I have always considered myself a bit of a music nerd. I cannot play a note, but I have such a passion for music as an art form and how it intertwines and forms the experience in the space it fills. 

When I began taking sessions in the late 1990s, TripHop ruled the dungeons with the dominas. The slow, sensual beats and otherworldly noises weaved themselves well into the tapestry of BDSM sessions at the end of the 20th century. Some better did so better than others. It made absolute sense to hear Beth Gibbons of Portishead’s plaintive cries seeping out of playrooms as one walked the halls of shared dungeon space. Even the Gregorian chants made famous by Enigma found a special place with leather and ropes. Deep Forest’s pygmy tribal songs were a little odder. If not, Enya’s Orinoco Flow was downright disconcerting. The sensual atmosphere sometimes danced across the lines to “Spa Background Music.” 

But the purpose of these playlists was purely supportive, to be in the background, to take their place as audio decoration to whatever mood the domina wanted to portray. TripHop and the more experimental electronic music of the late 90s flowed excellently without taking away from the scene itself.

Almost too well, in fact. Many Enigma CDs suffered battle wounds of too much use and soon skipped at inopportune times. D/s negotiations included likes, limits, fetish requests, and pleas of “Play ANYTHING but Portishead.”

I was not unscathed in this. It took many, many, many, many years before I could possibly listen to Dummy again without cringing. Fortunately, I can once again enjoy