Chocolate Grinder Mix 15
"Plain #7 with no pickles or onions"
"I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance," said Friedrich Nietzsche. "We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance," states a Japanese proverb. "Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room," said Kurt Vonnegut. "Dancers are the athletes of God," said Albert Einstein. "Any problem in the world can be solved by dancing," said James Brown. "To shake your rump is to be environmentally aware," said David Byrne. "Never trust spiritual leader who cannot dance," said Mr. Miyagi.
01. Bachelorette - "Mindwarp" (My Electric Family)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Drag City - Bachelorette
02. Anti-Pop Consortium - "Apparently" (Fluorescent Black)
- Start time: 3:28; Links: Big Dada - Anti-Pop Consortium
03. The Herbaliser Band - "Geddim!" (Session 2)
- Start time: 5:56; Links: !K7 - The Herbaliser Band
04. Giant Cookie Monster - "Orange Bat theme" (Orange Bat)
- Start time: 10:54; Links: Giant Cookie Monster
05. Neon Indian - "Terminally Chill" (Psychic Chasms)
- Start time: 15:05; Links: Lefse - Neon Indian
06. Mos Def - "Auditorium [ft. Slick Rick]" (The Ecstatic)
- Start time: 18:33; Links: Downtown - Mos Def
07. Black Lips - "The Drop I Hold [ft. GZA]" (The Drop I Hold EP)
- Start time: 23:00; Links: Vice - Black Lips
08. Miss Kittin & The Hacker - "Electronic City" (TWO)
- Start time: 26:24; Links: Nobody's Bizzness - Miss Kitten & The Hacker
09. Jónsi & Alex - "Boy 1904" (Riceboy Sleeps)
- Start time: 31:09; Links: XL - Jónsi & Alex
10. YACHT - "Psychic City" (See Mystery Lights)
- Start time: 36:14; Links: DFA - YACHT
Chocolate Grinder Mix 14
“Palin/Gingrich 2012”
How many of you feel disillusioned with the Obama administration thus far? I know, in hindsight it seems foolish to think idealism might have railroaded policy through Congress, even with the fuckin' deck stacked. Either America was built to run on slow, incremental progress, or the two parties are becoming absurdly centrist. It must be the former, 'cause I could have sworn Obama was a raging atheist; he seemed smart with big ideas, but even a guy like him remains a whore to our political process? I guess I've known for a while that a new President couldn't veer that far from their predecessor's path, but, oh god... Bush vs. Obama? It's in your face this time. This mix is full of songs that I thought had a vaguely 1970s feeling. They're all filled with life and, except for Bat For Lashes, some form of joy. It's too easy to make sad songs; I like songs that fill more vague emotional places -- if you're feeling bittersweet, then a happy song can be sad as hell, but rarely the other way around.
01. Yuksek - "I Could Never Be A Dancer" (Away From The Sea)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Yuksek
02. Shogun Kunitoki - "Riddarholmen" (Vinonaamakasio)
- Start time: 3:14; Links: [Fonal->www.fonal.com/] - [Shogun Kunitoki->www.shogunkunitoki.com/]
03. What's Up? - "Seasoning's Greeting" (Content Imagination)
- Start time: 6:32; Links: [Obey Your Brain->www.obeyyourbrain.com/] - [What's Up?->www.myspace.com/whatsupwhatsupwhatsup]
04. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Can't Hear My Eyes" (Can't Hear My Eyes 7")
- Start time: 11:43; Links: Mexican Summer - Ariel Pink
05. Bat For Lashes - "The Big Sleep" (Two Suns)
- Start time: 14:54; Links: [Bat For Lashes->www.batforlashes.com/]
06. Zu - "Erinys" (Carboniferous)
- Start time: 17:45; Links: Ipecac - [Zu->www.myspace.com/zuband]
07. Aavikko - "Specto Supernus" (Novo Atlantis)
- Start time: 21:28; Links: 9pm - [Aavikko->www.aavikko.net/]
08. Cheer-Accident - "And Then You Realize You Haven't Left Yet" (Fear Draws Misfortune)
- Start time: 26:03; Links: [Cuneiform->www.cuneiformrecords.com/] - [Cheer-Accident->www.cheer-accident.com/]
09. Blank Dogs - "No Compass" (Under And Under)
- Start time: 27:34; Links: [In The Red->www.intheredrecords.com/] - [Blank Dogs->www.myspace.com/blankdogtime]
10. Javelin - "Vibrationz" (Jamz n Jemz)
- Start time: 30:13; Links: [Javelin->www.myspace.com/hotjamzofjavelin]
Chocolate Grinder Mix 13
“The Man Who Made A Beast Of Himself”
I love variety, and for this mix I've selected the spaciest hip-hop, the creepiest electronica, and the freakiest folk, making it the perfect concoction to soundtrack the depths of your next ether binge. Through the latest bloopy gifts from Alpha Pup, an epic progressive selection from prodigy Nathan Fake, and bizarre indie electronic hybrids from Niobe and Joan Of Arc, Chocolate Grinder is proud to bring you some of the most spectacular mutants of the year, too weird to live, too rare to die. Unusual for the series, recent re-releases have placed tracks from Young MC's 1989 debut (no, I didn't pick "Bust A Move") and the 70s recordings of the gloriously absurd Kath Bloom in the CG range. As a TMT reader, you get used to things like seeing your dead grandmother crawling up your leg with a knife in her teeth, but nobody should be asked to handle this trip.
