admit it is a pothead record, probably best listened to whilst very, very stoned and chuckling slowly like Beavis on 33rpm. It amuses the hell out of me, but also at times I find it hugely satisfying and gripping. Sure, it's pretty niche but I reckon someone will find something here, or in the rest of the artist's catalogue, that works for them. Hope so anyway!

"Headphones on, lava-lamp on the go, bong warmed up - it's time to lie-down & be counted."

There we go, then. Direct download's here, or avail yourself of the HearThis stream below.

I won't be around for the playback but should just about be home in time for the big reveal, so have fun at 8PM (GMT+1) and I might catch you later.

The Listening Club - 3rd October 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Solid rain here in Amsterdam, as autumn takes hold, much to the annoyance of Hype Cat, who was thoroughly enjoying the September sun, not too hot, not too cold, and is now grumpily staring out the window at the windy splatter. So it goes.

Also, in the "so it goes" category, thanks to changing border restrictions I'll be away next Sunday making a long-awaited UK family visit, so am in need of a caretaker-manager to run things here, if you can help, let me know! (Also there's a firm chance we'll be in that London for an evening (prob the 12th), so if any local types are around and feel comfortable with meeting up for a drink or two, let me know).

Last Sunday, as you should recall, we were gathered for the "Songs to or about anyone other than Maggie May Vortex", which brought together a fine collection of dedicated and / or nomenclatured tunage. Many thanks to @saucer for gathering and constructing a fine work, and all who chipped in tunes! Checking the schedules, we see @emmaprice clutching the frisbaton, with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"Greetings my fellow Listening Clubbers. Life is feeling a bit strange at the moment and here in the UK it feels that we're only a couple of steps away from fortifying our positions on the parapet for the incoming zombie apocalypse.

Given this you can imagine my joy at being able to go to a festival again last month and to stand, pint in hand singing in a crowd of thousands while bearded men in wedding dresses and kids in fancy dress roamed free.

It was at this festival I met a kindred spirit, our eyes met over the crowds of festival goers and within 10 seconds of meeting we were talking about favourite albums. What's followed since is a sharing of the music that moves and inspires us - it's opened up new avenues and artists for me which co-incidentally is why we're here, sharing albums that excite, intrigue and bring us joy.

This pick today is by his favourite artist. Someone I'd not listened to myself and in fact I'm listening to this album for the first time while typing this. I'm picking this as a reminder of how precious those moments of musical connection are to us all.

Drinking club tonight is a pint of Guinness. I'm raising my glass to us all meeting again soon."

Okaydoke. Download's here, stream's below.

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 26th September 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Still warm here in Amsterdam, but the clouds are decending more and more, and the temps are set to drop next week, so we reluctantly get ready to bid goodbye to Summer 2021, not really the one we were all hoping for, but, for me anyway, any summer is better than no summer, so there's that. Now hoping for a half-decent Autumn gig season, fingers crossed...

Last Sunday we had @ohmyliver in the chair, dealing a dose of dread in the shape of The Bug's "Fire", which certainly lived up to its name. Thanks to Oli for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @emmaprice, who has a bit longer to consider their options, because, yep, it's vortex time. And this time, we have a "Songs to or about anyone other than Maggie May Vortex" (long story, don't ask). @Saucer has been hard at work extracting and assembling the tunes, and here's what he has to say...

"Always a huge honor to be trusted to do something legal with your musical picks. Thank you.

I often go for intersong flow but this time around found myself embracing a hairpin-turn aesthetic. To be honest, with a vortex, sometimes the hairpin-turn aesthetic embraces you. It was massive fun to put together and I hope it's fun to listen to."

Right then. Download's here, stream's below.

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 19th September 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Still dry and warm here in Amsterdam, so another week of perching on the stoop interspersed with gentle strolls and cafe visits has been in order. Gotta make the most of it, eh? Meanwhile the Dutch government are slowly relaxing their last remaining covid-blocks, which is causing a considerable amount of annoyance as people try and figure out exactly what they can and can't do. As long as everything's 100% back to normal by the time of Le Guess Who at the start of November, I'm OK with it. Crossing fingers firmly for that, as you'd expect.

