April 9th, 2019
Nine years ago I did a mix of 70s & 80s library music as a soundtrack for underwater exploration. I've always liked the odd vibe of that mix and always wanted to do a follow up. Now it's finally here with Subaquatic Universe.
It's essentially the same formula and sound as the first one. Vibraphone, fender rhodes, flutes and bubbles play a large role in creating this underwater universe.
While collecting tracks for this mix I came across a bunch of other library music which will make for a great retro 70s sci fi mix which I'll put together later this year.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 John Hyde - Heron
- 01:33 Eric Vann - Diving
- 04:37 Walter Rockman - Chromosomes
- 06:03 Atmo - Acque Tranquille
- 08:18 Jim Harbourg - Empathy
- 10:48 Joel Vandroogenbroeck & F. Voelxen - Cascades
- 13:27 John Tender - Underwater Fantasy
- 15:30 Franco Tamponi - Stelle Marine
- 18:20 Gaston Borreani - Prelude aux Voiliers
- 20:25 Bruton Library Music - Running Waters
- 21:50 Walter Rockman - Sea Life
- 23:20 Teddy Lasry - Moins 8000
- 27:40 Gerhard Narholz - Electronique
- 29:20 A.Perry & D.Sarkys - Canadian Colours 4
- 30:00 Amedeo Tommasi - Correnti Sottomarine
- 33:03 Walt Rockman - Submarine Scenery
- 35:03 Eric Vann - Sunken Galleons
- 38:30 Alan Hawkshaw - Eternity
- 42:15 Atmo - Acque Profonde
- 44:30 Piero Umiliani - Musica Delle Sfere
- 46:12 Gaston Borreani - Cirrus
- 49:35 Georg Deuter - Deep Sea
- 52:43 end
March 3rd, 2019
I digitized my music collection a long time ago. I have a Sonos system throughout my house so I digitized thousands of CDs and packed up the physical copies. I haven't pulled out the actual CDs in a long time but recently I rearranged some furniture and realized that I had sofa table with a cd rack built into it. The thing had been in the same place for so long that I'd forgotten there were CDs in it. I played a bunch of the discs and had a good time re-discovering music that I hadn't heard in quite awhile.
So I made a mix of some my favs. The release years range from 2003 - 2012. There are some regulars that have appeared in many of my mixes - The Green Kingdom, Kyle Bobby Dunn, Maps & Diagrams, From The Mouth Of The Sun. Along with some that I've probably never used - Shirk, Lopside, Relmic Statute, Logreybeam, Herion.
The album, 37, by Lopside was especially cool to reacquaint myself with. It falls into the Boards of Canada, Casino versus Japan category but it's not very well known. It was great to get back into it. Here is the link to Spotify...
https://open.spotify.com/album/5iFHLB4ryyT0aHeeYjPcjB?si=s7k-42RBTqSdVnDBFneOwg
The mix starts out a little glitchy and finishes with some classic ambient sounds. I hope you enjoy this little side trip down memory lane.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Logreybeam - Beetelguise(It's All Just Another Aspect Of Mannerism 2004)
- 03:39 Lopside - The Shallow End(37 2003)
- 06:45 Mokira - untitled 1(album 2003)
- 10:55 The Green Kingdom - Maplecopter(Twig and Twine 2009)
- 17:00 Sleepy Town Manufacture & Unit 21 - Swollenguest(No Traces 2009)
- 19:21 From the Mouth of the Sun - The Crossing(Woven Tide 2012)
- 20:15 Shirk - Dipsy(The Long Game 2008)
- 23:05 Map & Diagrams - Everybody's got something to hide(Hidden Landscapes 2011)
- 25:55 Relmic Statute - template for sand & forest(morning tapes 2010)
- 30:45 Northern - Coasting(Drawn 2007)
- 33:15 Tanner Menard - Chemical Secrets And Golden Flowers(The Oceans Of Your Aura 2010)
- 36:15 A Produce & Loren Nerell - Meadow Dusk(Intangible 2011)
- 42:00 Chihei Hatakeyama - Cave(Ghostly Garden 2009)
- 46:05 Adam Pacione - Available Light(from stills to motion 2007)
- 47:10 Kyle Bobby Dunn - The Tributary -For Voices Lost(A Young Person's Guide To 2010)
- 54:08 Herion - Moske Orgulie(Out & About 2010)
- 58:33 end
February 24th, 2019
This mix came about thanks to the sleepy inspiration of two 2019 recordings - "Formless" by Matt Borghi and the "Sleeplaboratory" compilation from Whitelabrecs.
https://mattborghi.bandcamp.com/album/formlessness
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/sleeplaboratory10
I've been listening to both of these albums at night since they were released. Both are excellent. They serve as bookends on this 86 minute long sleep mix. Check 'em out & then check the mix. Or check out the mix then check out the albums. Or play all three simultaneously to really blow your mind(probably a bad idea actually).
