The Listening Club - 15th December 2019

Greetings folks.

Well, that was depressing. Plenty I could say on the subject, but this is not the place for it. Suffice to say that deciding on the spur of the moment to go see Madness the night of the election was a really fucking good idea, providing a well needed dance (even if hearing this did reduce me to tears). All things considered, I'm looking forward to drawing a line under this year soon, for sure.

In administrative #LC mode, as we're heading up to the festive season, I'd like to propose taking a little break next Sunday for festive prep and travel, and return on the 29th for the customary #FestiveVortex - Yes, as always, I'd like a couple of your favourite tunes of 2019, we'll jumble them all together, crack open a few bottles, and dance the year into submission. So get thinking, folks...

Last Sunday, @holette was in the chair, delivering an early xmas cracker in the shape of "Joia!" by Carwyn Ellis and Rio 18, which got everyone grooving beautifully. Thanks to Sarah for the pick, and for sailing the frisb back across the ocean to @FaberFedor, who is right here with tonight's intro...

"On the first day of Mr. B.'s music class, he would give a test to see how much music we knew. He would play about 30 seconds of a song and we were to write down the song title, the artist and/or genre. I got about 50% on the test. I found it incongruous that he expected 13-year-olds in a small Western PA coal/steel town to have heard of Debussy and be able to tell the difference between Beethoven and Mozart. And who the hell is John Cage?

But there was one song where the drumming enthralled me. I had to have that song! I went out looking for that weekend and found it, naturally, at George's Song Shop. This is one of the first
three albums I ever bought; the first was "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and the other one was "School's Out". This is still one of my faves.

This album hit #1. The artist didn't have another #1 album until 30 years later.

A coupla' months ago, my town held its first "Diversity Fair" and I was quite chuffed to hear two songs off this album being played live. 

So, in the long and hallowed #listeningclub tradition of seasonally inappropriate albuns started last week by @holette, I give you this week's pick."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the stream's below:

See you at 8pm GMT tonight!

The Listening Club - 8th December 2019

Greetings folks,

Hope all is good. Another grey week here in Amsterdam as per usual, but we gained a wonderful flash of musical colour on Thursday night courtesy of !!! (or Chk Chk Chk, as their parents call them), who seriously produced the Fraggle Rock vibes, allowing us to dance our cares away quite successfully for an hour or so. Sometimes dancing really is the best revenge.

Goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, those in the UK, or from thereabouts, you know what you have to do on Thursday. Please, for the sake of the country's future, vote as tactically as you can, and encourage those around you to do the same... we cannot let these absolute cunts stay in power any longer.

Right then, last week @xpollen8 was in the chair, bringing us Bob Wiseman's 1995 album "Accidentally Acquired Beliefs", to a glowing positive response. Thanks to him for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to a power-cut-hit house in deepest Snowdonia, where @holette tapped this out in morse code by way of introduction to tonight's pick:

"Here in the UK, this seemed an appropriate week to celebrate music that embraces internationalism, marginal cultures, music without borders. 

The album came out this year and the artist/producer link up was brokered by Chrissie Hynde of all people. This multi instrumentalist artist tours and plays on records with many more mainstream artists. This is one of his own projects, partly recorded with musicians and a producer in Brazil. It's a beautiful curiosity. 

There's a real warmth and charm to the music. I  don't have a translation for the lyrics but I read that loosely they address "non explicit anti Brexit / anti Bolsonaro" themes. 

Whatever the actual words mean,  there's a sense of joy and positivity and some amazing musicianship.  So here's wishing you a little bit of joy in the season of goodwill."

Download's here, stream's below:

See you at 8pm GMT.

The Listening Club - 1st December 2019

Greetings folks, pinch and a punch and all that.

Hope all is fine with you all. Delighted to report that Aldous Harding was truly excellent on Wednesday, a stunning performance indeed. And got a few decent gigs lined up for December, which should chase away the grey chills, I should hope...

Last week in these environs, @adam_steinert was in the chair for his debut pick, Roland Kirk's 1961 set "We Free Kings", which bopped the assembled quite nicely. Thanks to Adam for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across the sea to @xpollen8, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"I've been holding this one back for some time and only realized how SHORT it is after reviewing it.  If you want more, check out the 'tube.

Today's artist has graduated to film composition and music teaching, but in his younger days he produced music and had his own bands.

This selection is packed with ideas and the skills to execute.  I saw him once in a dingy club in San Francisco and it still ranks among my most memorable shows. He's that good. And funny, too."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the stream's below.


See you tonight at 8pm GMT.

The Listening Club - 24th November 2019

Hey there folks,

Hope you're well and good. Shit, only one month to Christmas? Where has the year gone, etc. Been a quiet grey week here in Amsterdam, but there's Aldous Harding to look forward to on Wednesday, which should chase the grey away for a while, I hope...

Last week in the land of #LC, @eastvanhalen was in the chair, delivering a soulful selection box in the shape of the Soul Jazz Records compilation "Soul of a Nation - Jazz Is The Teacher, Funk Is The Preacher", which hit the spot with the assembled for the most part. Thanks to Steph for the pick and for boldly flinging the frisbee across to @adam_steinert, who has this to say by way of introduction to their debut pick...

"Hello All,

A relatively short one, this. This was an album that I first heard when I was 18 or 19, a generation after it was recorded. Hopefully you won't know it, but I'm not laying bets!

At the time, I was devouring all the records I could lay my hands on from this genre, from wherever I could. I found this down the local lending library, which had just started offering CDs. They really didn't carry a big range, and although I got through almost everything they carried, for me it remains pretty much a chance discovery. 

