Chocolate Grinder Mix 23
"The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes"
In an article on NPR, Robin Hilton, producer of the station's All Songs Considered, claimed that Animal Collective was "inventing an all-new kind of music" that "asks us to reconsider how we define everything that music is" (italics mine). Holy crap... everything that music is? The fact that Hilton's AC blurb begins with "It's just a bunch of senseless noise to some people" further highlights the continuing rift between music cultures in America (and the lengths some writers will go to be shocking). It also reminds me that, when you're so steeped in "radical" music, you often forget the mechanics that made it different or difficult in the first place. So, I hope you're all ready for an hour of pure cosmic space flight shit that redraws the boundaries of what music can mean in our lives!! In the words of TMT's editor-in-chief, "it changed me." But what is the IT????????
01. D.A. - "Machupicchu: The Intihuatana" (Pyramids of Mars ph.III)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: D.A.
02. Steve Hauschildt - "Runway" (Critique of The Beautiful)
- Start time: 8:23; Links: [Steve Hauschildt->www.myspace.com/stevehauschildt]
03. Caboladies - "Crowded" (Crowded Out Memory)
- Start time: 17:53; Links: [Caboladies->www.myspace.com/caboladies]
04. Von Bingen - "Eyeglasses of Kentucky" (Von Bingen)
- Start time: 23:35; Links: Von Bingen
05. Black To Comm - "Musik Für Alle" (Alphabet 1968)
- Start time: 28:53; Links: [Type->typerecords.com/] - [Black To Comm->www.blacktocomm.org/]
06. Blues Control - "Tangier" (Local Flavor)
- Start time: 32:39; Links: [Stiltbreeze->www.siltbreeze.com] - [Blues Control->www.myspace.com/bluescontrol]
07. Infinity Window- "Internal Compass" (Artificial Midnight)
- Start time: 40:39; Links: [Arbor->www.arborinfinity.com/] - [Infinity Window->www.myspace.com/infinitywindow]
08. Noveller - "Brilliant Colors" (Red Rainbow)
- Start time: 47:56; Links: [No Fun->www.nofunproductions.com/] - [Noveller->www.myspace.com/noveller]
09. Solars - "Shadow" (Shadow/Cave)
- Start time: 53:40; Links: Solars
10. Oneohtrix Point Never - "Physical Memory" (Russian Mind)
- Start time: 60:48; Links: No Fun->www.nofunproductions.com/] - [Oneohtrix Point Never
Chocolate Grinder Mix 22
"Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather." - Bill Hicks
In a world made of distraction, letting yourself completely go every once in a while is the best way to ground and gain perspective on yourself. Part chill and part trip, this installment in the Chocolate Grinder series is something to lose yourself in. It's a mix to turn off your mind, relax, and gently float downstream, to guide you to a place of inner peace and fantastic realizations. Let the sound be the current that sets you adrift. For a deeper experience, I highly recommend checking out the complete albums by Echaskech, Christ., Cougar, Boxcutter, and múm, from which the tracks for this mix came. Those will all likely make my year-end list for 2009. There's also a track on Lokai's Transition that sounds like Portishead -- that alone makes the album worthy of investigation.
01. Echaskech - "On Your Mind" (Shatterproof)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Just Music - Echaskech
02. Christ. - "Animus" (Distance Lends Enchantment To The View)
- Start time: 5:11; Links: Benbecula - Christ.
03. Cougar - "Pelourinho" (Patriot)
- Start time: 9:48; Links: Counter - Cougar
04. Pollination - "Some Sun (Yppah Edit)" (Inca Orange EP)
- Start time: 14:26; Links: Exponential - Pollination
05. Lokai - "Salvador" (Transition)
- Start time: 17:49; Links: Thrill Jockey - Lokai
06. Boxcutter - "Kab 28" (Arecibo Message)
- Start time: 21:47; Links: Planet Mu - Boxcutter
07. Gus Gus - "Bremen Cowboy" (24/7)
- Start time: 24:33; Links: Kompakt - Gus Gus
08. Grasscut - "Swallow The Day" (High Down single)
- Start time: 32:24; Links: Ninja Tune - Grasscut
09. Warpaint - "Beetles" (Exquisite Corpse)
- Start time: 36:18; Links: Manimal Vinyl - Warpaint
10. múm - "A River Don't Stop to Breathe" (Sing Along To Songs You Don't Know)
- Start time: 43:07; Links: Euphono - múm
Chocolate Grinder Mix 21
First of all, let me apologize for my last Chocolate Grinder blurb. I was seriously high as fuck when I wrote that. This time, let me talk about the music at hand. We have a collection of "Eureka!"-style artists that I tried to make exist in the same universe (Earth 616). Assuming anyone listens to these mixes, you'll hopefully find that this one is constructed like an actual album!!! The GREATEST ALBUM OF ALL TIME. Each track exemplifies the deemphasis of structure in modern music, with focus on dream-like repetition that maintains interest through dynamic and timbral shifts. Basically, these songs are bolstered by musical devices other than big chord changes, whether they be subterranean recording qualities, bouts of silence, or overwhelming swaths of distortion. Each section of the mix also loosely represents bubbling trends in 2009-music -- trends that I'm not going to explain right now (because I'm full of shit). You can just hear for yourself!
