The Listening Club - 22nd June 2025

Hello Listening Clubbers

It's Holette sitting in this week to send you a warm welcome “croeso cynnes” from the mountains of North Wales. Big thanks to @spiny for their cool debut pick last week of Up A Tree by Looper. We chatted about Scottish accents, made jokes about the Velvet Underground and spotted samples, so, a great use of time on a Sunday IMHO.

Big thanks to my co-host @saucer for handling tonight’s technicals as we hand over to, well, me, for this week’s selection.

“As some of our number ponder which combination of spangly tops, Aztec ponchos and 24 hour party/hiking shoes to pack for their Somerset camping trip, I thought I’d pick a suitably summery confection.

“I heard a shimmering pop psyche track by this band last year and was inspired to explore more. I found an album that starts in one mood and progresses into something more unexpected. This duo features a leading percussionist and multi instrumentalist so listen out for some nuanced rhythms and textures underneath the floaty vocals.

“As always, interested to hear the variety of reactions from you’s lot.”

Drinking club: Mine’s an Aperol Spritz. Iechyd da/cheers!

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

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

P.S. Next week it’s the last Sunday of the month, so today let’s talk vortex themes.

The Listening Club - 15th June 2025

 Hello there!

This is Corin here (nom-de-plume @corin_ja) standing in for @kleptones as he's away on his regular summer-time hollibobs. Hoping everyone is in good form? It's been a hot'n'humid week here in southeast London, UK, interrupted only by a couple of welcome thunderstorms overnight. Not enough rain for the flower pots but at least the electricity clears the air for a short while.

It was @AqiDrago's turn in the chair last week, who regaled us with her choice of the VAST album (yes, it was a double-disc but that's the name of the band) Turquoise & Crimson from 2006, which certainly kept the Club engaged and entertained, it seems, for the whole running time. Thanks indeed to Aqi Drago for the pick, and thanks also for hurling the frisbaton of selection responsibility over to @Spiny who was this to say about their debut at the helm:

"Slightly overwhelmed to be asked to do this, but here goes ...

I've been thinking about what I'd offer up to listeningclub for literally years, it needs to be good, 

but not so good that everyone knows it, but not so obscure that its just bad.

So for my first time here i've chosen an album I got many years ago as it was a 'side project' of a 

band I love, they have done at least five albums under this name, with the last release being in 2023, this however, is the very 

first one. It has some marvelous stories. I hope that it is new to at least some of you and that I haven't 

unwittingly chosen something that everyone knows :)"

Sounds intriguing. Download here and streaming link is below:

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

The Listening Club - 8th June 2025

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Mixed bag of a week here in Amsterdam, plenty of showers keeping the tourists hydrated as they zip about helplessly from place to place. Everything's looking and smelling nice and clean though, so there's that... Not so much of a concern personally as we're busy sorting and pre-packing, as I will be away for the next three Sundays, and am still looking for help running things here in my absence - if you can help, please reach out asap, thanks!

Last Sunday we had @AccordionBruce in the chair for his debut selection, for which, after some consideration, he decided to live up to his name with his pick of Accordion Tribe's 1998 eponymous debut album, which definitely opened the assembled's ears in positive ways, for sure. Thanks to Bruce for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @AqiDrago, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"There are going to be some bigger changes happening in my life in the near future. For better or for worse, this chapter is coming to an end and another chapter is about to begin. It does come with uncertainty, discomfort and a dash of sadness. What better then to turn to comfort music from the past that I sought solace from in turbulent times. 

This is an artist whose albums I listened to up and down. One of the few I have listened to all of their music and loved it. I think their last single was out in 2018, I do hope they will create more music. 

Their music never gained popular international traction. Their material is all original and made by one person only. When they were 13, they were profiled as a promising guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine. I believe they are worth discovering and I’m happy to share their music with you all. 

As a drinking club suggestion choose something nostalgic."

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

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

The Listening Club - 1st June 2025

Greetings, pinch and a punch and all that.

Hope you're doing okay. Good weather abounds here in Amsterdam, which is grand, as Summer finally beckons us, which means knuckling down and finishing the to-do list of spring cleaning that has yet to be done, in order to get on with making a right summer mess, of course. It is the way. Speaking of which, advance notice that I will be away for not one, not two, but three consecutive Sundays in June - 15th, 22nd and 29th, so if you feel like giving us an administative hand for one or more of those Sundays, please let me know, I'd appreciate it.

Last Sunday, as is end of month, a #DayTripToVortexOnSea was agreed, and with @saucer at the wheel, a mighty fine time was had by all. Thanks to everyone for chipping in tunes, and the aforementioned gent for the fine audio routemap. Moving back to regularly-scheduled programming, we find @AccordionBruce holding the frisb with this to say by way of introduction to his debut pick...

"My first time picking, so hard to choose. 

Then accordionist started dying this past few weeks, so that led me to put non-squeezebox choices on the shelf. 

Bravely I offer perhaps my favourite from more than 5,000 accordion albums I own. This one helped kickstart the squeezebox obsession that got me into an almost 20 year radio “career”, a book, and otherwise spending an inordinate amount of time listening to other people playing this instrument. Still remains solidly not only one of my favorites, but one I recommend to people when I want to open their ears to the instrument a bit.

