The Listening Club - 30th June 2024

How do, listening chums! @JimMcCauley here, holding the fort while @kleptones is off at some sort of arts festival that's happening not very far from me. Looks like they're having good weather for it, at any rate. And this is one of those rare Sundays when I'm not tied up with some sort of theatrical shenanigans; won't be long until I'm mostly booked up with rehearsals until January.

Last week I was at a production meeting for a play I'm not even very involved with (someone asked very nicely if I could help), so I missed @SimonLandmine's pick of Frenchy And The Punk's 2010 album, 'Happy Madness'. Seemed to do the job for the assembled, though, so thanks to Simon for the pick and for scoring a hit with the frisbaton first time. And of course @eryngium has an extra week to consider her pick because...

That's right, it's the 2024 Live Vortex! 19 tracks, lovingly assembled and all that. Got to tell you, this one's a bit bootleggy in places; as well as the inevitable gain adjustments along the way I've had to break out the EQ a few times, but I'm giving it a good listen-to as I type and yeah, I think it's been worth the effort.

Download's here, or stream it below (assuming I don't forget to actually publish my upload this time).

Catch you at 8PM! GMT!

The Listening Club - 23rd June 2024

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing good. Feeling a bit heatwavey here in Amsterdam, which is nice as we're about to head off to the Somerset fields for a bit of the old tent, booze and music life, and the weather there doesn't seem that bad either (fingers crossed it holds out for the duration).

And yes, next week, whilst we're away will be the #LC annual summer (well it is on the western hemisphere where most of us are, afaik) #livevortex, helmed this year by @JimMcCauley - many advance thanks extended to them for taking care of things in my absence. So what we need from you sometime soon is one or two fine live performance recordings - dropbox details will appear on the mastodons later today for your selections.

Looking back at last week, we found @Saucer following up thematically from the previous week's pick, but under sad circumstances as we enjoyed Françoise Hardy's "If You Listen" from 1972, recorded in London with some fine (yet sadly anonymous) English musicians. Thanks to Mr S for the pick, and for valiantly getting the frisb across to @SimonLandmine, who's here with tonight's intro...

"As ever, on receipt of the frisbaton, a trawl through my increasingly-misnamed .txt shortlist was required. This one has been on there for an indeterminate while (with a somewhat inexplicable note

next to it saying "blame @wojsvenwoj", although I no longer have any idea why - I can only presume it was relevant when I wrote it!) This is an act I've seen live a couple of times, and this was their fourth

album, although opinion seems divided whether it came out before or after a change of name. (Wikipedia thinks it was after the name-change, but the sleeve on my CD disagrees, so it looks like it

might have been released under both.) In any case, the lineup remained the same throughout, it was only the name that changed. This album is out of print in either guise, regardless, but they're still going

quite a while later, occasionally getting some critical notoriety, and have another album out soon.

Drinking club recommendations are probably either a rich red ... or a warm can of weak lager."

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

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

The Listening Club - 16th June 2024

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing well and good. It's all go here in Amsterdam, as chez Kleptone gets ready for our forthcoming excursion across the water and into the farms of Somerset, and the piles of camping shizola that that entails (and getting everything ready to play some music on said farms, of course), also cleaning up the place for a house guest, and dealing with hype cat's regular seasonal mouse-flavoured offerings. All that and more besides, all soundtracked by the cheers of the neighbours as the Netherlands get on in the Euro 2024 ball kicking tournament. And the weather finally shows signs of improvement after a pretty feeble start to the summer round these parts, and just in bloody time, if you ask me...

Speaking of which, gonna be a vortex in two weeks, so thanks go in advance to @JimMcCauley who will be minding and creating that in my absence. Also now is the time to discuss the theme, whether to go with tradition or change the record, so to speak... speak now or etc.

