the drives playlist

part of my job is driving test vehicles on specific routes after model updates. hands hovering over the wheel, watching the system work, ready to intervene. it's focused, quiet work. the car doesn't play music by default so i bring my own.

i have a Spotify playlist called "drives" that i've been building since i started. it's not driving music exactly. more like music that works when you need to stay alert but calm. nothing with sudden dynamics. nothing that demands attention. just texture.

some of what's on it right now:

there's something about Ichiko Aoba's guitar and the way the car moves through an intersection that matches up in a way i can't explain. her music is very still. the car is very still too, in a way, even when it's moving. the decisions happen silently.

the Chinese Football songs are from my mom's side of things, sort of. she doesn't listen to math rock (she listens to Teresa Teng and Jay Chou). but the band is from Wuhan and i think about that sometimes when i'm reading about Baidu's robotaxis running around the same city. weird overlap.

i update the playlist every few weeks. the test routes stay the same but the music rotates. sometimes i wonder if the music affects how i evaluate the car's behavior. like if a tense moment with the model happens during a calm song, do i react differently than if it happens during silence? probably. i haven't controlled for it.