Inside No. 9, Episode #31: Chocolate Monk: One person’s detritus is another fool’s symbolism
Chocolate Monk is one of those rare reliable labels that always surprises and consistently adheres to the DIY aesthetic that has all but gone in the post-mail-order world. I first picked up CDrs from the label back in the mid 2000s via David Keenan and Heather Leigh Murray’s Volcanic Tongue record shop. The back catalogue is vast and includes artists from varying backgrounds including big hitters like Bill Orcutt, Richard Youngs and the prolific A Band – to underground stalwarts including Neil Campbell, To Live And Shave In L.A and The Polly Shang Kuan Band. For me it’s the people I’ve never heard of and finding incredibly weird and wonderful music that avoids classification or gentrification. I use the latter term as CDrs are still priced at £5 each rather than the soul-destroying hike in physical media we’re experiencing across the board. Kudos to other labels like Riot Season, Touch and Room40 that are keeping things accessible to those of us not on a banker’s salary.
If you’re not familiar with the label it is run by Dylan Nyoukis and the records are often blessed with incredible artwork from his partner in crime, Karen Constance. You’ll also see a picture of their daughter in the label artwork, as she delivers a pure gonk expression. The label has been operating for over 30 years now. You can listen to some of Dylan’s choice cuts over at The Wire from back in 2018. The Brighton-based duo of Nyoukis and Constance are figureheads in the world of experimental music and showcased some of the best head-knotting sounds via their Colour out of Space festival. If you want to keep your pulse on the outer reaches of musical magic then I implore you to follow this label and pick up each batch as they hit the shelves. I’d also recommend checking out both Dylan and Karen’s own music; both as individual artists and collaborators. I can’t think of anyone else doing what they do or what they have done over the last few decades and I look forward to each new set of head-fucks they unleash on the world.
Here is a collection of 9 tracks from 9 recent releases. It’s the audio equivalent of dipping one’s toe in a rich and deranged ocean of sound. I’m sure there is a book’s worth of stories, memories and interactions that could be written about this force of sonic wonder; but for the time being I will indulge in the cult of the new and let you discover the vast back catalogue at your leisure. I hope with the resurgence of appreciation of CDs that we will see more accessible music spring to life again. Long live DIY and long live Chocolate Monk, ya ken?
Pick One
Guru
Fat Chance
Artificial Stupidity
Pick Two
Awake
Grey Windowpane
Abracujo
Pick Three
409
Meadow Argus
Arboreal Frippery
Pick Four
PISS
Brandstifter & Cody Brant
Fuck Piss
Pick Five
Weak Content And Slow Jammin’
Red Wine and Sugar
Turkish Coffee And Twice Baked Potatoes
Pick Six
Bloodline Stitches
Ark Drane
Ark Drane
Pick Seven
Guru
Fat Chance
Artificial Stupidity
Pick Six
March
Michael Ridge
Misc Loops 1-3
Pick Seven
Bloodline Stitches
Ark Drane
Ark Drane
Pick Eight
She Talks
Family Underground
The Acetone of Flowers
Pick Nine
Spell Under Glass [edit]
Tongue Depressor
Wonder How it Left
Inside No. 9 is an attempt to share unique narratives through the mixing of 9 songs. Every episode will showcase a new theme, opening up new tributaries of discovery. Inside No. 9 is presented by Peter Taylor, a former features writer for Foxy Digitalis from back in the late 2000s. Peter is a visual artist and musician and has been creating music as MAbH since 2008.
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