I recently managed to get a first version of my “youtube to spotify” playlist porting python tool to work. You can check it out, it’s called bes, in particular look at this sweet object oriented API in run/from_youtube_to_spotify.py… although I have not documented it (yet?). I will soon write a long-form article about this! Anyway, porting my playlists to spotify had the nice consequence that I am now listening to them a lot more, as I usually listen to Spotify during the work day to avoid the distraction of YouTube. I have to say I suck at resisting the temptation of clicking some of these thumbnails, so I had to install a blocker to shield me from myself.

One playlist I have been digging a lot while working is the dub techno case. Dub techno is kind of where I come from in terms of electronic music, as the first two genres I really got into were dub techno and deep house. This genre sits in a really special place in my heart. Most tracks are stretched in time, 10 minutes probably on average; although I hope to pull out exact statistics like this in my long-form. They take the time and space to develop some infinitesimal chord progression, with very diffuse layering of many rhythmic and ambient samples, and are most recognizable by their kick which is seemingly unresolved in time but clearly taking space (making this genre super fucking hard to mix on vinyl, at least in my limited experience).

Deepchord - Luxury 1 (2014)

I plan to dedicate this week to Deepchord, one of the pillars of this genre, and hogging 10 tracks of the 74 in my spotify playlist. We will start by a classic of his; although most tracks he released are instant classics. Luxury 1 is a deep, deep dub track. A water sample at the beginning sets the mood, drowsy, sluggish, yet daydreamy would be a better adjective. I think optimal listening is achieved when not concentrating on the track, for instance when coding / working; as this track almost feels designed for your inner ear, or your third eye, call it whatever you want. It resonates with the brain, puts it on stasis.

Hope you enjoy this first track by him, and see you tomorrow for another pick from his vast catalog.