The Listening Club - 30th September 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing fine. End of September already? Sheesh. Time flies and all that. Huf puf central here in Amsterdam, as we prepare for our little jaunt across the globe. Looks like the right honorable @JimMcCauley will be running tings here for the next several in my absence, many thanks to him for the assistance!

Last week @Har_Shone was in the chair, dealing us a bit of a classic (imho) in the shape of John Cale's "Paris 1919" which was received with open arms by those who knew, and a slightly more cautious welcome by those who didn't. Many thanks to Harriet for the pick, and for sailing the frisbaton west to the aforementioned @JimMcCauley, who has this to say by way of introduction...

"Tonight's pick has been on my standby list for a while, ever since I finally got the chance to see the artist live earlier in the year. Unsurprisingly he didn't play anything off this album; released under a different name, it's quite unlike his other work, a chance to break away from his usual format, play some different instruments and work with other musicians. Or as he put it, 'Once you've sold a million records, you've earned the right to experiment self-indulgently at the expense of your record company.'

"It's mainly instrumental, but features a superstar guest vocal that I suspect will provoke a few double takes, and while it seems to be largely forgotten (and didn't seem to make much of an impact when released) it's a favourite of mine. Enjoy!"

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


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

The Listening Club - 23rd September 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all good and fine. Bleurg outside in Amsterdam, as the grey wet and miserable takes the firmest of holds, but we're hella busy snuggled up inside chez Kleptone, planning holiday excursions and getting the first part of me new album finished up (yeah, it's nearly done), so all hands to the sails right now, for sure...

Last week, around these parts we had @faberfedor in the chair, who got the assembled bopping to M.I.A's debut album "Arular". Many thanks to F.F. for the pick, and for sailing the frisb across the Atlantic to @Har_Shone, who had time to catch it and send this, before heading off to Vienna...

"I’ve been having, ahem, a tricky time lately on a few fronts. Whenever times get on the bleak side, I tend to revisit this artist for his calm, low-key, sometimes angry brand of melancholy. This album, an oldie, is not his most experimental - and is his most pop-y - but is the one which brings me the most comfort at low moments. 

It helps that he is (spoiler) a fellow Welsh(wo)man and therefore has a tendency to bleak realism, rooted in real events - he himself described the album as "an example of the nicest ways of saying something ugly.”

Rightyho. Direct download is here, and the HearMySpoiler stream is below:


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

The Listening Club - 16th September 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope all is good in your respective hoods. Here in Amsterdam, the last dregs of summer continue to play out and folks do what they can. personally hoping for at least one more sunny outdoor dinner in the locale before the grimness descends, but we'll have to see what Mr. Weather has to say about that...

Last week chez #LC, @wojsvenwoj was in the chair, getting extremely exotic with his pick of "Tahdig" by Mitra Sumara, which got many of the assembled whirling dervishly. Many thanks to him for the pick, and for sliding the frisb across to @FaberFedor, who's right here with tonight's intro...

"After last week's entry, I was in a bit of a quandry; do I attempt to do something as exotic or go off in another direction? After digging through the vault, I came up with fourteen possible choices; all but four are from the last century and rock-oriented. I threw a four-sided die and we have tonight's pick.

This is the artist's first official release; there was an underground release a year before that I don't care for as much. I'll be surprised if anyone in here hasn't heard of the artist. I expect half of y'all own the album.

So, without further ado, let's ado this!"

Okidoke. Direct download is here, and the HearBeSpoilers stream is below:


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

The Listening Club - 9th September 2018

Greetings folks,

Warm with patchy sun here, so a spot of beer on the stoop to while the afternoon away is the order of the day, whilst whiling away is still a possible thing. Bit of advance notice that I'll be unavailable for #LC duty on the 7th & 14th Octobers, so if anyone fancies a spot of caretaking these here environs, please let me know, thanks!

Last Sunday, @nessiest was in the chair getting heavy with her pick of Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse's cast of thousands epic "Dark Night Of The Soul", which wound it's woozy charms around the assembled. Many thanks to Vanessa for the pick, and for sailing the frisbaton across to @wojsvenwoj, who is right here with tonight's intro...

