The Listening Club - 16th June 2024

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing well and good. It's all go here in Amsterdam, as chez Kleptone gets ready for our forthcoming excursion across the water and into the farms of Somerset, and the piles of camping shizola that that entails (and getting everything ready to play some music on said farms, of course), also cleaning up the place for a house guest, and dealing with hype cat's regular seasonal mouse-flavoured offerings. All that and more besides, all soundtracked by the cheers of the neighbours as the Netherlands get on in the Euro 2024 ball kicking tournament. And the weather finally shows signs of improvement after a pretty feeble start to the summer round these parts, and just in bloody time, if you ask me...

Speaking of which, gonna be a vortex in two weeks, so thanks go in advance to @JimMcCauley who will be minding and creating that in my absence. Also now is the time to discuss the theme, whether to go with tradition or change the record, so to speak... speak now or etc.

Last Sunday saw that very same @JimMcCauley taking a fine conceptial leap with his manifestation of a chapter of  Rob Chapman's "Unsung : Unsaid" concerning a possible tracklist for a covers album performed by Nick Drake. An impressive and plausible selection, that got the assembled pondering considerably. Thanks to Jim for the mental stretch, and for flipping the frisb over to @Saucer, who's here with tonight's intro...

"Speaking of the Multiverse as we were last week, right? ...would you sometime sense an alternate timeline, or other, faintly resonate with you, your own ...that strange circumstance as echo? 

I don't know. Then again, I'm a sentimentalist who sees *everything* as poetry. You don't know how it ends. Or starts. This week's LC selection could be an echo of an echo. Of an echo.

Hope it resonates with thee.

Drinking club selection: Same as they're having for Listening Club over on Earth #71, or perhaps not."

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

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

The Listening Club - 9th June 2024

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing well and good. Maybe a little better than me, who managed to return from the UK (aka Plague Island) with a fine sinus / throat infection that's left me coughing and sputtering for most of the week. So it goes. Hoping it clears up soon, as I'm busy getting myself ready for Glastonbury - yes it's that time of year again, so if anyone out there feels like taking care of business here on Sun 30th please let me know! - as always with Glastonbury it's a vortex Sunday too, and customarily a #SummerVortex comprising of live performances, but it may change this year, it's up to y'all... 

Last Sunday saw @Vinomadic continue his pilgramage through late '67 with his pick of The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Axis: Bold As Love", which got the assembled grooving and a wowing as only that man can. Thanks extended for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across to @JimMcCauley, who wasn't available for an intro, but forwarded this email by way of explanation...

"Dear Joe,

I understand from Andrea in the office that you are in America at the moment and might be away for a while but I'm sending this anyway while thoughts are fresh. I hope you will afford it the courtesy of your attention when you return.

I've been giving some consideration to what I should do next.

Not exactly agonising but thinking very carefully about how I present myself on the next record, assuming there is to be one! [...] I think I might step away from my own compositions for a while and attempt an LP of other people's endeavours. [...] And while interpretation of other people's songs might not appear to be my forte I thought it might be fun to spend some time working on fresh arrangements for the songs I have come up with so far. (See list below.) When you return from America perhaps you can tell me if this a good idea or merely a frivolous one. It might be just a passing impulse, I don't know, but perhaps something impulsive might be just what I need just now. [...] I would love to hear your thoughts. Be as honest as you wish.

The songs I’ve come up with so far are as follows:"

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

See you 20:00 BST (GMT+1)

The Listening Club - 2nd June 2024

Greetings,

Hope you're all doing good. Tapping this out early as I'm taking a week away from Amsterdam to visit my mum and help her out with some home diy stuff inbetween the rainstorms. So let's get on...

Last Sunday, as was end-of-the-month time, we agreed on a #CarStereoBangerVortex, which brought forth a wide range of vehicular soundtrack options, not all as gung ho as some would imagine. Many thanks to everyone for chipping in tunes and to @akx for gathering and assembling the results. Looking back we see @vinomadic holding the frisb with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"Welcome back to your Summer Rock History course, my dearest all!

This selection had been prepped-- & waiting for the stars to align-- since the last time I caught that glittering frisbaton-- or even sometime before that.

I fear the act is all too easily recognisable. I hesitated to inflict it on the assembled club at least partly for that reason...there's also something of a loaded emotional connection, as this was my late brother's favorite rock artist.

Like other November 1967 releases (--this one actually released December 1st!) I've shared, it's a sophomore swerve-- using newfound credibility with record label & industry suits after commercial success of the inaugural foray into the charts to explore, experiment, test the creative waters whilst still putting together a saleable pop music  product...there *does*, however, seem to be just a bit of filler, some slightly weaker tracks?  Working the tightrope between rootsier R&B-flavoured numbers & out-n-out psychedelic rave-ups with varying degrees of integration & success...

I'm actually quite interested in the Club's opinions on this! 

Without further ado...we could play a game: What's an appropriate drinking club match?

A pint, not to overthink it? Or something a bit more recherché & dare one say, psychedelic?

