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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world
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4 days ago
4 days ago
It's World Piano Day! I've made several mixes over the years for Piano Day and each time I wonder if I'll find enough tracks for an interesting mix. And every year it comes together and surprises me with how much I like the finished set.
This mix starts with a tune everyone should be familiar with - Eno's Music For Airports 1/2. This recording is by Bruce Brubaker from his fine EP - Eno Piano 2. To make things interesting I played two tracks from it simultaneously and I think it worked pretty well.
While collecting tracks for the mix I was happy to find a piano album from Daniel Lanois. It's from 2022 and I had no idea it existed. I'm a big fan of the Necks so I was also excited to use one of their tracks for the first time. At least I think I've never used their music in a mix before.
LINKS TO ALL THE MUSIC USED IN THIS MIX:
- https://bruce-brubaker.bandcamp.com/album/eno-piano-2
- https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/quiet-rooms
- https://jonhopkins.bandcamp.com/album/ritual
- https://tapelooporchestra.bandcamp.com/album/psalm019-sabbat-de-voix
- https://lawrenceenglish.bandcamp.com/album/even-the-horizon-knows-its-bounds
- https://thehumblebee.bandcamp.com/album/the-trembling-line
- https://h-mo.bandcamp.com/album/bark-up-the-spirit-tree
- https://gallerysix.bandcamp.com/album/distance
- https://latencyrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/latency-alla-villa-medici-ii
- https://thenecksau.bandcamp.com/album/bleed
- https://www.amazon.com/Player-Piano-Daniel-Lanois/dp/B0B7BYVZJK
- https://benlukasboysen.bandcamp.com/album/falling-into-place-original-score
- https://modernarecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-shoe-factory
- https://sine-music.bandcamp.com/album/dreamscapes
- https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Daylight-Piano-Version/dp/B0DKX181VJ
I hope you enjoy this latest installment in celebration of the piano.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Bruce Brubaker - Music For Airports 1/2 and 1/2 (Bows Version) played simultaneously (Eno Piano 2 2024)
- 06:28 Polaroid Notes - Invitation To A Ghost Seance (Quiet Rooms 2024)
- 10:53 Jon Hopkins - part viii - nothing is lost (Ritual 2024)
- 14:40 Tape Loop Orchestra - Voix Figées (PSALM019: Sabbat De Voix 2025)
- 20:10 Lawrence English - ETHKIBIII (Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds 2025)
- 25:10 civic hall - II (the trembling line 2024)
- 28:12 H-M O - Full Circle (Bark up the Spirit Tree 2024)
- 33:12 Gallery Six & Lorenz Weber - Dialogue 1 (Distance 2024)
- 36:19 Duval Timothy - Go Without (Latency alla Villa Medici II 2024)
- 41:32 The Necks - Bleed (Bleed 2024)
- 46:25 Daniel Lanois - Sunday Asylum (Player, Piano 2022)
- 49:15 Ben Lukas Boysen - Prologue (Music for Falling Into Place OST 2024)
- 51:36 Oliver Patrice Weder - Into Pieces (The Shoe Factory 2024)
- 54:15 Thomas Lemmer - In The Glow Of Midnight (Dreamscapes 2025)
- 56:27 Max Richter - On the Nature of Daylight(Piano Ver.)(The Blue Notebooks 20 Year Edition 2025)
- 62:23 end
Wednesday Mar 19, 2025
Wednesday Mar 19, 2025
Talk Talk is an interesting band. Their musical style evolved significantly over time, moving from synth-pop to a more experimental art rock and post-rock sound, particularly with the albums 'Spirit of Eden' and 'Laughing Stock'. I like every phase of their career but I especially love the album 'Spirit of Eden'.
Those last two albums have grown in stature and influence over the decades, inspiring countless musicians with their innovative use of space, silence, and unconventional song structures. It's no wonder that an ambient focused person like me would glom onto Talk Talk when you consider band leader, Mark Hollis's often-quoted sentiment about the importance of silence in music – "Before you play two notes, learn how to play one note... and don't play one note unless you've got a reason to".
Recently a favorite podcast of mine, Discord & Rhyme, dedicated an episode to 'Spirit of Eden'. It's totally worth a listen. You can find here - https://discordpod.com/listen/155-talk-talk-spirit-of-eden-1988
After listening to that episode I decided to make a mix of tracks with a 'Spirit of Eden' feel. I used a few tracks recommended by the guys in the podcast - Bark Psychosis, Van Morrison, and Mile Davis. And combined those with 7 other cuts that fit the vibe. I always knew that Rain Tree Crow/Sylvian/Jansen/Barbieri would be a perfect fit. I was excited to use one of my favorite albums of 2022 - 'The Great Awakening' by Shearwater. I had forgotten how much I love that record.
