The Listening Club - 17th July 2016

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay, despite quite a few segments of the world seemingly slowly going to hell. Seriously, what is it with this year? Dredging my memory, the last time I remember such an ominous feeling was way back in 1990/91, time of the Gulf War and in the UK, the attempted introduction of draconian tax laws and the worst rioting I've been personally witness to. Sadly, I have a feeling that it's going to get worse before it gets better, but in the meantime, natch, praise be for the tunes that provide us with solace, encouragement, wisdom and solidarity. A reliable resource in unreliable times, indeed.

So, speaking of which, last week @mrhig was in the chair, and sent us far out into la la land with his pick of Joanna Newsom's "Divers", which charmed the faithful and not-so-faithful in equal measures. Many thanks to Matt for the pick, and for sailing the frisbaton over the Shropshire hills to @holette, who is here with this week's intro...

"'60s psychedelia goes acid house' the review said.  I'll have a bit of that I thought.  This is brand new. I've listened to it once. I'm a little bit in love with it already.

What the world needs now, is love, sweet love."

Indeedy. Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream is...


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 10th July 2016

Good day to you all,

Yet again tapping things out early, as we have guests in the house, @Nessiest is packing to scarper to her homeland for a couple of weeks, and the weather forecast is predicting scorchio, so there's not a moment to waste!

Advance advance notice, also, that Imma gonna be away again for not one weekend but two in a month or so! 14th & 21st of August to be precise, so as usual, if you can help out with sorting this here thing out, give me a shout.

Last week, @JonnyDaPigg got everyone bouncing whilst keeping them guessing with his pick of The Mad Capsule Markets "OSC-DIS". Big thanks to Jonny for the pick, and for flipping the baton across to @MrHig, who's sent this missive across by way of introduction...

"In the beginning was the word.

In 2003 we came to New York for the first time. The East Village was our playground and Alt Coffee and Computers, next to Tompkins Square Park, was our watering hole. Internet cafes were a thing back then.

(Later that year, if I'm right about the time we visited, New York suffered a blackout and places like Tompkins Square Park became gathering places).

In 2005 we came back to New York (this time staying in Union Square) and got married. (I think by now Alt Coffee and Computers was long gone.) It was going to be in Tompkins Square Park but we changed venues. It was unseasonably hot for September, the city in the grip of a heatwave and the humidity clinging to you like a shroud.

We were there in 2008 on the night Obama was elected. We stayed in an upmarket apartment block in Clinton. Clinton used to be called Hell's Kitchen and was dragging itself out of the run-down area it used to be, when nothing was going for it but the docks.

In 2010 we came back for our fifth year anniversary and returned to the housing complex and fountain where we got married. They were showing Ghostbusters up on a big screen in the park. It rained a little but we didn't mind.

(You used to be able to visit quite a few of the Ghostbusters filming locations around Manhattan. We had to visit one, the Municipal Building, to obtain our marriage certificate. I'm not sure the firehouse is in use anymore.)

We visited last year, this time choosing the Lower East Side of Manhattan for our abode. The area has completely changed since we first visited. There's a buzz of excitement. What used to be a lot of clothing stores (before that, tenement blocks for immigrants) has been gentrified and hipsterized.

Manhattan used to be called Mannahatta, back when the Native Americans owned the place.

All these moments are slivers of time, the cities of New York from each trapped in amber. We can visit them whenever we like, in our memories. The City of New York now, today is no more or less real than all the other cities of New York we visited, nor the cities before we were alive, nor the cities of New York to come. A bunch of spins of the planet and there'll be nothing of us, the only constancy the birdsong the accompanies us as if psychopomps on our endless march.

In the end was the word, and the word was 'In the Beginning...'.

Drinking suggestion - Bellini, Umeshu Soda, or Poire Williams."

Right. Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream is...

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 3rd July 2016

Greetings and salutations!

Phew, back into Amsterdam with an aching crash after a particularly tough Glastonbury (world events notwithstanding, grr). partying done under muddy duress, but successfully, peaking with a truly spectacular Sunday showdown LCD Soundsystem set down the front with @nessiest and @emmaprice. Even if we couldn't quite dance ourselves clean, we gave it our very best shots, that's for sure. Back on firmer ground this weekend yesterday at Pitch festival, watching Soulwax's slightly shaky return to the live arena after a good few years, and cracking sets from DJs Shadow & Paypal winning the day. As the weather forecast seems to be continuing on the agreeable tip, an afternoon at Amsterdam Roots Festival looks likely today. Summer in full swing at last!

Many thanks to @JimMcCauley and @akx for finding time to fix things up last week, sorry for the lack of comms, Glastonbury net access is minimal-to-non-existent at the best of times, a sliver of 3G being chased by 200,000 people, so thought it better to let you get on with it, and you did. Thanks for that. Also looks like @akx's pick of Anathallo's "Floating World" went down a treat too. And it seems @jonnydapigg ended up with the frisbaton, so here he is with this week's intro...

"Right then, really don't have a lot to say this week, lack of concentration (the sheer amount of counting and screaming I can hear at 8am this lovely sunny Sunday morning is immense and I've already been handed a bus, a sports car and a mop head and had to delete the hand slapped additions of a one year old to this text). I've had to forgo the usual Listening Club Top Trumps that goes with my selections as more things went wrong this week adding to the festering cesspit that is 2016 meaning a lack of time and motivation. So I've gone with an album that just takes me back to a gig which was pretty much at the start of my adult life. It's a bit nuts but fucking awesome. Apologies for low bitrate, will explain later.

