The Listening Club - 16th April 2023

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing good. Busy week here in Amsterdam, as it's the annual Minimal Music Festival, which normally throws up at least one excellent must-see concert, but this year has outdone itself, so we've been lapping up Steve Reich's "Reich/Richter" (truly awesome), Ryoji Ikeda's "100 Cymbals" (visually fascinating if musically a bit thin), Bitchin Bajas (quirky and hypnotizing in equal measures), finishing off in a few hours with a concert from a group led by Oren Ambarchi. So as you'd expect, I'm in a pretty happy place right now... and will be even happier if I make it back in time for #LC tonight.

Speaking of which, thanks to @JimMcCauley for stepping in and flipping some links last Sunday to support @ogili's pick of the first two albums from Yellow Magic Orchestra (that's "Yellow Magic Orchestra" from 1978 and "Solid State Survivor" from 1979), which seemed to go down a treat. Thanks to Olli for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across the Atlantic to @iamwahl, who's here with tonight's introduction...

"I first heard this album a couple years back after finding it as a “Promo copy, not for resale” vinyl LP, in one of the thrift stores I occasionally check in at when I’m staying on the Sunshine Coast, usually hoping (at best) to add a new (used) Hawaiian shirt or unique drinking vessel or dish to my cupboards. Records of note are rare these days in these shops—although I did find a couple T-Rex albums in this store a few more years back as well (but I digress). It was in surprisingly good condition, given that most of the vinyl in these haunts have generally spent years of neglect (if not downright abuse). I was completely unfamiliar with the artist, and it was only after getting the record home and doing some research that I discovered I would have heard their voice on several records already in my collection. From the first track I was delighted that I stumbled on, and hadn’t passed on picking up, this surprising record. I recognized many of the songs, by some of my favourite song writers or performers, but I’d never heard them like this. The production is of the era, so the fi is not exactly hi (when compared to most current sonic offerings), but without question it was the best $1.00 I spent that day…!

My previous pick for #ListeningClub was released in this, our most recent decade, so this time I thought I’d invite you to join me for a ride on the wayback machine. And now, here we are; settle in, pour a whiskey—neat (or whatever beverage makes you feel a bit of a rebel, frees your rugged individual spirit, or turns you into a full-on rock’n’roller), TurnItUp, feel free to play your air-guitars, and listen to a unique and remarkable debut album…"

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

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) tonight.

The Listening Club - 9th April 2023

Greetings, and Happy Easter, or Chocolate Jesus Day, or whatever else you celebrate at this time of year.

I'm tapping this out early as I'm off on a day trip with the family. There's train problems here in the NL unfortunately, so I'm hoping I make it back in time, but if I don't, and there's no links below, please go to the Mastodon channel to find everything you'll need for tonight, ok?

Last Sunday we had @corin_ja in the chair dealing up a slice of widescreen twang in the shape of The The's "Dusk" from 1992, which got the assembled swinging satisfactorily. Thanks to Corin for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across South London to @ogili, who has their pick info and blurb online, so head to our Mastodon channel for the info...

[ENTER @JIMMCCAULEY, CLUTCHING AN MP3]

Hey there listening chums, bit of a cock-up on the music front it seems; I've just had this through in an unexpected email and I'm uploading it to the places as I type. Anyway, here's Oli to explain himself:

"Well, this pick was difficult. I’m writing this just 3 hours before the LC hour. I had it nailed on, before a last minute, wait it’s actually Easter Sunday, should I pick something related to that? Thanks Jesus. 

"Anyhoo. I went with this. Hugely innovative and influential band. 2 members of which died relatively recently. I know that a large chunk of LCers will recognise who it is within minutes. But I’m amazed that this band hasn’t been picked before. 

"I couldn’t decide between two albums, so as they were quite short, I’ve stuck ‘em together. 

"Drink? Something futuristic, served by robots, or late 70s arcade game sprites."

Scuba dooper. And as if by magic, here's the download, and an impressively quickly generated embed is just down there.

[EXIT @JIMMCCAULEY]

And hope to see you at 20:00 BST (GMT+1) for playback!

The Listening Club - 2nd April 2023

Greetings folks,

Happy day after April Fools, I dunno, "Serious Sunday" or something? Anyways, there's some nice broken sunshine creeping through the windows which is very welcome, as it's been very grey, wet and cold this week, still waiting for the full plunge into springtime and hoping it happens soon, my seasonal affective disorder is developing sub-disorders of it's own...

Last Sunday, as it was the end of the month, we found ourselves in vortex territory, specifically a #TechnoFearVortex, or for some it was a #TechNoFearVortex. @saucer was on hand to gather the components and artfully solder the board, with mighty fine results. Thanks to all for chipping in tracks. Back in regular programming we find @corin_ja with the frisb, and this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"There was one album by this band I was obsessed with as a teenager. For some reason I never really engaged with any of their other records at the time. A couple of years ago I saw them live for the first and only time and it really opened my ears to the rest of their catalogue, and this record became my new Absolute Favourite. Just goes to show, always check out the rest of an artist’s work."

