low light mixes

an uncharted sea

"The loneliness you get by the sea is personal and alive. It doesn't subdue you and make you feel abject. It's stimulating loneliness." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh So much of ambient music has a beautiful ebb & flow that lends itself perfectly to sea metaphors.  Whether its bobbing up & down on the surface or plumbing the depths, ambient music music seems to fit well with imagery of the sea.

I could crank out sea mixes just using tunes with water, ocean or sea references in the track titles.  This mix does have a few tracks with obvious sea titles, but in general it's just another collection of tunes that have that "sea sound."
T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    foghorn
• 00:20    Stuart Dempster - Standing Waves 1976
• 01:41    Dolphins into the Future - Memory of Self
• 04:45    Enrico Coniglio - pastor et nauta
• 07:40    Brian Eno - Invisible
• 10:20    Alio Die - Suono Ipogeo(part 1)
• 12:50    Echospace - Reflection II
• 15:00    Burial - Night Bus
• 16:55    Dean Santomieri - The Boy Beneath the Sea
• 19:35    Andrew Chalk - Ukigiri
• 21:15    Beautumn - Everfields
• 27:00    M. Ostermeier - Central
• 31:30    Deaf Centre - New Beginning(tidal darkness)
• 34:00    Riceboy Sleeps - Sleeping Giant
• 39:45    Dolphins into the Future - Lone Voyager
• 47:35    Enrico Coniglio - Da Mar
• 52:15    Stuart Dempster - Standing Waves 1976
• 54:40    end

the stars above us

"Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another." -- Plato (427-347 B.C.) I realized that I hadn't done a stargazing mix in quite awhile and with the weather getting warmer & spending more time outside, I figured a new star mix was in order. So here it is... T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Sonmi451 - Cumulonimbus
• 05:30 Manual - As the moon Spins Around
• 09:35 Cyber Zen Sound Engine & Matt Borghi - Mars Infers
• 15:40 Robert Davies - Beneath Strange Stars
• 24:55 sgnl fltr - kwon
• 25:30 Frederico Durand - Mi Pequeno Mundo De Papel
• 26:25 Frederico Durand - El Mundo Secreto De La Montana
• 29:30 Staffan Wessman - Unison
• 34:50 The Winterhouse - Lost
• 42:50 Jonathan Hughes - Monoline
• 45:15 Kyle Bobby Dunn - Statuit
• 50:05 Loscil - Cheekye
• 55:50 Matt Thomas Wilson - Aviation Jargon
• 58:00 Jonn Serrie - Continuum
• 03:15 end

undiscovered soundtrack

I love soundtracks. And if you look at the tracklist for this mix, you'll see that I have a few favorite composers. At the top of that list are Clint Mansell & Cliff Martinez. They are responsible for two of my favorite soundtracks, The Fountain & Solaris. Jon Hopkins, a new composer on the soundtrack scene, could soon join those two as a favorite. His soundtrack for the movie Monsters, got a lot of play here. I ended up using three tracks from that album in this mix, I just couldn't resist. Actually I doubled up a few artists in this mix, Martinez, Hopkins, Sigur Ros, Nick & Warren Ellis, Underworld. Normally I don't like to do that but it just sort of happened that way. This is a relatively short mix but I think it works. Sometimes I don't make it to the end of some mixes, this way hopefully listeners are still in to it & focused at the end. Enjoy this "undiscovered soundtrack". T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Clint Mansell - Winter Ghosts of a Future (Requiem for a Dream)
• 01:45 Jon Hopkins - Candles (Monsters)
• 03:35 Cliff Martinez - And We're Here to Listen (Traffic)
• 05:15 Thomas Newman - Still Dead (American Beauty)
• 07:55 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - The Road (The Road)
• 11:30 Underworld & John Murphy - Searle Finds the Crew of Icarus (Sunshine)
• 12:20 Explosions in the Sky - An Ugly Fact of Life (Friday Nigh Lights)
• 14:10 Sigur Ros - síðasta ferð (hlemmur)
• 16:33 Craig Armstrong - Main Theme (The Clearing)
• 17:40 Ennio Morricone - Tema di Ali (The Battle of Algiers)
• 21:32 John Zorn - Family Found(cello) (Family Found(Filmworks XII))
• 23:50 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Micro Sucker (White Lunar)
• 24:25 Underworld - Capa's Last Transmission Home (Sunshine)
• 26:10 Sigur Ros - fyrsta ferð (hlemmur)
• 28:25 Hilmar Hilmarsson - I Flew (Angels of the Universe)
• 30:25 Cliff Martinez - First Drive Home (First Snow)
• 30:50 Jon Hopkins - Water (Monsters)
• 31:55 James Newton Howard - I'm Sorry (I am Legend)
• 33:50 Jon Hopkins - Campfire (Monsters)
• 36:11 end