Enjoy

Jonny"

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream is...


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 26th June 2016

Afternoon, everyone! @JimMcCauley here; currently at my parents' gaff on the Gower and steeling myself for a wet drive back to Bath in a bit, so getting some of this sorted before hitting the road.

Last week @faberfedor treated us to a double bill of up and coming Jersey bands - Lost Romance and The Karma Killers - both of which went down rather nicely with the assembled multitudes. Thanks to Faber for the pick and for chucking the Frisbee at a receptive @akx...

...who probably should have had an extra week to think about his pick so that we could do a vortex, but hey, we've all been distracted by stuff and it hasn't really come together. So heeeeere's Aarni!

"Right, so I suppose we're rescheduling June's vortex to next week, and as such I had to figure out an album for this week at sort of short notice.

"I had a couple options in albums that I have bought recently, but eventually I just decided to go with an album that I've had for a long while and have almost submitted several times but for some reason never have.

"And I find I'm still terrible at writing these blurbs, so maybe I should just let the music speak for itself...

"#drinkingclub recommendations: Umeshu, white wine, or sake."

Bless you. Direct download is here, and you can hear the HearThis stream here:


See you at 8PM BST (GMT+1, EDT-5)

The Listening Club - 19th June 2016

Evening all,

Hope you're all fine. Glastonbury prep-a-go-go here, the pile of stuff grows, and the rucksack sits next to it awaiting its load. The festival site has been hit by several major deluges ("biblical" says our on-site reporter) but the forecast for the festival itself is looking pretty good, just hoping it all dries out in time... Don't forget I still need a volunteer for this here thing next week, and if you want a vortex, that's who will be doing it. It's up to you...

Last week, @wojsvenwoj was in the chair, and strummed our earhairs with his pick of Bill Pritchard's "A Trip To The Coast". "Very pleasant" said the assembled, and it was, too. Also only just realised the connection as we had Mark Pritchard the week before. Very meta, that. Many thanks to Woj for the pick and for flipping the frisbaton across to that @faberfedor, and here he is...

"Greetings, fellow LCers! I hope you guys are enjoying the
EUFA Euros as much as I'm enjoying the Copa America Centenario.

Messi lived up to his reputation last night. The USMNT are going to have their asses handed to them on Tuesday!

Anyway, long time LCer's know that I always try to do something new and different, and not always successfully. ;-) Well, I've done it again.  There are two things about tonight's set that, I think,
sets it apart from our usual fare. The first I'll tell you now; we have not one, but two, yes TWO artists tonight. 

The first set consists of the band's latest single and latest EP. The second set is a live performance.

I enjoy both quite a bit and I hope you do as well.

See ya' at the club!"

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream is...


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 12th June 2016

Howdy folks,

Hope existence is not proving too much of a drag for you all. Focus here weatherwise is back on the UK for me, as the traditional annual sport of predicting Glastonbury weather is in full effect. Currently looking pretty good, not boiling but not wet, which would be ideal, haven't had to leave the wellies at home for a long, long time. Here's hoping it stays that way. Gig wise, the braincells are still recovering from a Shellac / Venetian Snares double whammy. Onward, but gently...

Back in #LC world, last week @holette was in the batonchair, chilling the evening out quite nicely with Mark Pritchard's "Under The Sun". Many thanks to Sarah for the pick and for sailing the frisbaton across to @wojsvenwoj, who is here with this week's intro...

"Last week's pick reminded me of someone whom I hadn't thought about in a very long time: a lesser-known English singer-songwriter who I first came across while doing the college radio thing in the late 80s. He achieved a small level of success, mostly outside his own country, attracted some major lavel attention and then my radar turned elsewhere.

I was reminded of him for what will become obvious reasons, did a little research in the stacks of my local library-I-mean-Google and found that, after stepping away form the music world for some time, he'd released a couple records in the past two years. Gave them a listen and, don't you know it, they're not half-bad!

So, today's pick is the first of them, from 2014. Enjoy!"

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the HearThis stream is...

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 5th June 2016

Hey there folks,

Hope you're good and well. Sunball in full effect here in Amsterdam, so getting this out of the way early. Worth mentioning too that, as usual, I'll be away at Glastonbury at the end of the month, so we're in need of someone to run tings here for a week, let me know if you want to help out - also it's possibly time for our traditional mid-summer live music vortex, should we be so inclined - let me know if you want to do one!

Last week, @CakeHugga was in the chair, and flew us back to the virtual 80s with her pick of Neon Neon's "Stainless Style", which got most people doing the robot. Thanks to Gemma for the pick, and for passing the frisbaton across to @holette, who is here with this week's pre-match...

"My choice is a recent release which I've seen described pretty aptly as "folk soaked electronica".  It's an immaculately produced, immersive experience. It strays occasionally into the Wicker Man soundtrack end of weird folkiness with enough blips and beats to keep it the right side of ambient.

Every time I've spent some time with this album during a hectic week it's instilled an immediate sense of stillness in me at least.  Haunting vocals from one very well known guest and other extraordinary vocal tracks feature amongst the instrumentals. Sit back and see what you think."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here (yes, I know I got the date wrong on the file, thanks), and the ol' HearThis stream is...


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)