The Listening Club - 18th July 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Lovely weather-wise here in Amsterdam, sunny and warm-not-boiling, which is prime stooping weather, as far as I'm concerned. Also good to note that after last week's virus panic, the numbers have levelled off... not going back down yet, but at least not going up any more, which is a relief. 

Reminder that despite all things covid related, I'm still going to be "off" for two Sundays in August (8th & 15th), so I'm looking for someone to mind this fort while I'm gone - let me know if you can help out, thanks!

And another reminder that next week will be a vortex week, this time it has been decided we'll be having a #RelationshipAdviceVortex, which will be helmed by @JimMcCauley. So please get a couple of fine slices of wisdom ready, and tune drop details will appear on twitter some time this week.

Last Sunday, chez #LC, we had @faberfedor laying down the boogie in the shape of Little Charlie and the Nightcats, "Captured Live", which got the assembled swaying so it seems. Thanks to Faber for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @EastVanHalen, who's here with tonight's intro...

"This “collaboration” was basically Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom pulling every trick in the book to salvage great home recordings [artist redacted] had made on a badly misaligned four track in his kitchen in the middle of the night.

The album sounds like a unmarked cassette tape you’d find in the dirt by the side of the road in the desert. Pop it in, see what’s on it."

Okaydoke. Download's here, stream's below:

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 11th July 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Mixed weather and vibes here in Amsterdam this weekend. On the one hand, really happy that we got out last weekend and safely enjoyed a stack of fine performances at the Minimal Music Festival and the Roots Festival. Sadly, the safe approach that these events took doesn't seem to have been applied to many places elsewhere in the city, and so Amsterdam is now reporting the highest daily infection figures the city has ever reported (seriously, from 50 new cases a day ten days ago, to 1350 today), which is a huge fucker, really. So now all the clubs are shut again, festivals cancelled, and the government is trying to figure out what went wrong (not hard to figure out, admittedly) and how to fix it (much harder to figure out, sadly).... Le sigh.

Last Sunday, while I was out bopping to Bab L'Bluz in light drizzle, @zbendr was in full control of the #LC stereo, hitting a high ball in the shape of Supertramp's "Breakfast In America", which got the assembled harmonizing satisfactorily, so it seemed. Thanks to Ben for the vintage vinyl, and for sailing the frisb way over to @faberfedor, who's here with tonight's intro...

"Like everything else this year, this is odd: I had pre-selected a stack of CDs for my next #listeningclub round. The stack sat behind me on the filing cabinet. The idea was to simply turn around at my desk, pick up a CD and send it in.

Of course, when my turn rolls around, the stack is nowhere to be found. This is why you don't clean your flat!! I lose something every year I do that.

Fortunately, I've had this CD in my rear-pocket for a couple years now...

Many moons ago, I moved to $NEW_TOWN and fortuantely, there was a record store around the corner (I'll explain "record store" to you young-uns someday). I'm standing in line to buy $CD when I hear this band playing over the store speakers. When I asked who it was, they said "This is $BAND, the best kept secret of the West Coast." I'm not going to argue with them.

Not my usual cuppa' but an entertaining album nonetheless. So for those not watching that mis-named ball game, this should keep you a bit etertained this afternoon.

Now where the hell is that stack..."

Right then. Download is here, stream's below.

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 4th July 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Delighted to say that I'm tapping this out early as we have gigs to go to over the weekend, been a real long while since I've said that. Although Sunday's weather is looking decidedly wet here in Amsterdam, which might make the open-air roots festival a bit of a washout, but we'll have to see... a normal problem to have, though, for a change, eh?

Last Sunday we celebrated midsummer in traditional stylee, with a #livevortex, and got some mighty fine performances too - many thanks to everyone that chipped in tunes, and double plus thanks to @saucer for facilitating and assembling the setlist. 

Back on regular #LC turf, we find @zbendr waiting with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

“Don your rose-coloured glasses and put on your sheepskin vest. Or, if it’s hot weather, drink a rosé-coloured drink and put on your swimsuit. This is a journey into nostalgia and relaxation.

There’s something about the tonality and artistry of this album that seems familiar to many, but this album is not owned by all.

This particular version was sourced in an über-geek way from vinyl, so if you have the means and reproduction method, grab the FLAC which I hope I haven’t butchered.

Give it time to break down your preconceptions, and allow yourself to bop along. Go on…bop. You deserve it. Winter greetings from your Antipodean correspondent.”

Okaydoke. Download here in MP3 or FLAC, or stream below:

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 27th June 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Still fine here in Amsterdam, if a little overcast, and there's storms forecast for the evening, which is a small consolation for the lack of Glastonbury again this year, although I am seriously looking forward to next weekend, which sees us off and out to our first concets for 16 months or so, to the annual Minimal Music festival next Saturday and Amsterdam Roots festival on the Sunday. The first is socially-distantly-compliant, and the second requires a full vaxx or negative test for entry, which is fine by me, really looking forward to both, naturellement!

