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)