Last Sunday, chez #LC, it was myself, @kleptones, in the chair, hitting everyone hard with the mighty Nash The Slash's "Children Of The Night" from 1980. Nice to see one of my all-time favourite albums go down so well, for sure! Also nice to see @ohmyliver catch the frisb; here he is with tonight's intro...

"This time the choice was easy.  No deliberation, no dithering, nothing like that. 

This album came out a few weeks ago.  I think.  My sense of temporal distance is still pandemic-wonky.  

His first album under this name in 7 years.  A fine selection of noisy, intense basscapes.  With some great vocalists.  From long term collaborators like an emcee who was part of Roll Deep’s original line up in 2002, through to new collaborators like a rising Grime emcee from Birmingham, or a Jamaican poet/playwright.  

Some might say it’s a dark album, but not me.  It’s an album steeped in the space and tension of early Dubstep, with angry bars coiling through bass-heavy post-industrial soundscapes, that’s true, but anger can be a cathartic, creative energy, as it is here.  Afterall, the world is in a pretty bad way at the moment.  Pandemic, bullshit nativist populism, sociopathic venal politicians, climate change, antisocial media, the list goes on, and perhaps, a healthy response is to release and acknowledge the anger at the state of things. Witness the shitness, as it were. 

It sounds a bit like a soundtrack to a cinematic midpoint between Bladerunner, Top Boy or Bullet Boy, and Children of Men.   Which, sadly, isn’t too far away from where we are now.

I suspect that some of you might have already listened to this album, but hey ho."

Okidoke. Download's here, stream's below:

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1) while stocks last!

The Listening Club - 12th September 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing good in your hoods. September continues to be mostly warm and sunny here in Amsterdam, which is very welcome indeed. Many gentle evening strolls (both with and without hype cat), meals and drinks have been the order of the day. I reckon as this summer got off to a late start, the least we can do is ride it out in style, eh?

Back on #LC turf, last week saw @nessiest sending a slice of fine lyrical grooves in the shape of Blood Wizard's "Western Spaghetti" which slid down very nicely indeed with the assembled. Thanks to wor Ness for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to me, @kleptones, so let's get italicised for tonight's selection....

"Like most of us, my #LC picks usually fall into one of two groups, either something super new, or something historical that has special meaning. This one's in the latter group, and very Marmite-y. No sitting on the fence here (it's covered in barbed wire anyways), you'll either love this or hate it.

I discovered this artist a long, long, long time ago, back when I was a miniscule music sponge, sucking up whatever my pocket money could find and afford, using my imagination (and Record Mirror) to fill in the gaps. I'd seen this artist's name linked to another (chart-topping) one that I really liked, playing a guest spot on a few of their tunes and supporting them on tour (not possible for me to see at such a miniscule age), so I saved my pennies, scurried down to the local disc-o-rama, made the purchase, scurried home twice as fast, pulled the vinyl from the sleeve, dropped the needle and... "what the flying fuck is this???"

To lil' sponge me, nothing about this record made sense. Most of the genres you'd drop this record into either didn't exist or were still in very early stages when it was made (trying to be a bit vague, here). The choice of cover versions (nearly half the album) is decidedly unhinged, sometimes awesome and occasionally hilarious, and the artist's whole onstage schtick and related lyrical themes (for want of a better term) was (and still is), decidedly abnormal. (A few of the lyrics, I have to admit, don't stand up to 21st century analysis (thinks back to me singing along to them as a kid, chuckles wryly to self) but certainly fit the aforementioned schtick and the style of the era, for sure).

Not to mention wondering what the reaction was of the English teenyboppers subjected to this artist's performance as support to their awaited megastar. I'm sure it acted as a perfect palette-cleanser, but suffice to say that continued global success never happened, and after this album the artist returned to being pretty much a local hero. So it goes.

But apart from all that, what mostly blew me away as a lil' sponge is the sound this artist makes. Even after years tracking down information about some of the machines and instruments used, I've never managed to come anywhere near emulating it. Amplifiers? Effects pedals? No idea, but I'd never heard electronics churn like this before, and as for the solo instruments, what's going on there? The album cover gleefully states "There are no guitars", so what the hell is that screaming sound flying out of the speakers...???

