low light mixes

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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world

Episodes

Sunday Sep 05, 2021

Slow Road - The Endless Potential of the Pedal Steel Guitar

Sunday Sep 05, 2021

This mix is pretty much what the title says - a collection of quiet/ambient tracks featuring the beautiful sounds of the pedal steel guitar.

I did another pedal mix two years and since then it seems to be easier to find practitioners of the ambient steel guitar sound. Only one artist, Chuck Johnson, is repeated from that mix in this one. Here's the first mix: http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2019/09/ambient-twang.html

All that's left to say is go relax with some steel guitar & maybe a good bourbon around a campfire.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Devendra Banhart & Noah Georgeson - In a Cistern (Refuge 2021)
04:03 Saariselka - Shepherd Canyon (Thousands of Eyes in the Dark 2019)
07:40 The Howard Hughes Suite - Vanishing Point (Smoke from a Future Fire 2020)
13:18 SUSS - Drift (Promise 2020)
17:55 North Americans - Yearling (Roped In 2020)
20:30 Raymond Richards - Paradise, California (The Lost Art of Wandering 2020)
25:45 Trond Kallevåg Hansen - Kapellet (Bedehus & Hawaii 2019)
28:35 susan alcorn - first turning of the wheel(for bob graettinge) (and i await..the resurrection of the pedal steel guitar 2007)
30:18 Chuck Johnson - The Laurel (The Cinder Grove 2021)
38:50 William Tyler - Slow Night's Static (New Vanitas 2020)
48:20 SUSS - Salt (Ghost Box 2018)
51:40 Raymond Richards - Astoria, Georgia (The Lost Art Of Wandering 2020)
55:06 Light of Woods - Sparrow (Field Notes 2016)
56:45 Chuck Johnson - Serotiny (The Cinder Grove 2021)
63:33 end

Sunday Aug 29, 2021

Vantage - Curated by Time Rival

Sunday Aug 29, 2021

I love guest mixes because they expose me to tracks I might have otherwise missed in the monthly deluge of new releases. This new mix comes to us from Michael Southard(Time Rival) of Triplicate Records. I've included a few Time Rival tracks in mixes over the years so I was excited when Michael agreed to put together a mix of some of the best his label has to offer.

Here's a blurb from Michael about this guest mix:

Triplicate Records is an artist run independent record label founded in 2018 by Michael Southard (Time Rival), Bryan Kraft (BVSMV), and George Ernst (Suncastle). We cover a lot of ground in regard to genres, but mostly stick to electronica, ambient and experimental. “Vantage” is a collection of music from our back catalog that highlights the softer side of what we do. Mixed and curated by Time Rival and featuring phenomenal new music from Ian Hawgood, Belly Full of Stars, Chris Randall, and much more.

All of this music is available through our Bandcamp page: https://triplicaterecords.bandcamp.com/

Thanks for an excellent set!

Triplicate has also made a small run painted CD - R version of the mix available at their bandcamp page... https://triplicaterecords.bandcamp.com/merch/vantage-limited-edition-painted-cd-r

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

Ian Hawgood - Flutter Echo Refrain – 0:00:00
Belly Full of Stars - Pattern 4 – 0:05:20
Time Rival – Beech – 0:09:37
Belial Pelegrim – Subtext – 0:12:53
BVSMV, Running in Slow Motion - Memory to Media – 0:18:00
Acef Stripe - Image 7: Dagobah – 0:22:20
Suncastle - The Rooms in Here are Enveloped – 0:24:51
Chaircrusher – Insular – 0:32:22
SURVEY CHANNEL - Outside the Coding Region – 0:39:02
Crest of the Syndicate – Lattermath – 0:44:58
Station Zero - Numb Hand - 0:46:34
Minimal_Drone*GRL - Raspberry Ripple – 0:50:24
Chorchill - Tea Bags – 0:52:46
Chris Randall - Synthetic Instinct – 0:54:59
End – 1:00:00

Sunday Aug 08, 2021

purely ambient

Sunday Aug 08, 2021

Last year at this time I did a mix called "simply ambient" which was a nice, straightforward mix of ambient tracks. This mix is a sort of follow up titled "purely ambient." There is no theme, no story being told by the music, no big concepts. Just ambient music, pure and simple.

