The Listening Club - 4th May 2014

May the fourth be with you!

Har de har har. Hope you're all doing well and good, and if you're one of those #dambusters types, I hope you're re-adjusting to reality okay after last weekends shenanigans. And what shenanigans they were. This weekend has provided a much needed period of doing very little indeed for us here in the 'Dam, not surprisingly...

And oh lordy, that #swearyvortex. Of all the things to try and find somewhere to play in public, it had to be nigh-on an hour of utter filth. Thanks to all of you for chipping in an offensive moment, it definitely provided a fitting end to the #dambusters weekend, as anyone who was there, or was following the tweets can testify...

So... back to our abnormally scheduled programming, and here's the right honourable @samsmitter with this week's pick...

"On Kings Day in Amsterdam they throw the normal rules out of the window, so I thought I might get away with the same thing for this week’s Listening Club and do a bit of a Faberian rule-breaky type thing. I once heard a comedian say that you know a man loves you when he utters the immortal words “I’ve made you a compilation tape”, and #dambusters filled me with love for y’all so it seemed appropriate enough. Years ago I used to make cassettes as gifts for people on a regular basis, and after that it was CDs. Like the modern-day vortexes (vortices?) made famous by Listening Club, they usually had a theme. This is one I made in 2008 which was loosely based around a soundtrack album that came out the previous year, and is the only one I go back and listen to on a regular basis. Here is my official list of excuses for entering it as my Listening Club pick for this week:

1. It is a neat mirror/tribute/rip-off of the first ever Listening Club.
2. I absolutely LOVE all of the music on it.
3. It has, for the most part, a chilled-out, come-down sort of feel which might go well after all that #swearyvortex and #dambusters kerfuffle last week.
4. This week I have been mostly pondering the magic of art and creativity, the way one person creates something, someone else takes that thing and does something different, perhaps makes it even better, then someone else does something else with it, new shit comes to light etc. .. and this stuff, for me, is full of that kind of magic. 

Cheers!
Samx"

Excellent! Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!

The Listening Club - 27th April 2014

Greetings!

Well wowzers! #dambusters is in full effect here, and is being bloody excellent fun, as you'd expect! Much drinking, dancing, chatting, observing King's day insanity, samplings of Amsterdam's finest and general good times have abounded, so I'm tapping this out as quick as I can so I can get out and see everyone again!

Last week @mrhig was in the chair, and brought forth Sufjan Stevens' epic "The Age Of Adz", which certainly blew some minds. Many thanks to him for the great pick, and for flipping the frisbee to @samsmitter for next week...

But first, yep, it's the #swearyvortex - thanks as always to all who chipped in a track, we have 16 seriously profane tunes to annoy the neighbours with!

Reety-ho! Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!

The Listening Club - 20th April 2014

Hey there,

I've got family visiting over the holiday weekend, so today was all about enjoying stuff like this:

Yep, The Netherlands is truly in bloom, so it was off to Keukenhof to see many many many flowers. Lovely.

Back on home turf, next weekend sees many of you #dambusters arriving here for King's day, so next week's #swearyvortex (urm...) is going to be quite special. Not exactly sure yet where we'll be gathering for it, but it's going to be fun whatever happens. In the meantime, get yer sweary tunes into the usual address ASAP and we'll see how many eyebrows we can raise next Sunday...

Last week, @nessiest took her debut in the chair and presented us with a bunch of finest Kiwis in the form of the movie soundtrack for"Topless Women Talk About Their Lives", which went down pretty damn well - big thanks to her for the pick and for flipping the frisbee across to @mrhig, and here he is with this week's intro...

"In my list of genres in my musical library, I have entries for both "Chamber Pop" and "Baroque Pop". There's only one artist in each genre. They're both the same artist, actually, for different albums, and that artist is not the artist you'll be hearing tonight, but it's a useful demonstration that my musical tastes sometimes favour those who don't easily fit into obvious genres; those that straddle several, a lot of the time.

Tonight's artist is no exception. Here's the thing; I was going to go a bit easy on us all. I had something picked that was nice and upbeat, even dancey, and it evoked in me feelings that reminded me of Spring, so it was quite apropos, too. But Listening Club offers the opportunity of both exposing yourself to new things, and in my case, tonight, challenging an audience and showing them something you love.

So I chose this.

You don't get dancey. You don't get Spring. You don't get "nice" and "upbeat", either. You don't even get "easy". Or to be more accurate, you get all of those things at times… it's just not the whole package. Our artist contradicts himself. He is large. He contains multitudes.

So you get love. You get death. You get betrayal, breakups, betrayal, you get Art, you get God, you get aliens, you get the end of the world. I hope you like brass, strings, and a bit of electronica. Even if you don't, it'll be an experience. Just wait for that last track. I hope it blows your head off like it did with me, and still does."

Reety-ho! Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!

The Listening Club - 13th April 2014

Hey there,

Well, another bright spring weekend here in the Dam, so the windows are flung open, and spring cleaning is in motion to the soundtrack of Coachella via livestream on Youtube. Bryan Ferry in particular sounding very good indeed, can't wait to get a bit of that when he plays Glastonbury... Also only two weeks now until a good number of you #dambusters descend on Amsterdam for Koningsdag weekend, which really is going to be a very jolly time indeed, to say the least. It will also be a #vortex weekend, so bring forth the suggestings for possible themes please!

Last week @emmaprice sat in the big chair, and presented Ian Siegal's "Broadside", which brought a pretty even split of sitting room shimmying alongside steadfast fence-sitting. A divisive choice, but all the more welcome for it. Thanks to Emma for the pick, and for sending the frisbee bouncing across, eventually landing at the feet of @nessiest for her debut pick. And here she is...

