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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world
Episodes
Saturday Jul 16, 2016
Saturday Jul 16, 2016
I've done a lot of mixes over the last ten years. Obviously I try to have a theme or mood for each mix. It can get difficult come up with new motifs. That's why I love the idea that Mike G of Ambient Music Guide had last year. We decided to trade guest mixes and he suggested we each send each other a few mix titles and that we select one and build the mix off of that title. It really gets me thinking differently and can help get me out of a rut when looking for mix inspiration.
This mix is the second guest mix from Mike. I love getting these mixes because so often there are artists or genres I normally don't use but that I love listening to. This mix exemplifies that perfectly. I don't listen to as much "space" music as I used to and as I lost myself in this mix I realized that I really need to revisit this style of ambient more often. I am looking forward to using this as a stargazing soundtrack when I vacation in northern Wisconsin later this summer.
This is what Mike had to say about The Color of Space...
"Space is a theme with multiple meanings and is woven throughout much
modern ambient and downtempo instrumental music. My mix The Color Space
is a soundtrack of the cosmos. All the music has a cosmic feel, whether
it be one of inner space, outer space or the indefinable regions between."
Thanks Mike!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Michael Stearns - Encounter
- 03:16 Michael Stearns - Scared Site theme(extended)
- 06:23 Oliver Lieb - Dimension X(edit)
- 14:30 Upper Astral - Massage One(edit)
- 24:20 Healer - Speaking With A Def Man(edit)
- 31:50 Stellardrone - Eternity
- 37:45 Alpha Wave Movement - Travel Into The Nexus
- 42:30 Jonn Serrie - The Far River
- 51:35 Boris Lelong - Oxygen
- 63:07 Jon Jenkins - Ebb(extended)
- 67:32 Solar Quest - Trisine(edit)
- 72:08 Michael Stearns - Star Dreams
-
Saturday Apr 30, 2016
Saturday Apr 30, 2016
As with so many mixes this one started because of a great tune. In this mix that great tune is Existence in the Unfurling by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith from her spectacular new album Ears. The track is a wonderful mixture of analog electronics, fluttering woodwinds and ethereal vocals. It's my favorite song of the year so far and I just had to share it in a mix.
The other tracks are a combination of electronic tunes & some post-rock. All the music is new with the exception of the 3rd track.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Existence in the Unfurling
- 11:05 Mogwai - Ether
- 15:40 The Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra - Age of Steam
- 18:40 36 - FIVe Eyes
- 21:40 Explosions in the Sky - The Wilderness
- 25:44 Prins Thomas - A2
- 32:20 Shaded Explorer - When I Decided to Live
- 40:54 Underworld - Santiago Cuatro
- 44:15 Brian Eno - The Ship
- 52:25 Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Rare Things Grow
- 55:24 end
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 Mar 06, 2016
Sunday Mar 06, 2016
I believe I have professed my love for ambient guitar in previous posts here. So a mix like this is no surprise. Just as many of the artists collected in this mix are no surprise. Dirk Serries, Scott Solter, David Tagg, Windy & Carl, Kyle Bobby Dunn, Fripp & Eno - these are all artists that have appeared in many of my mixes over the years.
The music here is fairly straightforward - ambient tunes where the guitar is the most prominent instrument. Some of the cuts are beautiful, others a bit darker, but all will easily transport the listener to a favorite meditative place.
Enjoy
- 00:00 Tonepoet - Headspace
- 07:00 Chas Smith - False Clarity
- 10:50 A Lily - Hunter and Sky
- 13:45 David Tollefson - Pattern of Islands
- 16:45 Jasper Tx - Embers
- 21:10 Fripp and Eno - Heavenly Music Corp(half speed)
- 26:20 Dirk Serries - The Lament Broke
- 36:40 Kyle Bobby Dunn - The Hungover
- 46:25 Robin Guthrie - Misty
- 49:45 Matt Borghi - The Elysian Plain
- 54:27 Sleep Robot - Prayer Wheel
- 1:00:37 Windy and Carl - Ode to a Dog
- 1:04:50 Gareth Hardwick - Five Points
- 1:14:14 David Tagg - Wolf Suite III
- 1:17:55 Hakobune - A Distant Loss
- 1:24:10 Shaula - Sea of Trees
- 1:27:27 Manual - Always Alone
- 1:33:36 Brian Siskind - Graham Bell
- 1:38:00 Koda - Moment on the South Shore
- 1:42:10 Scott Solter - The Palace Wedding
- 1:46:10 Dirk Serries - Radiant Down
- 1:54:36 end
Sunday Jan 10, 2016
Sunday Jan 10, 2016
I've done many "sea" mixes over the years and I keep coming back to them because ambient music perfectly captures the impression of an undulating a sea or ocean.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Rafael Anton Irisarri - Displacement
- 03:52 Loscil - Angel of List
- 10:00 Kane Ikin - Slow Waves
- 13:30 Budd & Eno - An Echo of Night
- 15:20 Diatonis - Moving in Silence
- 19:54 Wave Temples - Under the Crystal Waters
- 20:25 Wave Temples - Thru the narrow strait...