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Matt Borghi - Water(Formless 2019)
- 04:23 M. Grig - Nod(Sleeplaboratory 2019)
- 07:45 Hotel Neon - 12:41AM(Context 2017)
- 12:56 Glåsbird - Norðurljós(Grønland 2019)
- 15:47 The Green Kingdom - Cloud Cloak(Ephemera 2018)
- 19:26 Rim - Ode To Plutonium(We Are Invisible Now 2016)
- 26:04 Andrew Chalk - Naoko(One Long Year 2019)
- 27:56 Warmth - Saros(Parallel 2018)
- 35:40 Robert Rich - Elevations(Tactile Ground 2019)
- 41:48 Billow Observatory - Soft Logic(III: Chroma/Contour 2019)
- 45:34 Yoyu - In the Field Where Lovers Meet(Ordinary Moon 2017)
- 53:47 Mount Shrine - Empty Slopes(Ghosts on Broken Pavement 2019)
- 61:16 Steve Roach - Atmosphere for Dreaming(Atmosphere for Dreaming 2018)
- 68:30 Music For Sleep - Waterforms(Waterforms 2019)
- 72:24 Brian Eno - Irial(Sisters 2017)
- 81:27 Matt Borghi - Undoing(Formless 2019)
- 84:22 Daliah - With Z((Sleeplaboratory 2019)
- 86:48 end
February 17th, 2019
One of my favorite discoveries late last year was the album In Currents by Innesti. It's a wonderful combination of field recordings, loops, drones and light touches. I put it on my second Best of 2018 mix.
Innesti has a new album coming out on Feb. 25th and we are lucky to have a preview of it on this guest mix he has created.The mix stays true to the Innesti sound - gentle, calming, floating. I am excited to hear the new album and excited for this sneak peak.
Here are a couple Innesti links...
https://innesti.bandcamp.com/album/in-currents
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6vjQzIlQxwDP0miO2oGoXE
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Innesti - The Architecture of Clouds (Formless)
- 04:42 Yoyu - Open Space, Holding You Tenderly (Manitoba Forest Medicine)
- 08:32 Astrolabe - Afterglow (Lights Beyond the Mist)
- 12:34 Gallery Six - Harukaze (Bansyun)
- 16:06 Ishq - Cloud Forest (Flowering Mountain Earth)
- 18:14 ASC - Hadal Zone (The Waves)
- 21:47 Jacob Newman - Invisible Autumn (Invisible Autumn)
- 23:49 Eternell - Haven (Haven)
- 28:56 end
February 10th, 2019
You know how when you see a certain director is involved with a film, like Christopher Nolan, you just know it'll be interesting. Or how music released on certain labels, such as 12k, will definitely be worth exploring. Well, that's how I feel when the tag "Curated by Paul Asbury Seaman" is attached to a mix.
Paul & I have collaborated on several mixes and all have been excellent. It's only Feb. 10th and already we've been treated to two of Paul's mixes. This one is a bit of a departure for him, using pieces that are, like the title says, long-form drones. For me droning ambient can be very hit & miss. This mix is definitely a hit.
Here's what Paul says about it:
“Most of us have contemplated the seemingly contradictory opposites that are a fundamental aspect of reality: good and evil, joy and pain, love and hate, our inner world and infinite space. But this ying/yang, male/female, fire/water dichotomy obscures the fact that much of life is lived in the in-between, in the places where light and dark overlap. Perhaps one reason so many people find calm and inspiration at the beach is its liminal quality—between the ocean and the land. In this mix I give you 71 minutes in that mysterious clarity between trance and tranquility.”
Thanks Paul!
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Alio Die - A Place Beyond(Sitar Meditations 2015)
- 10:46 Louigi Verona - droning198(droning198 2016)
- 26:55 Louigi Verona - droning276(droning276 2017)
- 46:28 Ascendent - Sylvan Rotation(Meridian EX 2018)
- 58:08 Steve Roach - Part Seven(Ultra Immersion Concert 2013)
- 71:32 end
January 27th, 2019
We were having such a nice mild winter here in Wisconsin but then I had to go and jinx it in the last post in which I said we hadn't very much snow. Well, since then we've had two significant snow storms with another 12 inches expected over the next two days.
Snow I can handle but the temps have plummeted - the high temp yesterday was 4° with wind chills around -25°. Ugh. But it gets worse - Wednesday's high temp is supposed to be -14°! That's the high temperature! So much for our nice mild winter. I'm getting too old for this!
I had an IDM mix all ready to post but the frigid landscape was calling for a frozen mix. Most of the tracks are new, 2017 & 2018. And every track has an appropriate cold word in the title. Such as winter, frozen, wind, ice, cold, arctic, snow, etc.
