The Listening Club - 11th May 2014

Howdy folks,

Hope all is going good wherever you are - it's a rainy rainy weekend here in the 'Dam, so local outdoor plans get put to one side and Eurovision, whisky and summer planning becomes the order of the day. All jolly good indeed.

Last week, @samsmitter was in the chair and treated us to a selection of his favourite Bob Dylan cover versions, based loosely around the soundtrack to Todd Haynes' film "I'm Not There" and a mighty fine collection it was too. Many thanks to him for the picks and for flipping the frisbee across to @cakehugga for this week. And here she is...

"Hello. So following the incredibly special weekend some of us spent in Amsterdam I’ve been thinking about how everything in life is connected (being a big hippy and all). Music connected me to Jaye as we bonded over shared musical tastes, she introduced me to The Kleptones and to The Listening Club.

Listening Club was something that we both enjoyed being part of.  Being part of Listening Club keeps me connected to Jaye but has also introduced me to some new music, lovely beautiful people and to amazing experiences like the recent Dambusters weekend. So I guess in a way it’s a link between my old and new lives.

Music was a massive part of my life with Jaye and still is. Since she died I’ve been playing Jaye’s Ipod on random a lot. I’ve also been working my way through the compilation CDs and playlists that she made for friends, for occasions and for me.

I think that it is amazing how certain songs have such an emotional resonance attached to them. You hear the song and are transported to a certain time and place in your past (whether good, bad or ugly). I guess that grief kind of amplifies those feelings – there are songs I hear now and just dissolve into tears or songs that make me beam because they remind me of good times.

I was inspired by Sam’s mixtape idea from last week. Jaye was all about sharing music with friends and put a lot of thought into her compilation CDs and playlists. I play them often and dance around the flat to them. Those of you who met me in Amsterdam might have noticed that I love to dance ;-)

After a lot of thought and deliberation the album I’ve chosen this week is a playlist that Jaye put together for a barbeque with friends last summer. She named it BBQ 1 (there was a part 2). It contains music from 1969 to 2011 and covers a variety of musical genres including blues, dub reggae, dance, indie, ska and sci fi according to I-Tunes?! – well I was called a geek last week ;-). 
There are a few classic songs that I reckon will be familiar and some that are less well known. I hope that some of them may make you dance or nod your head. This playlist reminds me of good times, friends, sunshine and laughter. I hope you enjoy."

Download is here and the Mixcloud stream (which may reveal the song titles, you have been warned)  is here!

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