Episodes
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Piano Day 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
International Piano Day is March 29th and, as has been the case for the last five years, I've put together a new mix in celebration of ambient piano tunes. I don't do quite as many piano mixes as I once did but when I create these Piano Day sets I find I really enjoy the vibe.
There are a lot of new tracks in the mix, half of them from 2022 & 2023. But there are a few older tunes as well. I really like how this one turned out. I hope you enjoy the latest Piano Day excursion.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
02:45 Hania Rani - The Beach(From I Never Cry) (Music for Film and Theatre 2021)
05:14 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20211130 (12 2023)
10:02 h hunt - 11e (playing piano for dad 2016)
12:49 Arin Aksberg - In Memory (It Flows Between U 2023)
16:47 Olafur Arnalds - Still, Sound (A Sunrise Session 2021)
20:42 ANNA - Receiving(Jon Hopkins piano version) (2023)
25:15 Hania Rani - Whale's Song (Inner Symphonies 2021)
29:42 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20211201 (12 2023)
34:37 Library Tapes - Safe Haven (Dusk 2021)
36:41 Bing and Ruth - We Are on the Side of Angels (Tomorrow Was The Golden Age 2014)
42:53 Milieu - Antique Sunlight (Smokebuilder's Woodshop 2008)
47:56 Nebel Lang - Past All Unknowing (Directions For Stopping 2022)
52:43 Lorenz Weber - as time goes by (only the wind 2022)
56:10 Purple Decades - Forest (Journey Test 2023)
59:10 end
Sunday Mar 27, 2022
International Piano Day 2022
Sunday Mar 27, 2022
Sunday Mar 27, 2022
International Piano day takes place on the 88th day of the year, in honor of the number of keys on a piano keyboard. In 2022 that day is March 29th. So, as in years past, I have put together a mix of piano tracks to celebrate Piano Dat 2022.
This set starts off a bit different from those I've done before. Most are solo piano type mixes but this one starts off with 5 tracks that have more of an electronic vibe. After that we return to my normal nebulous, random note type of piano stuff. Then finishing off with a few more composed tracks.
https://leiter.bandcamp.com/album/piano-day-compilation-vol-1
Cheers and Happy Piano Day!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Aukai - Distracted By Clouds(Ben Lukas Boysen Remix) (Branches Of Sun2017)
- 04:38 Mike Lazarev - All That Remains (Places for Peace 2022)
- 06:57 Arovane & Hior Chronik - The Return (Into My Own 2017)
- 09:46 Chris Hyson - Nocturne (Human Error 2017)
- 14:18 Jon Hopkins - A Drifting Up (Insides 2008)
- 18:25 Andrew Tasselmyer - Missing Pieces of Self (Limits 2022)
- 23:00 William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - on reflection (“ . . . on reflection " 2022)
- 29:55 unknown - generative pno
- 37:27 Nebel lang - Where Are You (Directions For Stopping 2022)
- 42:23 Spheruleus - Frozen (Frozen Quarters 2010)
- 44:30 Maps and Diagrams - Gehen (Marhofn 2022)
- 46:20 Jonathan Yandel - Impromptu No. 1 (Inner Ocean 2017)
- 53:38 Rob Simonsen - Argenté (Rêveries 2019)
- 57:40 grotta veterano - slaap (sleeplaboratory3.0 2022)
- 61:02 end
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
snow on my piano
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
As I've said here before, solo piano is wonderfully evocative of falling snow. So this mix is a collection of piano tracks that remind me of snow.