01. HEALTH - "Before Tigers" (Get Color)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: [Lovepump United->www.lpurecords.com/] - [HEALTH->www.myspace.com/healthmusic]
02. Forest Creatures - "Edit 6" (Frustrated Analogue)
- Start time: 3:23; Links: [Blackest Rainbow->www.blackest-rainbow.moonfruit.com/] - [Forest Creatures->Â www.myspace.com/forestcreaturesofdoom]
03. Oneohtrix Point Never - "Hyperdawn" (Zones Without People)
- Start time: 7:14; Links: Arbor - [Oneohtrix Point Never->www.myspace.com/pointnever]
04. Flower Man - "Mirrors in Orbit" (Exotic Cameo)
- Start time: 11:46; Links: Upstairs - [Flower Man->www.myspace.com/flowermanmusic]
05. Ducktails - "Parasailing" (Split 7")
- Start time: 14:44; Links: [Underwater Peoples Records->www.underwaterpeoples.com/] - [Ducktails->www.myspace.com/ducktailss]
06. Elegi - "Arvesølv" (Varde)
- Start time: 20:45; Links: Miasmah - [Elegi->www.myspace.com/elegi]
07. nmperign - "Prey" (Ommatidia)
- Start time: 23:19; Links: Intransitive
08. Æthenor - "IV" (Faking Gold and Murder)
- Start time: 29:21; Links: [VHF->www.vhfrecords.com/] - [Æthenor->www.myspace.com/aethenor]
09. Zs - "MMW I (Part I)" (Music of the Modern White)
- Start time: 34:16; Links: [The Social Registry->www.thesocialregistry.com/] - [Zs->www.myspace.com/zstheband]
10. Hjarnidaudi - "Part I" (Psyko:Stare:Void)
- Start time: 39:33; Links: [Music Fear Satan->www.musicfearsatan.com/] - [Hjarnidaudi->www.myspace.com/hjarnidaudi]
Chocolate Grinder Mix 20
I may be an insufferably white dork from Canada, but I likes me a good broken beat. The odd vocalization of nostalgic pondering or social protest is icing on that bass-laden cake. This here mix tape is the nasty bidnezz, starting off with some more ambient, glitchy numbers before progressing to raucous old-school-flavored beats and booty-shaking breaks, with a righteous rant from future superstar B. Dolan that you will not soon forget. However, if you're looking for guns, bitches, and bling, you are probably talking to the wrong corn-fed honkey.
01. Deru - "Fadeaway" (Say Goodbye To Useless)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Mush - Deru
02. Loden - "My Face Came Off" (Buggy)
- Start time: 4:39; Links: Mush - Loden
03. The Slew - "It's All Over" (100%)
- Start time: 7:35; Links: Ninja Tune - The Slew
04. B. Dolan - "Open Letter To J. T." (House Of Bees Vol. 1)
- Start time: 11:01; Links: Strange Famous - B. Dolan
05. Peter, Bjorn and John - "Stay This Way (DJ Jazzy Jeff Remix)" (Re-Living Thing)
- Start time: 15:38; Links: Columbia - Peter, Bjorn and John
06. Dynas - "The Future feat. DJ Jazzy Jeff" (The Apartment)
- Start time: 19:18; Links: BBE - Dynas
07. An-Ten-Nae - "Warning feat. Buccaneer" (Acid Crunk EP 5)
- Start time: 23:10; Links: Muti Music - An-Ten-Nae
08. Timonkey - "Fembot Serenade" (Molecular Forest)
- Start time: 27:39; Links: Muti Music - Timonkey
09. Anti-Pop Consortium - "Volcano (Four Tet Remix)" (Volcano single)
- Start time: 31:39; Links: Big Dada - Anti-Pop Consortium
10. The Herbaliser Band - "Blackwater Drive" (Session 2)
- Start time: 36:19; Links: !K7 - The Herbaliser Band
Chocolate Grinder Mix 19
This is a guest mix made by [Foot Village. Their latest album is Anti-Magic, which was recently released on Upset the Rhythm.]
