low light mixes

imaginary soundtracks

I guess you could say that all the music I listen to is a soundtrack of one sort or another.  Soundtrack for cleaning the house, soundtrack for sleeping, for biking, for reading, for living.  Most of my mixes could be considered to be mini soundtracks.

So what makes this one different?  I guess the tracks collected here just sort of had that "soundtrack" feel when I first heard them.  I imagined a scene from a film with the tune as the soundtrack.  The tracklist then becomes a set of "imaginary soundtracks."

Some of the cuts, such as those from Cliff Martinez & Clint Mansell, are from actual soundtracks.  The others just seemed to fit the mood.

Enjoy.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Cliff Martinez - First Drive Home
• 00:40    James Murray - Greenlands
• 04:25    Vieo Abiungo - Insincerity peeked through Cloudlessly...
• 06:51    Roly Porter - Caladan
• 09:20    Jacaszek - Orszula
• 12:22    Olafur Arnalds - lag fyrir oemmu
• 15:45    Craig Armstrong - Starless
• 20:00    Max Richter - Fictions & Data
• 21:40    Popol Vuh - Grab der Mutter
• 23:55    Jon Hopkins - Opalescent
• 25:10    Emanuele Errante - Memoirs
• 30:25    Ryan Teague - Cell Cycle
• 34:16    Clint Mansell - We're Not Programs Gerty
• 36:55    Peter Broderick - No More Space
• 37:36    Johann Johannsson - They Being Dead yet Speaketh
• 40:35    Biosphere - Iberia
• 44:07    Maya Beiser - Only Breath
• 45:50    Cliff Martinez - See You in Four
• 47:33    Jon Hopkins - Fairytale
• 52:15    end

dubby & dreamy

.

Ambient dub, minimal dub, ambi-dub, whatever you want to call it, is something that I listen to every now & then.  I like making mixes with this music because the tracks flow so well together. I've done three previous dub mixes and while they are all laid back, this one may be more so.  It collects some dubby cuts & weaves in some noise & washes of field recordings from the fantastic ambi-dub recording, "DeepChord presents Echospace - Liumin."  The bonus cd for that album is all the field recordings that were the source material for the tracks on the other disc. Not all the cuts are straight up dub tracks, but they do all fit together nicely.  Almost all the tracks are new with the exception of the krill.minima & Plastikman tunes.

Enjoy. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Andy Stott - Submission
• 01:10    Sven Schienhammer -  Sound Signals for Other Planets
• 04:15    Bop - My Heart in a Freezer
• 06:10    Demdike Stare - Matilda's Dream
• 09:50    Resoe - Edith's Serenade(r.i.p)
• 13:52    Overcast Sound - Devil's Mountain
• 14:25    Robag Wruhme - Brucke Eins
• 14:25    Deepchord - Untitled #1 (runs concurently)
• 15:50    Vatican Shadow - missing hmm364 squadron purple foxes assassins
• 18:05    Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Pattern #4
• 20:35    Demdike Stare - Nothing But The Night 2
• 22:50    Marow - Iridescence
• 24:15    Coppice Halifax - Sunken Dancehall
• 29:35    Sven Schienhammer - Being Immersed in Another World
• 35:55    Deepchord - Untitled #7
• 36:40    krill.minima - Princess of the Undersea Gardens
• 40:35    Koss - Monday Conversations
• 42:55    Coppice Halifax - Luxury
• 47:50    Plastikman - cor ten
• 50:10    Sven Schienhammer - Back Into The Here & Now
• 54:30    krill.minima - sommerdellen
• 57:45    end

starry starry night

"I, the fiery life of divine essence, am aflame beyond the beauty of the meadows, I gleam in the waters, and I burn in the sun, moon and stars."

- Hildegard von Bingen

Electronic & ambient music seems perfectly suited for stargazing.  So you really could use just about any ambient mix for night sky viewing and it will work just fine.  But sometimes it's nice to do a mix specifically geared towards astronomical awe.

It's always interesting to see how the song titles match the theme of the mix.  Sometimes I pick tunes precisely because the titles match but most of the time it's accidental.  In this mix we have titles like "Alpha Centauri", "Polaris", "After Midnight", "One Starry Starry Night" and "Encounter in an unexplored nebula."

As usual the music is a mix of old & new, with most tunes being from the last couple years.  I was happy to sneak in an old track from Jean-Michel Jarre.  Different from his normal berlin-school stuff, this one is a nice long ambient cut from 1990.

As with a lot of stargazing mixes, this one works well as a sleep mix too.  I can testify to it's effectiveness.

