The two first electronic music genres I really digged were ambient techno and deep house. Each playlist has almost 350 tracks in them, although they have been lying mostly idle recently, as I have mostly been contributing to the downtempo, breakbeat and micro house playlists. However the deep house playlist contains a lot of gems, and is one I can safely rely on when in need of some smooth vibes. The other day I was trying as an exercise to name the artists that appear the most in it, without looking. Well, we already discussed how Moomin represents its fair share of the early days of this playlist, however funnily enough the first names that came to mind were Mr Tophat & Art Alfie, with 18 tracks and counting.

Mr Tophat & Art Alfie - Dazed & Confused (2012)

It is hard to pick a favorite from them, as I am very much into every track they produced. They added their own distinct touch to house music, it’s like the afterparty God descended to Earth and asked them to produce the most washed out, dragged out, dreamy house (humanly?) possible. Most of their tracks are at least 9-10 minutes long, each layer in their sounds breathes through 128 bars of automation, either slowly panning, gently filtering, or nonchalantly fading in and out. There are rarely any lyrics, but who needs those anyway? I am going to (pretentiously) quote my own comment on their video:

this track has to be my favorite track. this is the pinnacle of mr tophat and art alfie art of making this kind of after party, washed out deep house tracks that could go on for hours... with many simple tricks to keep the energy flowing like that triple kick at 07:47... i remember a summer where i would listen to this track every morning when biking to work, nicely contemplating the harbour of Amsterdam. i had many occasions to play it, but never did so as not to spoil it. i'll wait for that perfect time; just like some of us might be waiting their whole life for that perfect girl.

I will probably share more tracks from them in the future, but most likely we will also discuss their label Junkyard Connections, and the artists adjacent to it like Your Planet is Next and Flord King. Until then, here is a bonus track from Art Alfie released in 2015 called Atlantis Discotheque, which could not be more appropriately named to be honest! Get ready for some underwater house party!

Art Alfie - Atlantis Discotheque (2015)