The Listening Club - 15 March 2015

Hola, amigos!

@JimMcCauley here again, and it'll have to be a quick one as we have friends turning up in about half an hour and I want to get this done before they arrive. In brief: it's bloody cold and I managed to stab myself in the finger with a screwdriver yesterday while putting a new number up on the house. Exciting!

Last week saw @wojsvenwoj at the decks, with Amy X Neuburg's The Secret Language of Subways causing just the right mix of confusion and delight. Thanks to Woj for the pick, and for flipping the frisbee right in @saucer's face. And so without any further ado:

"Hello! Is this thing on? 

"(Only my second time up here...  please bear with me.)

"So, this evening's pick is a bit, uh, *different*, even among the other oddities in my music collection. In fact, I'd say it straddles the line between crass novelty and the brave avant-garde...  and by "straddles the line" I mean it injured its testicles in the process. (That's right. It was not even wearing pants.)

"Now, please don't ruin your enjoyment by googling, but this apparently factual(?) bit was written about the guy who (along with various surprise guests) created tonight's album: "His father was an IT specialist before becoming a psychic. His mother was a paralegal at the North Carolina Patent and Trademark Office."

"Anyhoo, this evening you won't be hearing SO MUCH OTHER GOOD BUT RELATIVELY NORMAL music that I auditioned, all to allow you to hear this, which was, in truth, one of my favorite albums of 2014. I hope you enjoy!"

Tidy. Direct download is here (link at the top of the page), and the Mixcloud's embedded below (@saucer reports that even though he uploaded it, it's chucking some warning about not playing in his country, so give it a quick test if you're worried about it, and click on the link underneath it if you want to go to the actual page).

See you at 8PM!

Listening Club 15 March 2015 by Saucer on Mixcloud

The Listening Club - 8 March 2015

Hi there, listening chums!

With @kleptones and @nessiest away on a Moroccan jaunt, it's @jimmccauley here for a bit. After a bit of a false start for Spring yesterday – hey, I managed to get some washing out and dried for the first time this year so hooray – it's back to a grey and drizzly Bath today. On the plus side, though, I saw Underworld (minus a poorly Rick Smith) do dubnobasswithmyheadman the other night, so on the whole I'd mark this week down as excellent.

Last week @nessiest treated us to some excellently glitchy orchestral poptronica in the form of Lydia Ainsworth's debut, Right From Real, and there was much rejoicing. Big ups to her for the pick, and for the well-aimed frisbee flung at @wojsvenwoj for this week. Speaking of whom...

"I’ve been in orbit around the listening club star for a while now, drawn in originally by Twitter updates from @rougeforever and @mrhig about vortexes and gin, learning of Mr. Kleptone’s involvement and following @thelisteningclub. However, most Sunday afternoons (North American Eastern time zone denizen here), one thing or another is happening so I usually time-shift listening to the weekly offering to later in the week. Last weekend though, I was home working, saw the reminder update, downloaded, joined in…and caught the Frisbee tossed my way by @nessiest.

"Thus began a week-long debate in my head about what to select for an inaugural offering. A dear favorite? A desert island disc? A forgotten classic? An up-and-coming unknown? Something appealing? Something acerbic? As all y’all know, it’s not an easy decision. So I perused the mostly-physical collection, considering and rejecting various albums for a range of reasons, I finally settled in on something that isn’t any of the above.

"This isn’t my favorite artist. This isn’t my favorite record by this artist. This artist isn’t a complete unknown though neither is this artist very well-known. This isn’t an old chestnut that everyone’s forgotten about but neither is it something fresh off the press. Perhaps, you’ll be relieved to know that it’s not an off-putting listen. What attracted me to this record, when my gaze passed over the CD on the shelf, was that it was a refreshing listen. I hadn’t heard it in quite a while and, as I spun it in the ol’ optical drive, it dawned on me that one can (re)discover music in their own collection just as easily as one can discover music from others.

"So, thanks to @nessiest for helping me to remember this album! I hope everyone enjoys it and, if you don’t, may you enjoy your beverage!"

Scuba dooper! Direct download is here (link at the top of the page), and while Eric's away I'm experimenting with embedding the Mixcloud stream right here on this page, where it hopefully won't dick you about with track titles.

8PM! GMT! Be there!