On a side note...thanks to anyone who voted for Low Light Mixes in the Mixcloud best of 2011 poll.  We came in 78th.  Doesn't sound like much but considering they have thousands of "cloudcasters", coming 78th was great.  Thanks for all your support last year & over the last 6 years.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Lunar Testing Lab - Paaliaq (I, Absentee)
• 01:35    Sonmi451 - Alpha Centauri (Time Released Sound)
• 04:40    Digitonal - Polaris (Leaves)
• 07:20    Diatonis - One Starry Starry Night (Diatonis)
• 12:15    The Winterhouse - Clearing (DataObscura)
• 18:00    Frederico Durand - El Mundo Secreto De La Montana (Spekk)
• 21:30    A Produce & Loren Nerell - Intangible (Hypnos)
• 28:20    Maps & Diagrams - The Infinite Delay (Handstitched Recordings)
• 30:45    Thom Brennan - Pulse
• 31:55    Aglaia - After Midnight (Hic Sunt Leones)
• 37:30    Sonmi451 - Blue (U cover)
• 43:05    Biosphere - Warmed by the Drift (Touch)
• 48:20    Jean Michel Jarre - En Attendant Cousteau (Disques Dreyfus)
• 55:10    The Civilized Electrons - Encounter, In an Unexplored Nebula (Databloem)

fire and ice - an Icelandic mix

For such a small country, Iceland has produced a surprising number of excellent artists.  From Bjork to Mum to Seabear to Olaf Arnalds to Sigur Ros, it's really extraordinary the amount of wonderful music that comes from that island.

This last mix of 2011 is an Icelandic journey.  All the music is created by artists from Iceland.  The brilliant idea for it came from loyal listener, Kevin.  I wasn't sure how much music of Iceland I had in my collection but I was surprised to find quite a bit.

Icelandic music for me begins & ends with Sigur Ros & Bjork.  They are both in the mix, with Jonsi, from Sigur Ros, making multiple appearances.  In addition to the Sigur Ros tune, Jonsi contributes "Stokkseyri" from Riceboy Sleeps & "9" by Frakkur.

When Kevin suggested the mix & the title, he was thinking of Iceland as a land of extremes...glaciers & volcanoes, 24hr days & 24hr nights.  This mix doesn't swing too wildly from one extreme to another.  It's more ice than fire.  A few of the tunes do build in typical post-rock fashion, but generally things are fairly subdued.

I used two Johann Johannsson tracks fairly close together, which I normally don't like to do but the IBM track just seemed to fit perfectly with the preceding cut.  Plus I was just happy to be able to use that IBM track again because I LOVE it!

The pic in this post is from a terrific blog called "Stuck in Customs." Check out the blog or go to his Flickr stream to see some amazing photos.  I'm a little tired of the HDR effect in photos but Tret Ratcliff does a really nice job with it & it definitely helps that he is shooting in unbelievable locations.

This was a fun mix to put together & I'd like to thank Kevin for suggesting it, I'm very happy with how it turned out.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Amiina - Boga (from kurr 2007)
• 06:01    Johann Johannsson - The Flat (from And In The Endless Pause There Came The Sound Of Bees 2009)
• 08:15    Olafur Arnalds - Himininn er a hrynja, en stjornurnar fara per vel (from Variations Of Static 2007)
• 12:05    Johann Johannsson - Part 2 Ibm 1403 Printer (from Ibm1401-A Users Manual 2006)
• 15:50    Stafraenn Hakon - Veggur (from Gummi 2007)
• 18:55    Valgeir Sigurðsson - Equilibrium is Restored (from Ekvilibrium 2007)
• 30:54    Jonsi & Alex - Stokkseyri (from Riceboy Sleeps 2009)
• 37:49    Sigur Rós - Álafoss (from () 2002)
• 46:15    Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson - Sudurgata (from Children of Nature 1996)
• 49:08    Bjork - Cosmogony (from Biophillia 2011)
• 53:40    Frakkur - 9 (from songs for the little boy 2008)
• 1:01:23   end

I can hear the snow fall

For some reason,when I think of falling snow, the instrument that comes to mind is the piano.  Maybe it's from years of listening to Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas album.  So it's no surprise that there is a fair amount of piano music in this "snow" mix.

We didn't have any snow yet but I had been thinking about doing a "first snow" mix for awhile & decided to throw one together Friday night.  Then I woke up Saturday morning to a light dusting of snow on the ground.  Maybe next I should do a mix for winning the lottery. ;)

As I said there is a lot of piano music in here.  Led by Nils Frahm, from his excellent Felt album.  A release that will end up on my best of the year list & one which everyone needs to hear.  I think this mix works well as an early season "snow" mix versus the more bleak mid winter drones that will show up later.

I expect to crank out at least one more mix before the end of the year.  Plus I'll have a year-end top 20 list, so start thinking of your own lists if you'd like to contribute.

