Pete and I have been friends since high school. We used to steal artwork from fast food restaurants and write poetry in his parent’s basement. We worked at a bagel joint together, we’ve played in bands and lived in vans, we’ve watched each other become unrecognizable from one phase of our lives to the next. Pete is a sweet man. He’s patient, compassionate, and a deep listener. Without this influence in my life, these are qualities that may have eluded me. I’m grateful for his friendship.

Almost four years ago, Pete put out a call on our Slack of old buddies for some music to listen to while working. To some this could mean a gentle barely-there Eno-like ambiance, while others might require a relentless propulsion of four on the floor to keep them on track. I just took it to mean sounds without words that are generally not very intense and put together a playlist called “Pete Sounds”.

The idea was that the whole thing might not flow for Pete, but he’d be able to identify a track or two that resonated with him and follow the trail from there.

“Limerance” by Yves Tumor introduces the first playlist from 2017, which in hindsight really timestamps this for me. Two years later I made Pete Sounds: Peter Sounds, and this past summer, I finished Pete Sounds: Petest Sounds—much more intentionally tracked around the glimmer and crystalline sounds of shimmering drops and light reflecting on chlorinated pools. The first half I listened to almost daily while swimming laps, it’s sunny and plucky and sparkly. Synths transition to more atmospheric ambiance in the back half, more appropriate for dark baths.

So here are all three compiled together: Pete Sounds is tracks 1-22, Peter Sounds is 23-50, and Petest Sounds is the final 36 tracks; about 7 hours 30 minutes.

🐄 🐓 🐖 🐘 🦮