All of us in Foot Village love D&D. All of us. Especially Citizen Lee. Nerds we are. So, when it comes to music listening, we try to represent our nerdy taste in the most shallow way possible. So here is a mix dedicated to to the letters D&D. A Doom & Disco mix. From the 20,000-leagues-under-the-sea melodies of Clipd Beaks to the staccato static beats of Big Digits to bands that seemlessly blend the genres of dronemetal and dancefloor like Captain Ahab and Pictureplane. We also love chanting, so you get lots of it in here -- especially of the Lost Boys OST sort. So, open up an animated GIF of a Warcraft Orc doing the Soulja Boy Tell 'Em dance and enjoy. We're here in LA, sucking up the smoke while the hills burn like the chimneys of Apokolips. Hope you forgive us if this summer is more about zone-trooping and reading Ziggy comics for us than the beach-bashes you are used to.
01. XBXRX - "Curso e Famine" (Un Usper)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: XBXRX
02. Big Digits - "Making Progress" (TBA)
- Start time: 2:01; Links: Big Digits
03. Fartbarf - "Play the Game" (Self-titled)
- Start time: 4:08; Links: [Fartbarf->htt://fartbarf.com]
04. Clipd Beaks - "Dust" (To Realize)
- Start time: 6:43; Links: Clipd Beaks
05. Alaskas - "Unshackled" (Set Yourself Free)
- Start time: 10:20; Links: Highfives & Handshakes - Alaskas
06. TITS - "Cheap Echoes" (Second Base)
- Start time: 11:30; Links: Upset the Rhythm - TITS
07. Kinit Her - "Nagas Litany" (Glyms or Beame of Radicall Truthes)
- Start time: 15:20; Links: Living Tapes - Kinit Her
08. Thee Oh Sees - "Go Meet the Seed" (Help)
- Start time: 19:06; Links: In the Red - Thee Oh Sees
09. Pictureplane - "Tance Doll" (Dark Rift)
- Start time: 24:40; Links: Lovepump United - Pictureplante
10. Captain Ahab - "Feel Anymore" (The End of Irony)
- Start time: 28:19; Links: Deathbomb Arc - Captain Ahab
Chocolate Grinder Mix 18
This has been a good year for the beat, and dubstep especially: bass worship is on the rise. Leading the charge is the consistent Muti Music. Label boss Dov kicks things off with a deep Single Cell Orchestra remix of his latest single, one of four Muti tracks featured here. Massive warps from Spoonbill associate Editor and Kid606's latest signing Humanleft add a certain color missing in this post-Analog Worms Attack era, while Sbtrkt and Rude Kid blanket eardrum-blowing lower frequencies over new singles from Echaskech and Juice Aleem (who both have hotly anticipated records coming out now-ish). Closing the mix, I'm very excited to showcase Shambhala institution Bassnestar's usual high standard of political breaks. These artists are the true face of independent electronic music, but whether or not you've heard of any of them before doesn't really matter, just as long as you listen to this mix on the biggest system you have access to. The sound of these 10 windshield-cracking, pop-fizzing, speaker-humping, picture frame-tilting block rockers will speak for themselves louder than any drivel that oozes off my keyboard. Crank it up, fuckers!
01. Dov - "Earth Bleed (Single Cell Orchestra Remix)" (Earth Bleed EP)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Muti Music - Dov
02. Editor - "Space Grub" (Interview Techniques)
- Start time: 5:34; Links: Omelette - Editor
03. Kether - "Graffitti" (Marine Layer EP)
- Start time: 9:30; Links: Muti Music - Kether
04. Juice Aleem - "First Lesson (Rude Kid Remix)" (First Lesson single)
- Start time: 14:32; Links: Big Dada - Juice Aleem
05. Siren - "7th Level" (Spawn)
- Start time: 17:12; Links: Muti Music - Siren
06. Humanleft - "Got Beatz" (Roarr EP)
- Start time: 20:19; Links: Tigerbeat6 - Humanleft
07. King Cannibal - "Dirt feat. Daddy Freddy" (So... Embrace The Minimum single)
- Start time: 23:51; Links: Ninja Tune - King Cannibal
08. Echaskech - "Future Sex (Sbtrkt Remix)" (Future Sex single)
- Start time: 28:49; Links: Just Music - Echaskech
09. T.O.B. - "Thwomp Attack!!" (The Next Level EP)
- Start time: 34:05; Links: Muti Music - T.O.B.
