low light mixes

Floating Through Moonlight

 

My musical friend, Paul Asbury Seaman, has given us another gift in this beautiful collection.  Paul picked out the tunes and the order & I stitched them together to form the mix.  It was a joy to assemble.

 

Here's what Paul had to say about the mix:

 

"This is another bedtime, dreaming, unwinding, floating-away-on-an-interior-journey mix. The starting inspiration came from Michael DeMaria’s piece, “Moonlight” from his 2004 album The River.  I was so struck by how precisely the music evoked the image of moonlight on water. I have always been drawn to rivers and from the early days of ambient/electronic music more than forty years ago, with the likes of Kitaro and Tangerine Dream, I have described this genre as “journey music”—Silk Road journeys, interstellar journeys and journeys down a moonlit river."

 

Thanks to Paul for another Stellar collection of tunes.

 

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Byron Metcalf - As Clouds Dance(Inner Rhythm Meditations
• 07:40    Erik Wollo - Sepia(Blue Radiance)
• 10:45    Meg Bowles - Between, Shadows and Prayers(From the Dark Earth)
• 14:20    Michel Banabila - Sana's(Float)
• 18:55    Michel Banabila - Fragments of Memory(Float)
• 25:40    Michael DeMaria - Moonlight(The River)
• 35:20    Michael DeMaria - Moonlit Sea(In the Flow)
• 37:35    Erik Wollo - Revealed in Time(Ble Radiance)
• 41:30    Darshan Ambient - Tears to Rain(Songs From The Deep Field)
• 43:45    Meg Bowles - Undulant Sea(The Shimmering Land)
• 48:15    Erik Wollo - Blue Radiance(Blue Radiance)
• 52:13    end

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ocean Echoes

 

The Ocean is a mighty harmonist.

               - William Wordsworth

 

 

This is pretty straight forward - a collection of tunes that will make you feel as if you are drifting along on ocean currents.  Almost all of the ocean sounds in this mix are in the original pieces of music.  I only added a bit of wave sounds around the 39 minute mark.  Enjoy the float.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Alonefold - Wanderer & Stone(Wanderer & Stone 2014)
• 07:31    Riverrun - Conover Beacon(Romer Shoal 2016)
• 11:15    Keenya - Remember Smiles(Moment Invisible 2016)
• 14:35    Helios - Ebb/Flow(Rememberance 2016)
• 18:18    Igneous Flame - North Sea Siren(Ocean Sighs 2016)
• 22:05    Gareth Davis - Filament(Filament 2016)
• 30:40    Brian Eno - The Secret Place(Apollo 1983)
• 33:20    Urenga - Seafloor(Undercurrents 2015)
• 39:15    Billow Observatory - Plum(Plains/Patterns 2017)
• 44:20    Barry Lynn - Alpha Tauri(Taurus Tapes Vol. II 2017)
• 46:36    Dolphins Into The Future - Lone Voyager(On Sea-Faring Isolation 2009)
• 54:15    Riverrun - Dubos Point(Romer Shoal 2016)
• 77:00    end
  

 

Vox Eterna - A Wordless Hymn to a Luminous World

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure where this mix originated.  It may have started with Johann Johannsson's Kangaru from the Arrival soundtrack, God knows I listened to that a ton over the last 6 months.  Maybe it was Max Richter. 

 

