• October 31st, 2009
My output hasn’t been great the last couple of months but thanks to some talented guest mixers Low Light Mixes has new material to post. This is the third guest mix in the last 4 or 5 months and they are all greatly appreciated.
For this mix Muttley presents – Back to Mine Pt. 2 – Reflections. This is our second mix from Mick, who did “Drones in Duality” back in June. He describes “Reflections” as “music for healing bereavements, remedying mental disorders brought to light, enacting occupational therapy, and cherishing the good memories that can sometimes be hard to reach.”
Mick has other fine mixes floating around the intertubes. You can find some at Subversion and his Ambient Lovers thread(congrats on 300 posts!). Soon he will have mixes available at Hydrogen Cafe and Presto Samo. Mick also collaborated with Rick at Hydrogen Cafe on a great mix called “Transference”. Check out all of the Muttley mixes, wherever you may find them.
T R A C K L I S T :
01. Brian Mcbride - The Guilt Of Uncomplicated Thoughts (from the album “When The Detail Lost Its Freedom” - Kranky)
02. Philip Jeck - Wholesome (from the album “7″ - Touch)
03. Rameses III - The Kindness Of Letting Go (from the album “I Could Not Love You More” - Type)
04. Mogwai - Aidan’s Waltz (from the album “Come On Die Young” - Chemikal Underground)
05. Hilmar O Hilmarrson & Sigur Ros - Degradation (from the album “Angels Of The Universe” - Import)
06. Olafur Arnalds - Lost Song (from the album “Found Songs” - Erased Tapes)
07. ASC - Highbrow (from the Warm008 12′ - Warm Communications)
08. Autechre - Nil (from the album “Amber” - Warp)
09. The Drift - Noumena (from the album “Ceiling Sky” - Temporary Residence)
10. The Alpha Rhythm - The Return (from the album “Proof Of Concept” - Seedknowledge)
11. The Cinematic Orchestra - Diabolus (from the album “Motion” - Ninja Tune)
12. Badmammal - Sending And Taking (goodluck/badluck unreleased)
13. Glint - Double Vision (from the album “Sound In Silence” - www.glintonline.com)
14. A Silver Mount Zion - The Triumph Of Our Tired Eyes (from the album “Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward” - Constellation)
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• October 18th, 2009
Generally I like autumn. I don’t mind the colder temps, colors are great, don’t have to mow the lawn anymore, etc. But this year the weather has been nasty, too cold too soon & lots of rain.
So I set out to do a bleak, cold October mix. But as usually happens with mixes, they take on a life of their own and lead you in different directions. I realized, as I was collecting tunes, that I didn’t want the mix to turn into some dark, Halloween-ish affair.
Ultimately I turned to all new music as source material. While most of it is not all bleak & depressing, neither is it all sunny & bright. I’m glad to have worked some currents favs into the mix, such as Leyland Kirby, Sufjan Stevens, Loren Dent & Volcano Choir.
Even though today was a beautiful, sunny fall day, I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities for a hot cup of coffee, listening to this mix & gazing beyond this, or any, window.
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 wind
- 00:30 Solo Andata - Beyond this Window (from the album Solo Andata)
- 04:00 David Tagg - Wind Blown Guitar (from the album Wind Blown Guitar)
- 07:50 Aidan Baker - Explosions (from the album Dry)
- 11:30 Segue - October (from the album Grey)
- 16:00 Ian Hawgood - Shore Peotry (from the album Snow Roads)
- 16:30 Isnaj Dui - That whgich was lost (from the album unstable equlibrium)
- 22:00 Leyland Kirby - Memories live longer than dreams (from the album sadly the future is no longer what it was)
- 27:20 Sufjan Stevens - Postlude - Critical Mass (from the album The BQE)
- 29:30 Talvihorros - Handwriting Pt. 1 (from the album Some Ambulance)
- 34:20 Loren Dent - Ecstasy of Morning (from the album Anthopology extras)
- 40:50 Ave Maria stretched
- 42:50 Billy Gomberg - Verse (from the album Days)
- 47:50 Volcano Choir - Husks & Shells (from the album unmap)
- 51:00 Chihei Hatakeyama - Landscape on a Hill (from the album Saunter)
- 59:22 end
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• October 4th, 2009
One of my favorite mixes from last year was Sustain & Decay. It was fun digging up old recordings & mixing them with new releases.