Are there any Talk Talk fans out there? What do you think of this collection of Talk Talk inspired tunes?
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Steve Jansen & Richard Barbieri - Mother London (Stone To Flesh 1995)
- 05:52 Phil Clemo - Maze (Through the Wave of Blue 2024)
- 11:07 Bark Psychosis - Street Scene (Hex 1994)
- 16:20 Van Morrison - When Heart Is Open (Common One 1980)
- 22:33 Rain Tree Crow - Blackwater (Rain Tree Crow 1991)
- 26:44 Shearwater - No Reason (The Great Awakening 2022)
- 32:00 Tuxedomoon & Cult With No Name - Do It For Van Gogh (Blue Velvet Revisited 2016)
- 36:18 The Blue Nile - From a Late Night Train (Hats 1989)
- 40:01 Bed - The Whimps (The Newton Plum 2001)
- 43:10 Miles Davis - He Loved Him Madly (Get Up With It 1974)
- 62:37 end
Wednesday Mar 12, 2025
Wednesday Mar 12, 2025
Another stellar guest mix comes our way with this excellent set from longtime listener, Daniel Hawkins. He reached with an idea for a mix and once I heard the theme I was all in. Daniel curated a playlist of tracks & I put them together to create this new mix.
Here's what Daniel has to say about Metallic Memories:
"So I've loved world music since before that term existed, and always had an inordinate fondness for the metallophones - gamelan, vibraphone, glockenspiel, Tibetan bowls - should we include tubular bells? Of course! I don't know if the kalimba and marimba are technically in the category, but they are in my mind. Wind chimes, tingshas, koshis, steel drum, handpan, gongs, avant-garde stuff done with trash cans and pipes - it's all good. This playlist leaves out a ton of music that Dave has covered over the years that is near and dear to me - but I wanted to do what he does so well - bring new artists to everyone's attention and still make a killer playlist. I'd thought for a looooong time about putting something together for Low Light Mixes and was so pleased with Dave's gracious response."
Thanks, Daniel, for this excellent collection of metallophone music!
Links to all the music used in this mix:
Ethereal Planes - Moonlit Passage
Brian Eno - 77 Million Paintings
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Tom Green - Centre of your Circle (Music for Tai Chi 2012)
- 09:45 T. Raumschmiere - Grotznogg (T.Raumschmiere 2015)
- 13:45 Peter Bark - Bonfire (Astral Ecotone 2020)
- 18:12 Ethereal Planes - Moonlit Passage (Moonlit Passage single 2022)
- 25:55 Willebrant - Plateau(Into the Valley) (The Pilgrim 2021)
- 32:30 Snufmumriko - Skogar av tang (Havstrakt 2023)
- 39:45 Daniel Lentz - Lascaux (Missa Umbrarum 1991)
- 47:27 Brian Eno - 77 Million Paintings 1 (77 Million Paintings 2023)
- 53:08 end
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
This is one of those mixes without a theme. It's just a way to highlight some new ambient tracks from the first two months of the year, although I cheated and used two from the end of 2024.