Whatever it was I found myself collecting vocal tunes.  The kind of tracks that have vocals but many times no words or lyrics.  If there are words it's usually unintelligible or a language like Latin.  Once I gathered enough music then wa-lah here's an ethereal vocal mix.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Max Richter - Sketch for a Portrait #1(Morgan OST 2016)
• 01:06    Olafur Arnalds - Raddir(Island Songs 2016)
• 05:00    Ashera - Lullaby for Mother Earth(Ambient Selections 1997)
• 08:00    Tim Hecker - Utropics(An Imaginary Country 2009)
• 08:53    Jonsi & Alex - Boy 1904(Riceboy Sleeps 2009)
• 11:30    Jim Cole - Astral(Godspace 2002)
• 15:18    Jim Cole - The Way Beyond #10(The Way Beyond 2003)
• 17:30    Brian Eno - 2-1(Music for Airports 1978)
• 22:30    Melanie Pappenheim and Jocelyn Pook - Blow the Wind/Pie Jesu(Deluge 2009)
• 24:50    Max Richter - Path 5(Sleep 2016)
• 31:00    Johann Jphannsson - Odi Et Amo(Englaborn 2002)
• 33:50    Murcof & Vanessa Wagner - Farewell, O World, O Earth(Statea 2016)
• 41:00    Peter Gabriel - Dressing the Wound(Birdy 1985)
• 44:20    Alio Die & Amelia Cuni - Churning the Ocean(Apsaras 2001)
• 49:20    Johann Johannsson - Kangaru(Arrival 2016)
• 51:50    Jon Anderson - Bless This(Global Communication Remix)(The Deseo Remixes 1995)
• 57:44     Trio Mediaeval & Arve Henriksen - St. Birgitta Hymn(Rimur 2017)
• 61:48    Voces8 - Vasks: The Fruits Of Silence(Winter 2016)
• 66:30    end

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Memory of Trains

I wonder why the sound of trains is so evocative.  Even for folks who have never been on a train there is something about the sound of a train on the tracks that stirs the imagination.  This mix will hopefully have the same effect.

 

I was surprised to find that I've only done two previous train themed mixes.  It sure seems like I've done more.  Maybe it's the use of train sounds in filed recording mixes that has me confused.  Anyway, here are the two previous mixes...

http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2014/08/leaving-station.html

http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2015/01/points-of-departure.html

 

This mix began with a recommendation from a follower on Mixcloud, Paul Asbury Seaman. I asked for any other train tunes he could suggest and he came through in a big way.  He did all the hard work and mapped out the whole mix for me.  I had a great time mixing it and discovering new music along the way.

 

Here's what Paul had to say about the mix...

 

"Berlin School synth/electronica can be pretty kinetic and thus an obvious source for a train mix, but I was going for a more melancholy sound, the wistful feeling evoked by the sound of Far Away Trains Passing By (the title of the Ulrich Schnauss album represented here). My working title for this mix was "Locomotive Lullaby."

 

While I was on the subject, I made a list of classic train songs (the sung kind) and came up with more than sixty--about three CDs worth! Here's a great article to start your playlist with: http://harpers.org/blog/2014/06/the-twenty-three-best-train-songs-ever-written-maybe/ Or contact Low Light Mixes for a copy of mine. Thanks, new friend Dave, for putting this together."

 

Thanks Paul, for all work on this excellent mix!  I still have more tracks to use so the next train mix will be more jazzy.

 

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Erik Wollo - Church Mountain(Different Spaces 2017)
• 04:04    Johan Agebjörn - Sleepless On The Kostomuksha-Petrozavodsk Night Train(We Never Came to the White Sea 2017)
• 10:20    Between Interval - On Track(Legacy 2017)
• 13:10    David Parsons - The Himgiri(Yatra 1990)
• 18:40    Ulrich Schnauss - Nothing Happens in June(Far Away Trains Passing By...2001)
• 24:25    Ascendant - Ephemeris(Source Transmission 2014)
• 31:30    Mark Ward - Universal(Universal 2017)
• 40:15    Hollan Holmes - Enduro(The Spirits of Starlight 2014)
• 46:25    Erik Wollo - Rundreise(Different Spaces 2017)
• 51:05    Al Gromer Khan - Stamboul Train(Turya 2006)
• 62:15    end

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pale Blue Dot - Earth Day 2017

 

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives."

     - Carl Sagan

 

 

I have always loved Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" essay. It's even better hearing his voice reading it.  In the Cosmos reboot from a couple of years ago, when they played a clip of Carl I actually cried.  Yes, I am a huge dork.  So needless to say, Sagan reading about the pale blue dot gets me every time. 

 

There are a ton of videos on youtube combining his quotes with music & images. Some are quite good, some use horrible cheesy music or hokey stock photos.  I thought, heck I'm a video editor, I'll make my own video. But then I realized how sometimes the images can detract from the prose.

 

So I decided to combine Sagan's Pale Blue Dot with one of my all-time favorite pieces of music - Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight."  The next step was to use that mashup to lead off a mix dedicated to Earth Day 2017 & the coinciding March for Science.  If you look at the track titles the theme is obvious.