It's among the top “I didn’t know accordions could sound like that” records I know of. All acoustic, with no wild electronics on this one (those I have to save for other accordion records). It seems like a brave pick, it’s kind of long, we’re entering the CD era so they had 75 minutes to fill up, and did. There's lots of short pieces going from one flavour to another, so if one piece is annoying don’t worry it won’t last long. Feel free to put it on and do dishes or something. Turn it up and wait for somebody to walk by and say, “What are you listening to?” Great record for playing loud with the top down for the neighbourhood to hear.

There’s more than one accordionist/composer, so the texture gets rich and varied. If you look at the waveform you can see it's very healthy, and demonstrates the dynamic range of the instrument, with its ability to play quite loudly and very quietly.

Games to play: 

a. How many accordions are there (varies on different pieces)? 

b. Try to guess how many different composers there are in the group.

c. Where are the players from? What kind of instruments are they playing? (There’s I think one non-accordion in there.)

It’s a live recording taken from a series of shows. You can hear the performers having a good time, making a few mistakes, goofing a bit, and the audiences' response. Wish I could have been there.

There’s a film documentary about this tour that’s worth seeing. Just a joy."

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

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 25th May 2025

Howdy folks,

Hope you're doing okay. Seems like the weather gods heard my comments about dryness last week, as it's been a very soggy weekend indeed - not complaining though, the neighbourhood needed a good rinse, and now everything looks and smells a whole lot better. So you can turn off the tap now, okay? Hello?

Last Sunday, whilst I was awol watching the Mekons rip it up at the Paradiso, we had @wbwolf in the chair, delivering Cree Summer's 1999 album "Street Faërie" which had the assembled guessing and pontificating in equal measures, so it seems. Thanks to Wilford for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @AccordionBruce, who has an extra week to ponder, because...

Yes, end-of-month means #vortex time, and this time the assembled agreed that we require a bit of a magical mystery tour, and have decided on a #DayTripToVortexOnSea. So pack your trunks, knot your hankies and let's get going... @Saucer is at the wheel, armed with a fine selection for the journey.

Download's here, stream's below:

Hope to see you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) tonight! 

The Listening Club - 18th May 2025

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. A decent week here in Amsterdam, weather pleasant (if still a bit too dry, it's been the driest spring for 50-odd years apparently) and plenty going on, caught the mighty fine Bonnie 'Prince' Billy on Tuesday at the Paradiso, and we're back there tonight for the perennially excellent Mekons, which means I'll be absent from this shindig later on, so I'd better get it tapped out for you all nice and early, eh?

Also worth mentioning that it's #vortex time next week, so we need a theme, as always. @Saucer will be mixing the resultant picks, I believe, and as mentioned above, I won't be around tonight, so I'm hoping that y'all will agree on something in my absence with the aforementioned gentleman's assistance.

Last Sunday in regular #LC-land, @vinomadic was in the chair, sending out a slice of soul-searching blues and beyond with his pick of Fleetwood Mac's "Then Play On" from 1969. Many thanks extended for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @wbwolf, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"I have a love of animation, and by extension, an appreciation of voice actors. Many voice actors have a musical background, and I have several such examples in my collection. This singer's first role was in an adaptation of Hello Kitty, but she would go onto much greater things.    While she is most known for her voice work, with several notable roles to the present day, she met the producer of this album while he was married to the star of an American sitcom she was in. He even makes a vocal appearance on the album. She was also in a short lived band, and one song carried over to this project. Sadly, this is the only solo album she released, though her singing talents have shown up in many animation related projects over the years."

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

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

The Listening Club - 11th May 2025

Salut people,

Hope you're doing good. Sunny and warm here in Amsterdam, which i'm sure by now you realise makes me a happy chappy. Yesterday in our random wanderings we managed a pretty fine array of culture, taking in some (new to me) Rembrandts, some Louis Wains, other related artworks, a posh burger, a Mahler Symphony (No.2 if you're interested, not massively my sort of thing, but they played the hell out of it and I see where John Williams pinched a lot of his ideas from now) and most probably too much wine, but what the hell. Summer has come to Springville and I'm cheered. Hoorah. 

Last Sunday we had @eastvanhalen in the chair, who delivered Brian Jackson's 2000 album "Gotta Play", which soulfully did what it said on the tin for sure. Thanks to Steph for the pick, and for sailing the frisb way down south to @vinomadic, who has this to say by way of intro to tonight's pick...

"OUR STORY THUS FAR:

Introducing my last musical choice, I mentioned '...a selection evidencing the sound of things falling apart & providing some minimal guide in addressing loss...'

Not sure about that 'guide in addressing loss' part, but I've again postponed sharing a certain record from 1967 to skip a mere couple years ahead and share the reconstruction of, arguably, one of the richest musical train wrecks recorded...

The original lineup for this band, peculiarly enough, includes three songwriting guitar players like the Canadian-American Buffalo Springfield. But whilst the Springfield members were at root folkies, these three served their musical apprenticeship, as not a few budding 60's British rock  icons, as dyed-in-the-wool bluesmen-- something still very much at play here.

This act went through an often painful evolution into arena-filling pop, any detailing of which would too easily give their identity away...

A bit of insight leads me to believe I picked this over that 1967 record waiting in the digital wings of expectation because it seems to draw a rich arc with its fractured mood swings...?

DO hope you find a place for it in your own emotional palette!"

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

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1)