The Listening Club - 9th August 2020

 ... in which things go from not quite warm enough to ouch blimey okay then. Yep, Amsterdam has hit the scorchio bit of the Summer, with over a week of 30+ degrees to keep us, well, tucked up inside with an electric fan and an ice lolly (ok then, an ice cold beer). And also a handy cooling mat for my feets, borrowed from a certain nonplussed feline. I've never missed a cooling festival tent (and accompanying  soundtrack) more in my life, sad to say... le sigh.

Last week, @AngelaKlaus was in the chair, serving up a soulful side of the 90s with her pick of "Wild Seed - Wild Flower" by Dionne Farris which got the assembled bobbing their heads and rem'niscin', as you do. Thanks to Angela for the pick, and for sailing the frisb way over to @zbendr, who has this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"Please, Amigas y Amigos, be careful with your audio levels at the beginning, and as things progress.

I blurb, you blurb, we all blurb for LC!

This came out at a very difficult time in my life, and was somehow already imbued with all the feelings I was having. The lyrics were written for *me*, maaaaaaan! It’s always amazing how music does that to us.

But with this, if I could please just invite you to “go with it”, you may discover tonal variations that tickle your sensibilities.

Life is endlessly confusing: do you want to be a butterfly, or a better caterpillar?

Beverage suggestions:

“Silver Moon” tea by TWG.

Long Island Iced Tea by you.

Personally, I shall draw a long measure of single malt and sit back, as the lights twinkle across a bay of the Arabian Gulf"

Right then. Direct download here in MP3 or FLAC (ooh!), or the streamy below:

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 2nd August 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing as well as can be expected. Feeling a bit under the weather which is an annoyance, but despite that, was very grateful to to get out yesterday and see the Nam June Paik exibition that's been here for a few months (and thankfully extended due to lockdown), which was really excellent, and relatively stress free in terms of distancing restrictions (despite a few inevitable idiots).

In #LC land, last Sunday @FaberFedor was in the chair, hitting the 90s vein deep with his pick of Live's "Throwing Copper" from 1994 (Produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads / Modern Lovers, no less!) which hit the spot for some, and hit the dirt for others. Que sera. Thanks to Faber for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @AngelaKlaus, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"Many thanks to the fabulous Faber Fedor for flinging the frisbaton my way. And thanks also to the Listening Club for the opportunity to share one of my all-time favorite albums with you. 

I tried to stay away from all my '90's CDs (due to the recent glut on LC), but, alas, well -- this one practically jumped out of my attic. 

This selection was the debut - and breakout - album for this New Jersey (USA) native artist, although there was very little follow-up except for a few albums in the 2000's.  There is an interesting mix of pop tunes, funk, soul, rock, blues, and hip-hop. One of the tracks is a hard-hitting reminder of the results of racism in America - still, unfortunately, very relevant today in the 2020's. 

I travelled a lot in the mid-90s and this CD was one of my constant companions on many flights around the US.  I hope you enjoy this album as much as I have over the years."

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


See you at 8pm BST!

The Listening Club - 26th July 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Sunshine and showers continues in Amsterdam as per standard, this afternoon being sunshine for a change, so let's get on with this so I can return to the stoop with a beer before it vanishes, yes?

Last Sunday @unmannedfuture was in the chair, with a dose of Hole's "Live Through This", which rocked the assembled quite successfully, I'd say. Thanks to Ann for the pick, and for sailing the frisb south to @FaberFedor, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"Continuing the long tradition of throwback albums started by @unmannedfuture last week, I give you another (grunge) throwback album.

You've heard of "one hit wonders"; those bands that had one hit song and never heard from again? Well this is a "one hit album wonder"; this album produced five or six top ten hits and then...crickets. I remember my freinds and colleagues being amazed how many hits came off this album. 

Let's see how well it holds up 26 years later."

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


See you 8pm BST/CEST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 19th July 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you & yours are all doing okay. Weather a bit blah here, but we're doing our best to enjoy the occasional blue sky as it sails past. Feeling happy though, as our new fuzzy house companion was let back out into the wider world for the first time today and, after a period of climbing around the neighbourhood and saying hello to the other local fuzzballs, he returned home for a snack and a long nap. Which is as it should be, phew.

Last week, chez #LC, @wojsvenwoj was in the chair, blending modern and trad into an agreeable soup with his pick of Snakefarm's "My Halo At Half-Light" which went down very well indeed with the assembled. Thanks to them for the selection, and for sailing the frisb over to @unmannedfuture, who is right here with tonight's intro...