evening sky

As the days get longer, I am able to enjoy a bit of sunlight when I get home from work. There have been a few days recently where I stopped during a walk to gaze at the evening sky as the color deepens to indigo & the stars first start appearing. Being a music geek, I can't help but think of tunes that would make a nice soundtrack for that scene. So while listening to music the last couple of weeks, if I came across a cut that made me think of those walks & the sky, I'd throw them into a folder for later use. This mix "evening sky" is the result. It's not meant to change musically as the evening sky changes. It's just a collection of songs that reminded me of the sky as it darkens in early evening. Enjoy. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 John Murphy - Mercury
• 00:47 The Sleepy Vines - Kelp Forest
• 02:00 Rim - Gusts of Sand
• 04:50 I've Lost - Absence
• 08:00 Emanuele Errante - Made to Give
• 11:45 Pjusk - sus
• 14:55 Brian Eno - Late Anthropocene
• 19:40 Shaula - Night & Green Grass
• 25:15 Marc Barreca - Fish Culture
• 27:50 Federico Durand - Pudu Tu Nombre Es Tobias
• 32:10 Sonmi451 - Green
• 38:51 Alio Die - In the Labyrinth Garden
• 43:30 Mark Rushton - Fieldsketch
• 46:35 Emanuele Errante - Dorians Mirror
• 51:40 Wixel - Cloud Formation
• 1:00:00 end

distant transmissions

"Distant transmissions flicker and fade, there's a drift on the signal, a ghost in the phase."I've had that phrase on my blog profile for a long time. I've used different parts of it as titles for my series of 'shortwave' mixes(drift on the signal, ghost in the phase, flicker & fade).With this mix I've completely tapped out that slogan because the new mix is called "distant transmissions."I'm not really sure exactly how I came up with that line. I remember going through shortwave terms looking for a title for the first shortwave mix & I came across the phrase "drift on the signal". I liked the sound of that & used it for the first mix. Somewhere along the line I also read the term "ghost in the phase" & then just combined those two with other terms to come up with that short phrase which I liked because it's as close as I'm ever going to get to writing a lyric of any sort.This mix, like the others, makes use of the wonderful shortwave recordings of Myke Weiskopf. Check out his blog here... for lots of streaming audio & downloadable goodies. I've done 5 mixes featuring Myke's work & none of them would have been possible without his documentary series. Huge thanks to Myke for all his fine recordings. Check out the ShortWaveMusic Facebook page too.T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Ionoscatter_Unmodulated_Signal_And_Meteor_Whistles_6-2-58
• 00:30 Radio Bulgaria(stretched & normal)
• 01:33 Max Richter - Infra
• 04:30 Benoît Pioulard - Passenger
• 05:20 offthesky - frozen fountain
• 07:20 upward arrows - ^^^^
• 08:55 Family Radio International
• 09:30 ??? - Traveling Light
• 13:50 The Humble Bee - 07 jan 2010
• 16:30 Christian Fennesz & Ryuichi Sakamoto - kuni
• 18:20 Freescha - baby Maker
• 19:50 Daizok - Shoreline VII
• 24:15 Radio Morocco
• 26:20 Area C - Map of circular thought
• 29:10 Juv - til
• 29:42 Max Richter - Journey 5
• 30:45 Inversz - Home End
• 35:10 Myke Weiskopf - You're Up, You're There, You're D
• 37:40 Christian Fennesz & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Amorph
• 43:22 end