- https://logicmoon.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-film-vol-1
- https://sine-music.bandcamp.com/album/dreamscapes
- https://driftworks.bandcamp.com/album/glacial-drift
- https://dronarivm.bandcamp.com/album/theme
- https://driftworks.bandcamp.com/album/breathing-space
- https://philippedeschampsfilms.bandcamp.com/album/remember-the-clouds
- https://moolakiiclubaudiointerface.bandcamp.com/album/another-kind-of-earth
- https://driftworks.bandcamp.com/album/signals-and-codes
- https://flynst.bandcamp.com/album/washed-out-pastel
- https://francisgri.bandcamp.com/album/bruma
- https://ab-odnumlaut.bandcamp.com/album/mitochondria-johatsu
- https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/pictures
- https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/treasure-of-stars-streams-of-consciousness
- https://h-mo.bandcamp.com/album/bark-up-the-spirit-tree
- https://daveluxton.bandcamp.com/album/collected-ambient-works-iii
- Sine Music - https://sine-music.bandcamp.com/music
- Driftworks - https://driftworks.bandcamp.com/
- Dronarivm - https://dronarivm.bandcamp.com/music
- Moolakii Club Audio Interface - https://moolakiiclubaudiointerface.bandcamp.com/
- Audiobulb - https://audiobulb.bandcamp.com/
- Chitra Records - https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/
- Projekt - https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/
- Ingrown Records - https://ingrown.bandcamp.com/music
- 00:00 Logic Moon - Meld (Music For Film Vol.1 2024)
- 02:58 Thomas Lemmer - In The Arms Of Night (Dreamscapes 2025)
- 05:50 Glasbird - 2016 (Glacial Drift 2025)
- 09:00 Bartosz Dziadosz - Harmony (Theme 2025)
- 13:27 Pete Kvidera - Scribble (Breathing Space 2025)
- 16:45 Philippe Deschamps - Remember The Clouds (Remember the Clouds 2025)
- 20:25 The Lonely Bell - Another Kind of Earth Pt. 2 (Another Kind of Earth 2025)
- 23:45 Andrew Heath - Documenting Observations (Signals and Codes 2025)
- 29:30 Flynst - Sea Of Fog (Washed Out Pastel 2025)
- 31:12 Francis Gri - Bruma II (Bruma 2025)
- 34:45 OdNu + Ümlaut - Mitochondria (Mitochondria Johatsu 2025)
- 38:25 Soloi Sounds - Draft (Pictures 2025)
- 42:22 Dirk Serries - Soft Rain (Treasure Of Stars 2025)
- 52:40 H-M O - Soul Laundry Day (Bark up the Spirit Tree 2024)
- 55:18 Dave Luxton - Of The Mist (Collected Ambient Works III 2024)
- 59:53 end
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
I like it when a mix discovers itself. I started grabbing a few tracks for a new ambient mix and two of the tunes I pulled had the word "lonely" in the title. That got me thinking about making the entire mix a "lonely" mix. And this is the result.
It was fairly simple - I just searched for tracks with the word "lonely." and in no time at all I had enough for a mix. That's all there really is to say about it.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Anthéne - this lonely path (the slow wave 2021)
- 03:35 Kevin Paczesny - Lonely River (Lost Horizons 2025)
- 09:52 The Howard Hughes Suite - The Lonely Shore (Through the Ether 2021)
- 13:48 Stars Of The Lid - The Lonely People(Are Getting Lonlier) (The Tired Sounds Of Stars Of The Lid)
- 20:30 Brian Eno & Harold Budd - Wind In Lonely Fences (Ambient 2 The Plateaux Of Mirror 1979)
- 24:10 Sonmi451 - The Distant Sound Of A Lonely Tree (Hummingbird 2013)
- 29:12 Juliet Walkingtom & Jim Howard - Lonely Road (Beyond The Treeline 2025)
- 34:21 Klaus Schulze - The Lonely Dead of Midnight (Timbres Of Ice 2019)
- 41:40 derrickderrick - A pack of gauloises to fill the lonely nights (Happiest in illusion 2024)
- 44:30 David Parsons - Meditation on a Lonely Pool (Tibetan Plateau / Sounds of the Mothership 1991)
- 48:30 SUSS - Road Trip Part 3(The Lonely Path) (High Line 2019)
- 51:20 Hammock - Lonely, Some Quietly Wander in the Hall of Stars (Longest Year 2010)
- 57:10 Building a Building - Galactic Static & Lonely Pings (Notebook of Strange Dreams & Nightmares 2021)
- 60:00 end
Wednesday Feb 19, 2025
Wednesday Feb 19, 2025
I have continued my recent bingeing of berlin-school electronic music. Devouring old and new music. So I was very excited when guest mixer Erwin Broers reached with a new berlin-school mix. Woo hoo! It's all new music, some of Erwin's favorites from 2024. I was familiar with about half of the artists some it was great to discover new music.