So I decided to do a follow-up, with the result being “revenants of the past“. It follows the same basic formula of last years mix(which was also released in October). I browsed through a ton of files at archive.org, looking for things like old vinyl records & Edison cylinder recordings from as far back as 1888. I mixed these recordings with current music that either sounds old or in some cases actually uses old recordings as a sound source to be manipulated into something new.
In the last mix The Caretaker figured prominently and here too there is an extended track in the middle of this sequel mix. The track is an excerpt from a mix James Leyland Kirby, AKA The Caretaker, did for Fact Magazine.
I think “revenants” is a good mix of familiar & unfamiliar artists here. I had to get William Basinksi’s Disintegration Loops in somewhere & so the mix closes with a track from Loops #2.
Enjoy the entropy.
T R A C K L I S T :
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• June 28th, 2009
I listen to ambient music every night when I go to bed. I usually browse my recent acquisitions to find something for sleep music. There are a few recordings which get used more than others.
Two recent releases by Steve Roach get regular airtime here at Low Light Mixes. Last year’s “A Deeper Silence” and this year’s “Dynamic Stillness”.
There was a time when I played Deeper Silence in the background all around the house everyday for a week. It created this strange feeling like I was on a spaceship. Mostly this 73 minute-long tune gets used for sleep music. The same goes for “Slowly Revealed” off of “Dynamic Stillness”. I have fallen asleep to this track many times.
Another nighttime favorite…the “Beautiful Land of Nod” mixes from Mr. Asphalt Eden(aka - Brian Bieniowski). I played these two mixes quite a bit when I first downloaded them & still return to them often. I remember Brian saying he liked sleep music that seemed to rise & fall like breathing. It was that idea that inspired a mix that I did called “breathing music“. I use this mix fairly often for drifting off to sleep.
This brings us to the new mix. I wanted to do a new sleep mix so I could incorporate the Steve Roach cuts. So I dumped some tracks to a portable hard drive, brought it to work & starting mixing in between “real work”. I had 4 or 5 tracks laid down & I was listening to one of the transitions & literally fell asleep at my desk, hence the title of the mix. A lot of the tracks sound very much like each other which I guess is good in this case because one track stretches into another, in a long, trance inducing, ambient lullaby. At 90 minutes, the mix is longer than most, but I thought the length worked a bit better for sleeping.
Sweet dreams…
T R A C K L I S T :
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• June 14th, 2009
My last mix was done for SubVersion and now Mick was kind enough to return the favor with a mix for Low Light Mixes. It’s an excellent mix which Mick describes this way…
“Drones In Duality” is the first in a series of mixes dedicated to Bridewell Gardens, which I visit every week to engage in therapeutic conservation and decorating work. The name is a reference to the double meaning properties of each track title, and the transference of a gesture in two different timeframes - before mucking in, and after a days’ graft.
For instance, Bibio’s “Cherry Blossom Road” encompasses the ability to walk down roads adorned with flowers, to and from the bus trip to Bridewell, while “Sleep In The Eyes” identifies the product of doing much work on the premises, or getting cobwebs out on the journey in. Hammock’s “We Will Say Goodbye To Everyone” nods to the friendly atmosphere I’ve encountered, and the desire to wish well each person I meet there. Pan American’s “So That No Matter” curtails an extended metaphor for “so that no matter what problems I face, I can get through the day, with help from my friends and family”.
This is segued into Hakobune’s “Realization At Dusk”, which symbolises the enjoyment factor I weigh up the evening prior (getting sorted to make a stop) and heretofore the welcoming in of darkness (post-assignments and seeing everyone off). Oophoi’s “Beyond These Skies” is the subsequent result of thinking forward, to what can be sentimental gold beyond nostalgic trifles. Then “Diamonds In The Sky” arrives to calm the listener: “They shine in the night / The diamonds in the sky / The sweet dreaming girl’s paradise”. “Softkiller” harks back to my relationship with the woman I’ve been so preocuppied with. Incomprehensible lyrics act as the undertow to ethereal guitar noodling and hushed chants.