"Being from a country where the inhabitants can be irritatingly parochial about anything home-grown, I'm fitting the cultural stereotype nicely tonight.  I've chosen an album from one of our finest independent labels. It also happens to be a movie soundtrack.

I've heard this album described as being a primer to the label's work and to me it showcases some of the highlights of a particular time and place in music when something special happened. It's been in my collection a long time, rediscovered in the last year or so and a couple of the tracks are among my favourites. The movie's not bad either.

The album probably won't be to everyone's tastes, but then every pick for listening club is a calculated risk in some way. I think tonight most of you will hear at least a few bands that are new to you and I hope some of you will be knee jiggling and toe tapping like I will be.

At 14 tracks long it still manages to come in at under an hour in duration and there's some variety and pacing. It was in my view compiled with a lot of care and a clear passion for the music.

So here goes, with my first album pick for the Listening Club, two weeks before #dambusters history is written all over Amsterdammage. I'm very glad to be able to share this with you. Settle back, crack open something #drinkingclub-worthy and get ready for the guitars."

Okaydoke! Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!

The Listening Club - 6th April 2014

Hello and happy April to you all,

Hope all is well and good in your hood - bit of a grey day here in the 'Dam, but it's warm and dry, and last night's trip back in time watching The Orb slice and dice their back catalogue into beaty chunks is providing a nice warm fuzzy happy feeling in the head. So, on y va?

Last week found us all vortexed up, taking in planes, cars, motorbikes, spaceships and even astral projection on a most excellent #travelvortex! Thanks as always to everyone who chipped in a track, really good fun that was.

Prior to that malarkey, @emmaprice was holding the frisbee, so over to her for the customary pre-match...

"Evening All

Due to life being one of those funny buggers all my carefully thought out plans for re-listening to albums I've had in my theoretical frisbee pile went to absolute pot. This is why I'm writing it on the day (just like all my best Uni essays) 

The reason I've gone for this album is that with our upcoming #Dambusters trip I've been thinking about the concept of #listeningclub and what it means to me.  I'm at risk of sounding like an award winner here (I'd like to thank my agent, my mixologist and my personal guru) 

Listening Club has been such an amazing experience so far for me. I've been racking my brains to think of something more powerful than music & which has the ability to transport you to another time and place. Not sure I can think of anything to top the concept of sharing something you love with other people and chatting about their reactions. 

In the tradition of Listening Club this artist was introduced to me a few years ago by a friend who kept telling me I just had to hear this guy,  listening to him ended up providing an entry point to a whole new genre for me. Having seen him several times in the last couple of years he's one of the finest live acts around with showmanship skills in abundance. 

I'm fairly sure he'd be first in line for #drinkingclub too. So crack open something suitable and I'll see you at the nearest smoky underground bar. 

This one goes out to @Cakehugga and @jaysofine and to my mum who I think is Listening Club's oldest member."

Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!

The Listening Club - 30th March 2014

Greetings and all that jazz...

Well, quite a lovely weekend here in Amsterdam. Temperatures are up, everyone comes out of hibernation, music is played, beers are drunk and before you know where you are, you're blearily pushing your key in the front door as the sun rises. Happy days are, indeed, here again...

Also note that as per usual, daylight saving shenanigans mean that we're on our summer schedule of 8pm BST (GMT+1)...

Last week, rule-bending season continued with @mutster101 merging together parts of Peter Gabriel's covers album "Scratch My Back" with the corresponding parts of it's reciprocal twin "And I'll Scratch Yours", unintentionally setting a trend for cover versions on our birthday. A grand piece of synchronicity, and appreciated by all. Thanks to @mutster101 for the pick, and for flipping the frisbee across to @emmaprice for next Sunday...

But now... it's #travelvortex time, so fasten your seatbelts, and let's set off to 13 splendid audio destinations!

Download here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST (GMT+1)!

The Listening Club - 23rd March 2014

Greetings to you all, and Happy Birthday to us!

Yes indeed, twas two years and a couple of days ago that this very entity sprung into existence, all because I fancied some company whist listening to a dodgy compilation of Bob Dylan cover versions. But what a fine two years of listening it's been - taking in a whole host of excellent albums, some mighty vortexes, laughter, tears, the Threat Of Sting and the hitherto unknown erotic properties of All Around My Hat along the way. A grand bunch of friendships have been forged and Sunday evenings have been turned into a marvellous thing, so for all that, I extend huge thanks and hugs to everyone that's participated - what a damn fine time we're having!

In admin mode, next week is vortexy time again, and from the looks of it #travelvortex is a go-er, which opens up a world of possibilities (arf), so let's have your selections to the usual address this week please!

Last week, rule-bending season continued with @akx picking part 64 of the White Light mix series, assembled by RAC - I was in absentia m'self, but looks like it went down very well indeedy. Big thanks to him for the pick and for sending the frisbee over to @mutster101 for the anniversary selection...

"Since it was kindly pointed out that this is the closest Listening Club to its 2nd Birthday, I found myself feeling very nervous about choosing something for tonight. No pressure, and all that. What I decided fairly quickly was that I couldn't continue the current trend of bending the rules. At least, not too much.

This isn't something weird and wonderful and obscure. You'll all know the people involved in this project and you've probably heard of the project itself. At a guess it's the sort of thing that you read about, think "Oh, that looks interesting" and then forget about and never get around to hearing. So now is your chance to hear it.

This is a game of two halves, except I've taken the two halves and woven them together. I've not listened to it like this before so parts of this will be a revelation to me as much as it is to you. Be that as it may, I hope this proves to be a fitting birthday gift for Listening Club.

Many Happy Returns! ::clink::"

Intriguing! Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which will definitely reveal the origin, as it's the source, you have been warned)  is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm GMT!