The Listening Club - 29th October 2023

Salutations, folks,

Hope you're all doing good. Still wet as balls here in Amsterdam (wettest October on record apparently, sigh), although we're not complaining too much, even though we got caught out in it last night, it was returning from a beautiful and emotional show from Brian Eno with The Baltic Sea Philharmonic which not surprisingly blew the assembled's socks off and then some, a truly amazing performance.

Last Sunday we had @FaberFedor in the chair, taking people back to two different eras simultaneously (no mean feat, that) with his pick of "Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits" as covered by a raft of American 90s indie and punksters. Thanks to FF for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @EastVanHalen and her new lodger Gracie, but for now...

Yea verily and a yard oif ale, it's #vortex time, and sadly current events have had their effect, so it's a #KittensForPeaceVortex aka #GivePeaceAFFFFChanceVortex. You've been busy donating tunes to @akx, who has managed to assemble almost all of them (compilers discression, hemhem) so here's the result...

Direct download's here (right-click-save-as), and the stream's below:

THE CLOCKS HAVE CHANGED - See you at 20:00 GMT - Check your zone here.

The Listening Club - 22nd October 2023

Greetings folks,

Hope all is good in your respective hoods. Pretty darn wet here in Amsterdam, just in time for the annual decent of the dance music industry for ADE, and whilst the black tee and baggy pants brigade mingle, we slip through the middle to watch Shellac (awesome as ever) and eat hand pulled noodles (also awesome)...

Also be mindful next Sunday is last of the month, so we need a #vortex theme, hem hem hem.

Speaking of which, last Sunday saw @ericwinnert dealing out their debut pick in the shape of Leaf Hound's proto-metal classic "Growers Of Mushroom", which got the assembled down and diry as you'd expect. Thanks to that Eric for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @faberfedor, who takes a little time off bagel boiling to write this by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"For a certain demographic, this will be a blast from the past. Sorta'.

For a Few of Faber's Fabulous Foreign Friends, this will be brand new.

As for the rest of you, you should recognize at least a few of the songs. I'm sure everyone will enjoy the musicianship.

I have the perfect drink and food recommendations. I even have the perfect outfits to wear, but that would be giving too much away. ;-)"

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

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) tonight.

The Listening Club - 15th October 2023

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing good. Can't pretend that Summer's still hanging on here in Amsterdam, the last fizzles of warm weather got blown away on Friday, to be replaced by something a lot wetter and colder. Ah, so it goes. As I mentioned before, time to move indoors, which next week means Negativland and Shellac, and last Friday meant Dexys, who delivered a truly cracking set. Also a little advance notice that it's nearly Le Guess Who time again, which means I'll be looking for someone to run things here around 12th November, and come to think of it, for a few weeks in Jan/Feb, as we head off for a bit of roundtheworldism in the new year, so if anyone wants to help out, let me know. Nothing like advance notice, eh?

Last Sunday we had @ogili in the chair, looking back to futuristic times with his pick of DJ Hatcha's "Dubstep Allstars Vol. 1!, which got the assembled shucking and shuffling fo sho. Thanks to Oli for the pick and for sailing the frisb over to @EricWinnert, who's right here with the intro for his debut selection...

"A trip back to 1970 with a proto-metal one-album-wonder. Loud, brash and and driving at a breakneck speed all the way. It maybe short trip but it's one hell of an action packed journey. The record sold poorly on its release but over the years it has gained considerable cult status. The band, a five piece from the UK are a small branch on a much larger Rock Family Tree but with this record they managed to turn it into a golden bough."

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

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1).

The Listening Club - 8th October 2023

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all well and good. Nights are starting to draw in a bit here in Amsterdam, and although the temps are still on the warmer side, looks like our extended summer playout is finally coming to an end. Ah well. Just in time for gigging season to properly lift off... 

Last Sunday we saw @AqiDraco in the chair, providing some nautical sturm und drang in the shape of "Ayam" by Disillusion, which got the assembled bobbing along very successfully. Thanks to Aqi for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @ogili, who's here with the intro...

"As Britain slips further into what appears to be an Alan Moore penned dystopia. I’ve chosen this from 2004, something that could only have come from Britain’s ever mutating multicultural urban culture. Because fuck the cynical adoption of re-heated Powellism by the current government to cover up their corruption and incompetence at their recent party conference, and fuck them. Obviously.

It is an example of a 21st century genre born of the urban sprawl stretching from Peckham, or Brixton southwards to places like Croydon and Bromley.  From the time when it was just breaking out to a wider audience from a relatively small scene centered around things like a Croydon record shop, an East London club night, and pirate radio stations like Rinse FM.  Back when it felt fresh and exciting to me at least.  A genre in its experimental infancy. With melodies traversing through heavy bass like the N109 night bus’s languid passage through the rolling hills, and 1960s Brutalist tower blocks of South London. Where you can hear the musical influence of living in an area bustling with coexisting cultures, alongside the music genres that influenced, or birthed it.

The genre has since escaped the smokey torpor of South London, and became an annoyingly brash beast when it got big in the US.  But at the risk of being one of those ‘real’ musical genre bores this is better. "

Right then, download's here or if not there then here, stream's below:

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) tonight.

The Listening Club - 1st October 2023

Greetings, pinch and a punch and all that.

Soooo, a pretty untypical October 1st, sitting out on the stoop in shorts and a tee, enjoying the mid-20s sun with a beer. Global warming much sir? It's a tricky one. Yes it's very enjoyable, but is it normal? Hell no. I realise I keep going on about it as I'm a fan of the warms, but sometimes we should be careful what we wish for... *cracks open another tin, reaches for violin*

Last Sunday we got seasonally crazy with a "how did we end up here" #TapasSneakersAndGiantPuppetsVortex, which actually delivered on all fronts with an ace bag of random tunes. Thanks to everyone who scratched their heads and chipped one or two in, it was a lot of fun! Looking back we find @AqiDraco primed and ready with this week's intro...

"It has been two weeks since I knew it was my turn again for the mystery album and within a couple days, I had my ‘Eureka’ album selected. I still let it stew and even asked some of my fellow Metalhead Club friends for additional album ideas. I listened to all of the offered options and even discovered new great music for me but in the end my initial choice felt the best to share with you at Listening Club.

Here is Metal band from the Eastern part of Germany that has been creating music since 1994. This is only their 4th studio album, released in 2022. For this Metal subgenre, it is typical that it is highly conceptual and best experienced as listening to the whole album through, which I am happy to share with you.

Drink something hard, something soft, or a mix of both, just like the music you will hear."

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

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) tonight.