The Listening Club - 12th June 2022

Hey there folks and all that.

Yes, @kleptones back here again, tanned and happy after a Barcelona sojourn. Primavera Sound definitely has a lot going for it musically (Saturday night's wham-bam of Einsturzende Neubauten > Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds > Idles > Squarepusher will take some beating), but shoddy organsation (fixable) and awful over-branding (que sera) made it a bit of an"enjoyed despite" event, instead of an "enjoyed because" event, if you know what I mean. Still, Barcelona remains a grand place, the temps were very bon, and you can't go wrong with that.

Thanks to @JimMcCauley for minding the house in our absence, which saw @IamWahl getting smooth with his pick of David & David's "Boomtown" from 1986, which seemed to trigger some serious genre discussions, from what I can see. Thanks extended for the pick, and for the sail of the frisb across to @SimonLandmine, who has finally decided on his pick, it seems...

"As usual, I had a few ideas for my selection this time around, but one of them gave me second thoughts, and I was undecided between the next two, as one seemed more summery, but the other longer one was possibly better. And then I remembered an event that was on this weekend, and I decided a change of style was required, because me doing the selection this weekend could be some kind of sign. Or something. So I looked further down my 'short' list and this jumped out at me.

What you have here is an album of collaborations, but it shouldn't take some of you too long to identify who the common factor is. They're someone justifiably renowned within their scene, and for a lot more than the act that initially brought them to fame. Due to the range of collaborators there is more variety in this album than is often found in 'solo' albums - this is someone willing to take cues from others and work with them. And at least one of the collaborators was quite a surprise, branching out into a genre that they're not really known for.

I know it may not be a genre that you're all big fans of, but I hope that you'll give it an hour of your Sunday, and hope that you find something to appreciate it in, or can at least play "identify the collaborator". At least it's not Duran Duran covering Public Enemy this time ...

For #DrinkingClub ... it's got to be Jack Daniels, really, but with a variety of mixers, much like this album."

Right then. Download's here in dropbox or google flavour, and the stream's below:

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

The Listening Club – 5th June 2022

Hey there, listening chums! It's @JimMcCauley at your service, while @kleptones (along with @nessiest) is away at Primavera, from where he taunted me on Friday night with a photo of The Armed on stage, damn his eyes. Luckily I haven't had much time to dwell on this as, due to an unexpected turn of events, I now find myself producing a play, which so far is very much like herding cats, something I've had a lot of practice with over the last couple of years. Fun times!

Last week was the can't-believe-we-hadn't-already-done-it #ThemeTuneVortex, which turned out just dandy, so thanks to everyone who contributed tracks and, of course, extra thanks to @akx for gluing them all together. Normal services returns this week with a pick from @IamWahl, who is here to tell you all about it:

"This album first came to my attention out of nowhere and became a repeated listen in its day, that (for me) now represents a certain era. Can’t say it is especially iconic, remotely a renowned classic, or representative “of a generation” but it hangs on as something I can return to that is somehow a comfort. Obviously, this is personal, and it probably won’t be for everyone’s tastes. That said, I hope there is a little bit of something for all to be found here—could be the songwriting or narratives, the range of instrumentation/tonality, the arrangements, the (now all too) familiar production. If you haven’t heard it, you may as well know it is out there; and if you have heard it, but haven’t for a time, perhaps it will be a refreshing and/or satisfying journey to another time in your life.

"For #DrinkingClub there are so many poor beverage choices to be made that might be associated with this music that tomorrow morning could be a bit jangly (Sex On The Beach, Long Island Iced Tea, White Zinfandel, Slippery Nipple, Between The Sheets, Light Beer, Tequila Sunrise, B52, Wine Coolers, Fuzzy Navel, any of the range of drinks made with Blue Curacao…)."

Splendid. Direct download is here, or simply stream below:

See you at 8PM (BST)!

The Listening Club - 29th May 2022

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Summer seems to be temporarily on hold here (i hope) in Amsterdam, after a week of cool, grey and wet dampening the general spirits, and more to come next week it seems, so just as well me & V are going off to sunnier climes for a bit... and as I mentioned before, I still need someone to run this thing next Sunday, so let me know if you want to help out or it'll be a bit quiet!

Last Sunday we had the honorable @FaberFedor in the chair, sending forth the swing as only Stephane Grappelli, Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen can bring, in concert at "Tivoli Gardens" (it's in Copenhagen, folks!). Thanks to FF for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @iamwahl, who has an extra week to consider their options because...

Yeah, #vortex innit. This time, thanks to the brainwave of @JimMcCauley we have a #themetunevortex - do what thou wilt he said, you did, and @akx has collected and merged the results as proof.

Download's here - gdrive, direct, stream's below:

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

The Listening Club - 22nd May 2022

Lots of twos there, eh?

Hope you're all doing good. I'm feeling tired but fulfilled after a week on the workout farm (aka doing DIY on my mum's house in the UK), managing to zoom back here late yesterday in time to see Billy Bragg finally get to do a show that I bought tickets for over 30 months ago. And it was excellent, bless 'im. 

In #LC land, it was me, myself and I @kleptones that left Henri Salvador's "Homme Studio" compilation of home recordings from 1970-75 for the assembled to groove to, and groove to it they did, which was pleasing. All that remained was to flip the frisb over to @faberfedor, who's here with tonight's intro...