Listening Club - 08 March 2015 by Jedburgh on Mixcloud

The Listening Club - 1st March 2015

Ello there,

Yes well, in the tradition of weather-based #lc intros, is that a tiny sniff of Spring in the air? Well of course it is you cretin, says planet earth, don't get all woo about it or I'll take it off you. Despite that, and my current over-the-top workload, (which should slow down after this week thank the gods), I'm still determined to go off on holiday with wor @nessiest (Morocco I think - tips anyone?) next week, so will be needing someone to step in and run tings here next week and most likely the Sunday after... Help a brother out? Let me know if you can toot sweet please.

Last week we all got sexy on the internet together, and it was quite a shunt-worthy #sexyvortexy indeed. Which reminds me, the tracklist is up in the comments to last week's blogpost if you need it. Thanks to all for donating your tenderest moments, very much appreciated indeed.

Back in regular #lc land, @nessiest herself is clutching the frisbee, and here she is with this week's pre-match...

"Picking an album for the Listening Club can be agonizing, as the chronically indecisive among us will know. My inaugural pick was winkled out of many listens to the shortlist of candidates and much agonizing. Luckily I spared myself that nonsense this time around, I've known this is the pick for over a week.

Today's selection turned up on a day spent listening to artists I hadn't come across before, one of those rare opportunities when there's time for the luxury of exploring the richness of creativity out there.

The opening track made me go "ooh, hello," one of the few tracks to grab my attention that day and the only album that kept me actively engaged to the end. It's not a long listen (funny that) and although reviewers classify it as pop, intriguing traces of different artists and genres can to my ears be heard. Not bad for a debut album. 

It may have me throwing a few interpretive dance moves between sips of mellow red, feel free to grab some chiffon scarves and join me."

There you go. Direct download is here (link at top of the page), Mixcloud (who put the c*nt in c*ntent recognition) stream is here.

See you at 8pm!

The Listening Club - 22nd February 2015

Hey there,

Feeling a little discombobulated thanks to a week of headachey-post-snot, combined with the ongoing search for a new pad for myself and @nessiest and heavy daytime workload - don't often mention the ol' day job here, but deadlines and frown-lines have been in abundance sadly. So it goes for us all from time to time, but as always, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and good gigs popping up along the way (Decemberists & Serafina Steer tomorrow, yay). Seasonally affected? Yeah, I guess. Bring on the summer I say - In need of wine, picnics and great outdoor sounds....

Quick recap on last week, which saw @cdrose_writer mellow everyone beautifully with Haiku Salut's "Tricolore". Many thanks to Chris for the pick, and for spinning the frisb across to @nessiest for next week. But first...

let's have a yay for the #sexyvortexy! As expected, from the sublime, through the ridiculous, and beyond, here's 28 selections that provide a communal audio-Rorschach of your sexy-tune-times. It's quite a long one  but you wouldn't want it any other way, would you? Are you bold enough to listen? I reckon you are...

Direct download is here (link at top of the page), Mixcloud (who put the c*nt in c*ntent recognition) stream is here.

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 15th February 2015

Hello and Achoo!

Yep, the lurgi has hit Kleptone towers, which is a right bastard. And over a weekend too, so not even any days off to make it seem better...yet. Here's hoping it goes soon... At least it meant I got to watch "Inherent Vice" last night, which I thought was really very good indeed, and deserving of more than the measly two Oscar nominations it got - they never care much for druggy films tho, do they? Still, seeing Wes Anderson and Rich Linklater up for the big'uns makes me very happy indeed. About bloody time.

Next week's #vortex is still being debated on the tweets, so watch there for the decision - I'll update this post when it's decided, for your handy references.

Last week, @tibieryo was back in the hotseat for the first time in a while, and dutifully got the conversation heated and flowing with his choice of Danny Brown's "Old". Big thanks to him for the pick and for flipping the frisbee across to @cdrose_writer for this week. And here he is...

"‘Quirky’ is a loathsome word.  It’s so often the laziest journo shorthand to patronise, demean or simply to register lack of understanding (and god help me if I ever meet anyone who describes themselves as ‘quirky.’)  And close to ‘quirk’ on my loathing register lies the word ‘whimsical.’  (Someone who, I hope, was trying to be nice about my recent book – available in your nearest independent bookseller right now, folks, for little more than ten quid, ahem – described it as ‘quirky’ and despite what I take to be their good intentions, I would condemn them to the deepest pit of hell.)

And yet, here is a record which lesser critics may choose to adorn with such tawdry epithets.  But let us not think of them.

