low light mixes

https://feed.podbean.com/lowlightmixes/feed.xml

1.5M

Downloads

493

Episodes

Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world

Episodes

Wednesday Apr 26, 2023

The Undersea World of Low Light Mixes

Wednesday Apr 26, 2023

I've done a couple mixes featuring library music from the 70s & 80s that have the vibe of a cheesy deep sea exploration documentary. I've always wanted to do a follow up and here it is.

One of the problems is that I didn't check the tracklist from the last mix and so quite a few tracks from that set made it into this one. When I figured out what had happened, it was too late to change. Well, actually, I was just too lazy to change it. I think about 9 of the 23 tracks in this mix appeared in the last one.

I love the retro vibe of these mixes. Take some old vinyl albums with echoing fender rhodes piano, add some scuba sound fx and a few synths and you've got yourself a 70s soundtrack to the Undersea World of Low Light Mixes.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Eric Vann - Algues Marines (Water World 1982)
01:32 Walt Rockman - Submarine Scenery (Underwater Vol 1 1980)
03:45 Stefano Liberati - Tombala la grande corrente (Pericolo negli abissi 1978)
04:38 Walt Rockman - gas-bubbles (Biology 1980)
05:28 Roger Roger & Nino Nardini - Eery Dream (Informatic 2000 1982)
07:21 Joel Vandroogenbroeck & F. Voelxen - Cascades (Contemporary Pastoral and Ethnic Sounds 1979)
10:03 John Hyde - Curlews (Red Kite 1982)
11:11 John Tender - Underwater Fantasy 1 (Fantasyland Vol. 1 1982)
12:50 Walt Rockman - chromosomes (Biology 1980)
14:42 Tamponi - acque profonde (Ittiologia 1973)
16:07 Amedeo Tommasi - Correnti sottomarine (Biologia marina 1973)
19:08 Mikrokristal - Bubbles (Hidden Way Between Some Rains 2013)
23:52 Georg Deuter - Deep Sea(mysterious - lost - sunken ship) (Soundtrack 1973)
26:15 Atmo - subacquatic (Ittiologia 1973)
28:00 Walt Rockman - dark depth 1 (Underwater Vol 1 1980)
29:31 Teddy Lasry - moins 8000 (+ ou - 8000 1977)
33:33 Franco Tamponi - Profondita (Biologia Marina 1973)
35:55 Jim Harbourg - Harbourg Empathy (Sonoton Soundscapes 1985)
38:23 John Hyde - Underwater (Red Kite 1982)
40:00 Stefano Liberati - La caverna di ghiaccio (Pericolo negli abissi 1978)
41:20 Piero Umiliani - musica delle sfere (Omaggio ad Einstein 1973)
43:10 Raymond Scott - Sleepy Time (Soothing Sounds for Baby, Volume 1 1997)
47:15 Eric Vann - Diving (Water World 1982)
50:37 end

Wednesday Apr 19, 2023

Current Ambient Obsessions

Wednesday Apr 19, 2023

This mix is pretty straightforward - it's a collection of tracks from some of my favorite ambient albums of 2023. The first three tracks are probably my top three albums of the year so far and I expect them to be on my year-end list in December.

There's not much else to say, just sit back and enjoy some excellent ambient music.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Rod Modell & Taka Noda - Untitled 9 (Glow World 2023)
07:03 Brendan Eder Ensemble - Ending(feat. Ethan Haman) (Therapy 2023)
14:55 ARROWOUNDS - Tree of Disciples (In The Octopus Pond 2023)
21:15 Robert Davies - Lakeside Reminiscence (Lakeside Haven 2023)
27:50 Pan•American - Renzo (In Daylight Dub 2023)
37:30 Harry Towell & Pruski - lacustyna (petrologist's lens 2023)
42:30 Tim Hecker - Monotony II (No Highs 2023)
44:44 Max Richter - Tranquility VII & VIII (SLEEP: Tranquility Base 2023)
49:20 36 - Last Wake Dreamout (Dreamloops Suite 2023)
60:00 end

Wednesday Apr 05, 2023

Lost In Transmission

Wednesday Apr 05, 2023

I love making shortwave mixes, so it's hard to believe it's been almost 11 years since my last new shortwave creation. Yikes! I know these mixes are labor intensive and I am a terrible procrastinator but I am shocked that it's been that long.