 

I eventually did make a video to go with the mashup.  But it's just one image.  It's a pic taken by the Cassini spacecraft from just beyond Saturn.  It's Pale Blue Dot 2.0 if you will.  The  video is just one long slow pull from earth out to the full image.

 

Take a look here...

 

 

 

Enjoy the mix, Earth Day and remember - Science not Silence.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Carl Sagan & Max Richter - Pale Blue Dot & On the Nature of Daylight
• 05:05    Jim Cole & Spectral Voices - Hear Earth
• 08:00    Steve Roach - On This Planet
• 15:20    Map & Diagrams - Particles of Earth
• 18:10    A Small Good Thing - Scorched Earth
• 23:15    Adam Pacione - Warming Trend
• 25:27    Shuttle358 - Melt
• 30:10    Jeff Greinke - Changing Skies
• 32:50    Brian Eno - Climate Study
• 35:30    J. Ralph - The Glaciers Are Telling
• 37:20    Michael Brook - Earth Alone
• 39:20    Mathias Grassow - Planetary Consciousness
• 43:45    Lav & Purl - Earthship
• 49:50    Robert Scott Thompson - Pale Blue Dot
• 65:00    end

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off_Worlder

 

One of my favorite things about making these mixes for ten years is the people I've come in contact with.  I stay in touch with folks from Ireland, The Netherlands, Canada, Brazil or just down the road in Chicago. 

 

This mix comes from one these online friends, Josh Furey.  He did a previous guest mix for Low Light Mixes called Cartridge, which you can find here...

Cartridge - an 8-bit Adventure  He recently reached out about a new mix & I of course jumped at the chance to showcase another of his mixes. 

 

I'll let Josh tell you about it...

 

As a relative newcomer to ambient music in 2012, I was immensely lucky to stumble across Low Light Mixes. It can be pretty overwhelming when you start to explore a new genre of music and over the years Low Light Mixes  has supplied me with a wildly diverse mix of ambient music to enjoy while also serving as an amazing resource for the genre music that now dominates any playlist I put together.

If you are a frequent listener to Low Light you will recognize a lot of the artists I chose for this mix and hopefully there are some new names for you to check out as well. Off Worlder is my way of saying thank you to Dave for introducing me to so many amazing artists over the years and keeping Low Light going for over 10 years.

I hope you enjoy.

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 - Exerpt from Blade Runner
• 00:19 - Vegyn - Unknown (https://soundcloud.com/Vegyn)
• 03:19 - Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein- In Pursuit (https://survive.bandcamp.com/)
• 0:4:30 - 36 - Shadow Play (http://3six.net/album/shadow-play)
• 08:23 - Goldmund - Turncoat (https://goldmund.bandcamp.com/track/turncoat)
• 11:29 - Suplington - Love (https://soundcloud.com/suplington)
• 15:27 - Julie London - Bouquet Of Blues (https://www.discogs.com/Julie-London-bout-The-Blues/release/1378929)
• 16:14 - Burial - Forgive (https://burial.bandcamp.com/track/forgive)
• 17:48 - Mark Pritchard - ? (https://markpritchard.bandcamp.com/)
• 22:15 - In Aeternam Vale - Drones (https://dement3d.bandcamp.com/track/drones)
• 24:17 - Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow - Ava (https://www.discogs.com/Ben-Salisbury-And-Geoff-Barrow-Ex_Machina-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/release/7007937)
• 26:35 - Vangelis - Spiral (https://www.discogs.com/Vangelis-Spiral/release/1493684)
• 27:11 - Biosphere - Sphere Of No-Form https://biosphere.bandcamp.com/track/sphere-of-no-form)
• 29:29 - Thore Pfeiffer - Good Life (https://kompakt.bandcamp.com/album/pop-ambient-2017)
• 34:53 - Aphex Twin - Stone In Focus (https://boomkat.com/products/selected-ambient-works-volume-ii-limited-triple-vinyl-reissue)
• 36:55 - Corey Allen + Marcus Fischer - Two/Twenty-Two/Eighty-Two(https://twotwentytwo.bandcamp.com/album/two-twenty-two)
• 39:27 - Murcof - Una (https://murcofmusic.bandcamp.com/album/martes-utop-a)
  41:02 - Offthesky & Pleq - A Thousand Fields https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/a-thousand-fields)
   
