The first and only time we hear the titular Beach House song in the first season of Aziz Ansari's new Netflix series, Master of None, is when Ansari's character, Dev, has been rejected by a woman at the end of a long and seemingly romantic night. The show, which follows Dev, an aspiring actor who lives a New York life split between success and aimlessness, might have easily taken too much inspiration from the melancholy track, which includes the lines "Cry all the time, cause I'm not having fun." But Ansari's energy is indefatigable, and the show is accordingly humorous. It's not quite RAAAAAAAANDY!, but it isn't as dry and dark as a "Louie".

"Master of None"'s music selections are prolific and distinctive, featuring tracks by Aphex Twin, the Animals, the Slits, Arthur Russell, Lou Reed, New Edition, Spandau Ballet, and more. (You can find a soundtrack playlist here.) There's one episode that's entirely set to country music, as Dev and a love interest take a weekend trip to Nashville. There's another where he invites a date to a Father John Misty show, where Josh Tillman runs through "Chateau Lobby #4".

To discuss the show's music, Pitchfork hopped on the phone with Ansari and music supervisor Zach Cowie.

Pitchfork: Were the music selections made entirely by you two?

Zach Cowie: We're both record collectors that are kind of always looking for crate-digging kind of deeper stuff. That sort of becomes a sound that unifies the whole series. A lot of it is just mixed up sort of records, and it does fit well with the character.

Pitchfork: You use a lot of music to score the tone of a scene—Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" is used for that nightmarish fantasy where you're imagining yourself as the parent of these bratty kids.

Aziz Ansari: That was Zach's idea.

ZC: It made us both laugh. We're both very big Aphex Twin fans. And he shows up a couple times in the series. Growing up as a kid watching "120 Minutes", that video will always be the total personification of an absolute nightmare to me. It just popped into my head.

Pitchfork: Then, there's Toto's "Africa" during a bar montage.

ZC: You're going to have to talk to Aziz about that one.

AA: That song is just so triumphant and fun. I listened to it yesterday, actually. The Toto people were like, "Do they genuinely like this song or are they making fun of Toto?" We were like, "No, we love this song! Please, Toto. Why do you have such low self esteem?"