10. Bassnectar - "Art Of Revolution (Original)" (Art Of Revolution single)
- Start time: 38:01; Links: Amorphous Music - Bassnectar
Chocolate Grinder Mix 17
I can't help but feel like an ass for plucking some of these songs from their original contexts. Several tracks -- like Mount Eerie's "(something)," John Wiese's "Mystical Finland," and especially Kreng's "Meisje In Auto" (which you should seek out ASAP) -- hinge heavily on the flow intended by the artist. My concern, though, would put into question a whole host of things -- not only mix tapes, but sampling and radio, musique-concrète and iPods. Besides, the idea of The Album as something sacred, something untouchable is silly. Am I not allowed to bend symbols at my will? Am I supposed to sit passively and consume music only under conditions laid out by the artists? Of course not. But I still feel like an ass sometimes.
01. Eric Copeland - "Al Anon" (Alien in a Garbage Dump)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Paw Tracks
02. Bird Names - "Taxicabs And Bicycles" (Sings the Browns)
- Start time: 3:57; Links: Upset the Rhythm - Bird Names
03. Julian Lynch - "Two Babes in the Woods" (Lefse Records Compilation)
- Start time: 6:49; Links: Lefse - Julian Lynch
04. Mount Eerie - "(something)" (Wind's Poem)
- Start time: 8:59; Links: P.W. Elverum & Sun
05. Kurt Vile - "Overnite Religion" (Childish Prodigy)
- Start time: 11:13; Links: Matador - Kurt Vile
06. Circulatory System - "I You We" (Signal Morning)
- Start time: 16:25; Links: Cloud - Circulatory System
07. John Wiese - "Mystical Finland (excerpt)" (Circle Snare)
- Start time: 17:54; Links: No Fun
08. Evangelista - "The Slayer (promo)" (Prince of Truth)
- Start time: 19:50; Links: Constellation - Evangelista
09. Ourself Beside Me - "Improvisation I" (Ourself Beside Me)
- Start time: 25:48; Links: Maybe Marsl - Ourself Beside Me
10. Kreng - "Meisje In Auto (naar Prelude No. 20 In C Minor Van F. Chopin)" (L'Autopsie Phénoménale De Dieu)
- Start time: 26:52; Links: Miasmah - Kreng
Chocolate Grinder Mix 16
Every year since I started writing reviews, I have heard at least one fellow critic say words to the effect of "this has been a slow year for [insert genre] or music in general." Well, from where I'm sitting, music looks like it's doing pretty damn good for itself. Independent music is rife with exuberant brilliance waiting to be discovered and appreciated, regardless of its surrounding hype or lack thereof. If you think music's offerings have been feeble lately, you need to branch out and listen to more of it. Take a chance on something you may know little or nothing about. Granted, it's an often underwhelming process, but every so often, you will find one album that will unquestionably make it all worth the effort. These mixes are the result of my journey through sound, and I hope they inspire you to tread different paths of your own. This is the most exciting and dynamic time we could ever hope to be alive.
01. Longwalkshortdock - "Born At Night" (Casual Tea)
- Start time: 0:00; Links: Self-Released - Longwalkshortdock
02. The Lava Children - "Particles" (The Lava Children EP)
- Start time: 6:33; Links: Graveface - The Lava Children
03. Battlehooch - "Take The L Train" (Piecechow)
- Start time: 10:17; Links: Terrorbird - Battlehooch
04. The Gaslamp Killer - "Anything Worse" (My Troubled Mind)
- Start time: 13:39; Links: Alpha Pup - The Gaslamp Killer
05. Damian Lazarus - "Come And Play" (Smoke The Monster Out)
- Start time: 17:53; Links: Get Physical - Damian Lazarus
06. DJ Food - "Tricky Little Ears (The Cheech Wizard Pays Respect To All Living Creatures Who Inhabit Dark Places)" (One Man's Weird Is Another Man's World EP)
- Start time: 21:43; Links: Ninja Tune - DJ Food
07. Ochre - "Napolese" (Like Dust Of The Balance)
- Start time: 28:50; Links: Benbecula - Ochre
08. Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra - "Radioactive People" (Takes Off!)
- Start time: 34:17; Links: Alien Transistor - Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra
09. Speech Debelle - "Bad Boy" (Speech Therapy)
- Start time: 41:20; Links: Big Dada - Speech Debelle
10. Throw Me The Statue - "The Outer Folds" (Creaturesque)
- Start time: 45:36; Links: Secretly Canadian - Throw Me The Statue
Chocolate Grinder Mix 15
"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
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
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
