The Listening Club - 25th February 2024

'Lo there folks,

Hope you're all doing good. Bit of a non-week here in Amsterdam, the usual blend of grey and wet, although the sun made a rare appearence today, there's a few flowers poking out of the ground here and there, and the wood pigeons are nesting in the bush over the way, so here's hoping these signs indicate an early spring for a change...

Last Sunday @holette was in the chair delivering Elliot Smith's posthumous final album "From A Basement On The Hill", which met the approval of the assembled quite whole heartedly, and deservedly so, imho. Thanks to Sarah for the pick, and for sailing the frisb acxross to @woj, who has a little extra time to ponder because...

Yep, end of the month means vortex time, and this time the conversation drifted over to a #NeverEverVortex - Ideas never used, artists never picked, for whatever reason, here's an opportunity to give them a moment in the sun. However you've interpreted it, it's here, mixed into a froth by @akx...

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

See you at 20:00 GMT tonight.

The Listening Club - 18th February 2024

Salutations folks.

@kleptones here, back from faraway lands (which were very welcoming and enjoyable indeed, thanks for asking), and now suffering the traditional jetlag-enhanced "back-to-work" discombobulations. Huge thanks to @emmaprice and @saucer for keeping the ball rolling in my absence, very much appreciated. Also the calendar tells me it's going to be an end-of-the-month-sunday next week, so get your #vortex ideas out and we'll shake them all about later today...

Last Sunday (it says here), @aqidraco was in the chair sending out a solid classic (for me, anyways) in the shape of Talk Talk's "Spirit Of Eden" from back in 1988, which went down rather well, so it seemed. Thanks to Aqi for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @holette, who's here with tonight's intro....

"I don't really feel like saying too much about this album before you listen. 

Some of you will know about it and I hope it will be a chance to revisit the music and songwriting. It's an album I know really well but had somehow dropped off my playlist for years. It's been an absolute joy discovering it all over again. 

Drinking club recommendation: Two shots of happy, one shot of sad."

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

See you 20:00 GMT tonight.

The Listening Club - 11th February 2024

Hey it’s @Saucer again filling in for @Kleptones for one more week as we head into Saint Valentines Day. Not much to report from Boulder, as I gratefully suffer the aftermath of a vaccination… and kind of drift in and out of capacity to press keys on the keyboard in a nonrandom order. b;lnasdh

Last week @Erimichkea treated us to the third LP from Minneapolis band Poliça, United Crushers. A dreamy listen that evoked lots of near recognitions among the assembled. 

(In parallel, some controversy broke out regarding which Groundhog Day mascot rules. And yet… after some hot contention, not sure whether Punxsutawney Phil, Flatiron Freddy, or someone else came out on top….)

Which brings us (?) to this week’s pick, enabled by a deft, last-minute frisbaton snag by @aqidrago, here now with her intro…

“I really wanted to share and listen with you all together to this album on Sunday, May the 14, 2023. But then another album jumped ahead in line and took its spot. So, here we are 8 months later. You probably know a number of their famous songs. This album is more, well, experimental. It is an album, I only discovered through Mastodon and I keep coming back to it.

“As choice of beverage, I dare you to try something new, something experimental, outside of your usual choice of beverages and invite you to join me on this soundscape escape.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Aside from the typical commercial cards, chocolates, and flowers, why not do something non-commercial for your loved ones. Paint a picture, write a poem, sing a song… make a mixtape. 🥰”

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

See you 20:00 GMT tonight!  (That’s noon Pacific, 15:00 Eastern, 21:00 Central Europe)

The Listening Club - 4th February 2024

Hey LC fam, 

It’s @Saucer here filling in this week & next for @Kleptones on the old blog front. As I write you, it’s a mix of freezing rain, snow, and fog in Boulder. And apart from needing to go out and do some errands in a few… this is very much my kind of weather (not only happy when it rains, I promise). Poor birds, though! They were just getting accustomed to the sun & relative warmth and now everything’s covered in wet, heavy snow.

But speaking of warmth and winter… big thanks to @EmmaPrice for handling the LC duties last week for our winter/summer/Camus vortex… with a record-setting name suggested by @Vinomadic that reminded me of album titles by Spacemen 3 or Keiji Haino/Sumac: In the Depths of Winter, I Finally Learned that Within Me There Lay an Invincible Summer. What a vortex title. Big thanks to each of you who sent in such excellent tunes. Was an honor and a pleasure to sort and stich.

Just before our Camus vortex, @iamwahl had flipped that ol’ frisbee to @Erimichkea, and here she is now with her intro to tonight’s selection: 

"I hadn’t listened to this full album in a few years, and I found it again while searching for something to contribute to last week’s vortex playlist.  The title of the first track would have fit the theme nicely, but after listening to the whole album again, I decided to save it for my selection this week.  It’s a music genre that I don’t listen to a lot, but I’ve always enjoyed the singer’s vocals. The band has several other albums before and after this one, but this is the one I keep coming back to."

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

See you 20:00 GMT tonight!  (That’s noon Pacific, 15:00 Eastern, 21:00 Central Europe)