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

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

The Listening Club - 26th May 2024

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing good. Pretty rainy here in Amsterdam, as the early Summer promise seems to have fizzled into grey showers, which is a shame. Fingers crossed for the forseeable though, as I get even more weather obsessed as we start counting down to Glastonbury at the end of next month...  *stares at long range forecast and crosses fingers firmly*

Last Sunday we had @akx in the chair, delivering warm electronics in the form of Röyksopp's third album "Junior" from 2009, which got the assembled bopping considerably. Thanks to Aarni for the pick, for sailing the frisb over to @vinomadic (who has an extra week to ponder), and for the below...

...because yes, it's vortex time again, and this time the crowd decrees a #CarStereoBangerVortex, and it's that @akx again who has weaved a route through your stop-off selections, as he says "for recording onto a C120 cassette and popping into a vintage Toyota Corolla" - props to him for the work!

Download's here (right-click save-as) and the stream's below:

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

The Listening Club - 19th May 2024

Hola, folks

Hope you're all doing good. Summer seems to have arrived well and truly and maybe a bit earlier than expected here in Amsterdam, which is very pleasant indeed (hope it lasts!), although lacking a certain something as @nessiest is away for the week somewhere even warmer for a bit of peace, tranquility and yoga, therefore I should apparently be sat in my smalls eating beans from the tin (there's a mental image for y'all), but sadly it's not true - I've ordered pizza! (also have correct amount of clothes on, sorry to disappoint)

Genial reminder that next week is last-Sunday-of-the-month, which means #vortex time, so get your suggestions ready for later tonight, ok?

Last Sunday saw @iamwahl rocking the assembled hard with his pick of Joe Satriani's "The Extremist", which got everyone reaching for their air-six-strings and more besides, yikes. Thanks extended for the selection, and for sailing the frisb across to @akx, who's here with tonight's intro...

"It looks like summer is finally happening in Finland with clear weather and 20+ Celsius all week! That also means there's been lots of drinking beer and rosé and cocktails interwoven with hedge trimmingand other garden work, of course... Took a bit of hmming and meh'ing and "nah, not that"ing in front of the album shelf to finally spot this one that suits the weather and mood, and I'm frankly surprised these Norwegians (who I've seen live back in the day, being the opening act for Moby) have, according to the #listeningclub records, only shown up twice, and only in vortices..."

Right then, download's here (right click - save as) and stream's below:

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

The Listening Club - 12th May 2024

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing good. A lovely sunny warm weekend in Amsterdam, therefore much genial wandering around, indulging in one of the annual food truck festivals and also of course, some prime stoop stitting. All of which makes one feel a little better following the shocking news of Steve Albini's passing. Not much to say that hasn't already been said, but this one really hurts - Steve attitude towards art and commerce, and his ability to continue to learn and grow throughout his life yet compromise as little as possible was a massive positive example to legions of folks, myself included. Regardless of that, the thought that I'm never going to see him on stage again beating up his aluminium guitar and grinning like a madman makes me so very sad. World's really gonna miss him.

Last Sunday we had @david in the chair, hitting a range of buttons with his pick of  a live performance of "BRAT" by NNAMDI at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, which certainly got the assembled pondering and apporeciating in equal measures. Thanks to David for the pick, and for flipping the frisb across to @iamwahl, who's here with tonight's intro...

"As I continue my journey of discovering what other folks already know, this is another album (and artist) I came to after the fact. It's not something I turn to often but when it's what I want, it's EXACTLY what I want. I originally had something very different all cued up for my submission this time (again!). So this wasn't my first, or even second, pick for this week's show. However, as I listened my way through my short list, this kept nudging me, saying, they won't see this coming. And everyone likes surprises, right...right?

PS...you're probably going to want to turn it up to 11 (so position yourself accordingly)!

For #DrinkingClub, I'm going to try and find a few hoppy beer (not an easy task in small-town Italy), but I think any of  your favourite bevies will go down nicely with this...just don't let the music tempt you to overdo it..."

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

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

The Listening Club - 5th May 2024

Greetings folks, and Happy Liberation Day.

Hope you're all doing well and good - a relaxed and good-natured week here in Amsterdam, as always occurs after Kings Day, as the city collectively deals with its hangovers, cleans up the empties and goes back to it's regular activities. Weather has been fine too, which is welcome, although the city always benefits from a drenching around this time for obvious stinky reasons...

Last Sunday saw our traditional end-of-month gathering, this time a #SoundtrackVortex, which saw @saucer gathering together a seriously wide ranging selection of cinematic accompaniments from you all. Thanks to everyone for chipping in tunes, as always, and to Mr S for the fine mix. Looking back to regular programming, we see @david holding the frisb with this to say by way of introduction to tonight's pick...

"I learned about this guy by following his name from producer credits on another's record, and was blown away with what I found. Gimmicks, pain, humor, beauty, virtuosity. And falsettos. Each of his music videos are as creative as the music he makes.

This week's selection is his second (physical) album played in full, live."

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

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