Given that for many fans of music and marijuana, the two are inseparable, today SPARC is launching a new collection of tunes meant specifically to be enjoyed along with our products.
It’s called SPARC Sounds, and to kick things off we asked three notable DJs to curate Spotify playlists to fit the mood you’re hoping for as you kick back with some cannabis this weekend. Also, as an added bonus, check out the new track from Vancouver-native, San Francisco-based musician Vandelux, “New to Love,” which just dropped today and which was created specifically with SPARC Sounds in mind.
San Francisco producer and multi-instrumentalist Otis McDonald created Volume 1 of SPARC Sounds, which is devoted to sativa varietals and the sounds of summer.
Related: How 420 Was Born at a Northern California High School in 1971
McDonald says of his playlist that it’s meant to be “a little something to help get you through these trying times,” and, “All in all, these tracks bring me joy and I hope it can do the same for you.”
It includes an oldie by the great Herbie Hancock, about which McDonald writes:
I first heard this song when I was 10 years old. My brothers and I would dig through our father’s record collection and the album cover for Herbie Hancock’s “Thrust,” an illustration of Herbie flying a spaceship controlled by his keyboard, was striking to say the least. The moment we dropped the needle and the drums started to the opening cut, “Palm Grease,” my life was changed. I had never heard a disjointed beat like that, or worldly percussion, or wah-wah keyboards or that style of bass playing. I immediately started teaching myself all the individual parts by attempting to program it by hand in my dad’s Yamaha keyboard. That was the funkiest shit I ever heard, and still to this day, it’s one of my favorite pieces of recorded music, which helped inform my career as well as my desire to move to the Bay Area, because that music was recorded in San Francisco. Fast forward 17 years into living in the Bay, I now operate my private recording studio in the very same room that Herbie cut this track and so many others almost 50 years ago.
Volume 2 of SPARC Sounds, devoted to indica, comes to us from San Francisco-based DJ Caroline Kerr, a.k.a. Deejay CK.
“When playlisting, I’m big on genre blending,” Kerr says. “I try to reach as many people as possible with a little something for everyone.”
Explore: Best THC Gummies Guide
Kerr’s playlist is a mellow mix of chilled hip-hop, R&B, and future pop, and she adds, “I went for songs with high creativity in their production as listeners are more likely to notice new sounds under the influence of cannabis, when their attention to detail is enhanced.”
She made sure to add some of her favorite cannabis-themed tracks, like Rihanna’s “James Joint,” “Go Gina” by SZA, and “Bed Peace” by Jhené Aiko ft. Childish Gamino.
Kerr says she also threw in a handful of upbeat tracks, because “I don’t dig the stigma that indica strains are sleepy.” “If I’m at a house party, for example,” she says, “indica strains help me move about the room without feeling like I need to take it over.”
Volume 3 of SPARC Sounds, inspired by the balanced energy of indica-sativa hybrids, comes from Vandelux, a.k.a. Evan White.
“The playlist is definitely French-pop influenced but with a tropical, playful feel to it,” White says. “It has an easy-listening, pour-yourself-a-Mai Tai, kick-back-and-enjoy-the-nature-around-you kinda vibe.” He adds, “It’s a great playlist for background listening on vacation or just relaxing around the house on a sunny day.”
White says that one of his personal favorite tracks on the playlist is Against All Logic’s “Now U Got Me Hooked.”
“I love tracks with a lot of contrast and unique sound design and this one has both. Really cool vibe with a low end that almost sounds like it is coming from the basement below you when the beat drops.”
He also says he’s a fan of Romare’s “All Night,” saying, “It’s tough to listen to this track and not groove to it.” Archie Fairhurst (Romare) is a French recording artist who writes, records, and produces all of his own stuff with vintage equipment. “He also has a super unique sound and throws in some unexpected (sometimes unpleasant) layers to create that tension-and-release feel,” White says.
Click on over here when your workday is done, and check out these first three volumes of SPARC Sounds.