I recommend listening with a cup of hot tea nearby or better yet a large glass of scotch.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 The Gentleman Losers - Make We Here Our Camp Of Winter(2018)
- 05:25 Stray Theories - Frozen Skies(2018)
- 10:08 Zoë Keating - Icefloe(2018)
- 13:36 Helios - North Wind(2018)
- 16:53 Luton - Ice Museum(2018)
- 20:30 Spheruleus - Frozen(2010)
- 22:37 r beny - Glacial Tongues(2018)
- 26:02 Rapoon - Ice Whispers(2007)
- 31:27 Porya Hatami - Snow(2012)
- 37:54 Hotel Neon - Cold Suns(2018)
- 47:47 Akira Kosemura - Snowy Sky(2017)
- 49:20 Halo - Winter Lullaby II(2012)
- 50:50 Seabuckthorn - Sent In By The Cold(2018)
- 54:50 Michael Brook - On Ice(2017)
- 55:46 Maiya Hershey - Arctic Waters(2017)
December 23rd, 2018
Right after I posted my Best Ambient of 2018 mix I started diving into a bunch of other year end lists. Of course I discovered some excellent releases that I would have included in my mix/list if I had known about them in time. I found enough music that I decided to create a second Best of 2018 mix.
I could probably make a third mix but I've got to stop sometime. What were your favorite recordings of 2018?
2019 is just around the corner and it will start with a mix curated by the very talented Paul Asbury Seaman.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Francis Harris - St. Catherine and the Calm(Trivial Occupations)
- 12:00 Luca Longobardi - Marte(The Garden)
- 17:38 Off Land - Zircon(Mineral Echoes)
- 26:40 Kenji Kihara - Sunny Spot(Scenes of Scapes)
- 31:50 Innesti - In Currents(In Currents)
- 39:45 Umber - Harvest(slow)(This Earth To Another)
- 48:55 Cremation Lily - Outlined Expanse(In England Now, Underwater)
- 53:12 Okomotive / Joel Schoch - Warmth in the Cold(Lone Sails)
- 56:10 James Murray - Old Friend(Falling Backwards)
- 61:20 The Gentleman Losers - Bend Low, Sweet Branch, Bend Low(Make We Here Our Camp Of Winter)
- 65:53 Okomotive / Joel Schoch - Bridge(Lone Sails)
- 67:13 Spheruleus - Saturday Drones(Saturday Drones)
- 77:44 end
December 16th, 2018
Even though Christmas music has gotten more interesting than Dean Martin and Bing Crosby, there is not an awful lot of ambient Christmas music out there. So I've only attempted an xmas mix one other time and it was just okay. Until this year.
Thanks to a wonderful album from Matt Borghi I decided to give a holiday ambient mix another shot. Matt's album is called simply - "Ambient Guitar for Christmas."
And it's exactly what it sounds like - slow, ambient guitar with tons of reverb playing recognizable tunes that drift in and out of recognizability. From there everything else flowed pretty easily with a combination of classic xmas tunes to winter and snow songs.
Cheers and Happy Holidays!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Matt Borghi - The First Noel(Ambient Guitar for Christmas)
- 03:40 Fuzzy Lights - Snowstorm in a Snow Globe
- 06:12 Dollboy - Look Darling, It's Starting to Snow
- 08:22 Clem Leek - Away in America
- 14:40 Rachel's - NY Snow Globe
- 17:00 Voces8 - Winter
- 20:15 The Green Kingdom - Sleep, Snow
- 28:20 Casino vs Japan - Christmas Morning
- 28:43 Matt Borghi - Shchedryk
- 31:35 Wil Bolton - Coventry Carol
- 33:54 Bill Nelson - The Christmas Gift
- 35:05 Sara and Adam - Wonderful Christmastime
- 38:35 Takahiro Kido - Christmas Song
- 44:04 Helios - Sunes Christmas
- 47:52 John Zorn - Christmas Time is Here
- 52:22 Voces8 - For Now I Am Winter
- 56:40 Matt Borghi - Silent Night
- 69:00 end
December 9th, 2018
As much as I like end-of-the-year lists, I also get a bit anxious about them. As I compile them I keep thinking that I've missed something. Then as I'm re-listening to albums I start thinking "Is this one really that good?" & "Maybe this one deserves a slot...or this one...or this one..." Eventually I realize that these lists aren't anything definitive that I'll be judged on. Unless there's an ambient god in ambient heaven who will let me in or cast me out based on a lifetime of music choices. In that case I will pay for having listened to so much Enya in the 90s. 
So after that meandering introduction, here is my Best of 2018 list and mix. As you'll see, the list is longer than the mix. That's mostly due to not wanting a 4 hour mix and also to some stuff just not fitting sonically.
It was another good year for music. Between my ambient/electronic fandom and my continued obsession with indie music, I barely have time to breathe sometimes. I'll post some links to Spotify playlists that kept me going this year.