"Naturally, after last week's warm and sunny summer Sunday afternoon, today is gray, cool and a bit weepy. Nevertheless, I still went ahead and picked this slice of upbeat, funky fun that sounds great (in my opinion anyway) blaring out rolled-down car windows. Maybe they weren't this year's summer jam (mining the vein of pre-Revolutionary Iranian pop music might put a damper on such achievements) but that doesn't mean they couldn't have been! Enjoy!"

Direct download is here, and the HereMayBeSpoilers stream is below:


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

The Listening Club - 2nd September 2018

Greetings,

So, the last bit of summer (or first bit of autumn if you're @nessiest) hits, and everyone's out and about in the sunshine, but with a light jacket just in case. Yesterday's Festival Magia in Rotterdam was a grand little garden party with an oddball soundtrack in a football pitch-sized city park, and although I'm not that keen on the super high tech / high rise city centre, there definitely seems to be enough oddball corners to the city to warrant a return visit or two, I'm sure...

Last week chez #LC, @holette was in the chair, getting down and dirty with her pick of Warmduscher's "Whale City", which rocked the assembled most satisfactorily. Thanks to Sarah for the pick, and for sailing the fromageaton back over this side of the channel to wor @nessiest, who is sat upstairs typing out the following introduction...

"If you were to make a Venn diagram of the Listening Club’s featured artists and musical styles, well, you’d be in for trouble and why would you even try? But if you did, this album would be at the heart of one odd little bubblecluster off to the side. I think some of you may already know it, in which case maybe it’ll be a welcome rediscovery. I hope not all of you know it and I hope you won’t all hate it. 

To me this album sings of the weirdness of living. I enjoy parts of it a lot but not all of it speaks to me equally. Some bits are utterly beautiful and joyous but it’s all bit of a mixed bag. Changeable, interesting, imperfect and a little messy. Like life. 

Drinking club tip: something mellow and soothing. Grab a blankie, light some candles."

Okaydoke, direct download is here, and the HearMySpoiler stream is below:


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

The Listening Club - 26th August 2018

Greetings folks,

So, yeah, remember the summer of 2018?... twice as hot and half as long as usual. Seems decidedly autumnal here now, showery and windy. Hoping it's a bit better next weekend as we're off to a natty little Jazz/World fest in Rotterdam. Marcos Valle! Azimuth! Wally Baderou! Hailu Mergia! Hell, it's got to be sunny for those folks...

Last week here in #lc-land, @akx was keeping the summer alive in his own way with his pick of Air France's EPs "No Way Down" and "On Trade Winds", which hit the spot for the assembled. Many thanks to Aarni for the pick, and for sailing the cheesebaton across to soggy Snowdonia, where a cagoul-coated @Holette has this to say by way of introduction...

"I’m someone with a weakness for sleazy garage rock and this is my new favourite band. An offshoot of a better known outfit, this lot play it loud, louche and super catchy. I’ve seen them described as “the pop band from hell” and you’d probably consider crossing the road if they lurched your way.

With lyrics in the same vein as Lou Reed, a little of The Cramps swagger and some Jon Spencer style hysterical grooviness, they make a schizophrenic noise that has had me listening on repeat for a couple of months. 

Amidst the low life tales and lounge bar crooning, listen out for a really cool xylophone riff. Or maybe it’s a glockenspiel. I get confused. Anyway, happy UK bank holiday listening to you from our rain lashed Snowdonia camp site!"

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


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

The Listening Club - 19th August 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing fine and well. All good here in Amsterdam, continuing standard grey muggy summertime, which is not so bad, as I'm back in an office most of the week, and therefore already valuing the weekend time seriously. Plus ça change, eh?

Last week in #LC-land, @SimonLandmine was in the chair, treating everyone to the string stylings of Matt Howden, aka Sieben's "The Old Magic", which had it's fair share of both fans and detractors, as is often the way. Many thanks to Simon for the selection, and for sailing the frisb up to @akx, who has this to say by way of introduction...

"This weekend, I've mostly been at my cousin's wedding in the
countryside. The wedding band played rockabilly. I had to (got to?)
wear a suit.

I hope you're ready for two back-to-back EPs (rereleased as an album) of some faintly melancholic leftfield balearic disco ballad synth dream pop from the Swedish west coast."

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


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