Last Sunday here chez #LC, @unmannedfuture was in the chair, getting everyone down and dirty in the allotment of Schoolboy Q's "Blank Face", which got the assembled grooving and puzzling in equal measures. Thanks to Ann for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @zbendr, who has an extra week to consider their pick, because because because...

Yes, for the first time in a while, the solstice brings a new #LiveVortex, nearly 2 hours of live performances selected by yourselves. Thanks to @saucer for marshalling the troops and assembing the results!

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

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 20th June 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Things continue to improve here in Amsterdam, as daily infection numbers keep going down and the city continues to cautiously open up. Hoping that things continue to go well, as we're tentatively planning our first vacation in ages, so will be looking for a substitute host here in #LC land for the first two Sundays (1st & 8th) in August - let me know if you want to help out!

Also don't forget, to celebrate a festival season that may or may not be happening depending on where you are, next Sunday will be the return of the annual #livevortex, so get your thinking caps on and be ready to dig out a couple of classic concert performances. More details on the tweets soon.

Last Sunday we had @JimMcCauley in the chair, digging back to youthful purchases in the shape of Alan Parsons Project's "I Robot" which went down surprisingly very well indeed. Plus ça change, eh? Thanks to Jim for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @unmannedfuture, who has this to say by way of introduction to tonight's selection...

"Becuz of covid and the general collapse of western civilization, I've spent a lot of the last year really digging into this genre. Happily before I got too random and overwhelmed I was taken in hand by a twitter moot, one of those great and rare guides who did the, "oh, if you like this, you’ll probably like that…” pretty perfectly.  And so here we are. Good opportunity to thank them, and also to give y’all at Listening Club a shout out for daring and sharing great musical adventures weekly.  This pick sparks joy in me, and by now even my long-suffering partner has come to like it, due to relentless high decibel exposure. It may not spark joy in you, but if that’s the case I’ll just mention that being totally inept, I managed this time to leave off the final track, so that’s 4:45 of your life that you DO get back."  

Okaydoke. Download's here, and stream's below:

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

The Listening Club - 13th June 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Summer now in full effect here in Amsterdam, with the neigbours already partying hard outside (with much Heineken, accompanying cheese cube plates and equally cheesy soundtrack in full effect) in readiness for the first Dutch Euro 2021 match tonight.... 

Last Sunday chez #LC, we had @holette in the chair, dealing a vintage 80s indie classic in the shape of Microdisney's "The Clock Comes Down The Stairs", which went down very well indeed with the assembled. Thanks to Sarah for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @JimMcCauley, who's here with the intro, oh yes he is...

"I can't remember what prompted 18-ish me to choose this tape in High Wycombe's Scorpion Records. I didn't know anything about the band beyond the name, but I must have figured that it was probably the sort of thing I might like, in my unguided late-teenage 'all modern music's shit' kind of way. And I can't remember if I bought it or rented it; I certainly can't find the tape and either way, I never actually got round to listening to it.

I've no idea whether I chose wisely or not, so let's find out! Will it be good or will it be a load of old wank? It's a mystery!

(It's okay, it's not Toyah.)"

Okaydoke. Download's here, stream's below.

See you 8pm BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 6th June 2021

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Still pretty warm and sunny here in the Dam, which is jolly fine, even if I'm a bit fazed after my first vaccine jab yesterday. So gently does it today...

Last Sunday the assembled assembled a super speedy #animalvortex, and mighty fine it was too - many thanks to everyone for chipping in tunes at @saucer's call, and to @akx for the assemblage. Back to regular programming, we see @holette waving the frisb with this to say...

"I’ve been caught up in a reading recommendation from both occasional Listening Clubber @cdrose_writer and, tangentially, that late lamented man of eclectic and esoteric taste, Andrew Weatherall. Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry follows the misadventures of two Irish gangsters. The book made my thoughts drift to an album I’d not listened to in years. It’s by an Irish band, a favourite back when I was an indie kid listening to music on the sixth form common room record player. Imagine such a thing, if you will, Millennials: a crap record player that we sidled up to and slipped records onto. A crap record player that was a crucible of forged friendships, taste-making and windows onto other worlds. I guess this was an album that resonated with me as I grew up longing to escape a small industrial town in the far north of England.

The beautiful pop melodies belie the bittersweet lyrics and caustic commentary.  A band with the kind of fearsome front man you really wouldn’t want to mess with. Some of you may know the album but like me not listened in a while. I think it stands up pretty well.”

Okaydoke. Download's here, and stream's below.

See you at 8pm BST (GMT+1)