The Listening Club - 28th October 2018

Greetings folks,

Hope you're all doing fine. Grey and grumbly here in Amsterdam, but plenty of activities to plan and do to keep the grey away, speaking of which, I'll be away on Sun 11th having my musical brain stretched at Le Guess Who in Utrecht (with a mini-LC meetup included!), so as usual, looking for a volunteer to run this here shebang for the day. Let me know if you feel like helping out, thanks!

Last week, @Har_Shone was back in the chair, dosing the assembled with a slice of late period Joe Strummer, by way of "Rock Art And The X-Ray Style", which went down very smoothly, so it seemed. Many thanks to Harriet for the pick, and for sailing the frisb over to me, so, here I am with this week's intro... *dons false moustache*

"There seem to be two ways that I approach making a pick for #LC; either there's something that screams "Pick me!" so loudly it has to be the one, or there's a few possibilities, in which case I wait until the day, and pick the one that suits the mood I'm in. This time it was the latter. 

Given some of the hideous events that have been occurring over the past couple of weeks in America, you can imagine my mood, so this one is a no brainer, if only for the simplest of reasons: that when I truly despair of the actions of some of my fellow so-called humans, I can choose to submerge myself in a truly awesome piece of musical and lyrical art, and remind myself that if works like this can continue to be created and presented before the general public eye, there is hope. 

I do think this is a hopeful record, although the words don't scream it. To me, these songs are about awareness, buried within the oblique lyrical imagery and the original version's plundered grooves; the act of becoming "woke", way before that word grew new layers of meaning. 

This reinterpretation treats the album title as nothing less than a mission statement, bringing the songs back from their imaginary home to a solid here-and-now, with, I think, explosive results.

You've probably guessed what it is, but that doesn't matter. Join me, it's time to dance."

OK, direct download is here, and the HearWillBeSpoilers stream is below:


Clocks have changed! See you at 8pm GMT.

The Listening Club - 21st October 2018

Greetings folks,

Yes, it be me, Mr. K, back from the other side of the sphere, and a teeny bit sad, as we could have quite happily continued bobbing around down there for at least a couple more weeks, if not more. The sign of a good holiday though, innit? We'll just have to go back again sometime... Big thanks to @JimMcCauley for keeping this rolling in my absence!

Last week, so it seems, @AngelaKlaus took her debut turn in the chair, and jazz-progged the hell out of everyone with her pick of Brand X's "Unorthodox Behaviour" from 1976. Big thanks to her for the pick, and for flipping it back to @Har_Shone, who's always up for it, and has this to say by way of introduction to tonight's choice...

"The late-90s last hurrah (self-described as his “Indian Summer”) of a very famous band’s former frontman, this is the first album of three this group put out between 1999 and 2003. I found this album when I was still at university and had time to get into internet holes searching for more off-the-beaten projects by my musical heroes. If you’ve not heard this album, you’ll probably guess the voice right away - the finest muffins and bagels in the land for (s)he who gets it first!

Its a fun blend of styles and genres but I often revisit it, especially in the summer - so join me in holding on to the dying days of summer as the frigid autumnal winds take over London!"

Right then, direct download is here, and the HearMayBeSpoilers stream is below:


See you tonight at 8pm BST (GMT+1) - Clocks change next Sunday, advance alert!

The Listening Club – 14th October 2018

What ho, old loves! @JimMcCauley at your service once more, killing time until Doctor Who on a miserable, wet and windy day in Bath. The cat has the right idea – he's been tucked up in the airing cupboard all morning, with no sign of emerging, and it's very tempting to climb in with him until 6.55.

Last week @ohmyliver treated us to his pick of the Everly Brothers' "Songs Our Daddy Taught Us", a slice of close harmony melancholy that brought us all down, but, you know, in a good way. So thanks to Oliver for the pick, and for bringing in some new blood with a well-aimed frisbaton pitch at #listeningclub lurker @AngelaKlaus, who's here to share her debut pick.

"Many thanks to The Listening Club and especially to @faberfedor for inviting me to join and for encouraging me to submit a pick. I've chosen a favorite album of mine from the 70's. The band has had a changing cast of characters since 1975 and is still touring. Enjoy!"

Righty ho! Direct download is here, and the doubtless spoilerrific HearThis stream is below:


See you at 8PM (BST)!

The Listening Club - 7th October 2018

Hallo, chums! @JimMcCauley checking in, minding the shop while @kleptones is off on his South American odyssey. I'll be honest, today I'm mostly killing time until Doctor Who; that and trying to figure out new ways of luring the 16 missing tracks off Eric's new album into the open. People on the internet, eh? They're useless.

Last week it was me on the decks, and I think I did a pretty good job of confusing and delighting you all with my pick of "Fear of Pop Volume 1" by Fear of Pop, a Ben Folds side project with an unexpected helping of William Shatner. So thanks to me for the pick, and for chucking the special spinning thing at @ohmyliver, who will address you now.

"So the frisbee has been flung my way, arching its way over the hills, parks, and discarded takeaway boxes of South London. 

"This time I've picked something for purely personal selfish reasons. My father died 14 years ago last Monday after a long illness. Which is feels simultaneously an age, and yet but a day, ago. He introduced me to so much good music Played me Orgasm Addict by the Buzzcocks when I was 5, although in retrospect I think my mother was probably right to freak out at him about its inappropriateness despite my young unawareness. Inadvertently made me think that Mr Blue Sky by ELO was a portent of the future. Although a future where seeming-robots sing pretentiously overblown orchestrally tinged Beatles influenced pop is surely a better future than the one we have now. Introduced me to the music of Laurie Anderson, Joy Division, and Kurt Weill, amongst many others. In fact one of my fondest recent discoveries was finding his 7 inch single of 'Buzz Buzz Buzz' by Jonathan Richman, a song that me and my daughter used to sing along to when she was a toddler, and realising that he probably had played it to me too.

"So I've picked this album from 1958. I don't doubt that you'll recognise the voices almost immediately. It's a collection of covers of old American folk songs, some dating back to the 19th century, that the two singers grew up on, and their second album. It's arguably one of the first concept albums. Be warned, the darkness of some of the songs is not quite obscured by the sweetness of their crooning, but this juxtaposition works well. My father, a fan since his teenage years even blagged his way backstage when they played the Albert Hall in the late 80s/early 90s.

"So break out the bourbon, preferably something smooth like Woodford Reserve, raise a glass to those now only present in memories, and queue up something mindlessly uplifting like Bizarre Inc's Playing With Knives for afterwards, because despite the crooning harmonies, you might well need it."

Bostin'. Download link is here, and the HearThis (spoilers etc.) stream is below:


See you a quarter of an hour after Doctor Who! (BST)

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.