Listening back now, yep, it's astonishingly future-facing and unique but still definitely a work of it's time, and for lil' sponge me, an important stepping stone into the universe of potential musical lunacy. Bless 'em.

You get the idea, I hope you enjoy. Turn it up loud right from the start.

PS You may already know this artist, especially if you're from their locality, if so, hope you're up for another spin!

Drinking club? Bull's blood red wine, or a decent bourbon."

Right then. Direct download is here, stream's below...

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

The Listening Club - 5th September 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Amsterdam is feeling pretty lively and enjoying a decent run of late-summer weather and, as everything is pretty much closed at night, the daytime is where the action is right now, I guess. So I'm tapping this out early before we jump on a boat and head off for a day-out visiting one of the Netherlands many tiny islands... and we'll be back by playtime, naturally.

Last Sunday saw us all trekking quite literally (mate) into parts unknown with the #UnseenPlacesVortex, which truly took us around the world and across the universe in 90-odd minutes. Thanks to everyone who chipped in tracks and biggest thanks to @akx for mapping the journey. 

Back in regular-programming-land, we find @nessiest holding the frisb with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"Late summer has a special feel, the light is more golden, all the summer’s goings on are still happening but the evenings are shorter and you’re aware this isn’t going to last.

I don’t know a lot about this act, but their presence on the summer festival circuit (happening elsewhere) caught my attention and my ear.

In the absence of a personal opportunity to discover this act at one of those late summer festivals this year, what better than sharing them with the club. Hopefully this will complement your day well and help to extend that summery feeling. For the antipodeans among us it might be a promise of those golden days to come."

Right then. Direct download's here, stream's below:

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 29th August 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Feeling a little tender here today after a excellently decent night out yesterday, first one for a verrrrry long time. A fine meal, our first trip to the Paradiso for almost 18 months (to see the wonderfully spacey Kikagaku Moyo), and follow-on drinks too, all much appreciated and long overdue. Hooray for near-normality!

Last Sunday we had @saucer in the chair soothing us with his pick of "The Practice of Love" by Jenny Hval, which went down very smoothly indeed with the assembled. Thanks to Mr.S for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @nessiest, who has an extra week to consider their options because...

...yep, end of the month, so it's vortex time again, this time a topic suggested by the very same @nessiest... it's an #UnseeenPlacesVortex. Places you've never seen? Places you've never been? Places that only exist in the imagination? No one knows, so let's find out!

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

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1) for playback.

The Listening Club - 22nd August 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Yes, it is I, @kleptones, back from travels around the highlights of the lowlands, which was very enjoyable indeed, especially the bits with the super fresh and tasty seafood, my word yes...

Looking at the notes provided, I see that @zensolo was in the chair last Sunday, firing off his debut pick in the shape of "¿Tu Querias Boogaloo? ¡Toma Boogaloo!" from El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, which seemed to get the assembled shimmying and swaying in all the right ways, as well it should. Thanks extended for the pick, and for the frisb-sail across to @saucer, who's here with tonight's intro...

"I'm at a loss for words this time for introducing my pick... not because the music's especially hard to describe. Rather, because the world this week left me especially drained and confused.

How about this: Among all the antidotes to the world's ills that I auditioned this week, this one won, and I hope it works for you in a similar way."

Okaydoke. Download's here, stream's below:

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

The Listening Club - 15th August 2021

Evening/afternoon/morning [delete as applicable] all! @JimMcCauley here sitting in for @kleptones once more, preparing for a parental visit which means that at some point I'm going to have to vacuum the spare room, which Marmalade isn't going to like one bit. First though, let's get all this sorted.

Last week, then, @wojsvenwoj was doing his thing, with the eponymous debut (and indeed only) album from Sybil Vane, a long-lost slice of *checks notes* melodic grunge that seemed to hit plenty of people's sweet spots. So big ups to Woj for the pick, and for flipping the frisbaton at @zensolo, who's here for you now with his own debut.

"This beloved dance band from Puerto Rico played 'salsa' before the New York-bred hybrid of various Afro-Caribbean music traditions (and popular song forms) became known as such.