Download's here, stream's below:

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1) tonight.

The Listening Club - 26th March 2023

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing good. Quick intro today, as i'm off out for the afternoon, so let's get on with it!

Last Sunday we had @akx in the chair, floating Max Richter's "Recomposed: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons" across the assembled, which certainly had a polarizing effect, I think. Thanks to Aarni for the pick and for sailing the frisb across to @corin_ja, who has an extra week to ponder because...

...Yep, end of the month means vortex, and this time a #TechnoFear, or possibly #TechNoFear depending on your perspective... whatever that is, we're about to find out, thanks to @saucer's fine mixmaster ministrations...

Direct download is here, stream's below:

The #ListeningClub clocks have changed, so we will now see you at 20:00 BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 19th March 2023

Greetings folks,

Happy birthday to us! Yes, I actually remembered without prompting, we are 11 years old, and looking very spiffy in our big-school uniform. Or something. Anyway, well done us, and everyone that's jumped on board over the years, it continues to be a totally unique form of fun.

Also it'll be #vortex time next Sunday (time flies and all that), so get your theme brains on, discussion to follow later today...

And also also it's lovely to see that some folks are planning to come over to Th' Dam for traditional Kings Day celebrations n ting - holler on Mastodon if you are interested and want to team up with others... Looking forward!!!

Last Sunday @JimMcCauley was in the chair, psyching out the assembled with their pick of "We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal" by The Amorphous Androgynous with Peter Hammill, which hit the spot for many, so it seemed. Thanks to Jim for the selection, and for sailing the frisb over to @akx, who has this to say by way of introduction...

"I had a spooky dream (not a nightmare, but a cool, exciting spooky dream) so I figured I'd go for a spooky pick today... but fear not! It turned out to be a decidedly anti-spooky morning and afternoon and I scrapped that idea and instead found this by way of shuffling through albums with Plexamp (which, by the way, I recommend checking out if you already have music in Plex). You've probably heard the original music (from 1725), and you may have heard these reimaginations too (as I understand they're occasionally used in e.g. commercials and such)."

Right then. Download Google or direct, or stream below:

See you 20:00 GMT (beware daylight savings changes, it doesn't happen for us until next week)

The Listening Club - 12th March 2023

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing okay. Another week of seriously cold and wet here in Amsterdam, leading to a seriously grumpy hype-cat and not much else. Meanwhile I'm inside doing my tax and accounts. Riviting stuff, eh? At least the weather forecast indicates that this is hopefully the end of winter, which is very welcome indeed.

Last Sunday saw @EastVanHalen hitting the assembled with their selection of Little Simz 2019 debut, "Grey Area", which went down pretty damn well, I'd say. Thanks to Steph for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to @JimMcCauley, who's here with tonight's intro...

"A musically-reliable pal, whose tastes largely orbit around the progressive/trance/progressive trance section of the genre map, sent me this a couple of years ago, around second lockdown time, saying that it was great but could do with being longer.

And he has a point; it kind of feels like Side One of a much bigger album. Some might say it's about 25 minutes too long. Alternatively, you could compare it with one of those really long singles like what The Orb and FSOL did back in the 90s, presumably to troll the charts people.

It squeezes a fair old bit of epicness and maybe just a little bombast into its 40-odd minutes, though, and it tickles the same musical glands in me that made me pick Nursery Cryme that one time and also had me briefly pondering (but ultimately rejecting) a recent-ish space rock opera for tonight's pick. Because my pal originally sent me it in FLAC, and also because it's maybe one of those albums that some would prefer to listen to in maximum quality (perhaps through a pair of speakers positioned for optimal stereo imaging), I've rendered up an optional FLAC download for you. Enjoy!"

Right then. Download's here: mp3 or flac, and the stream's below:

See you 20:00 GMT (Watch out North Americans, your clocks have changed, ours have not yet!)

The Listening Club - 5th March 2023

Greetings folks,

Shit, March already? Doesn't feel like it here in Amsterdam, where it was significantly warmer back in January. Hoping things pick up soon, there's some pruning and trimming to be done outdoors before spring gets into it's stride, would rather be doing that on a nice day... 

Last Sunday we celebrated the end of the month in traditional style, this time with an #oddcouplevortex, which saw a mighty collision of unexpected voices and songs. Many thanks to everyone who chipped in a tune or two, and to @JimMcCauley, who neatly stitched it all together into a fine ensemble. Looking back, we find @EastVanHalen holding the frisb, with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"This badass artist hasn’t often been off my music-playing thingies since I first heard her - way later than I should have - in a Tiny Desk Concert a couple of years ago. I listened to her 2021 release pretty obsessively, and her late 2022 release has a track that was my favourite song of the year (it was December, and it’s still rating as my favourite song of 2023, too).

For the LC, I’m going with a 2019 album, which has a little extra weirdness and grit (and, at one point…disco?) in the production that I love, because weird and groovy is my ground state. It's less sonically sophisticated and a touch more uneven than her later releases, but compelling in its own way. And she’s lyrically fabulous no matter where you start listening."

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

See you 20:00 GMT tonight.