I'll let Erwin tell you about the mix:
- 00:00:00 Paul Ellis & Per Thomhav - Orpheus (Orpheus)
- 00:06:11 Perge - La Roue (La Roue)
- 00:11:21 Gert Emmens - Elektra Part 1 (Elektra 25th Anniversary Edition)
- 00:18:38 Filtercafé - Kaltwasserhahn (106)
- 00:32:00 Cosmic Ground - Area 24 Part 4 (Area 24)
- 00:37:02 Thom Brennan - Othadiegra Part 5 (Othadiegra)
- 00:43:51 Pyramid Peak - Aquamarine (Kontinuum)
- 00:51:13 Robert Schroeder - Observer (Observer)
- 00:58:57 Erik Wöllo - Forever River (Solastalgia)
- 01:06:42 MoonSatellite - Motion Part 3 (Motions Of Ethereal Lunar)
- 01:15:00 Awenson - Van Halen (Faith)
- 01:25:58 Paul Ellis & Pabellón Sintético - Synonymous (Veiled Portraits)
- 01:31:31 Sequentia Legenda - Crystal Of Light (Galactic Crystals)
- 01:41:40 Gert Emmens & Ron Boots - Lost In Dephts Of Desolation (Lost In Depths Of Desolation)
- 01:56:09 end
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
This is the perfect time for a winter mix because we finally got a substantial snowfall today. I was worried that my snowblower wouldn't get a workout this year. I had already planned on a winter mix and then bang - 8" of snow.
This past fall I made a mix for autumn that alternated between instrumental & vocal tunes and I really like the way it turned out. So this mix follows the same guidelines but with a winter theme.
All the tracks have winter or snow or cold in the title and, like the autumn mix, they mostly alternate instrumental/vocal. Though there a few deviations from that rhythm.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Library Tapes - It Was A Cold Day In February And We Walked Across The Lake
- (Feelings For Something Lost 2006)
- 01:19 Kate Bush - Snowflake (50 Words For Snow 2011)
- 10:45 Hiroshi Yoshimura - Urban Snow (Music for Nine Post Cards 1982)
- 15:18 Jan Bang - Winter Sings (Reading the Air 2024)
- 19:00 Fuzzy Lights - Snowstorm In A Snow Globe (That Fuzzy Feeling 2007)
- 21:43 Adrianne Lenker - Snow Song (Hours Were the Birds 2014)
- 25:35 Saint Etienne - Snowbound on the South Bank (A Glimpse of Stocking 2010)
- 27:08 Vashti Bunyan - Winter is Blue (Just Another Diamond Day 2001)
- 28:54 Ben McElroy - Store Away For A Winters Day (How I Learnt To Disengage From The Pack 2021)
- 31:55 Ray LaMontagne - Winter Birds (Gossip in the Grain 2008)
- 37:51 Sailcloth - Winter Walks (Close Keeping 2018)
- 39:55 The Rural Alberta Advantage - Coldest Days (Departing 2011)
- 42:45 Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes 2008)
- 45:10 Jody Mosher - Snow(vocal and bazz flute) (Snow 2025)
- 49:30 Christopher Hanlon - Dreams of Summer in Winter (Dreaming of Summer in Winter 2022)
- 51:42 Doug Ashdown - Winter in America (No Cheap Grace 1995)
- 55:41 Kika Sprangers - Winter ( (In)finity 2024)
- 58:14 Voces8 - Arnalds: For Now I Am Winter (Winter 2016)
- 62:57 end
Wednesday Feb 05, 2025
Wednesday Feb 05, 2025
- 00:00 Herbie Hancock - Vein Melter (Head Hunters 1973)
- 08:50 Allan Holdsworth - Distance vs Desire (Sand 1987)
- 13:56 John Abercrombie - Timeless (Timeless 1974)
- 21:38 Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays - September Fifteenth
- (As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls 1981)
- 29:06 Jaco Pastorius - Continuum (Jaco Pastorius 1976)
- 33:30 Soft Machine - Between (Six 1973)
- 35:33 Joe Zawinul - In A Silent Way (Zawinul 1971)
- 40:11 Gong Emotions (Downwind 1979)
- 44:50 Jean-Luc Ponty - I Only Feel Good With You
- (Cosmic Messenger 1978)
- 47:38 Brand X - Black Moon (Masques 1978)
- 51:55 Miles Davis - It's About Time
- (The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions 2001)
- 60:49 e n d
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
We have a special treat for this mix - an upbeat collection with an ambient house music vibe. I have a folder on my hard drive that is labeled "gentle house music." It contains tracks that have a definite 4-on-the-floor style but aren't hardcore, fill-the-dance-floor tunes. Something like Kiasmos. I have avoided making a mix of these tune because, truthfully, I suck at beat matching. I don't use professional software that would do it for me and I don't have quite the musical ear to pull it off on my own, at least for an entire mix.
That's where Johan Kisro and Petter Lindhagen come to the rescue. Johan and Peter record as Dött ljus and they have a new EP coming out on February 5th called Bottna. You can find it here - https://slowcraft.bandcamp.com/album/bottna The EP is on Slowcraft Records which says "the irrepressible energy of their hybrid electronica finds itself subtly grounded in a tenderly ambient melancholy."
