Sunday 27 October 2013

The Listening Club - 27th October 2013

Hello to you all,

Phew yes well, was expected to be gently nursing a hangover and chilling today, stitching together the #scaryvortex and sipping a brandy, but my current paymasters decided to up the ante considerably and drag me into a crisis situation. A few braincells less and a few paracetamol later, I'm back and working on said #vortex, with a little more haste than I would like, but, hey... life's rich tapestry and all that. LV's cracking DJ set last night makes it all worthwhile.

Anyhoo, last week, the redoubtable @JimMcCauley succeeded in blowing his remaining street cred with his selection of Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine's "Worry Bomb". Some liked. Some hated. The ultimate marmite band? Thanks to Jim for the pick, either way, and for flipping the frisbee to @petemaskreplica. But first...

Yes, it's the #scaryvortex, or #scaryasfuckvortex if you're so inclined. Thanks to all who chipped in selections, we have 14 tracks here, every single one guaranteed to incite differing levels of fear, from a subtle nagging disquiet to outright hide-behind-the-sofa insanity. So... cushions and stiff drinks at the ready? here we go...

Direct download is here, Mixcloud stream is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

The clocks changed in Europe last night, so hope to see you tonight at 8pm GMT!

Sunday 20 October 2013

The Listening Club - 20th October 2013

Greetings to you all,

Another early typing session for me, racking up the #LC business on a Saturday early evening before I head out into the crazier than usual Amsterdam streets. It's ADE this week (that's Amsterdam Dance Event, if you didn't know), which means tons of networking muso types flashing laminates left, right and centre, and world-famous DJs lurking everywhere you look. Last night twas was bobbing till daybreak to a most excellent soundtrack (including Rustie, Martyn and Jackmaster, if you're interested), and will be doing the same again tonight (getting down to disco with Kon and Maurice Fulton), so lets get this tapped out whilst there's still braincells in rotation, eh?

Timely announcement time, next week is #vortex week, so, being close to that Halloween thing, rather than asking you for token cheesy seasonal selections, behold the #scaryasfuckvortex! That's right, what we want from you this time is the scariest tune you can think of - the one that really, really freaks you out. And not just because it's shite, m'kay? Get your choices in ASAP, and join in next week with a seriously stiff drink at hand and a pillow to hide behind for the results!

Last week, indeedy, @emmaprice rocked and rolled everyone with "Diary Of A Soul Fiend" by Saint Jude. Bit of a split response, but on the whole positive I think, which is grand. Many thanks to Emma for the pick, and for digging up the vampirical @jimmccauley to get back in the (coffin-shaped) chair this week. And here he is...

"It's just musical sensationalism. You do something big on the stage and a thousand geezers sort of go, "Ah!"

This may well be my favourite band, and it’s one that I took a while to warm to. They’re a little divisive. They released two great albums while pulling in ever-increasing crowds with blinding live shows, then a difficult third and something of a them-by-numbers fourth, by which time they were struggling a bit and fewer people we showing up at gigs. This, their fifth, is given a boost by the addition of a new band member and sounds rather different to their earlier albums; bigger and a little older and wiser, but still shot through with dark humour and wordplay that makes my writing gland tingle. It doesn't quite have the raw energy of the first two albums, but it has enough great tunes to make it worth digging out every now and then.

I reckon there’s a good chance of some of you recognising the lead singer’s distinctive tones straight away and being all, oh, fucking hell, it’s them. They have that effect on some. But that’s all part of the fun. It’s a bit of an exercise in indie pop contrarianism, but it’s also me wearing my heart on my sleeve and playing a band I love rather than a safe choice. So: enjoy! Or don’t! I won’t mind.

Hooray!"

Awesomesauce. Direct download is here, Mixcloud stream (which may well reveal the track titles, you have been warned!) is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST/EST (GMT+1)!

Sunday 13 October 2013

The Listening Club - 13th October 2013

Greetings to you all!

Hope the week has been good to you - here the battle of the seasons continues as per usual, currently well into a solid day of rain, but as the week's gigs have taken me from Fleetwood Mac via Psychic Ills to The Mountain Goats, I'm not complaining too much... even if I have misplaced a couple of brollies already. Hum ho...

Back in #LC-ville, @akx was back in the hotseat, and went for a supreme trickshot, delivering Venetian Snares' classical / drill'n'bass crossover extravaganza "Rossz Csillag Alatt Született" (Hungarian for "Born Under a Bad Star", apparently). Despite the intensity, a thumbs-up from the #LC massive... those who survived, anyways. Thanks to @akx for the pick, and for thrusting the frisbee across to @emmaprice,  here she is with this week's intro...

"Greetings fellow Listening Clubbers.

I first discovered this band when I saw them supporting at the Academy in Islington back in 2010. It was one of those incredible moments where the support band totally blows the headliners off stage. Before they'd even left the stage we'd found out when their next gig was and made plans to see them again. Over the next 18 months or so we saw them play a variety of venues across London culminating with a storming set at Victoria Park back in 2011

This is their debut album and it's definitely been one of those albums where you tell your friends about the awesome new band you've found and how they must listen and tell you their reaction. So I thought I'd share it with Listening Club and see what you thought. One final note I absolutely love this album but have to say it really comes into its own when being performed live."

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, Mixcloud stream (which may well reveal the track titles, you have been warned!) is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST/EST (GMT+1)!

Sunday 6 October 2013

The Listening Club - 6th October 2013

Hello hello,

Indian summer in full effect here in A-dam, 20+ degrees and sunny in October? Yes please. Hope you're getting some of the same wherever you are... It's a stressful day for many, as Glastonbury tickets go on sale, and a small corner of the internet tries hard not to buckle under the strain of 120,000 tickets being sold in under 90 minutes. Jeebs, that's some throughput, for sure...

Back in #LC land, we vortexed it up last week well and truly with the #floorfillersvortex, which turned out to be a mighty cross between a wedding disco, a mid-90s indie dance night and a rave - major thanks to all who contributed a tune! Casting minds further back we see @akx holding the frisbee again, and here he is with the intro...

"My turn again? Not that I mind...

This time I actually didn't have a choice ready and it took me quite some deliberating to get to this pick. I considered lavishing Norwegian space disco upon the club, or German winter melancholia, or American technical avant-garde black metal (yes, that's a thing), before realizing that the Club needed to hear Canadian... well, this.

I'll be curious to see if (or well, inevitably how) this might split opinions.

Hugs from the increasingly cold, autumny reaches of Finland,

@akx"

Okaydoke. Direct download is here, Mixcloud stream (which may well reveal the track titles, you have been warned!) is here!

Search #listeningclub to see what's going on, and follow @listeningclub for the admin.

Hope to see you tonight at 8pm BST/EST (GMT+1)!