This might be the start of a series of mixes - utterly ambient, perfectly ambient, naturally ambient, totally ambient, etc. This would be allow me to get some of the tons of new music that I listen to every month into mixes without having to wait for an appropriate theme. Every track in this mix is from 2021.

So kick back and relax to some purely ambient music.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Ambalek - In the Curled Combes (Fremder 2021)
05:36 Pruski - Horizon (Whispers 2021)
10:40 O Yuki Conjugate - Antonym (A Tension of Opposites Vols 1 & 2 2021)
14:48 Martin Nonstatic - Fading Mist (Reflecting Glaciers 2021)
21:00 Robert Davies - Nocturnal Deliquescence (Arcadia 2021)
27:50 Sailcloth - Great Lakes (Woodcut 2021)
30:20 Konstruct - Nostolgia (Three (squared) 2021)
36:00 Free Dust - Earl Grey (Woo'd Early 2021)
40:00 Erik Wollo - Afterprints (Recurrence 2021)
45:00 Rosales - Nest (Still, Tomorrow 2021)
53:15 anthéne & Simon McCorry - lucid (the equation of time 2021)
60:31 end

Sunday Aug 01, 2021

Chill Summer Guitars

Sunday Aug 01, 2021

I few weeks ago the good folks over at The Slow Music Movement sent me a couple tracks by Wiki Chaves. After listening I immediately knew I had to construct a mix around the laid back guitar style. A style The Slow Music Movement calls - "Perfect for all your beach lying, garden barbecuing, hammock slouching, sunbathing, holiday taking soundtrack needs."

Here's a link to the latest Wiki Chaves release: https://wikichaves.bandcamp.com/

From there I listened to guitar music for a couple of weeks, collecting tracks with a similar vibe. There were some artists I knew right away that I would include like Khruangbin, Bill Frisell & William Tyler. Some were new discoveries like Tommy Guerrero & Jeffrey Silverstein. While others were older tracks I was happy to rediscover such as Steve Hiett, Pat Metheny, Durutti Column and Yo La Tengo.

I like how the mix takes a more acoustic turn about half way through. Starting with new music from The Phonometrician then an old track from Calexico to even older tracks from Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny and Yo La Tengo.

Many of the mixes I do tend to focus on new music because that's what I'm listening to at the time. This mix, however, hits on 5 decades of music and it's pretty cool how they mesh together.

Artist/album links:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Wiki Chaves - Pleasure Point (Raiz 2021)
04:16 Khruangbin - Father Bird, Mother Bird (Mordechai 2020)
07:17 Steve Hiett - Blue Beach (Down on the Road by the Beach 1983)
11:21 Bill Frisell - The Shortest Day (Guitar in the Space Age! 2014)
14:05 William Tyler - Highway Anxiety (Modern Country 2016)
19:27 Tommy Guerrero - Sun Rays Lie Stilts (Perpetual 2015)
21:15 Jeffrey Silverstein - This and Also (Future Folk: Friendly Faces; Different Spaces 2021)
25:15 Durutti Column - Sara E Tristana (Amigos Em Portugal 1983)
28:03 Bexar Bexar - n.r.o.t. (haralambos 2003)
31:17 Trond Kallevåg Hansen - Bedehus og Hawaii (Bedehus & Hawaii 2019)
36:15 The Phonometrician - Campos de Trigo (El Mar Convertido en Oceano 2021)
39:45 Calexico - Above the Ranch (Tool Box 2007)
42:50 Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Cinema Paradiso (Beyond The Missouri Sky 1997)
46:33 Yo La Tengo - Green Arrow (I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One 1997)
51:40 The Green Kingdom - Sol 1 (Solaria 2021)
55:09 Steve Hiett - Standing There (Down on the Road by the Beach 1983)
58:27 Helios - Emancipation (Eingya 2006)
60:50 Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays - September Fifteenth (As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls 1980)
62:47 end