Last Sunday saw that very same @JimMcCauley taking a fine conceptial leap with his manifestation of a chapter of  Rob Chapman's "Unsung : Unsaid" concerning a possible tracklist for a covers album performed by Nick Drake. An impressive and plausible selection, that got the assembled pondering considerably. Thanks to Jim for the mental stretch, and for flipping the frisb over to @Saucer, who's here with tonight's intro...

"Speaking of the Multiverse as we were last week, right? ...would you sometime sense an alternate timeline, or other, faintly resonate with you, your own ...that strange circumstance as echo? 

I don't know. Then again, I'm a sentimentalist who sees *everything* as poetry. You don't know how it ends. Or starts. This week's LC selection could be an echo of an echo. Of an echo.

Hope it resonates with thee.

Drinking club selection: Same as they're having for Listening Club over on Earth #71, or perhaps not."

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

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

The Listening Club - 9th June 2024

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing well and good. Maybe a little better than me, who managed to return from the UK (aka Plague Island) with a fine sinus / throat infection that's left me coughing and sputtering for most of the week. So it goes. Hoping it clears up soon, as I'm busy getting myself ready for Glastonbury - yes it's that time of year again, so if anyone out there feels like taking care of business here on Sun 30th please let me know! - as always with Glastonbury it's a vortex Sunday too, and customarily a #SummerVortex comprising of live performances, but it may change this year, it's up to y'all... 

Last Sunday saw @Vinomadic continue his pilgramage through late '67 with his pick of The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Axis: Bold As Love", which got the assembled grooving and a wowing as only that man can. Thanks extended for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @JimMcCauley, who wasn't available for an intro, but forwarded this email by way of explanation...

"Dear Joe,

I understand from Andrea in the office that you are in America at the moment and might be away for a while but I'm sending this anyway while thoughts are fresh. I hope you will afford it the courtesy of your attention when you return.

I've been giving some consideration to what I should do next.

Not exactly agonising but thinking very carefully about how I present myself on the next record, assuming there is to be one! [...] I think I might step away from my own compositions for a while and attempt an LP of other people's endeavours. [...] And while interpretation of other people's songs might not appear to be my forte I thought it might be fun to spend some time working on fresh arrangements for the songs I have come up with so far. (See list below.) When you return from America perhaps you can tell me if this a good idea or merely a frivolous one. It might be just a passing impulse, I don't know, but perhaps something impulsive might be just what I need just now. [...] I would love to hear your thoughts. Be as honest as you wish.

The songs I’ve come up with so far are as follows:"

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

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 2nd June 2024

Greetings,

Hope you're all doing good. Tapping this out early as I'm taking a week away from Amsterdam to visit my mum and help her out with some home diy stuff inbetween the rainstorms. So let's get on...

Last Sunday, as was end-of-the-month time, we agreed on a #CarStereoBangerVortex, which brought forth a wide range of vehicular soundtrack options, not all as gung ho as some would imagine. Many thanks to everyone for chipping in tunes and to @akx for gathering and assembling the results. Looking back we see @vinomadic holding the frisb with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"Welcome back to your Summer Rock History course, my dearest all!

This selection had been prepped-- & waiting for the stars to align-- since the last time I caught that glittering frisbaton-- or even sometime before that.

I fear the act is all too easily recognisable. I hesitated to inflict it on the assembled club at least partly for that reason...there's also something of a loaded emotional connection, as this was my late brother's favorite rock artist.

Like other November 1967 releases (--this one actually released December 1st!) I've shared, it's a sophomore swerve-- using newfound credibility with record label & industry suits after commercial success of the inaugural foray into the charts to explore, experiment, test the creative waters whilst still putting together a saleable pop music  product...there *does*, however, seem to be just a bit of filler, some slightly weaker tracks?  Working the tightrope between rootsier R&B-flavoured numbers & out-n-out psychedelic rave-ups with varying degrees of integration & success...

I'm actually quite interested in the Club's opinions on this! 

Without further ado...we could play a game: What's an appropriate drinking club match?

A pint, not to overthink it? Or something a bit more recherché & dare one say, psychedelic?

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

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