"I decided to clean out the front closet this week: throw away things I've not used in years, select books to go to the library, etc.

In one of the crates I came across had some old sheet music I played many moons ago: jazz, classical, medieval, baroque, stuff along those lines. That led me down a couple of other rabbit holes, including listening to some CDs I haven't heard in a while. It was a nice nostalgic afternoon.

And now I get to share one of them with you. While we've had this genre before, we haven't had, to my recollection, this particular niche on display. The artists involved are considered some of the best that ever played their instruments. The style isn't for everyone but I think it's good selection for a hot sunny sunday afternoon. 

It'll be a nice change of pace (I hope!)."

Download's here, stream's below.

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

The Listening Club - 15th May 2022

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing good. Tapping this out well early, mate, as I have an upcoming week of activities that will be keeping me away from home, so better get this uploaded and then it's one less thing to think about come Sunday...

Speaking of which, there's a couple of upcoming Sundays that I will be requiring a substitute manager for #LC, namely 5th June and 26th June, the latter of which will be a vortex 'n all. So if you can help out, let me know...

Last Sunday it was that @akx in the chair, doiing the dance of the seasons with Lullatone's "Sounds Of Spring" and "Summer Sounds" EPs, which tickled the ears of the assembled quite successfully, I'd say. Thanks to Aarni for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to me, @kleptones, who's about to get all italic on you...

"As you'd imagine, and probably like quite a few of you, I keep a (digital) "listen to this" notepad to jot down links to potentially interesting musical things as they fly by, for future listening pleasure. 

Unfortunately, from time to time this list of things becomes rather large and unwieldy, and consequently, by the time I get around to actually listening to something, I've completely forgotten the context, so the reason "why" certain music ends up on my "listen to this" list is lost in the mists of time, never to be seen again...

...as it was with tonight's selection. Past Me said I should check this out, and they were right, it's a fun listen, and immediately seemed very #LC-esque. No idea where it came from, but there you go.

Looking forward to seeing you try to figure out the who, the what, the when and the why!"

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

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

The Listening Club - 8th May 2022

Greetings folks,

Hope you're doing okay. Bright warm weather continues here in Amsterdam, which is a little worrying, as it hasn't properly rained for aaages and the neighbourhood niffs a bit, but can't really complain too much, I guess... *fans self with beer can*

Last Sunday we saw @unmannedfuture boggle the assembled with her pick of Car Seat Headrest's "Teens Of Denial", which rocked and rolled the posse in a multitude of indie styleees. Thanks to Ann for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to the newly returned @akx, who has this to say...

"I had a long shortlist (does that make it a medium list?) and all for tonight's pick but finally chose something entirely different after shuffling through my music collection and stumbling upon a group whose track was my phone's alarm tune for the longest time and realized that hey, this might be the thing..... So! Going with the seasonal theme (and judging from the way my eyes are itching, it's starting to be spring for the birch trees around here too, not to mention there's actual light to see the trees) here's two EPs (themed spring and summer) back to back. Since I feel like the names of the tracks are a big part of this band's thing, I'm just going to list them out here for your enjoyment if that's okay. Okay? Okay.

* Spring: a natural alarm clock / waking up on a picnic blanket / gathering sticks for a nest / origami tulips / outside sandwiches / perfectly organized cleaning supplies / the very first palm tree of spring break / a sky full of hot air balloons / sprouts in the cracks in the concrete / wet grass

* Summer: Cannonball Splash / Splitting a Banana Split / Hot Sand / Race Against the Sunset / Grocery Shopping for a BBQ / Secretly Loving the Smell of Suntan Oil / Driving Home with a Towel on the Seat / Still Feeling the Waves When You Go to Bed

Enjoy!

#drinkingclub recommendation: something fizzy, possibly floral or fruity. An ice tea is fine too!"

Right then. Download's here - gdrive or direct, stream's below:

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

The Listening Club - 1st May 2022

Greetings folks, a pinch and a punch to you all.

Hope you're doing good. Feeling pretty much recovered here now, after Wednesday's rather intense shenanigans, (yeah, it was that good it took days to recover from, honest guv, nothing to do with my age at all really). Lovely to catch up with some folks, and long-distance hugs to those who couldn't make it - I realise it was going to be a bit of a crapshoot given the circumstances, but nothing ventured and all that, eh? And also the neigbourhood responded very positively to the whole thing, so there's a pretty good chance we'll be doing it next year too!

Anyways, back in #LC land, last week we saw off April in fine style with the #RenewalVortex, which burst forth in fine style - thanks to everyone who chipped in tunes and double thanks to @saucer for stitching together a fine springtime quilt from the selections. Back in regular-program land, we find @unmannedfuture clutching the frisb with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"I don’t know what we're in the mood for — May Day as double entendre — so why not try this?  Not a band I’m familiar with, just doing my homework cuz I’m going to see them in a couple of weeks avec mon ami @pulkinghorn. I think this was originally on our dancecards in 2020 but you know, that thing happened.  I haven’t listened all the way to the end —I disapprove of its length, tbh — but for drinking club starters, you could filch a sticky bottle of some half-dead christmas liqueur from your parents’ sideboard, confident (and wrong) in the conviction that your theft will never be discovered."   

Right then. Direct download's here, stream's below:

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