• 43:02 - 2814 - 新しい日の誕生 (https://dreamcatalogue.bandcamp.com/album/--18)
• 44:10 - Marsen Jules - Through Blood and Fire (https://marsenjules.bandcamp.com/track/through-blood-and-fire)
• 46:40 - The Beautiful Schizophonic - Prayers (https://dynamophone.bandcamp.com/album/belkiss)
• 48:22 - Nils Frahm - Says(https://nilsfrahm.bandcamp.com/album/spaces)
• 51:57 - Synkro - Overture (https://synkro.bandcamp.com/track/overture)

 

 

 

 

a slow thaw 2017

 

I haven't had time lately for new mixes but I wanted to get something up on Mixcloud so I thought I'd resurrect an old mix.  This mix was originally done 10 years ago.  Yikes!  I can't believe I've been doing this that long.

 

There were a few tracks in the original mix that I didn't really like anymore so I added a few new ones and took out a few old cuts.  The new tracks are by Tilman Robinson, Loess, Murcof & Venessa Wagner, and Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society.

 

I hope to get back on track with new mixes coming more frequently. There's also a guest mix coming very soon.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

T R AC K L I S T :

• 00:00    Tilman Robinson - Bathed in Her
• 05:55    Michael Brook - Earth Alone
• 07:25    Windy & Carl - Akimatsuri
• 12:25    Underworld & Gabriel Yared - St. Pancras
• 15:45    Loess - Striae
• 20:15    Oblong - Rendevous
• 23:22    Rafael Anton Irisarri - Waking Expectations
• 29:25    Green Kingdom - Autumn Toadlick
• 35:15    Xela - Bobble Hats in Summer
• 40:20    Chihei Hatakeyama - Granular Haze
• 43:10    Daisuke Miyatani - Yu
• 44:10    Eluvium | Requium on Frankfort Ave.
• 46:25    Dollboy | Hatterjax
• 51:25    Murcof & Vanessa Wagner - Aphex Twin Avril 14th.
• 55:10    Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - Half Light

 

 

 

 

Gently Falling Snow

 

 

I think the last time I posted a snow mix I said that when I think of music to go with snow I think of piano music.  Maybe it's from years of hearing Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts Christmas album or George Winston's December album.  Whatever the reason, I immediately go to the piano for snow music.

 

So that is again the dominant instrument in this mix.  Most of the music here is fairly new which includes the Roedelius tune from 2015 - "Gently Falling Snow."  Obviously I stole the title for this mix but I think this collection really does have a nice feeling of "gently falling snow."

 

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Sonmi451 - I Didn't Know That Cats Could Grin
• 05:00    Olafur Arnalds - Dalur
• 08:10    Johann Johannsson - The Drowned World
• 10:12    Rachel's - NY Snow Globe
• 12:30    Roedelius - Gently Falling Snow
• 14:33    Jason Van Wyk - Kept
• 17:50    Olafur Arnalds - For Now I Am Winter
• 21:35    Chihei Hatakeyama - Coastal Railroads in Memories
• 27:10    Andrew Heath - Requiem
• 34:15    James Murray - Particles
• 39:21    Sonmi451 - Oh My Ears & Whiskers
• 43:30    James Murray - Eyes to the Height
• 47:39    Mike Lazarev - Absent
• 50:00    Taylor Duepree - Snow(dusk dawn)
• 55:20    Jason Van Wyk - Stay
• 58:18    Nils Frahm - Less
• 63:40    end

 

 

 

 

Best Ambient of 2016

 

 

 

Every year I make two lists of my favorites albums of the year.  One list is generally indie music and the other is ambient/instrumental.  Even though I have a difficult time deciding on the final group it is easier coming up with the indie list than it is for ambient.  Maybe it's because after a year of music they all tend to blur together and sound the same.  There are definitely some stand outs, like the two releases from Johann Johannsson this year.  But generally it's tough to make a list because there are a lot of quality recordings every year.

 

As hard as it is, it's still a lot of fun digging through a ton of releases to find my favorites and then out them together in a coherent mix.  The tracks don't appear in any particular order.  I just figured out what cuts sounded good together.  Not all the tracks from my best of list made into the mix because that's just the way mixes go sometimes.