Sunday Jul 25, 2021

Mystical / Train - by Paul Asbury Seaman

Sunday Jul 25, 2021

"Then he leaves the platform/For the sleeping car that's warm

You realize, he's only advertising one more shelter

And it comes to you, he never was a stranger"

- Leonard Cohen, "The Stranger Song"

I have been lucky to have a bunch of excellent guest mixes this year. After this one there are 2 more coming soon. But let's talk about this one first. This is another great collection from the mind of Paul Asbury Seaman. It's appropriate that "Mystical" is in the title as his mixes generally are more "mystical" than the ones I crank out. Which is why Paul's mixes are always a breath of fresh air for me.

Here's what Paul says about this set:

“In ancient times, the meaning of “astrology” and “astronomy” was almost synonymous. Today we view space as a metaphor for the mystical—and vise versa. Both the physical universe and mystical concepts confront us with the unknown, the mysterious and the infinite, stimulating a desire for exploration and stretching our potential. Many things are more connected than we realize, and discovering such unexpected connections can be both illuminating and delightful. So this mix features koto and sax along with sequencers, trumpet, marimba and emotional guitar leads, getting slower as you go deeper.”

Thanks Paul, for another transcendental mix.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Kitaro - Wonderland 2 (An Ancient Journey 2001)
03:06 Pharoah Sanders - Kazuko(Peace Child) (Journey to the One 1980)
08:55 Thom Brennan - Chasing the Rain Part 1 (Chasing the Rain 2021)
17:10 Jon Durant & Stephan Thelen - Fractal 5.7 (Crossings 2021)
24:16 Jean-Luc Ponty - Mystical Adventures Part V (Mystical Adventures 1982)
28:55 David Wright - Transylvanian Lullaby (In Search Of Silence 2011)
36:06 Germind - Subway Of The Future (Reincarnation 2012)
42:08 VAAST - LBV (Eta Carinae 2018)
46:28 Esmerine - Walking Through Mist (La Lechuza 2011)
49:55 Jon Durant & Robert Jürjendal - Reflective Sea (Across the Evening 2020)
55:48 David Wright - Sanctuary Reprise (In Search Of Silence 2011)
57:20 Max Corbacho - Starlight Grace (Nocturnes II 2018)
61:31 Alice Coltrane - The Hymn (Translinear Light 2004)
64:30 Ryan Herr & Jesse Hendricks - Cusp ( Cusp 2020)
74:13 end

Sunday Jul 04, 2021

Sunday Morning Music Vol. 21 - Dreamland

Sunday Jul 04, 2021

One of my favorite new indie albums of 2021 is An Overview on Phenomenal Nature by Cassandra Jenkins. It's a mostly fairly quiet, folky album. Except for the last cut which is instrumental with a kind of jazzy/ambient vibe. I knew immediately that I wanted to use it in a Sunday morning mix. Then I realized that it had been more than a year since I'd done a Sunday mix.

So here it is - Sunday Morning Music Vol. 21 - Dreamland. It sounds just like the Cassandra Jenkins I described above - jazzy/ambient with a sunny feel. There are two vocal tunes - one by Sam Gendel and the wonderful Dreamland by Joni Mitchell.

There's not much else to say other than grab the Sunday paper, a cup of coffee and hang out with this mix.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Time Rival - Breakfast with Birdsong (Fell 2020)
02:40 Casandra Jenkins - The Ramble (An Overview on Phenomenal Nature 2021)
09:05 Sam Gendel - Shells, Tube, and Guitar (Fresh Bread 2021)
15:09 Pino Palladino, Blake Mills - Just Wrong (Notes with Attachments 2021)
19:30 Turn On The Sunlight - Looking For A Waterfall (Warm Waves 2020)
24:50 Joseph Shabason - 15-19 (The Fellowship 2021)
31:33 Green-House - Peace Piece (2021)
35:31 Sam Gendel - Sometimes I Feel So Good (Fresh Bread 2021)
40:00 Joni Mitchell - Dreamland (Don Juan's Reckless Daughter 1977)
44:06 SiP - Malabar (Leos Naturals 2020)
52:10 Blake Mills - Mirror Box (Mutable Set 2020)
57:00 Chocolate Hills - Relax (A Pail of Air 2019)
60:19 end

Wednesday Jun 30, 2021

Last Night the Moon Came - A Tribute to Jon Hassell

Wednesday Jun 30, 2021

Last year we lost Harold Budd. And now, just six months later, we lose another icon in Jon Hassell.