Enjoy.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Nils Frahm - less [erased tapes]
• 05:20    Bernocchi, Budd, Guthrie - Heavy Heart Some More [Rarenoise Records]
• 09:35    Deepspace - Whisper
• 12:50   The Humble Bee - Sky Litter [cotton goods]
• 15:22    Willamette - Echo Park [infraction]
• 18:10    Pleq + Lauki - II (antonymes remix) [somehow recordings]
• 24:44    Cliff Martinez - Wrong Floor [lakeshore records]
• 25:45    Max Richter - eternal flowers question stars [Metropolis Movie Music]
• 27:48    e and i - Pearls for Alma [cotton goods]
• 29:40    Isnaj Dui - Always Close [hibernate]
• 32:48    I've Lost - in this cold, empty place [future sequence]
• 36:35    Diatonis - Whiring Above Our Heads
• 40:00    Nils Frahm - Pause [erased tapes]
• 44:25    Cliff Martinez - He Had A Good Time [lakeshore records]
• 45:39    Harold Budd - Three-Fingered Jack [darla]
• 47:40    Maps & Diagrams - Groghe(fort) [nomadic kids republic]
• 51:00    S. Carey - Rothko Fields [jagjaguwar]
• 54:50    Part Timer - seed collection [mobeer]
• 58:20    Nils Frahm - Keep [erased tapes]

drowsy

I recently had surgery on a broken collarbone & had to spend a fair amount of time laying around, recuperating, sleeping.  So I decided to make a mix that would work well with Percocet & Vicodin. I've produced other sleep mixes before, "I fell asleep at my desk making this mix", "slo mo", "slow & sleepy", and have often relied on them for nighttime listening.  Of course most of the mixes found here could work as "sleep" mixes. This new mix, "drowsy", fits right in with those others.  It's a soothing mix of drones & synth washes that will put anyone to sleep. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Benoît Pioulard - Drowsy
• 04:15    Ex Confusion - Bloom
• 09:45    Peter James & Disturbed Earth - A Descending Calm
• 13:45    Steve Roach - Slow Heat (excerpt)
• 21:05    Aglaia - Milosis
• 30:45    David Tagg - Wolf Suite II
• 34:40    Alio Die - Innamorato
• 42:35    Kyle Bobby Dunn - New Pures
• 45:35    Loscil - Stave Peak
• 51:15    Nest - Koretz's Meteor
• 55:55    Ursula - Un final decepcionante
• 01:01:01    end

Shadowland

Josh, from Nocturne Records,  requested a Halloween mix.

At first I was reluctant because I'm not a big fan of dark ambient.  I've never really cared for Lustmord records, although I do have "The Place Where Black Stars Hang."  While I do have a fair amount of drone music I don't like dissonant drones.

When I set out to do this mix I wasn't sure what direction it would take.  Would it be noisy, scary ambient drones?  As I was looking through my music I came across "The Twin Peaks Archive" by David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti.  I thought, now there is some dark-ish music that would be cool to use in a Halloween mix.

Three Twins Peaks tunes made it into the final mix & helped establish a sort of film noir feel.  There are definite dissonant moments but hopefully the mix is more creepy & shadowy rather than outright scary & annoying.

It was fun putting this together and I'm looking forward to making this an annual ritual.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Bass Communion - Ghosts on Magnetic Tape IV
• 04:30    Felicia Atkinson - Half-Blonde
• 06:10    David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti - Mysterioso 2
• 09:30    Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer - rethikhiy
• 14:20    The Caretaker - Friends Past Reunited
• 16:00    Grouper - Soul Eraser
• 21:45    Je Suis Le Petit Chevalier - Maine Jungle
• 23:05    DJ Signify - The Sickness
• 24:20    Julien Neto - V(Rivers)
• 28:45    Deaf Center - Hunted Twice
• 32:05    David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti - Dark Mood Woods
• 36:00    Deaf Center - New Beginning
• 38:45    Aidan Baker - complex iconographical symbology
• 44:25    The Caretaker - Dream Waltz
• 47:05    David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti - Mysterioso 2 (film version)
• 49:35    Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Maximum Black
• 54:15    Earth - Dry Lake
• 57:00    Clint Mansell - Death is a Disease
• 59:27    end

autumn in slow motion

It hasn't felt much like autumn around here, with temps in the 70's & 80's the last week or two.  But the leaves are still falling and before you know it we'll have snow flying.

So I figured now is as good a time as any to publish this new mix, "Autumn in Slow Motion."  This is a fairly straight forward mix with a nice blend of old & new tracks.  As you can tell all the tracks have the word "autumn" or " leaves" in the title.  I'm pretty sure I've used the track by Eluder, "Autmun Hips", before but I just had to include it again because it's absolutely beautiful.