Grouper is juxtaposed with the grainy metamorphosising of Evangelista to end, “The Frozen Dress” a direct correlation to the freeze-frame behaviour of “Heavy Water / I’d Rather Be Sleeping”. All in all, “Drones In Duality” is a 23-minute endeavour into fresh ground for me.
There’s lots of drones, granted, but these are counterbalanced with an accessibility from the vocals and brimming harmonies. Next up: “Time Heals All Wounds”.
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• June 4th, 2009
The transition from spring to summer brings two new mixes from Low Light Mixes central command. We’ve had a fair amount of rain lately so both mixes are “rain” mixes.
Rain evokes so many memories & emotions, it’s a great theme for mixes. Using field recordings really helps hold the mix together. I try not to over do it with the rain sounds, hopefully it works well.
This first mix is a vocal mix, well mostly vocal, there are three instrumentals hiding in there. All the tunes have the word “rain” in the title. It was fun discovering tunes I did not know very well, like The Decemberists track & the cut from Susanna & The Magical Orchestra.
The second rain mix is an instrumental mix and it will be posted over at the Subversion blog. Mick will be posting it there soon. And I will be posting a drone mix from Mick here at Low Light Mixes soon as well. I’ve also got a “sleep” mix in the works.
DOWNLOAD : 77mb 40:00min
I Love the Rain
T R A C K L I S T :
00:00 Susanna & The Magical Orchestra - It’s Raining Today
04:40 The (real) Tuesday Weld - I Love the Rain
08:37 Asche & Spencer - A Walk in the Rain
09:49 The Handsome Family - Famous Blue Raincoat
14:40 Daniel Lanois - Rain Weather
18:20 The Decemberists - Raincoat Song
20:40 Joe Purdy - I Love the Rain the Most
25:00 Oblong - Rain Over the Deverils
28:54 REM - I’ll Take the Rain
34:15 Rivulets - Rain All Winter Long
40:00 end
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• April 19th, 2009
I got the idea for this mix over at the Hypnos records forum. In the “Now Playing” thread, someone posted several entries in a row about listening to various soundtracks. Some favorites of mine, Cliff Martinez’s “Traffic” & “Narc” and Clint Mansell’s “The Fountain”, were on the list. It got me thinking & listening to soundtracks for a week or two and this new mix, “Cinematica”, is the result.
There are 25 tracks in this mix, so it keeps moving pretty well I think. I realized after I was done that a few of the tracks appear in other low light mixes. Oh well, that’s bound to happen with so many mixes and fewer and fewer brain cells.
I would say my favorite soundtracks from the past 10 - 15 years would have to be “Solaris” from Cliff Martinez & “The Fountain” by Clint Mansell. I purposely used a lesser known Martinez cut from “Wicker Park” but one that had the same “Solaris” feel to it. Then of course I discovered that I’d already used the same cut in an earlier mix. Duh!
This mix was easy & fun to put together so I’m sure I’ll be doing another one in the future. Any suggestions for essential soundtracks that I should check out?
T R A C K L I S T :
00:00 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - The Proposition #2 (The Proposition)
02:00 Graeme Revell - Cue 34 (Until the End of the World)
04:10 Thomas Newman - Drive Away(End Title) (Lemony Snicket)
06:50 Cliff Martinez - What Shoe Size (Wicker Park)
08:05 Andrey Dergatchev - Port (The Return)
10:05 Max Richter - Shadow Journal (Valse Avec Bachir)
12:15 John Murphy/Chrales Gounod - Taxi(Ave Maria) (28 Days Later)
14:07 Mogwai - 7-25 (Zidane, a 21st Century Portait)
18:20 Clint Mansell - Death is a Disease (The Fountain)
20:40 Explosions in the Sky - From West Texas (Friday Night Lights)
22:26 Brian Eno - Always Returning (Apollo)
25:35 Corker/Conboy - First Crossing (3 Degrees Colder)
27:05 David Byrne - Canal Life (Lead Us Not Into Temptation)
29:20 Peter Gabriel - A Sense of Home (Long Walk Home)
30:50 Sigur Ros - #3 untitled (Hlemmur)
33:05 Andrey Dergatchev - Georgians (The Return)
35:13 Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson - Ars Moriendi (Children of Nature)
37:20 Philip Glass - Organic (Koyaanisqatsi)
42:10 Gabriel Yared & Underworld - Mending Things (Breaking & Entering)
44:20 Cliff Martinez - Helicopter (Traffic)
46:05 John Murphy - Red Dresses (28 Days Later)
46:43 Devotchka - The Winner Is (Little Miss Sunshine)
49:35 David Byrne - Dirty Hair (Lead Us Not Into Temptation)
52:06 Peter Gabriel - Passion Extras #4 (Passion)
53:55 James Newton Howard - I’m Listening (I am Legend)
55:45 Brian Eno - an ending(ascent) (Apollo, 28 Days Later, Clean, Traffic)
59:50 end
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• April 5th, 2009
I was inspired by my daughter’s mix cd’s to do my own vocal mix. She does great mixes that I listen to in the car and I thought I’d do a similar one of my own. Of course the finished product is not as uptempo as hers. This being an ambient mix blog, most of the tunes are fairly quiet.
