The Listening Club - 23rd March 2025

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Dry and warm here in Amsterdam for the most part, which is very welcome, as spring finally takes a firm hold and daffodils and tulips and yes, tons of humans start bursting out all over the place. Also welcome to get back into the Paradiso to see Orbital deliver a fine set of their first two albums... making me feel like 30 years have gone by in the blink of an eye, so it seems.

Also don't forget next Sunday is #vortex time, so get your thinking caps on, there was already some good ideas coming forward a week or two ago iirc, also advance gratitude to @saucer who will not only be handling the vortex but will also be taking care of admin right here, as I will be away on family duties.

Looking back to last Sunday, which saw @iamwahl in the chair, delivering a pair of emotionally charged Scots in the shape of "These Actions Cannot Be Undone" by Gentle Sinners (aka James Graham of The Twilight Sad and Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap). Thanks extended to Mr Wahl for the pick and also for flipping the frisb across to me, @kleptones, so it's time to go all italic for tonight's intro...

"... and here we are. 

Like a lot of folks, I have a little list of  #LC possibilities, but again, like a lot of folks, when it comes down to the crunch, often the list goes out the window. So... checking back over my last few picks it seems I've been firmly in the new and challenging releases camp, therefore this time, as a change from all that, as a balance to last week's pick, and also as a balm for the torrent of deeply vile shit that is spewing from certain people and certain parts of the planet, let's all head for the middle of the road, for a record that is considered a career-best for the artist in question, containing one grammy award winning mega hit, and a whole bunch of other mighty fine tunes. And even if you know a few of 'em, which you will, chances are you haven't heard the whole album. (And as it's such a short album I've included one of the CD bonus tracks, because it's easily as good as the rest.)

Oh yeah, the artist? A walking contradiction in their own lifetime for sure, a mighty songwriter (though their biggest hit's a cover) and one hell of a singer (but they never did any gigs), and a grammy nominated album that can easily be found for small change in many junk shops (mine cost 50p, still with the original (terrible) poster included). But it rocks. And after a track or two you'll be singing along too.

#DrinkingClub = Anything, as long as it's at least a treble. And keep 'em coming."

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

See you 20:00 GMT tonight. (US clocks are still askew, check your local timezone!)