 

Here's the list, I'd love to hear about your favorite albums of the year, tell me about them in the comments.

BEST AMBIENT/INSTRUMENTAL OF 2016:

• 1. Johann Johannsson - Orphee
• 2. Ryuichi Sakamoto And Alva Noto - The Revenant OST
• 3. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Ears
• 4. Paul Haslinger - Halt & Catch Fire OST
• 5. The Green Kingdom - Harbor
• 6. Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Stranger Things Season 1, Vol. 1
• 7. Olafur Arnalds - Island Songs
• 8. Huerco S. - for those of you who have never (and also those who have)
• 9. Yagya - Stars And Dust
• 10. Johann Johannsson - Arrival OST Coppice Halifax - Green Shape
• 11. Coppice Halifax - Green Shape
• 12. 36 - The Infinity Room
• 13. Loscil - Monument Builders
• 14. Oddisee - The Odd tape
• 15. Olan Mill - Land Cycle
• 16. Pye Corner Audio - Stasis
• 17. Piers Faccini - no one's here
• 18. Voces8 - Winter
• 19. Marconi Union - ghost stations
• 20. Mac Quayle - Mr. Robot, Vol. 1 OST
• 21. AXX - Command Z
• 22. Rezo Glonti - Budapest
• 23. Riverrun - Romer Shoal
• 24. Daniel Lanois - Goodbye To Language
• 25. Spheruleus - Sundials

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    The Green Kingdom - Haze Layers
• 06:46    Huerco S. - The Sacred Dance
• 12:10    Yagya - Motes in the Moonlight
• 16:25    Piers Faccini - no one's here 1
• 20:00    Marconi Union - Shadow Scheme
• 22:30    Johann Johannsson - A Song for Europa
• 24:34    Olan Mill - Part 2
• 27:35    Loscil - Weeds
• 32:58    Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Existence in the Unfurling
• 43:36    Paul Haslinger - It's Not Right
• 44:41    Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - This Isn't You
• 46:50    Ólafur Arnalds - Raddir
• 50:00    36 - Room 8
• 52:25    Coppice Halifax - Green Shape phase 4
• 57:10    Rezo Glonti - Pulse Added Two
• 62:10    Heavenchord - Night Waterline
• 67:13    Daniel Lanois - Time On
• 72:10    AXX - Prelude
• 73:31    Riverrun - Weehawken
• 76:00    Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto - The Revenant Theme(Noto remodel)
• 79:33    Johann Johannsson - Arrival
• 81:33    end

 

 

 

 

 

endless ambient

 

I've always been a fan of long form ambient.  It's goes all the way back to side-long cuts on Fripp & Eno's No Pussyfooting and Eno's Discreet Music.  And more recently to the many full album cuts from Steve Roach.  He's got a number of long form tracks and I'm not sure how many he has released.

 

For this mix I decided to feature a bunch of long tracks and to also let a large chunk of each to play.  Most cuts in the mix play for about 20 minutes or so.  Which is why this ends up easily being the longest mix I've ever done, clocking in at 6 hours and 15 minutes.  The version on Mixcloud is 5 1/2 hours because I needed to get the file size under 500mb.

 

This mix should work well as an all night sleep aid.

 

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Alio Die - Ultima Latet
• 19:15    James Johnson & Stephen Phillips - Lost at Dunn's Lake
• 43:15    Disturbed Earth - Butterfly
• 58:15    Brian Eno - Neroli
• 1:11:15    Sonmi451 - Ruis
• 1:30:15    Steve Roack - Etheric Imprints
• 1:43:55    Aloof Proof - The Ghost Ship
• 2:03:20    Harold Budd - As Long As I Can Hold My Breath
• 2:27:30    Seaworthy - Sleep Paths
• 3:04:00    Robert Rich - Somnium
• 3:53:15    Jim Cole - Astral
• 4:10:30    Steve Roach - The Delicate Beyond
• 4:39:20    Alio Die - In The Labyrinth Garden
• 5:08:15    Brian Eno - Lux 4
• 5:22:50    Paul Vnuk - Silence Speaks In Shadows
• 6:15:21    end