Sunday 15 December 2013

The Listening Club - 15th December 2013

Happy Sunday to you all,

Hope all is calm and bright where you are, all is peaceful here in the 'Dam, save for the gentle whirring of hard drives, as recovery software chews its way through a 2TB drive that recently quit on me. Looking like I'll get 90%+ of the stuff back, which is gratifying. However, I'll be spending the next day rooting for its performance soccer-mom style until everything is safely copied off. First world problems, yeh?

#festivevortex reminder time - we need your two favourite tunes of 2013, for our traditional knees-up hoe-down on Sunday 29th December, so get 'em in as soon as you can. I'll be flying back to Amsterdam on the Sunday after a few days in the UK over xmas, so the earlier you can get your picks in, the happier I will be!

Last week @matthewesdigs was in the hot seat for the first time, and treated us all to The Dirty Projectors "Bitte Orca", a fine platter and a very positive reception indeed. Thanks to Matt for the pick, and for sending the frisbee on a slightly roundabout route back to my good self. So, here I am...

"It's quite an odd time of year to pick a Listening Club album, as the music media starts to fill itself up with year end Top 10s, 50s, 100s and inevitably I discover a whole mountain of recent music that has until now passed me by and is now winking salubriously at me from my monitors. As usual, I'll most likely not be done with 2013's music until well into 2014, at which point the whole delicious cycle will begin again. 

Because jeez, it's been a good year for music. Some years feel extra special, and this is one of them. Whether comebacks from established artists, continued excellence or fine debuts, this year has delivered in spades, for me anyway.

So here's one of those fine debuts that will probably be featuring in quite a few of the aforementioned end-of-year lists. Because of that it's difficult to say any more without giving the game away, but it's no surprise this album got pounced on by the media this year. A great back-story and an opportunity to throw some lesser-heard styles into the public eye is a combination that no self-respecting muso journo can resist. And with good reason. If a debut album is a declaration of intent, I can't wait to see how these guys develop over the next few years, especially after seeing them play here in Amsterdam a while ago and sound considerably different to what's on the album. A great situation to be in!

Anyway, enough attempt at mystique? Good. Break out the cocktails and let's have it!"

Direct download is here, and the Mixcloud stream (which may 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 GMT!

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