- 21:45 Benoit Pioulard - Stanza II, IX
- 26:36 Spheruleus - Clouds Swarm
- 30:37 Purl - Havets Sång
- 36:50 pjusk & sleep orchestra - Daithn
- 41:12 Intrusion - Under the Ocean
- 44:50 Porya Hatami - Farewell
- 52:25 Pan & Me - The Sea Is So Quiet
- 59:00 Stefan Paulus - Salt Sea Island
- 63:24 end
Saturday Dec 19, 2015
Saturday Dec 19, 2015
These year end lists are always difficult. But at least the top 3 spots this year were easy selections -
Alva Noto - Xerrox, Vol. 3
Max Richter - Sleep
Chris Walla - Tape Loops
- 00:00 Alva Noto - Isola from Xerrox, Vol. 3
- 07:20 Max Richter - Return 2 from Sleep
- 12:35 Chris Walla - Kanta's Theme from Tape Loops
- 17:05 Benoit Pioulard - Shut-ins on Sunday from Sonnet
- 19:20 36 - Sunriders part 2 from Sine Dust
- 23:40 Olan Mill - Live at the Millenium Barn from Cavade Morlem
- 29:00 Mikael Delta & Hior Chronik - How to Define Existence from The First Ray
- 33:00 Bersarin Quartett - Bedingungslos from III
- 36:06 Contact - Brian Eno: Discreet Music
- 44:22 Marconi Union - Aftermath from Departures
- 48:40 Spheruleus - The Railroad from Chronota
- 55:05 Goldmund - Turncoat from Sometimes
- 57:57 Nils Frahm - Merry from Solo
- 61:45 Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie - The endless battle of the maudlin ballade part 2 from Travels in Constants Vo. 24
- 64:40 Horizon Fire - Earthlight from Earthlight
- 67:26 end
Saturday Nov 14, 2015
Saturday Nov 14, 2015
A slowly developing amalgamation of mixed-genre madness, fusing ambient, experimental & jazz soundscapes into a mixture of quiet deconstruction.
"Slow Decay" is a collaborative mix from Low Light Mixes & Ambient Landscape. We've each done mixes for each other but we thought it would be cool make a mix in which we both contributed alternating sections.
Gene(ambient landscape) came up with the title and I started things off with a couple of cuts. I sent it to Gene, he added a few more, sent it back to me, I added more tracks and so on and so on. Until we had a fascinating 1 hour & 16 minute journey.
I love how things turned out. The combination of ecm-style jazz and ambient and experimental music worked perfectly.
Don't forget to check out Ambient Landscape here...