Even on first listen, though, it felt head and shoulders above most of the other stuff, a little rough around the edges in ways most of its contemporaries weren't. The same artist has more famous albums, more strident, more experimental, but to my mind this one still cuts it. I just wish it was closer to Christmas!"

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, and the stream is below:


See you 8pm GMT tonight!

The Listening Club - 17th November 2019

Evening all,

Yep, back from the front with tales to tell, mainly of 75-year old microtonal Pakistani singers, abnormal levels of sub-bass, mistreated theramins, Ethiopian legends dancing through a rather surprised crowd, on-stage facetime dial-ups to Contra Costa County, comedy 2am moshpits for Lightning Bolt, missing a surprise Bjork DJ set and not giving a toss, @nessiest's fine post-gig uitsmijters, the best/worst lounge-sax cover of Redemption Song I'll hopefully ever hear and (apart from that one tune ;) so much fucking fine music. Le Guess Who 2019 was business as usual, you'll be happy to hear.

Meanwhile, here at #LC, @JimMcCauley was running things, and @ohmyliver was getting funky with his pick of Spanky Wilson's 1969 stomper "Doin' It", which seemed to rock the house quite significantly. Thanks to Oli for the pick, and for sailing the frisb right across to Vancouver, where @eastvanhalen is waiting with a bag of beans and this to say...

"This week’s Listening Club is a first listen for me of an album that’s been sitting atop my stereo waiting for a spin for a couple of months. I bought it because I was browsing in a record store, and they were playing this, and I caught myself dancing my way down the aisle. Sold! 

It’s a compilation. There will be jazz, there will be funk, and there will be jazz funk. #drinkingclub as you wish — I’ll be having my usual strong coffee..."

Right. Direct download here, stream below.


You know the drill. See you at 8pm GMT tonight!

The Listening Club – 10th November 2019

Greetings and salutations. @JimMcCauley at your service, holding the fort while @kleptones and (and @nessiest) are away at Le Guess Who, and trying to ignore a painful neck which I must have twisted awkwardly yesterday. Seems less awful than when I got up this morning, although that could be the paracetamol talking.

Last week, then, it was me on the decks, working through loss with ASIP's Portals: The KLF's Chill Out (A New Dimension), which seemed to go down well for the most part. So thanks to me for the pick and for spinning the frisbaton at @ohmyliver, who I'm sure will be along shortly.

Any moment now.

Ah yes, here he is:

"This pick has been difficult. Which is why I'm writing this at 5pm, Sunday. Sorry. 

I didn't have a clear pick lined up.  

I would have picked Bodega's latest album, just for the 'play me on an open plan tech office sound system, I dare you' opening track. But I'm not sure about the rest of the album in it's arty 'we've heard The Fall, and 90s US indie, and have their obscure tracks too' thing.  No doubt I'll get really into it, and regret not picking it.

I would have picked Soundbwoy Killah's latest album in all it's 'yeah I might be young enough to be conceived during the come down to an early 90s rave, but I like old school 'ardcore *and* uk garage thing.  But it feels a bit wrong putting something like that to listen to at 8pm on a Sunday evening. Apologies if you've had a big night, and your heartbeat still seems to be recreating outtakes from an LTJ Bukem recording session in '93, you'd have dug it. 

I would have picked P-Money's Money Over Everything Vol3, as that's one of the best straight Grime albums in years. But I've picked 2 grime linked albums in the last 18 months or so. 

So, I went with this from the late 60s/early 70s. 

I first heard the cover of a Cream track from this album (in my opinion it's better than the original) on a compilation in the late 90s, and if you were ever out dancing in the Rob Lluis part of 90s Brighton clubland then you probably know it too. I've finally tracked down the album.

It's funky, it's a little jazzy, and it's great. There's a little bit of surface noise on the rip, but to quote the late John Peel, 'life's got surface noise'."

Righty ho then. Direct download is here, HearThis stream is below, you know the score.


See you at 8! (GMT!)

The Listening Club - 3rd November 2019

Greetings and happy blow up parliament day, nearly...

Got to admit this is one of the few times I do miss old blighty, there's nothing like building a damn good bonfire and chucking a few industrial-strength bangers around to cheer yourself into the winter months... The Dutch don't have much in the way of an equivalent, although New Year's eve does come close in the homespun pyrotechnical danger stakes...

Last Sunday, @SimonLandmine was in the chair casting out his folky demons in the shape of Greg Russell's 2017 "Shake The Chains" project, which brought forth great debate, as would be expected. Thanks to Simon for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @JimMcCauley, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"A friend died a couple of weeks ago, suddenly and unexpectedly. We'd only known each other for six months, but in that time we'd played, improvised, performed weird street theatre in the centre of Bath and had many drinks afterwards; the sort of things that break down barriers between people fast.

The last time I saw him we were down the pub with other friends from our little group, plotting an upcoming performance and batting mad ideas back and forth. There were hugs on the street afterwards, we went our separate ways and then at some point later he died.

I was at work when I received the email, and it knocked me sideways; I had to quickly finish up what I was writing and get the fuck out of there. The first music I reached for was @kleptones' LO, which hits so many of the emotional notes that have been in my head since I got the news, but I hope we're all familiar enough with that particular work.

So what I've chosen instead is something that appeared a couple of days after I got the news. Some of you may well have heard it already; I'm not going to explain what it is, only that it helped provide me and some friends with some lovely background noise when things were feeling pretty raw last Saturday morning."

Direct download is here, and the stream is below:

See you at 8pm GMT tonight.