"This record in particular seems to be the follow-up to a first successful crossover effort into what used to be (?) known as 'Latin Soul': Looking up the discography I find the label put out three, from the looks of it, stylistically related releases in the same year, taking advantage of the trend.

"(Does it give too much away to pinpoint the year as 1967?)

"In case you were wondering, the Spanglish wordplay is full of politically incorrect double-entendres...

"Ashamed to say, this is the only salsa record on my hard disk! My LP's & CD's have been in refrigerated storage back in P.R. since hurricane María threatened in Sept. 2017. Hard drive crashes have erased a fair amount of earlier digitising attempts.

"Full disclosure: from tender childhood, I was more of a budding 'rockero', starting my LP collection with discs by Chubby Checker and The Ventures around my first communion at age seven, going on to become a full-bore (ouch) Beatlemaniac...

"I was something of a latecomer to the jiggy enjoyment of grooves playing all around.

"To likely misquote Captain Queeg (played by Humphrey Bogart) at his court martial, 'Well, if there's anything else you need to know, just ask me the questions and I'll do my best to answer them, one by one...' Enjoy!"

Right you are! Download's here or simply stream below.

See you at 8PM! (BST!)

The Listening Club - 8th August 2021

Happy International Cat Day! @kleptones is off on his hols, so you're stuck with me, @JimMcCauley, for a bit. Daisy cat is currently tucked up in her favourite blanket-lined Amazon box, having worn herself out this morning running around in the rain, so she's completely missing out on a surprisingly sunny afternoon. Meanwhile Marmalade is happily curled up on the spare bed, where he'll likely stay until teatime.

 

So then, last week @brainspiritus promised us a novelty album and instead delivered a Bootsy deep cut in the form of Zillatron's Lord of the Harvest, which I think we can all agree was a well cosmic groove. So thanks to @brainspiritus for the pick, and for passing the cosmic baton to @wojsvenwoj, who's taken a few minutes out of his busy International Cat Day schedule to say this: 

"Back in the 1990s, when I had more time and record stores were still a thing, I had a weekly ritual of hitting all the local record stores and combing through through their used and cut-out bins. At the time, I lived in northern New Jersey and would trawl through the rows and rows of used CDs (vinyl had seemingly breathed its last plasticine breath) in stores like Scotti's and Alwilk's and all the others I can't remember the name of looking for treasure. 

"Sometimes I would find promotional singles or advance releases by bands I collected or followed. Sometimes I would find albums I'd heard of that I wanted but didn't want to pay full price for. And sometimes I'd find a record by a band that I'd never heard of that had an interesting cover or interesting liner notes or an interesting name. Today's pick had all three...and it turned out to be a pretty good album too!" 

Well there you go. Download's here, and the stream's down there:

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

The Listening Club - 1st August 2021

Pinch and a punch to you all, hope you're doing okay. Toodling on as per usual here in Amsterdam, bit of sunshine, bit of rain, bit of pandemic, no bloody festivals (everythings been cancelled now here - one-dayers might continue, but only if there's a safe way to do them). Ah well...

Last Sunday we were deep in vortexland, with the #RelationshipAdviceVortex, which brought out some crackers for sure. Thanks to everyone for chipping in tracks, and double plus thanks to @JimMcCauley for helming and assembling.

Back in regular mode, we find @brainspiritus holding the frisb with this to say...

"Happy your time of day wherever you are coming from a cloudy Germany. Due to a bit of family business, you're getting a somewhat spontaneous pick (because "oh no, not another brainspiritus bluesrock pick") — a novelty album, I guess we should call it, from somebody who's more known for an entirely different non-bluesrock genre. 

Drinking club: no, just watch the pretty patterns your subwoofer makes in the water glass your neighbours keep their dentures in over night."

Okaydoke. Download's here, stream's below.

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

The Listening Club - 25th July 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Sunshine n showers as per usual here in Amsterdam, infection numbers slowly going back down again, which is great, but does that mean anything musical's going to open up again this Summer? Probably not, as the govt & event organisers most likely will be unable to agree how to keep things open and safe yet still profitable. So all the nice suimmer things get cancelled for a second year. Le sigh sigh...