Normally I don't use my own pics for these posts, but the last two have been Low Light originals.  This one was taken last fall on a photo hike through a nature park in my neighborhood.  If you shoot a ton of pix one or two are bound to turn out.

Enjoy.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    wind
• 00:30    Shuttle358 - Dead Leaves
• 04:50    Eluder - Autumn Hips
• 10:10    Need More Sources - Autumn
• 13:15    A Broken Consort - Leaves
• 15:28    Shinichi Hirota - Autumn Loop Rain
• 18:40    The Green Kingdom - Autumn Toadlick
• 23:55    Peter James & Disturbed Earth - Autumnal Nights
• 31:45    Brian Eno - Dunwich Beach, Autumn 1960
• 37:45    Philip Sulidea - Autumn in Town
• 40:40    Spheruleus - Autumn
• 45:45    Jasper, TX - Through Dusk & Falling Leaves(Steinbruchel remix)
• 50:40    Aaron Martin - The Shape of Leaves
• 52:00    Tape Loop Orchestra - A Late Autumn
• 54:35    D RRadio - Leaves
• 58:22    end

porch music

"Several times I've seen the evening slide away. Watching the signs taking over from the fading day." - Brian Eno from Golden Hours This is music for sitting on the porch in the evening, as the day slips into night. The sounds of traffic, lawn mowers & kids fade away as the first stars come out. I stole the title from a recording by Fognode, which you can find here... Fognode - Porch Music. Brian Siskind is Fognode & he has some fantastic albums that have been released over the years. Definitely worth checking out here... FOGNODE. Enjoy. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Susumu Yokota & Rothko - sentiero (from Distant Sounds of Summer)
• 05:00 Fognode - Verdant (from Porch Music)
• 06:48 Jacob Newman - Whispering Pulse (from Against a Quantized Sky)
• 09:02 Helios - Eclipse and Nafas
• 14:10 Simon Bainton - Sun Settlings (from Sun Settings)
• 16:00 offthesky - waiting to fade (from The Beautiful Nowhere)
• 19:22 Brian Eno - Pour (from Drums Between Bells)
• 22:55 Fognode - West (from Porch Music)
• 26:43 Po - Morning Poem (from The Sound of Summer Silence)
• 28:45 Hisato Higuchi - ai no tanjo (from Dialogue)
• 31;14 Daniel Lanois - New Smoke (from Purple Vista)
• 33:30 Loren Conners & David Grubbs - blossom time (from Arborvitae)
• 37:15 Taylor Deupree & Savvas Ysatis - for a morning when (from The Sleeping Morning)
• 40:40 Frederico Durand - elin (from Elin)
• 43:00 Brian Eno - Real (from Drums Between Bells)
• 49:10 Rain Cloud - Fades Alright (from Kerala)
• 54:20 Fognode - Duquaine (from Porch Music)
• 59:10 end

graceful silence

"Music is the space between notes." - Claude Debussy I found a couple of tunes recently that exemplify that Debussy quote.  So I looked for more tracks that had definite valleys between the peaks of synth washes or long pauses between piano chords and then I let the mix take off from there. The result is similar to the "breathing" mixes I've done before with the lulling ebb & flow that I like so much. This mix differs in it's use of piano & guitar tracks. There is a section in the middle where there really isn't a whole lot of "silence", more of an up & down of synth washes. But like happens so often with mixes, they just go places I didn't expect & then I've got to bring them back. "Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence and silence is full of music." - Marcel Marceau T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Antonymes - 311210 (from Like Rumours of Hushed Thunder)
• 01:38 Wixel - Vaarwel (from Somewhere Between The Sun and The Moon)
• 03:50 Danny Saul - Kinison part 2 (from Kinison - Goldthwait)
• 05:30 Good Weather For An Airstrike - Broken (from Winter)
• 11:00 Wixel - 10 minutes (from The End)
• 13:42 World Standard & Moose Hill - Graceful Silence (from Futari - Graceful Silence)
• 17:50 Stuart Dempster - Standing waves 1976 (from In The Great Abbey of Clement VI)
• 21:40 Kyle Bobby Dunn - Tuohy's Theme (from Ways of Meaning)
• 26:00 Celer - untitled #10 (from Compositions for Cassette)
• 36:39 Listening Mirror - Glass Slopes (from Spires, Spirals and Stones)
• 37:15 Jasper Leyland - they carry (from Sediments)
• 41:24 Dakota Suite - One Day Without Harming You (Machinefabriek remix) (from The Night Just Keeps Coming In)
• 42:33 Marsen Jules - Chanson du soir (from Herbstlaub)
• 47:00 Brian Eno - Neroli (from Neroli)
• 51:25 The Dead Texan - Beatrice part 2 (from The Dead Texan)
• 55:08 Antonymes - 291210 (from Like Rumours of Hushed Thunder)
• 57:16 end