The Listening Club - 31st January 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay and keeping safe. Much thanks to @JimMcCauley for stepping in at a moments notice last Sunday to host this here shindig, and yep, I am feeling better, thanks for asking!

Last Sunday the very same @JimMcCauley was in the picking chair, sailing a classic in the shape of Kate Bush's "Never For Ever" across to the assembled, who responded decidedly positively, so it seemed. Thanks to Jim for all of the above, and for sailing the frisb over to @EmmaPrice, who has an extra week to ponder their choice because...

... it's the return of #regularvortextime! As pitched, poked, prodded and produced by @Saucer, we're proud to present the #weirdjanuaryvortex. Of which the very same @Saucer says "Well, that was weird. Not sure I put the jigsaw together correctly, or even if all the pieces came from the same box. But I hope you enjoy." Thanks to everyone who chipped in some tunes, it's time to get strange...

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

See you 8pm GMT.

The Listening Club - 24th January 2021

Surprise guest host alert! It is I, @JimMcCauley, stepping in at the last minute as @kleptones is a bit under the weather today. Hope you feel better soon, homes. It's been a while since I last sat in, back when we used to do stuff and go places, and since then Blogger seems to have revamped its UI, so bear with me while I clamber back into the saddle and figure out what buttons to push.

Little reminder that we're back on a Vortex tip this year; next Sunday it's the #weirdjanuaryvortex with @saucer doing the biz; DM him for details on where to send your picks.

Last week @faberfedor was on the decks and twisting the collective melon with his pick of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention's Freak Out!, which certainly did the job. So thanks to Faber for the pick and for spinning the old frisbaton at me, as a consequence of which I will now address you in italics.

"One of my medium-sized regrets is that I was driving to Gloucestershire to take photographs of water voles on the morning I should have been booking tickets to see tonight's artist live. You can imagine my vicarious joy at seeing assorted friends' photos from outside the venue. Some of them even went twice, the sods.

"The opening number's unmistakable; you're all going to name that tune in one, and I'm sure some of you will quietly seethe along with me at its brace of infuriating grammatical errors. But anyway, this is my other half's favourite of this artist's albums, and she definitely has a point.

"It's the work of an artist who's just started taking full creative control of their output; a noticeably different sound to their previous albums, with lots of pointers towards where they're going next. I've just done one of my occasional listens to their entire back catalogue and it's totally one of the highest points along the way; deliciously dark in places but still reassuringly bonkers. Enjoy!"

Fair enough. Direct download's here, and the stream's just down there:

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 17th January 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay and keeping safe. A little frosty here in Amsterdam, as yesterday we had the first snow we've had in a couple of years, which resulted in a quick flurry of snowball fights before it all melted again. Ah well. Also the first trickle down personal effects of Brexit are being felt, as deliveries from the UK are now costing a lot more, and are also now subject to customs charges over a certain value - that is if the companies can even still deliver at all, depending on what they sell. Net result = less business for small companies (who probably need it more than ever during the pandemic). Way to go, UK! :(

Don't forget in two weeks time will be the return of regular vortexes, in the form of the #weirdjanuaryvortex - @saucer will be helming that, keep an eye out on the twitter feed for details, or send tunes to me and I will forward them on, okay?

Last Sunday, chez #LC, @AngelaKlaus was in the chair, digging back to simpler times with her pick of "The Above Ground Sound Of Jake Holmes", which was warmly received on all sides. Thanks to Angela for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @faberfedor, who's got this to say by way of introduction to tonight's selection...

"From texts betwen @AngelaKlaus and me talking about her pick of last week: 

My immediate pick was a debut album from a 1970's SF underground band. Has two of my favorite songs on it. After playing them, I listened to the whole album and was rather surprised; the first half sounds nothing like the second half and was reminiscent to another 70s band that I don't think will go over with some people in here. *Everyone looks towards the Pacific Northwest* 

I had a coupla' other entries but none of them were "sideways" enough. You'll see what I mean. 

So this week's pick is another debut album from the same time period as last week's pick (mid to late 60s). It's considered a cult classic on this side of the pond, a bigger hit on the other side, and heavily influenced many European bands including some guys from, I think, Liverpool. 

I really can't think of any #drinkingclub suggestions. I could suggest some other substances though..."

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

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 10th January 2021

Greetings folks,

Well, that was a week, wasn't it? And next week looks like more of the same. Oh 2021, you card, you. *repeat x 52, sigh*

Last week chez #LC, @zbendr was in the chair, trying to get the year off to a positive start with his pick of Maggie Rogers' "Heard It In A Past Life", which got the assembled swinging in both senses of the word. Thanks to Ben for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @AngelaKlaus, who's here with tonight's intro...

"Hi Everybody,

Many thanks to @zbendr for flinging the frisbee my way (all best wishes that you are feeling better this week).  After some searching, I finally landed on my pick.  I sorted through my vinyl, but couldn't find anything suitable.  My CD collection revealed that I bought a lot of CDS in the 1990's, but again, I came up with not much.  I did some internet searching and finally hit on my selection for tonight.  This artist had a strong influence on some of the best music from the late 60' and 70's.  Enjoy!"  

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, Stream's below...

See you at 8pm GMT tonight!

The Listening Club - 3rd January 2021

Greetings folks, and a hopeful new year to you all. Hoping you managed to achieve some semblance of enjoyment during the mandated holiday period, whilst fully adhering to your regional protocols. Quiet here in Amsterdam as you'd expect, we took a nighttime stroll on xmas day which was definitely the quietest I've ever seen the city, even during this last year. New year's eve brought a little more playfulness on the streets (despite a firework ban), but was still very muted, apart from those that chose to tune into my spontaneous, and pretty damn drunken, laptop-output broadcast. Even remotely it was good to know that there was still a party to be had, somewhere, somehow...

And speaking of parties, last Sunday was also another riotous occasion, as the 2020 #festivevortex did what it said on the tin and shook us all out of vortextual slumbers. Huge thanks again to everyone who chipped in some tunes, it made for a splendid evenings entertainment. 

Also discussions following the above seemed to indicate that folks would be up for more #vortex-themed merriment in 2021 - sadly I don't have the capacity to manage it right now, but @saucer has stepped forward to help (hooray!) and I'm sure will be continiuing the discussion during tonight's #LC pick, which comes from @zbendr, who's here with the first intro of 2021...

“Right, so: this is how the world works.

Actually, no, I don’t know. 

What I do know a little about is the pleasure of accidentally discovering something. A food, a smell. A place, a corner of our globe. A person, their soul. Or a little snippet of music.

This is something that is a bit like a misremembered dream, or a stolen moment from someone else’s memories. I am hoping that its ebb, and its flow, helps raise you up as we embark together on the year.

A year that is not going to be 2021.

It’s going to be twenty-twenty-fun."

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

See you at 8pm GMT.