Last Sunday chez #LC we had @eastvanhalen in the chair, getting everyone down and dirty with Latin Playboys eponymous debut LP from 1993, which grooved and bamboozled the assembled in equal measures. Thanks to Steph for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @brainspiritus, but that'll have to wait a week because..

Yep, it's #vortex time, and, thanks to a random comment the other week, we have a #relationshipadvicevortex, as collected and assembled by @JimMcCauley. Who knows what will transpire, but let's all lie back on the couch and find out...

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

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

The Listening Club - 18th July 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Lovely weather-wise here in Amsterdam, sunny and warm-not-boiling, which is prime stooping weather, as far as I'm concerned. Also good to note that after last week's virus panic, the numbers have levelled off... not going back down yet, but at least not going up any more, which is a relief. 

Reminder that despite all things covid related, I'm still going to be "off" for two Sundays in August (8th & 15th), so I'm looking for someone to mind this fort while I'm gone - let me know if you can help out, thanks!

And another reminder that next week will be a vortex week, this time it has been decided we'll be having a #RelationshipAdviceVortex, which will be helmed by @JimMcCauley. So please get a couple of fine slices of wisdom ready, and tune drop details will appear on twitter some time this week.

Last Sunday, chez #LC, we had @faberfedor laying down the boogie in the shape of Little Charlie and the Nightcats, "Captured Live", which got the assembled swaying so it seems. Thanks to Faber for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @EastVanHalen, who's here with tonight's intro...

"This “collaboration” was basically Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom pulling every trick in the book to salvage great home recordings [artist redacted] had made on a badly misaligned four track in his kitchen in the middle of the night.

The album sounds like a unmarked cassette tape you’d find in the dirt by the side of the road in the desert. Pop it in, see what’s on it."

Okaydoke. Download's here, stream's below:

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 11th July 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Mixed weather and vibes here in Amsterdam this weekend. On the one hand, really happy that we got out last weekend and safely enjoyed a stack of fine performances at the Minimal Music Festival and the Roots Festival. Sadly, the safe approach that these events took doesn't seem to have been applied to many places elsewhere in the city, and so Amsterdam is now reporting the highest daily infection figures the city has ever reported (seriously, from 50 new cases a day ten days ago, to 1350 today), which is a huge fucker, really. So now all the clubs are shut again, festivals cancelled, and the government is trying to figure out what went wrong (not hard to figure out, admittedly) and how to fix it (much harder to figure out, sadly).... Le sigh.

Last Sunday, while I was out bopping to Bab L'Bluz in light drizzle, @zbendr was in full control of the #LC stereo, hitting a high ball in the shape of Supertramp's "Breakfast In America", which got the assembled harmonizing satisfactorily, so it seemed. Thanks to Ben for the vintage vinyl, and for sailing the frisb way over to @faberfedor, who's here with tonight's intro...

"Like everything else this year, this is odd: I had pre-selected a stack of CDs for my next #listeningclub round. The stack sat behind me on the filing cabinet. The idea was to simply turn around at my desk, pick up a CD and send it in.

Of course, when my turn rolls around, the stack is nowhere to be found. This is why you don't clean your flat!! I lose something every year I do that.

Fortunately, I've had this CD in my rear-pocket for a couple years now...

Many moons ago, I moved to $NEW_TOWN and fortuantely, there was a record store around the corner (I'll explain "record store" to you young-uns someday). I'm standing in line to buy $CD when I hear this band playing over the store speakers. When I asked who it was, they said "This is $BAND, the best kept secret of the West Coast." I'm not going to argue with them.

Not my usual cuppa' but an entertaining album nonetheless. So for those not watching that mis-named ball game, this should keep you a bit etertained this afternoon.

Now where the hell is that stack..."

Right then. Download is here, stream's below.

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 4th July 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Delighted to say that I'm tapping this out early as we have gigs to go to over the weekend, been a real long while since I've said that. Although Sunday's weather is looking decidedly wet here in Amsterdam, which might make the open-air roots festival a bit of a washout, but we'll have to see... a normal problem to have, though, for a change, eh?

Last Sunday we celebrated midsummer in traditional stylee, with a #livevortex, and got some mighty fine performances too - many thanks to everyone that chipped in tunes, and double plus thanks to @saucer for facilitating and assembling the setlist. 