I was immediately taken by the vibe of the new EP so I was over the moon when Johan suggested doing a mix for LLM. Perfect! I've always wanted a mix that sounds like this.
Here's what Johan says about this collection of tracks:
"This mix is a collection of songs we love—some of which may have influenced our upcoming EP, Bottna (out February 5th via Slowcraft Records). Bottna is a refuge, a place where anything can become something, where color breaks through the cracks in the pavement, hidden from the intensifying hum of a world unraveling. The songs exist at the intersection of rhythm and droning textures, and we wanted this mix to follow that same path—from fragments to flourish."
Thanks to Johan and Peter for curating this excellent mix.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Kejser audiovisual - EMO TREE 3.0, pt.1 (EMO TREE 3.0 2024)
- 00:46 Bonnie Beecher - Come Wander with me (1964)
- 02:21 Dött ljus - Förr (Bottna 2025)
- 07:06 The XX - VCR (Four Tet Remix) (2010)
- 15:22 Sofia Kourtesis - Vajkoczy (Madres 2023)
- 19:14 Radiohead - Everything in its Right Place (Gigamesh Remix 3.0) (2024)
- 23:40 Menke - Nattskärran (Christian Löffler Remix) (2018)
- 26:56 Kelly Lee Owens - Dreamstate (Dreamstate 2024)
- 32:16 Colin Stetson - All the days I’ve missed you (ILAIJ I)
- (New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges 2011)
- 33:09 Brian McBride - Prelude (When the Detail Lost its Freedom 2005)
- 34:46 Fred again…, Delilah Montegun - Delilah (pull me out of this)
- (Actual Life 3 [January 1 - September 9 2022] 2022)
- 38:50 Caribou - Honey (Honey 2024)
- 43:13 Abul Mogard - Half Light of Dawn (Circular Forms 2015)
- 49:20 Donnie & Joe Emerson - Baby (Dreamin’ Wild 1979)
- 52:48 Dött ljus - Bottna (Bottna 2025)
Sunday Jan 26, 2025
Sunday Jan 26, 2025
- https://apollorecords.bandcamp.com/album/hana
- https://earthensea.bandcamp.com/album/recollection
- https://af13.bandcamp.com/album/milan
- https://modernarecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-shoe-factory
- https://samwilkes.bandcamp.com/album/iiyo-iiyo-iiyo
- https://shop.aroojaftabmusic.com/products/night-reign-lp
- https://fayewebster.bandcamp.com/album/underdressed-at-the-symphony
- https://gsschray.bandcamp.com/album/whispered-something-good
- https://www.amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0DNZQ58QQ
- https://kamasiwashington.bandcamp.com/album/fearless-movement
- https://www.amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0CZ4B4M61
- https://www.amazon.com/Album-Eiko-Talia-Spar-Ishibashi/dp/B0D9ZY1DXW/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.acUyTDm7L3-aUoCkmcVA9A5LtOhLs5TQ1v0CU74c7jU.6snIHYORMuWGNW-aOAv2puQ62pmjqPHCTaK6j1GBd1E&dib_tag=se&qid=1737331033&refinements=p_32%3A+Eiko+%2F+Talia%5Cc+Joe%5CcVon+Spar+%2F+Ishibashi&s=music&sr=1-1
- 00:00 Andert Tysma - Dalmally (Hana 2024)
- 05:35 Earthen Sea - Present Day (Recollection 2024)
- 09:35 Alister Fawnwoda, Suzanne Ciani, Greg Leisz - Night Bunny (Milan 2021)
- 15:48 Oliver Patrice Weder - Breathe In (The Shoe Factory 2024)
- 19:03 Sam Wilkes - Descending(Frue) (iiyo iiyo iiyo 2024)
- 23:19 Arooj Aftab - Raat Ki Rani (Night Reign 2024)
- 28:22 Faye Webster - Wanna Quit All the Time (Underdressed at the Symphony 2024)
- 31:27 G.S. Schray - Another Haunted Mirror (Whispered Something Good 2024)
- 35:25 Ethel Cain - Amber Waves (Perverts 2025)
- 42:40 Kamasi Washington - Dream State (Fearless Movement 2024)
- 50:45 This Is The Kit - Careful of Your Keepers (Live at The Minack Theatre 2024)
- 53:45 Von Spar & Eiko Ishibashi - I (Album I 2024)
- 60:00 end