In alphabetical order, here's the list of my favorite ambient albums of 2018:
1. A Strangely Isolated Place - Full Circle
2. Albrecht La'Brooy - Tidal River [2018]
3. Christina Vantzou - no. 4 [2018]
4. Dean McPhee - Four Stones [2018]
5. Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - Wow and Flutter [six degrees 2018]
6. Eli Keszler - Stadium
7. Frank Bretschneider - Lunik
8. From the Mouth of the Sun - Sleep Stations
9. G. B. Beckers - Walkman
10. GiGi Masin - kite
11. Halftribe - For The Summer - Or Forever
12. Helios - Veriditas
13. Hibernis - Middle of the Meds
14. Joseph Shabason - Anne
15. Kasper Bjorke Quartet - The Fifty Eleven Project
16. Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo
17. Klangriket & Sjors Mans - The Amsterdam Sessions
18. Leon Vynehall - Nothing Is Still
19. Lost Tribe Sound - We Stayed The Path That Fell To Shadow
20. Luton - Black Box Animals
21. Markus Guentner - Empire
22. Monty Adkins - Empire
23. Ocoeur - Inner
24. Olafur Arnalds - Re;member
25. Rival Consoles - Persona
26. Robert Davies - Elemental Shimmer
27. TAYLOR DEUPREE - Fallen
28. The Advisory Circle - Ways of Seeing
29. Triac - departure
30. William Selman - Musica Enterrada
- 00:00 Leon Vynehall - From The Sea It Looms(Nothing is Still)
- 04:12 The Advisory Council - The Soft Dissolve(Ways of Seeing)
- 07:20 Ocoeur - Mother(Inner)
- 12:50 Halftribe - Balm(For The Summer-Or Forever)
- 16:07 Helios - Harmonia(Veriditas)
- 19:30 Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - She Brought The Sun(Wow & Flutter)
- 26:28 Klangriket & Sjors Mans - Prinsengracht(The Amsterdam Sessions)
- 31:47 William Selman - The Island Before The Internet(Musica Enterrada)
- 36:11 Eli Keszler - Which Swarms Around It(Stadium)
- 38:46 Taylor Deupree - The Lost Sea(Fallen)
- 43:51 Need A Name - Road to Berlin(A Strangley Isolated Place - Full Circle)
- 49:00 William Ryan Fritch - Burrow(Lost Tribe Sound - We Stayed The Path That Fell To Shadow)
- 53:24 Olafur Arnalds - Undir(Re;member)
- 58:15 Frank Bretschneider - Optik(Lunik)
- 1:01:28 Kasper Bjorke Quartet - Os(The Fifty Eleven Project)
- 1:12:48 Rival Consoles - I Think So(Persona)
- 1:16:58 Markus Guentner - Refraction(Empire)
- 1:25:20 Christina Vaztzou - No. 4 String Quartet(no. 4)
- 1:28:02 Robert Davies - Tangled Undergrowth(Elemental Shimmer)
- 1:35:28 Monty Adkins - Empire(Empire)
- 1:41:31 Triac - departure three(departure)
- 1:45:32 Luton - Ice Museum(Black Box Animals)
- 1:49:22 G.B. Beckers - Klandschwaden(Walkman)
- 1:54:19 Albrecht La'Brooy - Datbreak(Tidal River)
- 1:59:24 end
November 26th, 2018
After six months of travel from Earth, NASA's InSight spacecraft is on a precise trajectory to land on Mars. If all goes well it should be touching down on the surface of the red planet about 6 hours after this mix is initially posted.
The tracks for this mix have all been selected to tell the story of InSight and its journey to Mars. The track titles take us chronologically from Farewell, O Earth to Between Two Worlds to Arrival to Descent to Landing to Sunrise on Mars.
Godspeed InSight!
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Murcof & Vanessa Wagner - Farewell, O World, O Earth
- 07:15 Warmth - Insight
- 14:50 Moon Wiring Club - Between Two Worlds
- 15:52 Rival Consoles - Untravel
- 21:10 Johann Johannsson - Arrival
- 23:27 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Mars
- 27:05 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Mars Theme
- 28:40 Ohrwert - Angle of Incidence
- 30:05 Pye Corner Audio - Descent
- 31:15 Steve Roach - The Dreamer Decends
- 35:30 Seabuckthorn - Blackout
- 38:08 Tonepoet & Cloudfall - Free Falling Through Life's Cavernous Atmosphere
- 43:25 Porya Hatami - Landing
- 45:25 The Future Sound Of London - The Dust Settles
- 48:25 Dirac - Elysium
- 51:56 Lights Out in Asia - All Is Quiet In The Valley
- 55:18 Heavenchord - Sunrise on Mars
- 60:13 Julien Marchal - Insight XIV
- 62:45 end