All the tunes are new, being from 2020 or 2021. Including the opening track from a forthcoming album on Whitelabrecs, i=r by Lorenzo Masotto https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/i-r
There's not much else to say other than enjoy this last snow mix of the year. We still have a lot of snow on the ground but it's melting and I can sense spring just around the corner. Of course by saying that I probably just guaranteed that we'll get hit with another 12" storm by the end of month. Ugh. I think I continue to live in a cold, snowy environment just for the musical inspiration. ;-)
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Lorenzo Masotto - i=r(lake) (i=r 2021)
- 03:58 Echoflex - D aeolian (Echoflex VI: Piano Net 2020)
- 09:42 Snorri Hallgrímsson - Landbrot (Landbrot I EP 2020)
- 12:19 Jon Hopkins - Dawn Chorus (2020)
- 15:24 James Murray & Mike Lazarev - Animitta (Sunnata 2020)
- 17:45 Nebel lang - Sigh (Hand in mine 2021)
- 21:52 Polaroid Notes - Down By The Sea (Ennio's Muse 2021)
- 25:04 Elskavon & John Hayes - L'etoile (Du Nord 2020)
- 28:28 Julia Gjertsen & Nico Rosenberg - Proper Time (Distant Fields 2020)
- 35:15 Ólafur Arnalds - Still _ Sound (some kind of peace 2020)
- 37:42 Belly Full of Stars - Pattern 4 (Aura 2021)
- 39:24 Snorri Hallgrímsson - Haustar (Landbrot I EP 2020)
- 42:35 Ian Hawgood - Dear Trish (Ennio's Muse 2021)
- 45:02 Echoflex - C aeolian (Echoflex VI: Piano Net 2020)
- 52:11 Nebel lang - Inwards (Hand in mine 2021)
- 67:51 end
Saturday Mar 28, 2020
Piano Day 2020
Saturday Mar 28, 2020
Saturday Mar 28, 2020
Today, March 28th, is International Piano Day. This is what the Piano Day website says about today:
“Why does the world need a Piano Day? For many reasons. But mostly, because it doesn’t hurt to celebrate the piano and everything around it: performers, composers, piano builders, tuners, movers and most important, the listener.” – Nils Frahm
Piano Day, an annual worldwide event founded by a group of likeminded people, takes place on the 88th day of the year – in 2020 it’s the 28th March – because of the number of keys on the instrument being celebrated.
The aim of the day is to create a platform for piano related projects in order to promote the development of musical dimensions and to continue sharing the centuries-old joy of playing the piano. Piano Day welcomes all kinds of piano lovers — young and old, amateur and professional, of any musical direction – to join in this year's festivities. It is intended to be the most joyful of all holidays!
Piano Day gives me an excuse to put together an all-piano mix. I really like the vibe of this year's version. Most of it is very stripped down and simple. I've also found it to be very therapeutic during these quarantine times.
- 00:00 Plïnkï Plønkï - Hiraeth
- 04:22 Mike Lazarev - Afflicted
- 07:00 Olga Wojciechowska - All I Have Not Seen
- 11:27 Innesti - Forgotten
- 14:18 Klangriket & Sjors Mans - Leidseplein
- 18:22 Nils Frahm - Some
- 22:20 Ben Lukas Boysen - Only in the Dark
- 25:35 Ólafur Arnalds - saman
- 27:39 Sjors Mans - With You
- 30:31 S.hel - Eia Popeia
- 34:38 Hania Rani - Warszawa
- 39:55 Infinite Scale - Across the Otherside
- 42:03 Julien Marchal - Insight XXXVIII
- 43:12 Roger Eno And Brian Eno - Blonde
- 47:05 Yosi Horikawa - Thalfang
- 50:50 Piano Day Website Remix
- 63:29 end
Thursday Mar 29, 2018
Piano Day 2018
Thursday Mar 29, 2018
Thursday Mar 29, 2018
It's the 88th day of the year so that means it's Piano Day(88 keys on a piano)!
There's actually not much to say about the mix other than it contains some excellent piano music. Most of the tracks are fairly new with many being from 2017 & 2018. There's so much piano based music out there to choose from it's a bit overwhelming when first starting the mix. But as so often happens, once I start with a track or two the rest flows from there. I think the tunes fit pretty well together & I like how it turned out.
Don't forget to visit the piano day website - http://www.pianoday.org/ - where you can play around with the awesome random piano sounds app. Just click on the flip cards for your own cool, ambient piano tune.