Back on regular #LC turf, we find @zbendr waiting with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

“Don your rose-coloured glasses and put on your sheepskin vest. Or, if it’s hot weather, drink a rosé-coloured drink and put on your swimsuit. This is a journey into nostalgia and relaxation.

There’s something about the tonality and artistry of this album that seems familiar to many, but this album is not owned by all.

This particular version was sourced in an über-geek way from vinyl, so if you have the means and reproduction method, grab the FLAC which I hope I haven’t butchered.

Give it time to break down your preconceptions, and allow yourself to bop along. Go on…bop. You deserve it. Winter greetings from your Antipodean correspondent.”

Okaydoke. Download here in MP3 or FLAC, or stream below:

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 27th June 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Still fine here in Amsterdam, if a little overcast, and there's storms forecast for the evening, which is a small consolation for the lack of Glastonbury again this year, although I am seriously looking forward to next weekend, which sees us off and out to our first concets for 16 months or so, to the annual Minimal Music festival next Saturday and Amsterdam Roots festival on the Sunday. The first is socially-distantly-compliant, and the second requires a full vaxx or negative test for entry, which is fine by me, really looking forward to both, naturellement!

Last Sunday here chez #LC, @unmannedfuture was in the chair, getting everyone down and dirty in the allotment of Schoolboy Q's "Blank Face", which got the assembled grooving and puzzling in equal measures. Thanks to Ann for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @zbendr, who has an extra week to consider their pick, because because because...

Yes, for the first time in a while, the solstice brings a new #LiveVortex, nearly 2 hours of live performances selected by yourselves. Thanks to @saucer for marshalling the troops and assembing the results!

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

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 20th June 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Things continue to improve here in Amsterdam, as daily infection numbers keep going down and the city continues to cautiously open up. Hoping that things continue to go well, as we're tentatively planning our first vacation in ages, so will be looking for a substitute host here in #LC land for the first two Sundays (1st & 8th) in August - let me know if you want to help out!

Also don't forget, to celebrate a festival season that may or may not be happening depending on where you are, next Sunday will be the return of the annual #livevortex, so get your thinking caps on and be ready to dig out a couple of classic concert performances. More details on the tweets soon.

Last Sunday we had @JimMcCauley in the chair, digging back to youthful purchases in the shape of Alan Parsons Project's "I Robot" which went down surprisingly very well indeed. Plus ça change, eh? Thanks to Jim for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @unmannedfuture, who has this to say by way of introduction to tonight's selection...

"Becuz of covid and the general collapse of western civilization, I've spent a lot of the last year really digging into this genre. Happily before I got too random and overwhelmed I was taken in hand by a twitter moot, one of those great and rare guides who did the, "oh, if you like this, you’ll probably like that…” pretty perfectly.  And so here we are. Good opportunity to thank them, and also to give y’all at Listening Club a shout out for daring and sharing great musical adventures weekly.  This pick sparks joy in me, and by now even my long-suffering partner has come to like it, due to relentless high decibel exposure. It may not spark joy in you, but if that’s the case I’ll just mention that being totally inept, I managed this time to leave off the final track, so that’s 4:45 of your life that you DO get back."  

Okaydoke. Download's here, and stream's below:

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

The Listening Club - 13th June 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Summer now in full effect here in Amsterdam, with the neigbours already partying hard outside (with much Heineken, accompanying cheese cube plates and equally cheesy soundtrack in full effect) in readiness for the first Dutch Euro 2021 match tonight.... 

Last Sunday chez #LC, we had @holette in the chair, dealing a vintage 80s indie classic in the shape of Microdisney's "The Clock Comes Down The Stairs", which went down very well indeed with the assembled. Thanks to Sarah for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @JimMcCauley, who's here with the intro, oh yes he is...

"I can't remember what prompted 18-ish me to choose this tape in High Wycombe's Scorpion Records. I didn't know anything about the band beyond the name, but I must have figured that it was probably the sort of thing I might like, in my unguided late-teenage 'all modern music's shit' kind of way. And I can't remember if I bought it or rented it; I certainly can't find the tape and either way, I never actually got round to listening to it.