"What if back in the day Creem magazine had used its power to encourage girls to learn to play like Jimmy Page instead of sleep with Jimmy Page? We’ll never know."

Okay. Direct download here, and stream's below:


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1) tonight.

The Listening Club - 12th July 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Not much to report here, the weather is a bit blah and a few more tourists have returned to the city, but house spirits are good, as "Fuzz" (our new feline friend) has settled in very well, seems to be slowly recovering from his time roaming the streets, and is already providing regular doses of fuzzy joy to our world. Bless 'im.

Last week chez #LC, @saucer was in the chair, with a soothing Sunday selection in the shape of Jenny O's "Peace & Information", which went down very well with the assembled. Thanks to them for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @wojsvenwoj, who has this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"As you may have noticed, I have an affinity for modern takes on folk music, whatever the tradition. I think I’ve only picked one album in the past that actually fits into that category but there have been several that came close to being selected...and may yet still be!

Anyway, like most imperial, capitalist, American pig dogs, I usually gravitate towards the music of other cultures when it comes to that sort of thing but there are lots of interesting takes on the folk songs of the United States (which, of course, are the amalgamation of many other traditions). This is one such album.

This band is a side project by a not-unknown-but-relatively-obscure woman and her also not-unknown-but-relatively-obscure husband. The first album they recorded for this project came out in 1999 and was one of my favorites that year. This is their second album, released in 2011, which I kind of slept on but have recently rediscovered and dig. Maybe you will too..."

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


See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 5th July 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Amsterdam has slipped slightly into holiday mode, as the school year finishes and, like clockwork, tons of Dutch families immediately take their summer vacations. Given the global situation it will be interesting to see where they're headed, and also, given the travel rule changes over the past week in the UK, it will also be interesting to see who will soon be heading for us.... feeling very cautious about it all, I must say.

Last week in #LC land, it was me, myself and I, @kleptones in the chair, providing new from old in the shape of Bob Dylan's "Rough And Rowdy Ways", which seemed to go down really rather well indeed. All that remained after that was to sail the frisb across to @Saucer, who is right here with tonight's introduction...

"After five years of listening clubbing it is no easier to pick an album. It is more fascinating now. This time my short list (ha ha) grew to 28 (in this go-round spanning 1968 to 2020, country to breakcore to experimental noise to sludge to NYC, SF, Chicago, and LA rock, to what this is).

Last week's Dylan pick reminded me how much I care about lyrics and lyrical delivery. And my recent binging of Lola Uppochner (Lola Upside Down) reminded me what art feels like. So that was my mood going in.

I started with my new favorite lyricist and singer... who ended up on my SSD as a random discovery (I sometimes like to bounce around Bandcamp with minimal control to see what appears, and that's how I found this). It pulled me in first with the words, even though the nearly surreal sweetness that coated them confused me, at first.

Twenty-seven earnest attempts to find something more entertaining/first-listen-palatable for you led me on a wild chase that led right back to where I started.

I really love this album

It is very, very sweet. But antidote sweet not banal sweet. 

If this doesn't penetrate on first listen, you might want to give it a second chance. And then you might want to buy all her EPs and preorder her next album and harbor a crush. Just saying. I wouldn't judge you.

Oh, drinking club, I suppose I'll recommend a nice Armagnac."

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


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

The Listening Club - 28th June 2020

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Sunshine and showers here as usual, though a bit more of the former than the latter, which is fine by me. Been interesting watching all the Glastonbury remeniscing going on online from nearby shores, definitely making me pine for tent, tunes and booze for sure. Roll on next year...

Last Sunday, @SimonLandmine was in the chair, hitting the 90s vibe right between the eyes with his pick of the soundtrack for "Strange Days", which brought a varied reaction, as befits a varied album, I'd say. Thanks to Simon for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over here to the Netherlands, where it bounced off @nessiest and landed at my feet. So it goes...

"Most of the time when picking for #LC I'm pretty much certain from the start what I'm going to play and stick to it. This time I've changed my mind more than a few times, which says a lot about the changing state of the world and my own brain, I guess. So I've gone from considering a couple of vintage selections (will save for another time) and a possible 2.5hr Theo Parrish BLM brain dump (worth a listen, but too long and strange for here and now I think) to end up with this.

Possibly influenced by the weekend's festival reminiscences,  and in traditional #LC stylee, I've plumped for a brand new album by a well established artist that I've yet to listen to. So let's give it a spin and see if it's any kop..."

#drinkingclub = bourbon, i'd say, or maybe even a mint julep."

Download's here, stream's below.

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1) tonight.