Happy PNO Day!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Nicholas Britell - Little's Theme(2016)
- 00:45 Gigi Masin - The Word Love(2014)
- 07:14 Rafael Anton Irisarri - Für Alina(2009)
- 11:28 Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm - 20:17(2015)
- 16:25 Bing & Ruth - To All It(2017)
- 21:30 Hans-Joachim Roedelius & Arnold Kasar - Rolling(2017)
- 24:51 Jame Maloney - Blink(2017)
- 30:18 The Prairie Lines - Calm Landing(2017)
- 34:25 Max Richter - The Lord's Rough Ways(2018)
- 37:07 Taylor Deupree - Unearth(2018)
- 42:32 Alejandro Bento - Tonal(2017)
- 43:44 Kai Schumacher - The Fool(2017)
- 47:20 Panoptique Electrical - In Between Buildings(2017)
- 56:05 Just A Human - Johann Piano 1(2018)
- 57:56 Christian Loffler - Pigment(2016)
- 60:14 end
Sunday Apr 24, 2016
Piano Moments
Sunday Apr 24, 2016
Sunday Apr 24, 2016
I had not planned on doing another piano mix so soon after the last one in November 2015. Then Piano Day happened. On March 28th of this year a group founded by Nils Frahm celebrated the piano and everything around it. This was the second year for the event.
In addition to music released for Piano Day and live events, the Piano Day website, pianoday.org, has this awesome random note generator. I highly recommend playing around with it. You can record your noodlings and play it back on the site. It works great with a tablet where you can hit several notes simultaneously.
The website piano player is what got me started on this mix. I made an audio recording of my random notes and then messed with it by mixing it with a backwards version and a slowed down version and adding a bit of reverb. The result is very listenable. Not an exact composition per se with now structure but it works pretty well as an ambient piano track.
That's a long winded way of saying that is where this mix started. Next I stumbled across an amazing recording on SoundCloud here... https://soundcloud.com/hey-exit/every-recording-of-gymnopedie-1
Brendan Landis, recording as Hey Exit, took every recording he could find of Satie's Gymnopedie #1 and played them all at the same time, layered on top of each other, timestretched to the length of the longest recording. The 60 plus recordings combine to create an ethereal, phasing shifting version the famous Gymnopedie #1. I knew immediately that I had to include this in any piano mix.
A couple of quick notes on other tracks...
The mix starts of with Fleeting Smile by Roger Eno. A cut that owes a lot to Satie's Gymnopedies but is still beautiful on it's own. It had been years since I listened to this track and after hearing it again I immediately added to a playlist I have called The Most Beautiful Recordings Ever.
There is another sort of random notes type of piece in the mix and it's from Akria Rabelais. The tracks full name is "Every Tone Is the Prism as Words, Any Unexpected Corners Must Be Slipped Away." It's a 42 minute piece with LOTS of dead air in between notes. I decided to remix it a bit by layering it to eliminate much of the silence. I know this goes totally against the original intent of the track but I was just experimenting with the randomness of rearranging the notes and ended up liking how it sounded.
I hope you enjoy these piano moments. Maybe next year I'll have a piano mix ready on Piano Day. In the meantime go visit the site... pianoday.org
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Roger Eno - Fleeting Smile
- 02:24 Hey Exit - every recording of gymnopedie 1
- 06:50 Hey Exit - every rec of gymnoedie 1 slowly
- 08:23 pianoday.org + Low Light - Piano Day web player remix
- 15:15 Steve Roach & Robert Logan - Moments Notice
- 20:30 Akira Rabelais - every tone is the prism(layered remix)
- 28:30 Harold Budd - Templar
- 37:30 Roedelius - Roedelius plays piano part 11
- 40:05 Nils Frahm - Mi
- 43:54 Unknown - random pno
- 47:27 Mark Lyken & Emma Dove - fishing for rigs pt. 1
- 49:05 Howard Skempton - piano piece 1969
- 50:30 Roedelius - Roedelius plays piano part 1
- 52:33 Chris Walla - Introductions
- 60:14 Hey Exit - every recording of gymnopedie 1 slowly
- 62:20 end
Sunday Nov 25, 2012
asleep at the piano
Sunday Nov 25, 2012
Sunday Nov 25, 2012
Looking back over the last six years of mixes, the piano has been the featured instrument in many of the the tracks. I guess it goes all the way back to Ambient #1 : Music for Airports. The piano is a perfect instrument for the contemplative, ambient music in the mixes found here.
As far as I can tell, I've done four mixes devoted exclusively to the piano. They are...
1) Piano Mix
4) pno 2010
This fifth installment, "asleep at the piano," is very similar to the others. Although this one may be a bit more ambient in nature.