There is no unifying theme here, other than I like these tunes. The Martin Grech tunes are from “March of the Lonely” which made it on my best of 2008 list. I could have put in a ton of David Sylvian tracks but ended up with just two. Hmmm, maybe I should do an all Sylvian mix someday. There are two new songs in there, “Another World” by Antony & the Johnsons and “Foreground” from the new Grizzly Bear. The rest are a mix of old & fairly new cuts.
I did cheat a little bit by sneaking in one instrumental track. It’s “Bell Toll by Daniel Lanois from his fantastic Omni series box. Somehow it just fit right. I also cheated on the graphic. I took an album cover by Dan Deacon and wiped out his title & put my own in. The pic just worked so perfectly with the title of the mix.
I called the mix “Refuge” because I think of music as a refuge and this mix as an escape from from other crappy music…from work…from laundry…from the economy…from normal, crazy life. I hope this mix can be a refuge for you too.
TRACKLIST:
00:00 Canyon Country - Dead or Dreaming
03:50 David Sylvian - Maria
06:15 Martin Grech - Kingdom
09:30 Sufjan Stevens - Holland
12:50 Grizzly Bear - Foreground
15:54 Antony & the Johnsons - Another World
19:35 Peter Gabriel - Father, Son
24:20 Roxy Music - Spin Me Round
28:50 REM - Star Me Kitten
31:45 Daniel Lanois - Bell Toll
33:00 David Bridie - Sad
36:30 David Sylvian - When Poets Dreamed of Angels
41:00 Martin Grech - Ashes Over Embers
46:30 P.G. Six - Lily of the West
51:35 Trespassers William - Love is Blindness
58:31 end
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• March 8th, 2009
This is another new kind of mix for the blog. This is an all Eno mix.
I came across the Eno tune “Spider & I ” in a recently downloaded mix & I was reminded of how much I like Eno’s voice. So I thought why not collect some favorite vocal tunes together in one place.
For the first half of the mix I alternate between vocal tunes & instrumentals. I thought this might be nice to break things up a bit. About half way through I realized I’d run out of time so I went to all vocals. I love singing along with his songs & it is nice to have some favorites all together.
The title comes from Genesis’ “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” album, where Eno is credited with “enosification.” Which he described this way…”I would take existing instruments and feed them through various devices to ‘weird them up’.”
I hope you enjoy this Eno mix…..
T R A C K L I S T :
00:00 By This River (Before & After Science)
02:51 Music for Glitterbug - track 10 (music for glitterbug)
05:37 Everything Merges with the Night (Another Green World)
09:20 Marine Radio (Spinner)
14:05 And Then So Clear (Another Day)
19:25 Summer Ride (Curiosities vol.2)
23:21 Spider & I (Before & After Science)
26:55 Dunwich Beach, Autumn 1960 (On Land)
28:55 Taking Tiger Mountain (Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy)
34:00 Zawinul Lava (Another Green World)
25:36 Julie With (Before & After Science)
41:00 Golden Hours (Anoter Green World)
44:44 This (Another Day)
48:04 On Some Faraway Beach (Here Come the Warm Jets)
52:25 No Orders w/ J. Peter Schwalm (Musikain)
56:23 Bottomliners (Another Day)
1:00:00 end
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