Here are the previous mixes:

This mix is a combo of real shortwave broadcasts, tracks that have broadcasts already embedded, and tracks that have that scratchy, radio feel. I couldn't resist adding a bit of Conet Project recordings here and there. Most of the straight radio broadcasts come from Myke Dodge Weiskopf. I've been using his recordings for years. You can find his stuff here - https://www.myke.me/

Two of my favorite cuts in this mix are by Mount Shrine from the album Shortwave Ruins. https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/shortwave-ruins It's a perfect combo of ambience, drone, and radio chatter. Mount Shrine is Cesar Alexandre, who sadly passed away in 2021. His two tracks in this mix fit the vibe perfectly.

I hope you enjoy the washes of static and voices from the ether. Hopefully it won't be 11 years until the next shortwave mix.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 shortwave noise
00:40 Mount Shrine - Earth Bridge (Shortwave Ruins 2020)
04:50 Rival Consoles - Noise Call and Response
06:35 Mike Benoit - November’s Static Is Chill & Drear, November’s Leaf Is Red & Sear
07:10 Federico Durand - el grillo de nacar(the cricket of nacre) (a traves del espejo 2016)
09:36 9_11_01(Unknown time and frequency)
10:20 Enrico Coniglio & Matteo Uggeri - Jessaias de reduire mes medicaments
12:53 David Sylvian - Camphor
16:03 Helios - All You Are (Remembrance)
17:00 The Focus Group - CineToneOne (Stop-Motion Happening 2017)
17:12 Goncalo F Cardoso - Radio Zanzibar Etude 1
17:50 Tetsu Inoue - Invitable Colour (World Receiver 1996)
21:12 Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4
22:45 Jogging House - Frail
25:55 Ant’lrd - Slow Dream (Deck Amber 2018)
27:15 Radio Belarus – German Service 3-Aug-2010
28:20 Cremation Lily - Immaculacy (In England Now, Underwater 2018)
29:40 Radio Bulgaria 2-13 5800 kHz, 11_12_05 (2054UTC)
30:20 Austin Rockman - Sun Ink (Our Own Unknown 2022)
34:30 Janek Schaefer - Lagoon (glitter in my tears 2017)
36:03 Teleferick - g.klarf (sixteen frames 2017)
36:45 Lee Noyes & Radio Cegeste - broken only by the need for breath (to orient themselves with coastlines 2012)
37:15 Mount Shrine - Across Rooftops (Shortwave Ruins 2020)
42:10 Maps & Diagrams - Mutability (Teygja Part B 2021)
45:42 KJES 5-03 7555 kHz, 8_1_05 (0154UTC)
47:00 Rival Consoles - Outline of a Distant Memory
50:27 The Focus Group - Sir John Pepper (Stop-Motion Happening 2017)
51:22 Swod - Tucholskystr, 34 (Gehen 2004)
51:47 Olli Aarni - Puro (Puu tuulessa 2015)
54:33 half light - Rest (Rest 2022)
59:44 end

Wednesday Mar 29, 2023

Piano Day 2023

Wednesday Mar 29, 2023

International Piano Day is March 29th and, as has been the case for the last five years, I've put together a new mix in celebration of ambient piano tunes. I don't do quite as many piano mixes as I once did but when I create these Piano Day sets I find I really enjoy the vibe.

There are a lot of new tracks in the mix, half of them from 2022 & 2023. But there are a few older tunes as well. I really like how this one turned out. I hope you enjoy the latest Piano Day excursion.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 daniel.mp3 - green to blue (2022)
02:45 Hania Rani - The Beach(From I Never Cry) (Music for Film and Theatre 2021)
05:14 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20211130 (12 2023)
10:02 h hunt - 11e (playing piano for dad 2016)
12:49 Arin Aksberg - In Memory (It Flows Between U 2023)
16:47 Olafur Arnalds - Still, Sound (A Sunrise Session 2021)
20:42 ANNA - Receiving(Jon Hopkins piano version) (2023)
25:15 Hania Rani - Whale's Song (Inner Symphonies 2021)
29:42 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20211201 (12 2023)
34:37 Library Tapes - Safe Haven (Dusk 2021)
36:41 Bing and Ruth - We Are on the Side of Angels (Tomorrow Was The Golden Age 2014)
42:53 Milieu - Antique Sunlight (Smokebuilder's Woodshop 2008)
47:56 Nebel Lang - Past All Unknowing (Directions For Stopping 2022)
52:43 Lorenz Weber - as time goes by (only the wind 2022)
56:10 Purple Decades - Forest (Journey Test 2023)
59:10 end