I was happy to squeeze in two tracks related to Harry Towel, the man behind the brilliant net label Audio Gourmet. The first by Talvihorros is from the 2011 Audio Gourmet release "Just a Moment" which you can find here...Just a Moment. The other cut is from Harry's recording artist guise, Spheruleus. The track, Blueprint, is from his album on Tessellate Recordings called Cyanometry. You can find that one here...Cyanometry at Bandcamp. You can find some of Harry's excellent mixes on Mixcloud here...Spheruleus on Mixcloud and here...Groundingsounds on Mixcloud.
Enjoy.
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Sissors & Sellotape - untitled #1
- 01:51 Cepia - Malcesine
- 03:23 Jon Hopkins - water
- 04:20 Cluster & Eno - ho renomo
- 07:45 Ruben Garcia - Rainy Day
- 13:15 Tim Hecker - sketch 1
- 17:20 Tomoyoshi Date - the sound of the moon
- 20:10 Antonymes - 301210
- 24:50 Loscil - City Hospital
- 28:28 Willitts & Sakamoto - Reticent Reminiscence
- 32:00 Talvihorros - Hallowed
- 33:15 A Winged Victory for the Sullen - minuet for a cheap piano
- 36:00 The Beautiful Schizophonic and Yui Onodera - nubian clouds over Saskia
- 41:00 Spheruleus - Blueprint
- 44:25 Janek Schaefer - eyrie of the phoenix
- 45:30 Harold Budd & John Foxx - After all this Time
- 50:25 Sissors & Sellotape - untitled #4
- 52:15 Tape Loop Orchestra - the word on my lips is your name
- 57:25 Jon Hopkins - the end
- 02:06 END
Friday Dec 31, 2010
pno 2010
Friday Dec 31, 2010
Friday Dec 31, 2010
This last mix of 2010 is a mix that I did for Headphone Commute about 3 months ago. They were kind enough to ask for a mix & I was honored to add it to their great collection of mixes they post at their own site & at their Mixcloud site. I realized that if I was going to post this piano mix I'd better do it now because the title is "pno 2010" so I need to squeeze it into 2010 before it's gone. This mix starts with John Cage – “On a Landscape”, which is appropriate, because that tune is the reason I did this piano mix. I’d never heard “In a Landscape” when a friend linked to it on youtube. What a great piece of music. So I decided to build a piano mix with that as the jumping off point. The other unusual piece in this mix is Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guébrou – “Golgotha” by an Ethiopian nun living in Jerusalem. Her music is unique, it filters the traditional Ethiopian pentatonic scale through classical technique– in the end sounding like impressionistic jazz. Wonderful music. T R A C K L I S T :
- [00:00] John Cage – In a Landscape
- [04:15] Kyo Ichinose – Engine #5
- [05:20] Worrytrain – Hospitalized
- [06:45] Max Richter – Infra #6
- [09:35] Nest – The Twelve
- [14:00] Tanner Menard – Laws of Attraction
- [19:50] Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guébrou – Golgotha
- [24:27] Craig Armstrong – Gentle Piece
- [27:10] Ben Woods – Stare Out in Silence
- [32:25] Gavin Bryars – My First Homage
- [38:10] Kyo Ichinose – Lontano #0
- [40:00] Chris Abrams – Christmas Island
- [44:45] Arovane – Tokyo Ghost Stories
- [49:50] Christian Fennesz & Ryuichi Sakamoto – Kokoro
- [53:15] Andrey Kiritchenko – Agravic Illusion
Wednesday Jan 07, 2009
antique sunlight
Wednesday Jan 07, 2009
Wednesday Jan 07, 2009
I cross familiar territory here with another piano mix. I think this is the third I've done. There's no particular reason for doing a piano mix other than I happened to run into a few nice piano tunes & figured I'd slap together a short mix. As usual this is fairly quiet music, good for reading the paper on a Sunday morning.(when newspapers disappear I'll really miss doing that) I'll be sending this one to Mick & his "15 Minutes of Fame" mix series which you can find here...15 minutes. Enjoy. TRACKLIST: 00:00 Milieu - antique sunlight 05:00 Ryuichi Sakamoto - ropa 10:00 Taylor Deupree & Kenneth Kirschner - may 15:11 Library Tapes - fragment VIII 18:30 Con Cetta - ker 22:46 Jeanne Moreau - un entretien avec 24:14 NIN - ghosts 11 27:20 Kosik - lastly empty 30:40 Goldmund - Threnody 35:00 United Bible Studies - sea of rains 35:46 end