01. Ras G - "Earthly Matters" (Brotha From Anotha Planet)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Alpha Pup - Ras G
02. Nosaj Thing - "Us" (Drift)
- Start time: 4:51; Links: Alpha Pup - Nosaj Thing
03. Serengeti & Polyphonic - "My Patriotism" (Terradactyl)
- Start time: 7:55; Links: Anticon - Serengeti & Polyphonic
04. Young MC - "Non Stop" (Stone Cold Rhymin')
- Start time: 10:53; Links: Delicious Vinyl
05. Voodeux - "3rd Floor" (The Paranormal)
- Start time: 14:16; Links: Mothership - Voodeux
06. Nathan Fake - "Castle Rising" (Hard Islands)
- Start time: 18:49; Links: Border Community - Nathan Fake
07. Kath Bloom - "The Breeze/My Baby Cries" (Love Takes This Course)
- Start time: 27:46; Links: Chapter - Kath Bloom
08. Fink - "Six Weeks" (Sort Of Revolution)
- Start time: 31:57; Links: Ninja Tune - Fink
09. Joan Of Arc - "Flowers" (Flowers)
- Start time: 34:59; Links: Polyvinyl - Joan Of Arc
10. Niobe - "Lovely Day" (Blackbird's Echo)
- Start time: 41:36; Links: Tomlab - Niobe
Chocolate Grinder Mix 12
“The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even”
I titled this mix after Marcel Duchamp's The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (a.k.a. The Large Glass), an artwork from which the title Chocolate Grinder derives its name. For an artist who (in)famously submitted a toilet to an art show, I thought it appropriate to cobble together a mix of tunes that hinge more heavily on context for "understanding." (Not that you can't go in blind, if that's your thing.) My last mix was about as rock as I get, so this time I primarily emphasized songs that were either more overtly fluid (Mountains, Andrew Broder) or so grippingly visceral (Talibam!, John Wiese) that you can't help but reexamine our heftiest mythologies. I also included an older track, "His Mister's Pet Whistles," from the forthcoming reissue of the criminally overlooked Major Organ release. Sit tight and you'll get some consonance toward the end.
01. Nice at Home - "Never Use a Condom More Than Once" (Visitor)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Nice at Home
02. Pink Mountain - "Thee Red Lion" (Pink Mountain)
- Start time: 1:17; Links: Sickroom - Pink Mountain
03. Sore Eros - "Below It Begins" (Second Chants)
- Start time: 6:18; Links: SHDWPLY - Sore Eros
04. Major Organ and the Adding Machine - "His Mister's Pet Whistles" (Major Organ and the Adding Machine)
- Start time: 8:28; Links: Orange Twin - Major Organ Wikipedia
05. Andrew Broder - "Where The Guy Gets Killed" (Spiraling)
- Start time: 10:48; Links: Andrew Broder
06. Talibam! - "Entertaining The After Beast" (Boogie In The Breeze Blocks)
- Start time: 15:45; Links: ESP-Disk - Talibam!