It's nearly impossible to overstate his importance in shaping an entirely new sound, what he would call Fourth World music. His music has influenced scores of musicians and listeners. I've included a lot of Hassell's music in mixes over the years. And, considering he just released a fine album last year, I expected to be featuring his music in mixes for many more years.

This mix is not an overview of his career. It's a collection of tracks that fit together well, starting with a track from the little known Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack, all the way to the final track, Last Night the Moon Came, which sounds like a good finishing cut.

I wish I could say something eloquent or profound about Jon Hassell and his music, but I'm not that type of writer. I let the music speak for itself and, wow, did his music speak to me and many others. I will miss him.

Thanks for all your great music, Jon.

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Jon Hassell Gregg Arreguin Jamie Muhoberac Peter Freeman - AM (The Million Dollar Hotel 200)
05:52 Brian Eno & Jon Hassell - Chemisty (Fourth World 1 Possible Musics 1980)
11:06 Jon Hassell - Cool Down Coda (Seeing Through Sound 2020)
12:25 Jon Hassell - Empire I (Aka/Darbari/Java - Magic Realism 1982)
13:52 Jon Hassell - Sundown Dance (Earthquake Island 1979)
18:09 Jon Hassell - Air (Power Spot 1986)
23:09 Jon Hassell - Malay (Dream Theory In Malaya 1981)
29:36 Jon Hassell - Out of Adedara (City: Works of Fiction 1990)
33:55 Jon Hassell - Map of Dusk (Myths 3 1987)
35:10 Jon Hassell - Timeless (Seeing Through Sound 2020)
42:44 Jon Hassell - Maarifa Street (Maarifa Street: Magic Realism, Vol. 2 2005)
49:32 Jon Hassell - These Times (Dream Theory In Malaya 1981)
51:23 Jon Hassell - Last Hight the Moon Came (Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street 2009)
62:15 end

Sunday Jun 20, 2021

The Cloud Appreciation Society

Sunday Jun 20, 2021

I recently read an article in the New York Times that was published in 2016 about an unlikely collection of admirers. A group that started back in 2004 to sing the praises of...clouds. These devotees are known as "The Cloud Appreciation Society."

Here's a link to the NYT article... https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/magazine/the-amateur-cloud-society-that-sort-of-rattled-the-scientific-community.html

And the society... https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

The name of the group stuck in my head as a possible theme and title for a mix. So here it is, a cloud themed mix. All the tracks have the word "cloud" in their titles. The music is appropriately drifting and relaxing. All the tunes are relatively new except for a few tracks from 2008, 2014, 2015 and one which reaches back to a Folkways record from 1981.

Look up, admire the clouds drifting by and float away with this mix.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Andrew Chalk - From Mountain Tops the Dusky Clouds (Incidental Music 2020)
05:05 Marine Eyes - Cloud Collecting (idyll 2021)
09:18 Max Richter – Shimmering Clouds (My Brilliant Friend 2018)
10:20 Craig Kupka - Clouds 2 (Clouds: Music for Relaxation 1981)
15:20 Gaussian Curve – Broken Clouds (Clouds 2014)
20:05 Clariloops – Clouds (Sun//Rain 2021)
23:34 Yui Onodera & Vadim Bondarenko - Cloudscape 8 (Cloudscapes 2015)
27:00 Shuta Yasukochi – Clouds (Slow sketch vol. 1: Reflections of the ambient community 2019)
30:45 Robert Rich - Fall Up, the Clouds Will Catch You (Offering to the Morning Fog 2020)
39:30 The Green Kingdom – Cloud Cloak (Ephemera 2018)
43:09 Innesti – The Architecture of Clouds (Formless 2019)
51:20 halftribe – Cloud Dreaming and Shadows (Cloud Dreaming And Shadows 2020)
56:22 Rudy Adrian - Of Clouds and Mountains (Desert Realms 2008)
63:29 end

