A Deep Cut
Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo
September 13 2025
So this is A Deep Cut, a gorgeous event presented by Raoul and Jan—two guys I met while at work—in which people share a personal story related to a record they bring on. Each speaker is asked to present a 5 minute story with 10 slides, after which we listen to one of the record's songs.
Here's my story:
So who here knows what this is? A 20-sided die, a "d20" it is called among those who know what it is most used for...
Some people don't even know there are dice that have a different amount of sides than the normal 6 sided die, but this baby is the figurehead for a curious game some of you might recognize if you've ever watched Stranger Things.
When I was 10 years old, I was accidentally introduced to Dungeons and Dragons after a friend of my mother double-booked hanging out with me with his epic final day-long session of a campaign (so a story) that had a lasted for over 5 years. D&D is a fantasy game you play for about 2-9 hours (yes, that could be a full day) sitting around a table with friends. You're playing as different unique characters with different skills and abilities, describing actions and experiencing adventures together. Most of these adventures are set in a magical medieval setting - think Lord of The Rings - where everybody plays a curious figure in a world of trouble.
There is always one among these friends around the table, hosting the story and guiding the adventure, and they are called the Dungeon Master. They are the person running the session, by having thought out a plotline or a problem in a town, and they decide what the weather will be like and how strong the evil goblin might be, but don't get me wrong, they are not "The Storyteller", as this game is intended for each person around the table to have their own share into telling a beautiful story.
This genre, tabletop roleplaying games, has had negative bias from the moment they got popular in the 80s in the US. Now, these past few years, the genre has been growing in popularity, and I think that's because it's being understood more and more. When explaining Dungeons and Dragons to some of the others at de Druif, I remember Manon being absolutely amazed: it's like storywriting, only it's cooperative, the writer is the reader, and it lasts exactly for how long you play. It's a way out of normal day-to-day life and it's an amazing way to laugh with friends, training your fantasy and imagination immensely and for me, having played regularly for the past 12 years, both experiencing stories and having written them, in my mind I am now a builder of worlds.
I've brought in a record by the name of Con Todo El Mundo, by Khruangbin. Khruangbin is a trio based in Houston, Texas, consisting of drummer Donald "DJ" Johnson, guitarist Mark Speer, and bassist/singer Laura Lee Ochoa. This album builds on Thai funk from the 60s 70s and 80s, but also on psychedelic rock, and adds bits and pieces from Carribean, Indian, Iranian, and Middle Eastern music: they're very self-conscious about taking inspiration from many parts of the world. The name for example means Airplane in Thai because they were practicing some Thai words and thought it sounded beautiful. Mark, the guitarist, once said in an interview: "[The album] goes along with the global influences and different genres of music we like to listen to ourselves. It kind of goes from place to place to place". Con Todo El Mundo actually means "with all the world", and it answers the question Laura's grandfather always used to ask her; Como Me Quieres, meaning: "how much do you love me?". And of course, it also references the influences they take from all these places.
I've switched decision often regarding which of the gorgeous songs on the album I wanted to show here. I've come to land on Lady and Man. It's the very first song I've ever heard from them, and it has everything: they sketch an imaginative world, and play with rhythm and feel. At the end there are vocals inspired on screen arguments between the main characters from a show called Romancing the Stone, but they are too suggestive to grasp the true meaning of. Like all good stories, the reader is forced to fill in some of the blanks.
To summarize, Khruangbin finds all the right contexts and all the right perspectives - they are in their own way builders of worlds, and that is why this is a Deep Cut to me.
These are the slides presented with my story:
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