07. Oneida - "What's Up, Jackal" (Rated O)
- Start time: 21:04; Links: Jagjaguwar - Oneida
08. John Wiese - "Circle Snare (Second Part)" (Circle Snare)
- Start time: 24:08; Links: No Fun - John Wiese
09. Mountains - "Choral" (Choral)
- Start time: 29:11; Links: Thrill Jockey - Mountains
10. James Blackshaw - "Cross" (The Glass Bead Game)
- Start time: 41:57; Links: Young God - James Blackshaw
Chocolate Grinder Mix 11
“From: Keith, For: Meghan McCain”
In case you were wondering, we try to get permission for all the songs on these Chocolate Grinder mixes. We'll ask record labels, management, and publicists to use an artist's material, but we rarely contact the artists themselves. For Chocolate Grinder Mix 11, I decided to take the whole process over to MySpace, where the only thing coming between my pleas for tracks and the brilliant, visionary musicians making them was MySpace's shittily designed webpage and a glitchy music player. Some of the artists here are more known than others, but they were all super, super nice and quick to respond! For all the bands that I've left off, this is only volume one of who knows how many. Keep up the good work! NUFF SAID.
01. Aquwa Boys - "Come On Baby"
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Aquwa Boys
02. Silk Flowers - "Chance of Showersl"
- Start time: 1:34; Links: Silk Flowers
03. Tiny Fights- "Whats Mine"
- Start time: 5:50; Links: Tiny Fights
04. WETDOG - "8 Days"
- Start time: 9:43; Links: WETDOG
05. Rainbow Arabia - "The Basta"
- Start time: 11:43; Links: Rainbow Arabia
06. The Craters - "Kissables"
- Start time: 15:24; Links: The Craters
07. The Yataris - "Matty Hand is On Fire pt. 1"
- Start time: 16:53; Links: The Yataris
08. Zola Jesus - "Odessa"
- Start time: 19:56; Links: Zola Jesus
09. MEGA WAND - "Faux Reign"
- Start time: 24:00; Links: MEGA WAND
10. Max Elliott - "Go Down Moses"
- Start time: 26:40; Links: Max Elliott
Chocolate Grinder Mix 10
“The Analog Dreams of Electric Sheep”
Some people don't like computer music. I know. I was once one of them. I was a classic rock guy who thought (and often said aloud) electronic music had no soul. Then something mystical, or probably chemical, happened. It was like I felt my own heart beating for the first time. All these wonderful build-ups, breakdowns, arpeggios, basslines, pads, bloops, and bleeps started swirling in my head like a tornado. Ever since, I've been addicted to pure electric sound and all of its various forms. If approached with an open mind, and preferably a touch of social lubrication, this mix should do the same for you. This journey gathers the finest producers from Canada, Venezuela, America, Germany, Australia, and the UK to guide you through vintage throwback, moody orchestral, nu-breaks, hip-hop, indie funk, progressive acid, and other wild variations of the electronic form. Jon Hopkins, fresh from co-producing Coldplay with Eno, delivers a sweeping mood piece as intricate in its bass tweaks as in its melodic piano progression. Edmonton's Shout Out Out Out Out finds hope in dark places with their two drummers, four bassists, and an army of synths. Both of those songs come from albums that will be making some year-end lists this year. Many selections here are rarer, but no less pivotal. Since the majority of these tracks were designed to be played at festivals and nightclubs with massive sound systems, this mix should be played at a high volume and in dim yet colorful lighting to get the maximum effect.
01. DJ Hell - "Germania" (Teufelswerk)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: International Deejay Gigolo - DJ Hell
02. Jon Hopkins - "Vessel" (Insides)
- Start time: 8:45; Links: Domino - Jon Hopkins
03. Seventh Swami - "Forever You Forever Me" (Here For Now)
- Start time: 13:00; Links: Muti Music - Seventh Swami
04. Spoonbill - "Wonkball" (Zoomorphic)
- Start time: 18:37; Links: Omelette - Spoonbill
05. Sole & The Skyrider Band - "Nothing Is Free (Subtitle Remix)" (Remix LP)
- Start time: 23:13; Links: Black Canyon - Sole & The Skyrider Band
06. EPROM - "64 Bytes (ill.gates Rmx feat. Meesha & Mat The Alien)" (64 Bytes Remixes)
- Start time: 25:58; Links: Addictech - EPROM
07. Yppah - "Gumball Machine Weekend" (Gumball Machine Weekend EP)
- Start time: 29:50; Links: Ninja Tune - Yppah
08. Jogger - "Nice Tights" (Friends of Friends Volume 1)
- Start time: 33:47; Links: FoF Music - Jogger
09. Shout Out Out Out Out - "Remind Me In Dark Times" (Reintegration Time)
- Start time: 38:34; Links: Normals Welcome - Shout Out Out Out Out
10. Kid606 - "Good Times" (Shout At The Döner)
- Start time: 47:20; Links: Tigerbeat6 - Kid606