Sunday May 30, 2021

LUMINOUSOUNDS - Orchestral Strings & Strands

Sunday May 30, 2021

I've been wanting to make an orchestral mix for a long time. Sometimes individual tracks will show up in other mixes but I haven't done one devoted exclusively to modern classical music in a long time.

What finally got me going with this mix was the new album from Max Richter - Voices 2. It's a beautiful album with lots of tracks that would work for an ambient leaning modern classical set.

I really like how this one turned out. All but two of the tracks are from 2021. They flow from one to the other really well, making for a nice cohesive mix.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Max Richter - Psychogeography (Voices 2 2021)
06:40 Glowworm - A Late Arrival (Midnight Intervals 2020)
10:30 Sven Laux - Fragment 3 (Scattered Fragments of Separation 2021)
13:48 Christine Ott - Pluie (Time To Die 2021)
18:35 That Which Is Not - Twin (The Basic Sharpness Of Emotions 2021)
24:56 Simon McCorry - Full Circle (And Where Are You Really From? 2021)
28:33 William Ryan Fritch - Resurface (Freeland 2021)
30:01 Christian Löffler - Pastoral (Parallels 2021)
33:33 A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Every Solstice & Equinox (Invisible Cities 2021)
35:42 Jóhann Jóhannsson - Flight From the City(Vikingur Olafsson Rework) (Retrospective II _ Rarities 2021)
41:29 Elskavon & John Hayes - Du Nord (Du Nord 2020)
45:55 Peter Gregson - Somnia [2021]
48:40 Max Richter - Movement Study (Voices 2 2021)
53:41 Slow Dancing Society - The Devil Knows How To Row (Galilee's Dream 2021)
58:38 Ross Gentry - Nobody Wants To Leave (Prism of Dust 2021)
62:00 end

Sunday May 23, 2021

Secret Songs of the Harp

Sunday May 23, 2021

Last year saw a trio of very fine albums of harp music from Andrea Cortez, Mary Lattimore, and Kirsten Agresta Copel. Here are links to all three albums:

https://auralcanyonmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-secret-song-of-plants

https://marylattimoreharpist.bandcamp.com/album/silver-ladders

https://kcopelymusic.bandcamp.com/album/around-the-sun

I used "The Secret Song of Plants" quite a bit as a work-from-home soundtrack. Then recently I realized that I'd never made a mix devoted to harp music. So here it is. It's beautiful and relaxing without being spa, new age crapola.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Assia Cunego - Section 25-30 (Canto Ostinato 2009)
03:42 Alice Coltrane - Vrindavana Sanchara (Transcendence 1977)
07:22 Andrea Cortez - Song 3 (The Secret Song of Plants 2020)
14:20 Mary Lattimore - Pine Trees (Silver Ladders 2020)
17:28 Lavinia Meijer - Gnossienne No. 1 (Voyage 2015)
21:45 Kirsten Agresta Copely - Winter's Bone (Around The Sun 2020)
26:51 Claire Deak & Tony Dupé - for bernadette (the old capital 2020)
29:27 Lavinia Meijer - Glassworks Opening Piece (Glass:Metamorphis The Hours 2012)
35:33 Susan Jolles & Bert Lucarelli - Claire De Lune (Music for Oboe & Harp 2012)
40:35 Julia Rovinsky - An Arc of Doves (Dusk 2010)
46:52 P.G. Six - #1 For Wire-Strung Harp with Echo (Music From The Sherman Box Series and Other Works 2006)
49:49 MItch Greer - Ambient Harp Midnight Reverie (Ambient Harp Midnight Reverie 2020)
65:55 end