low light mixes

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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world

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Tuesday Dec 20, 2016

Best Ambient of 2016

Tuesday Dec 20, 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

Saturday Nov 12, 2016

endless ambient

Saturday Nov 12, 2016

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

Sunday Oct 16, 2016

still falls the rain 2016

Sunday Oct 16, 2016

Back in 2009 I did a guest mix for Subversion called Still Falls the Rain. When a regular listener/downloader was looking for a replacement file for one that he had lost I realized that I'd never properly uploaded it to my own archive or to Mixcloud.

So I dug up the file from 2009, added a few more tracks and uploaded for your listening pleasure. Good timing too, because it's been raining a lot here so it fits perfectly.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 August Stars – Inland Rain
04:25 Part Timer – Rain on My Window
06:50 Letna – Raining Day
09:30 Jon Hassell – Delta Rain Dream
12:55 Manual - After the Rain
14:00 Mark McGuire – A Pocket Full of Rain
15:20 Sense - Early Rain
19:00 Cyber Zen Sound Engine & Matt Borghi – Endless Rain
22:10 Foxx & Budd – Raindust
27:55 Jeff Pearce – Rainshadow Sky
30:22 Giovanni Guidi Trio - The night it rained forever
37:40 experiments in silence - as gentle rain falls
47:56 Ryuichi Sakamoto - After the Rain
48:43 end

Sunday Sep 11, 2016

Ambient Decades: 1980s

Sunday Sep 11, 2016

This is mix #2 in the Ambient Decades series. As the titles says, this mix focuses on ambient music in the 1980s.

There were some great ambient albums in the 80s, albums that go down as some of the best ambient of all time. That would be Brian Eno - On Land, Steve Roach - Structures from Silence and Brian Eno & Harold Budd - The Pearl. Beyond those 3 there are more great 80s recordings from Roach & Eno and other classics & worthwhile music.

I was definitely happy to include a cut from Gone to Earth by David Sylvian, one of my favorite albums of all time. It's such a great recording and at the time it blew my mind.

Next up - the 90s.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Steve Roach - Structures from Silence(1984)
10:40 Brian Eno - Lantern Marsh(1982)
15:20 David Sylvian - The Wooden Cross(1986)
19:20 Michael Brook - Midday(1985)
24:30 Michael Stearns - As The Earth Kissed The Moon(1981)
31:00 Vangelis - Empty Streets(1982)
36:00 Thom Brennan - Moosoon(1987)
44:10 Steve Roach - A Circular Ceremony(1988)
51:58 Brian Eno & Harold Budd - An Echo of Night(1984)
54:00 Jeff Greinke - Island Arc(1986)
56:50 Harold Budd - Sandtreader(1986)
61:45 David Sylvian & Holger Czukay - Mutability(1989)
72:45 U2 - 4th of July(1984)
74:33 Peter Gabriel - Slow Water(1985)
77:08 end

Tuesday Aug 23, 2016

Perfect Persied Playlist

Tuesday Aug 23, 2016

This mix is a couple of weeks late. It is a soundtrack for meteor watching, specifically the annual August Perseid meteor shower. I uploaded it to Mixcloud on Aug. 12th but totally forgot to make it available here as well. That has now been corrected.

I've been wanting to use a track from Robert Scott Thompson's album "Pale Blue Dot" and a stargazing mix was the perfect opportunity with Skyway being a great opener for this collection. I was also happy to include an old favorite - Thom Brennan. I've always been a big fan of his music and much of it is perfect for star/space themed mixes.

Enjoy

T R A C K L I S T :

Thursday Aug 04, 2016

Ambient Decades: 1970s

Thursday Aug 04, 2016

This is the first in a series of mixes featuring ambient music from each of the past 4 1/2 decades.

Ambient music came to it's full expression during the 1970s with Eno's Discreet Music & Music for Airports. This mix explores those albums and other electronic gems. This mix/list is by no means definitive. It's music from my collection that is a representation of the emergence of ambient in the 1970s.

As I was sorting through tracks for the mix I realized that I'm definitely going to have to make a mix of 70s berlin school & kraut music electronic tunes. That way I can use Jean Michel Jarre, Can, Holgar Czukay and more rhythmic Tangerine Dream & Klaus Schulze.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Michael Hoenig - Voices of Where(1978)
04:20 Harmonia - By the Riverside(1976)
07:15 Klaus Schulze - Wahnfried 1883(1975)
12:50 Wendy Carlos - Fall(1972)
18:00 Gavin Bryars - The Sinking of the Titanic(1975)
23:25 Tangerine Dream - Sequent C(1974)
25:00 Brian Eno - Discreet Music(1975)
33:33 Kraftwerk - Heimatklänge(1973)
36:45 Tonto's Expanding Head Band - Tama(1971)
41:37 Cluster - In Ewigkeit(1976)
48:30 Ashra - Deep Distance(1976)
53:30 Steve Hillage - Garden of Paradise(1979)
62:25 Tangerine Dream - Rubycon(1975)
65:50 Klaus Schulze - Some Velvet Phasing(1974)
71:50 Brian Eno - Two Rapid Formations(1978)
74:36 Brian Eno - Music for Airports 1/1(1978)
91:09 end

Saturday Jul 16, 2016

The Color of Space guest mix by Mike G of Ambient Music Guide

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

Unfurling Forces

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

Piano Moments

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

Guitar-scapes

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

T R A C K L I S T :

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