Listen to the episode playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6HFqCVpmZlQaNjtTHE79LW?si=2b504cb7ad084f8b

Sam and Mike pop open bottles of Uivo Renegado and Huaso de Sauzal, breaking Sam’s yearlong streak of champagne. After they wax poetic on the beauty of magnum bottles and wonder whether that one time they actually a magnum by themselves, they turn towards a discussion of how people’s music tastes come to be. 

Sam, the self-identified 60-year-old dude from Manchester, talks about how her secret listening of pop music on Z100 while growing up was a rebellious act against her parents who wanted her to play violin and listen to classical music. Mike, speaking as the dance music nerd who still loves the hits from 07-13, contrasts that with his parents who were not music at all (and in some cases anti-music in general) growing up. Then they discuss what music became their north star, which set them on the path to their musical tastes today.

Listen to the episode playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ABkEN3cDV7IPHcvdQWIsW?si=2283a33da38640e1

Grape Tapes IRL is always a good time! (It might have been too good because some of their conversation was drowned out by the audio clips this time - sorry!)

Sam and Mike record in-person at Mike’s office in San Francisco! After they polish off a bottle of Jauma Arneis 2021 (notes: winter, outdoor fireside mood; tastes like burnt, pineapple but fired up), they discuss different types of compilation albums, and ideate on what gives 90s electronic songs their sound and whether they still “hit” today. As one could expect, there’s a ton of “doot doot doots”.

After exiting the club space, they turn to cover songs - what makes them great, what makes them reductive, and some of their all-time favorites, which you can listen for yourself on their playlist.

Sam and I tried something new. We recorded ourselves constructing our episode playlist, and we loved the results so much that we wanted to share it with you!

Come join us on a trip down memory lane to 3 weeks ago and listen to us figure out what makes music sound nostalgic.

Episode playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ilxnS0OQk6bcGVk3G2OB4?si=94c24caa79354b5c

Listen to the episode playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ilxnS0OQk6bcGVk3G2OB4?si=94c24caa79354b5c

We've created a brand new blend of Grape Tapes that we think you're going to love. The varietals are 60% music, 30% boisterous discussion, and 10% wine.

We invite you to start off with a wine pour. Sam, sticking to #chardlife goes with a Blanc-de-blancs from Henriet-Bazin. Michael sips a perennial favorite Dinavolino from DENAVOLO.

Then the duo share what they've been listening to recently. Sam blows Michael's mind with a Phoenix-backed punk rendition of Air's Kelly Watch the Stars. And Michael gushes about the new Roisin Murphy album.

This all leads to a conversation about nostalgia. Is there a singular sound of nostalgia that everyone can recognize as such? What does it sound like? (Hint: jingle jangle) And how does your personal nostalgia influence this sound?

Listen to the episode playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0glQ2LWTNKq3fkAsnJErhF?si=a3cf3acfe2ca4bd8

We took the annual August vacation in July, but have no fear, Grape Tapes is BACK and we are going to explain to you a new musical genre: BUTT MUSIC. It's like porn, where you know it when you hear it, and where you're going to hear it...is a wine bar that turns into a straight up bangin' clerb after 10. Is it possible to eat charcuterie at 5pm and hear butt music by midnight? Absolutely.

PLUS can people (today) who didn't have to get music recommendations from their local dorks still have huge gaps in their music knowledge? and at the very end, Sam struggles to come up with the word "beat box"

Listen to the accompanying playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5OAQbQtlYPifFCzU417TQv?si=761adebb26f845bd

Listen, are music festivals basically land cruises? Is this no way to enjoy music? Well, yes. But, what if we could program our very own GRAPE TAPES FEST? On this, Episode 21, we debate the merits of the proliferation of music festivals and how they're basically...county fairs for people who used to be cool :)

We're drinking Etienne Calsac's beautiful, beautiful blanc de blancs L'echappee Belle and made our fantasy music festival...it was the first time in Grape Tapes history where we revised the beginning of the list half way through. It turned into a little bit of a rock and roll fest. Ok, love you byeeeee

listen to the accompanying playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FkwPvwcmOwfwhzT384GET?si=a23a99aa27a34193

Welcome to episode 20 of Grape Tapes!!!! We are talking all things SCAM. What makes a wine scam? Were you one of those kids that signed up for 10 CDs for the low, low price of a penny? And finally, we talk you through how to avoid Sp*tify algo scams (hint: hang out with music dorks).

We're drinking Borachio's Pash Rash, it's looking ruby red grapefruit this year and it's a hypnotic blast and the perfect fuel for this episode's narrative playlist: a girl's best friend takes her on a lavish trip to Morocco and sticks her with the $60,000 bill and Oh what a story this playlist tells.

Listen to the accompanying playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0PDSFlnj1J7Qn7O1tQnVRw?si=1511b3b369654afa

Hello and welcome to the 1st birthday (or is it anniversary?) episode of Grape Tapes 2.0!! We may be de-evolving, but we are SO happy to be hanging out with you, drinking wine and *carefully* "crafting" playlists to go with the moods :)

On this episode, we count down our top 5 episodes from the last year and crown one wine mood playlist the KING OF THEM ALL. Hint, hint...it's a super coherent playlist with banger after banger, bats in the woods, all good mood to go with a super drinkable good time wine. It's....drumroll....Ultraviolet. You can listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/15YgRZIluCvmx60DCedMsP?si=7f0c88b15e27410a

Plusss, we take you on a journey to Raw Wine. Have you been? If you're plebs like us...you're not spittin' and things get...well, you'll find out.

Set to the mood of Basile Wehrle R***ling and Strohmeier Roter Frizzante, we are bringing hanging out on a cloud, creatively fulfilled vibes to the party.

ps: this is the Future Islands performance Sam was referring to

Listen to the accompanying playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3QTwMgojigq8TYWI79h5D9?si=36260922e1794975

hello and welcome to grape tapes where we are drinking dead starfish from a bajillion years ago!!

Have you heard this story? About how the first time Dom Perignon tasted his accidentally bubbly wine he exclaimed, "Come quickly, I am drinking the stars." Well...turns out that's an apocryphal story :/ But no matter, we're drinking chardonnay (the king of grapes) again, but this time in the form of Jura's Domaine de Montbourgeau where 3rd gen winemaker Nicole Deriaux is hand harvesting the grapes and making wine in the cellar beneath the family home. The mood is someone attending a corporate holiday party where they're trying to have fun...like they hired a DJ. The playlist is forgettably unforgettable :)

Plus we get ponder what speaks to you the most in music? Apologies to all the musicians whom we love and revere, but for grape tapers...it's definitely not the lyrics...eek. In fact, we're here to say that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who know all the lyrics to their favorite songs and those who make up their own lyrics that eventually devolve into doot doopity doos...aka: they melody along.

Listen to the accompanying playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7BJaQe4IvtrAPhpRFRoqnl

Welcome to Grape Tapes champagne edition :)

We're drinking Laherte Frères, Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature, it is YUM. Smells like honeydew melons and eraserheads and tastes like wet pears...like the kind you get in a french dessert. It is giving us the vibes of getting to know you. It is intimate. It is hanging out, having a great conversation wine (it is a really good first date).

As for the discourse, we came to the conclusion: the bravery = orange wine = copypasta. And! Michael tells us about bedroom boopity and James Holden's evolution as an artist. He even made ya'll a playlist so you too can enjoy the journey (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6YWWkH4oYRHkqRWqrAbV0c).