Yes, this record contains toy instruments, piano, electronics and – trigger warning – quite possibly even a f***ing ukulele, but also possesses a strength and rigour that belies its apparent (and delicious) lightness.

I was first alerted to it after hearing a track on Radio 3’s wonderful ‘Late Junction’ show, and got the whole thing, thinking it to be good music for listening to when reading, writing, idling, endlessly checking your twitter feed in the vain hope something interesting might pop up, that kind of thing.  But then, one sunny morning, while doing the washing up, this playing loud, I suddenly realised I was not a bloke on his own in the kitchen with a pair of Marigolds on, I was actually in a movie, probably directed by Michel Gondry, involving surreal interludes, a lost cat, a doomed, bittersweet affair with Charlotte Gainsbourg and a tacitly redemptive ending.

So, yeah, you can listen to the new Unthanks or Bjӧrk record anytime, I figured, and chose to give you this instead.  Put it on while you’re watering the plants, and let it steal your soul.

Drink recommendation: one of those cocktails you always think looks a bit too wussy to drink in public."

Yes indeed. Direct download is here (link at top of the page), Mixcloud (who put the c*nt in c*ntent recognition) stream is here.

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 8th February 2015

Hello hello,

Hope all is fine in your locales, Amsterdam is doing well, feeling nice and quiet in the low tourist season, not too cold or grey for once, so enjoying checking out the huge range of quality food & drink at the new Foodhallen in the old west and making plans for the upcoming year - It's looking likely I'll be needing a caretaker manager here for March 8th & 15th if anyone fancys volunteering - yep, it's holiday time... and about time too, all work and no play and all that...

Back on planet #LC, @holette was in the chair last week, and had everyone rocking out quite satisfactorily to The Desert Sessions Volumes 9 & 10. A mighty fine pick indeed, thanks to her for that, and for flipping the frisbee across the Atlantic to the returning @tibieryo...

"... honestly, I've had this picked since Sunday.

Sure, I had the jitters I got the last three times I picked where I thought about other albums. But none of them have seemed like such a high quality bad idea as this.

I found this record after following features from a couple other albums (one of which I considered submitting). And since I first heard it last summer, I've been listening to it at least weekly, if not daily.

So, before we get into it, here's what you need to know. This album contains pervasive strong language, graphic sexual content, graphic violent content, scenes of drug and alcohol abuse, and will likely not be nominated for any awards. But it is a damn good time.

... and it's not Bat Out of Hell."

Right then. Direct download is here (link at top of the page), Mixcloud (who put the c*nt in c*ntent recognition) stream is here.

See you at 8pm GMT!

The Listening Club - 1st February 2015

Pinch and a punch to you all,

Whizzing through the formalities today, as it's that annual-ish occurrence when there's a serious work overload and I find myself still digging away at stuff late on a Sunday night, the better to appease a paymaster come Monday morning. Also hobbling quite a bit after whacking my big toe on a stone staircase yesterday running for a train. Amazing how much pain one toe can generate, isn't it? Fortunately nothing broken, but some very interesting shades of purple to keep me entertained. So you'll forgive me if I just move right on past this paragraph before anything else happens...

Last week, ya ho, was that #twominutesorlessvortex which stretched out our collective abilities even further than ever - an amazing selection of shortness and smallness, doing the sublime-to-ridiculous-and-quickly-back-again dance that has become a #listeningclub trademark. Thanks to you all for the bundles of picks!

Back in regular #LC-land, @holette was left clutching the frisbee, so here she is with this week's pre-match...

"Relax fun seekers. It’s not the new Bjork album.

I was introduced to a track off this record a long time ago by occasional Listening Clubber @matthewesdigs.  I only got round to following up on the album recently, inspired by one of  Dave Grohl's Sonic Highways films.  Whatever you think of the Foo Fighters, the films, which take a sideways look at the musical heritage of various U.S. locations, are well worth watching.  One of these places was the crucible for this album. A place that seems a magnet for musical mavericks. It’s spawned a big range of significant albums, some known better than others.  Which also describes the collaborators on this album. Prize for the first to identify the very well known female guest vocalist.  Sometimes it’s sassy and cool, sometimes it’s uneasy listening, but hell it just rocks."

There you go! Direct download is here (link at top of the page), Mixcloud (who put the c*nt in c*ntent recognition) stream is here.

See you at 8pm GMT!