slow & sleepy

Yah! A new mix finally! I've been ridiculously busy lately(10 days at the Super Bowl) so haven't been able to do much mixing. Hopefully that will change. This is another mix where the title says it all...slow & sleepy. Pretty straight forward ambient with long, stretched out chords, slow motion sounds to suspend consciousness. Many of the tracks used here are new or fairly new. A lot of good music has been released in the last few months. I'll have to dive in & come up with some new mixes. I'm sort of planning a neo-classical mix, electronic beats, classic jazz, mellow prog rock, etc. For now I hope you enjoy slow & sleepy. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Kyle Bobby Dunn - Remnants
• 05:20 Wouter Veldhuis - Satumaa
• 09:30 Celer - A Lifetime of Wasted Breaths
• 14:30 Grasslung - When We Were Young
• 20:45 Wixel - Melsbroek
• 22:15 Simon Scott - Silenne
• 28:00 Gareth Hardwick - London 220109
• 34:45 Alio Die & Zeit - punto di fusione
• 41:45 Danny Saul - kinison (part 2)
• 43:00 Listening Mirror - Cast Off
• 48:30 Hakobune - a yearlong thought
• 52:00 Stephan Mathieu - Minuet
• 1:00:00 end

obscured by time

"The passage of time is flickering dimly upon the screen." I've called this mix "Obscured by Time" because it has that grainy, blurry feel to it, like looking through gauze. The once distinct events in our memories melt together like the washes of sound in this mix. This collection was inspired by the two 2010 releases by 36, "Memories in Widescreen" & "Hollow". A pair of great releases that are at times haunting & beautiful. As described at 3six.net, some of the tracks "use turbulent sheets of white noise, alongside classical instruments to create an eerie, almost ghost-like quality." All the tracks have that same noisy, grainy texture to them. Most are fairly new, with the Basinski & Jeck tracks probably being the oldest. I love going back to Basinski & wish I could have snuck in a track from Disintegration Loops. Guess that will have to be used in the sequel. "Several times, I've seen the evening slide away, Watching the signs taking over from the fading day." - Brian Eno, "Golden Hours" Enjoy. T R A C K L I S T :

• [00:00] Ous Mal - Marraskuu
• [03:15] The Fun Years - Makes Sense to Me
• [06:50] Maps & Diagrams - The Modern Century
• [08:48] 36 - Geiga
• [13:52] Erik De Cordier - Spadomur
• [14:35] Tim Hecker - Celestina
• [18:00] Ithaca Trio - Untitled #10
• [21:25] The Humble Bee - 26 jan 2010
• [24:00] Wixel - You're Inside Your Own Shadow
• [27:40] 36 - Equassa
• [31:00] Damian Valles - The Alphabet of Lines
• [34:06] Philip Jeck - Wipe
• [37:35] William Basinski - Melancholia II
• [42:38] d_rradio - Death of the Fair Green Veil
• [43:50] Tape Loop Orchestra - Tokyo Twilight
• [45:50] Philip Jeck - Soaked
• [48:12] 36 - Drifta
• [53:18] END

subatomic dubscapes

The term "dubscapes" in the title of the mix pretty much says it all.  This is dub mix.  I've used dubby style songs in mixes before but never did a whole dub mix. Of course after setting out to do an all dub mix, I veered off course pretty quickly by including a cover of the Twin Peaks theme &  track from Vangelis.  I'd been looking for a way to work those two tunes into a mix & they seem to fit pretty well here. The Twin Peaks cover is by Talvihorros.  He has an excellent recording out on Hibernate called "Music in Four Movements".  After buying that album Ben Chatwin(Talvihorros) was kind enough to send me a copy of his cover of the Twin Peaks theme.  I liked this version immediately & knew I had to find a home for it in a mix. One track in the mix is from an album that will end up in my top ten list this year.  The album is Deepchord presents Echospace - Liumin/Liumin Reduced.  It's a double album with the first being great ambient dub/techno and the second an album of field recorded treatments made by Rod Modell in Tokyo.  An immersive record that I highly recommend. The dub used in this mix is fairly ambient, especially towards the end where the ambient drones & washes come in & the beats slow way down. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Fluxion - Field
• 03:25    Polmo Polpo - Rottura
• 08:55    Marconi Union - Temperature Drop
• 13:28    Talvihorros - Twin Peaks Theme
• 17:55    Deepchord presents Echospace - In Echospace
• 21:30    Vangelis - Antartica
• 26:30    The Orb - Slug Dub
• 31:25    Rod Modell - Mars Oil
• 36:16    Fluxion - Plain
• 38:50    Mokira - Lord, Am I Going Down
• 42:00    Wixel - You're Inside Your Own shadow
• 44:45    Sval - Valldal
• 51:20    end