I've no idea whether I chose wisely or not, so let's find out! Will it be good or will it be a load of old wank? It's a mystery!

(It's okay, it's not Toyah.)"

Okaydoke. Download's here, stream's below.

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 6th June 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Still pretty warm and sunny here in the Dam, which is jolly fine, even if I'm a bit fazed after my first vaccine jab yesterday. So gently does it today...

Last Sunday the assembled assembled a super speedy #animalvortex, and mighty fine it was too - many thanks to everyone for chipping in tunes at @saucer's call, and to @akx for the assemblage. Back to regular programming, we see @holette waving the frisb with this to say...

"I’ve been caught up in a reading recommendation from both occasional Listening Clubber @cdrose_writer and, tangentially, that late lamented man of eclectic and esoteric taste, Andrew Weatherall. Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry follows the misadventures of two Irish gangsters. The book made my thoughts drift to an album I’d not listened to in years. It’s by an Irish band, a favourite back when I was an indie kid listening to music on the sixth form common room record player. Imagine such a thing, if you will, Millennials: a crap record player that we sidled up to and slipped records onto. A crap record player that was a crucible of forged friendships, taste-making and windows onto other worlds. I guess this was an album that resonated with me as I grew up longing to escape a small industrial town in the far north of England.

The beautiful pop melodies belie the bittersweet lyrics and caustic commentary.  A band with the kind of fearsome front man you really wouldn’t want to mess with. Some of you may know the album but like me not listened in a while. I think it stands up pretty well.”

Okaydoke. Download's here, and stream's below.

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 30th May 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. A fijn time currently in Amsterdam, as the cool wet weather has finally given way to a decent sunny spell, so, yes, time on the stoop watching the world go by with a tasty beer or two and a copy of the (very enlightening, so far) 13th Floor Elevators biography has been the order of the day. Notwithstanding the long awaited arrival of my vaccination papers (first jab coming Satuday) and further populating of the future gig calander (including @wojsvenwoj's pick for the festive vortex, Bab L' Bluz, at next month's Amsterdam Roots Festival) so for a change there's really not much to complain about... 

Last Sunday chez #LC it was @akx in the chair, covering a whole bunch of bases with his pick of M-Flo's "Beat Space Nine" from 2005. Thanks to Aarni for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @holette, who has a week to wait because..

...last minute vortex ahoy! Seems I missed the vortex discussion in last weeks tweetstorm (sorry bout that), but an #animalvortex was decided, quickly set into motion by @saucer, and herded together by @akx. So here it is, a ton of animal tracks (ahem) for your pleasure...

Download's here (google) or here (direct), stream's below:

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1) for playback.

The Listening Club - 23rd May 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Could easily recycle last week's intro here, as it's been another week of showers, bit of sun, but not much else - Hype cat is well fed up with getting soaked. Meanwhile, Amsterdam continues to slowly rise out of lockdown, infection numbers are finally going down and vaccinated numbers are going up (me? not jabbed yet but I'm expecting it to be very, very soon...), and a small celebration was in order this week as we booked tickets for a show for the first time in nearly a year and a half... So, and slow, it grows... impatient, moi?

Last Sunday we had @ohmyliver in the chair, getting the place slowly rocking to the sounds of Soulwax's "Cherry Moon On Valium" mix from a while back. Many thanks to Oli for the chunky pick, and for sailing the frisb up to Finland, where @akx peers over his sunglasses with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's selection...

"So, by the time you read this on Sunday we'll all know whether Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest this year or not. At the time of writing, it's been a day of cleaning around the house and we're getting our snacks and beers ready for watching the thing, and there's a very festively dressed plush Blåhaj shark on the couch -- we've come to the conclusion he likes musicals a lot, so you can imagine he's very fired up for ESC.

Anyway -- this album's been on my shortlist for a while now (I think one of these songs made it into an afterparty at some point?). It's yet another of my Japan picks, but with a bit of a different genre twist than the stuff I've picked before.

Even if you probably can't make heads or tails of half the lyrics (indeed, half - you'll figure out what I mean), it's catchy and glossy and pretty much just plain fun.

#drinkingclub suggestion: something fizzy!!"

Okaydoke. Download is here or here, and the stream's below

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)