The Listening Club - 25th April 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Still a bit chilly here in Amsterdam, but that won't stop folks from populating the outside from wednesday onwards as the govt allows the reopening of terraces and outside eating / drinking spaces, even though our infection numbers aren't dropping much. A calculated risk, yes, we'll see how it goes... Also yes, I'm still locked out of my personal Twitter, now praying that Twitter Support's account is kindly when they reach me in their backlog, which is quite hefty as you'd imagine, especially as it seems they only work US west-coast 9-5 Mon-Fri, hem ho... 

Last Sunday chez #LC, @corin_ja was in the chair for their debut pick, which turned out to be Curtis Mayfield's mighty fine "Curtis Live" from 1971, which awed the assembled as you'd expect. Thanks to Corin for the pick, and for keeping up the debut run by sailing the frisb over to @IamWahl, who has an extra week to ponder their choice, because...

...yea, end of the month means vortex time, this time it's been decreed that we have an #anythingbut4/4vortex (aka #namethattimevortex), which has been helmed and assembled by @JimMcCauley, so advance thanks to him for the work, and everyone for chipping in, let's see how we do...

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

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 18th April 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. First decent sunny Sunday of the year here in Amsterdam, so an afternoon of sitting out on the stoop with a beer and catching up with the neighbours has been in order. Cheered me up a bit, as I've been hit with a bit of a hack attack over the past day or two across the social / musical medias  - fortunately no damage done, but I'm currently locked out of my personal twitter and can't get back in as I left an old phone number as contact :( Hopefully someone there will hear my pleas and let me back in soon... le sigh.

Also to note that next Sunday will be a #vortex, helmed by @JimMcCauley, who is currently canvassing opinion on the theme - stay tuned to the twitters for the result and, whatever we end up with, get some tunes in, please!

Last Sunday we had @myemuisemo in the chair for their debut pick, which was the sole album by Boston garage rockers The Remains, which got the assembled frugging in an appropriate manner. Thanks to Eilonwy for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across the Atlantic to @corin_ja, who's right here with the intro to their debut pick...

"Honoured to be doing my first Listening Club selection ever, thanks a lot to @myemuisemo for the frisbee.

This isn't a super-obscure pick, and you'll know who the artist is within 10 seconds of the start. I'm hoping that lack of mystery doesn't spoil the enjoyment. I guess my reasons for wanting to share this recording are just how much joy it brings me. It's a well-known and well-loved artist, but most of whose work doesn't make me particularly stand to attention. I mean, I like it, but it doesn't blow me away.

This record completely blows me away. There's something about it which conveys the atmosphere of the situation, makes me feel like I'm there. It rewards proper attention, I reckon. It's a journey, man. It brings tears to my eyes, and laughter to my heart.

I like to imagine you'll all be listening to this in a darkened room, with shades on, wearing roll-neck jumpers & leather jackets. Perhaps clustered around small round tables that have standing lamps on them. Headphones may be advisable for total immersion. Possibly a bourbon on the rocks in hand #DrinkingClub"

Right then. Download here, or stream below:

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 11th April 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Bit of a week of same old same old here in Amsterdam; still chilly and soggy with the odd flash of sunshine, and the vaccination programme continues its crawl down the age groups. We personally won't see a sniff of it until mid-May at the earliest, as long as they don't end up banning 'em all due to random side effects that is... :-/

Back in the safe land of #LC, last Sunday we had @wojsvenwoj sailing one in from left field, with his pick of "Black Christ Of The Andes" by Mary Lou Williams from 1965, which had the assembled clicking their fingers and boggling their brains in equal measures. Thanks to Woj for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @myemuisemo, who has this to say by way of introduction to their debut selection...

"Two of my fascinations collide here. One is for finding ways to experience 1960s music as raw, fresh, and innovative, the way it was originally heard, rather than as iconic tracks everyone knows. The other is music somewhat local to places I’ve lived. The Beatles are the obvious touchstone for this band’s debut album, but with a tougher, more swaggering tone. I’m curious what knowledgeable listeners will make of this lost band that dissolved before this album was released.

Mix up a cocktail garnished with a maraschino cherry and contemplate whether it’s too early to swap the white shirt and narrow tie for something in psychedelic paisley."

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

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 4th April 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Here in Amsterdam it was 20°C and gloriously sunny earlier in the week, and there's snow forecast for tomorrow. Good old April, eh? 

Last Sunday we were a-vortexing, in the shape of the mammoth #NonEnglishVortex, which covered all the bases and more, for sure. Many thanks to @saucer for helming and compiling, and to everyone who chipped in some tracks. Tracklisting here, if you missed it...

Two weeks previous, we left the frisb in the hands of @wojsvenwoj, and here's what he has to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"I don't know much about jazz. I've heard the classics and have picked up on things i like and don't care for as much. Unsurprisingly, i veer towards the weirder stuff. Even so, I still don't know much about all that there is to learn and explore in that genre. So I was a bit surprised to learn that the artist who released this record was well known, influential, and involved with some of the bigger names of the big band era. 

I had come across her via a mixtape that included the final song on this record. It's a soulful, religious barnstormer of a celebration that caught my ear, perhaps because it was kind of unjazzy, and resulted in an album purchase (it was a bit hard to find but eventually found it digitally). The rest of the record is a mixture of some really nice combo work and a few other idiosyncratic pieces, including a really striking opening number which is just as unjazzy as the closer but in a completely different way.

Anyway, enough clues. This is a re-issue so includes a few extra tracks bringing its length a little above the optimum but hey! It's Sunday and you have nothing else to do! 

P.S. I was not thinking about Easter when making this selection - it's been in the back of my head as a Listening Club pick for a while now - but it's apropos. Everybody clap your hands!"

Okaydoke. Direct download's here, stream's below.

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)