https://ambientlandscape.wordpress.com/
https://www.mixcloud.com/gab_labs/
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Signal Structure (w/treatments) - Positive Centre
- 03:12 Upon Contact Reworked - Jorge Haro (Bruno Sanfilippo)
- 07:10 The Squealing of Rats & the Squeaking of Boards - Marielle V Jakobsons (w/treatments)
- 08:45 Parallel Realities (excerpt) - Jack DeJohnette, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock
- 11:40 Dis Loops 1.1 - William Basinski - performed by The Wordless Music Orchestra
- 21:40 Upon the Break Arch - Benoit Pioulard
- 26:20 Structural Functions Of Prezens (excerpt) - David Torn, Tim Berne, Craig Taborn, Tom Rainey
- 30:25 Sluimer (excerpt) - FANTOOM (René Aquarius, Otto Kokke, Dirk Serries, Martina Verhoeven)
- 34:50 Passage D.E. - Jon Hassell
- 39:10 Solphaer - Alva Noto
- 44:05 Porch Swings - Cinchel
- 45:55 Arder De No Sentir Calor - Mauro Beltran
- 50:27 Night Peculiarities – Johan Troch
- 53:19 Tunis at Dawn - Anouar Brahem
- 59:44 Rosemarie - Trio3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille w/ Vijay Iyer
- 66:04 Setting Out - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
- 67:50 The Wind in High Places: Above Sunset Pass - John Luther Adams
- 70:45 Tipping Point - Andy Sheppard Quartet
- 76:15 end
Sunday Oct 04, 2015
Sunday Oct 04, 2015
I use ambient mixes for sleeping almost every night. A long time ago a friend once mentioned that the best ambient tunes for sleeping are the ones that mimic the rhythm of breathing. Over the years I've found that to be very true.
So this mix, like the other 'breathing' mixes before it, is a collection of tunes that ebb and flow, quietly mirroring your sleepy breathing patterns.
Enjoy
- 00:00 The Dead Texan - The 6 Million Dollar Sandwich
- 02:55 Abstract Aprils - Breathing Sculptures
- 08:50 Le Chat Blanc Orchestra - She Left This Morning
- 15:38 Olan Mill - Spare Smoke Template
- 18:20 Alva Noto - Spiegel
- 21:15 James Johnson - Minimum(excerpt)
- 29:40 Offthesky - Snow Filled Summer
- 31:45 Steve Roach - The Delicate Forever
- 38:30 Billow Observatory - kronstadt
- 42:42 ASC - Hall of the Gods
- 46:50 Experiments in Silance - A Ghost of Stars
- 52:10 Marsen Jules - Lazy Sunday Funerals 7
- 57:05 Manual - Last Light
- 63:36 end
Friday Aug 21, 2015
Friday Aug 21, 2015
The pic above is of the hammock in my backyard. My kids got it for me for Father's Day and I love it. I can't figure out why I didn't have one before. On many nights this summer I grab my kindle and a beer and lay contentedly under our big birch tree.
Of course as a true music
obsessive I have speakers out on the deck that I control remotely. So
whenever I head out to the hammock to read or just space out, I cue up
some ambient, classical or jazz and just drift away.
That's where I got the idea
for this mix. I needed a new collection to keep me company while I sway
in the cool evening air. For some reason when I think of "porch music"
or evening music, I think of ambient guitar. So most of this mix is
guitar based, some more ambient than others. A lot of it is fairly new
and all of it works well with bug spray and a beer. I couldn't resist ending the mix with a tune from...Hammock.
Enjoy
- 00:00 Nathan Amundson - More Horses
- 05:18 Jakob Bro - Lyskaster
- 09:00 CFCF - A Various Language(from the same hill)
- 12:25 Daniel Lanois - Space Love
- 14:00 David Tagg - Comanche
- 20:20 Josh Mason - Petals Too Tired To
- 23:00 Dirk Serries - Disorientation Flow
- 31:15 Christopher Willits - Now
- 35:35 Tonepoet - Headspace
- 41:50 Brian Eno - From the Same Hill
- 44:24 Matt Borghi - Homage to Dave Liebman
- 47:54 Alessio Ballerini - Night in Day
- 51:21 Tone Color - City of Three Rivers
- 56:45 Hammock - Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow
Wednesday Aug 12, 2015
Wednesday Aug 12, 2015
The title of this one pretty much says it all.
So download the mix, grab some bourbon, a blanket and head outside to witness the 2015 version of the Perseid meteor shower.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Moesko - Stargazer
- 03:55 Marconi Union - Still
- 07:35 36 - Sky Fire
- 11:11 Alio Die - nuvole di palissandro
- 12:25 Alva Noto - Solphaer
- 17:55 Julio Di Benedetto - Original Light
- 26:26 Robert Davies - Nightshade
- 35:20 Klowknfe - Gamma
- 42:30 Horizon Fire - Earthlight
- 44:55 Moesko - Cloudgazer
- 47:55 Donnacha Costello - You Are Not Here
- 51:05 Marconi Union - Fading
- 57:15 end