positively ambient

As most readers of this blog probably know, I cross-post these mixes over at Mixcloud.  Recently I got a request from listener, TikTaalik.  This is part of his post, "I was wondering if you could compile a mix that is optimistic throughout. The sort of ambience that I tend only to hear once or twice in a set. Can you get a solid hour of calm ambient music with a euphoric undertone?" At Low Light Mixes we give the people what they want, so here it is...Positively Ambient.  I'm not sure if all of the music qualifies as "optimistic" or "euphoric" but it is all calm & beautiful.  I start things off with Eno's "An Ending(ascent)" because I think it's one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written.  Although it may work better as "an ending" than as a beginning, I wanted it up front so everyone that plays the mix is guaranteed to hear it. I hope the rest of the mix doesn't get too sweet or too pretty sounding.  I don't want it to dissolve into new age crapola.  I dug into the archives for some of the tunes like James Johnson's "Entering Twilight" from 2000, Jim Cole from 2002, Diatonis from 2003, Fox & Budd from 2003, Jeff Pearce from 1999 and Stephen Bacchus from 1998. The feel of this mix is definitely soothing, no dissonant chords to be found.  It works well as sleep music, meditation music, , etc.  Just good 'ole traditional ambient music. T R A C K L I S T :

• • 00:00 Brian Eno - An Ending(ascent)
  • 04:00 Arc of Doves - Reverie
  • 09:00 James Johnson - Entering Twilight
  • 14:45 Diatonis - Winding Road
  • 18:00 Hammock - Maybe they will sing for us tomorrow
  • 23:10 Stephen Bacchus - The Returning
  • 30:25 John Foxx & Harold Budd - A Delicate Romance
  • 36:45 Jim Cole - Light Shines in Your Heart
  • 43:10 Jeff Pearce - Daylight Slowly
  • 44:45 Hammock - Three Sisters
  • 48:50 d_rradio - Into the Morning
  • 54:05 Quosp - Quosp
  • 57:30 end

far from home

Picture yourself floating in space.  Whether you like to think of it as drifting alone, in a spacesuit, looking out at the stars all around.  Or instead imagine yourself as Bowie said "Here am I floating round my tin can, far above the moon."  Either way, the music in this mix should make you feel "far from home". I like to envision a small craft in the middle of nowhere, drifting...waiting.  Waiting for rescue?  Waiting for contact?  Waiting for main power to come back online?  Hopefully the music will generate a feeling of weightlessness, of drifting in the vast expanse of space, without being too dark or dissonant. I did not pick the tunes based on titles.  I just did a quick sampling of some of my ambient collection to come up with possible tracks.  But it's interesting how many of the song titles fit right in with the "outer space" theme. Titles like Meissa, Deep Sky Time, 1st Lite & Asteroid Dawn work perfectly for this motif. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Lunar Testing Lab - Space Traffic Control
• 01:00 Brian Eno - Asteroid Dawn
• 04:40 A Produce - The Big Sleep
• 09:40 Harmonia - Weird Dream
• 11:10 Wouter Veldhuis - 1st Lite
• 18:30 Steve Roach - Deep sky Time
• 24:40 Austere - Lid
• 28:00 Mike Griffin & A Produce - Altara
• 31:45 Lunar Testing Lab - Paaliaq
• 33:05 Sonmi451 - Orange
• 38:45 Thomas Fehlman - in the wind
• 43:10 Spheruleus - Disintegrate
• 48:30 Fripp & Eno - Meissa
• 55:30 Sonmi451 - Blue
• 1:00:00 end