Wednesday Mar 15, 2023

Replicant Memories

Wednesday Mar 15, 2023

Blade Runner is obviously one of the great sci-fi films of all time, with one of the best soundtracks of all time. As a testament to the staying power of Vangelis' work, we still have a artists today that mimic the sound of the Blade Runner score.

The recording that got me started on this mix is brand new from Crows Labyrinth called "Neon Scenes I: Granular Dreams". It's a longform generative ambient drone track with a lead synth that has a great Blade Runner vibe. You can find it here... https://crowslabyrinth.bandcamp.com/album/neon-scenes-i-granular-dreams

As soon as I heard that track I knew I had to create another Blade Runner mix. This is my fourth one. Here are the links to the others:

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/alternative-blade-runner-2049-soundtrack/

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/blade-runner-is-now/

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/blade-runner-pop-soundtrack/

One thing that sets this mix apart from the others is that many of the tunes are very purposely trying to replicate the sound of the original soundtrack. Some cuts even use rain, voices and effects to mimic the feel. I added a bit of BR sound fx on a couple of tracks to reinforce the vibe. Most of the time though it's that lead synth sound that transports me right back to 1982.

Some folks may have a problem with current artists so blatantly aping a style and sound(some more than others here). But I don't care, I just love the overall sound and feel of these tracks.

Here links to the music used in this mix:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Crows Labyrinth - Neon Scenes I: Granular Dreams(Single Version) (2023)

03:40 State Azure - Nova Sonus (2022)

10:00 Andy Hagerty - Cadalach(Analogue Fantasy Mix) (Cadalach EP 2021)

14:50 The Rosen Corporation - A Good Joe (Pale Fire 2018)

22:12 Owl - Distant Transmission (Infinite Horizon 2021)

25:52 Boards of Canada - Collapse (Tomorrow's Harvest 2013)

28:00 Druid & Jok - Skyline Envelope (Terminals 2023)

31:54 Passengers - Ito Okashi (Original Soundtracks 1 1995)

34:50 State Azure - Folding Space (2020)

42:50 Monolog & Subheim - Colorful Flight (ConVIction 2017)

45:35 Graintable - UnIVersal Ash (UnIVersal Ash 2019)

50:24 Pye Corner Audio - Saturation Point (Let's Emerge! 2022)

53:53 The Rosen Corporation - Passing Thoughts (Neon Lovers 2020)

58:27 Alva Noto - A Forest (A Forest 2020)

61:48 The Rosen Corporation - The Warmth of Death (Pale Fire 2018)

66:20 end

Wednesday Feb 22, 2023

Now That’s What I Call Ambient

Wednesday Feb 22, 2023

Hmmm, what kind of mix do you think this one might be. I believe the gaudy cover art gives it away. This is essentially a continuation of my "Simply Ambient" series. A nice, straightforward mix of new ambient tunes.

I got tired of coming up with variations of "simply ambient" such as absolutely ambient, purely ambient, totally ambient, etc. So I decided to ripoff the over-the-top "Now That's What I Call Music" series. I'm not sure if, like that series, I'll keep adding numbers to each mix so that I end up with "Now That's What I Call Ambient Vol. 84".

Here are the links to all the music used in this mix:

These are the labels all this wonderful music was released on:

Facture - https://facture.bandcamp.com/music
Archive - https://archivesdubmusic.bandcamp.com/music
Past Inside the Present - https://pitp.bandcamp.com/music
Kranky - https://kranky.bandcamp.com/
Audiobulb - https://audiobulb.bandcamp.com/
Beacon Sound - https://beaconsound.bandcamp.com/music
Krysalisound - https://krysalisound.bandcamp.com/music
Dauw - https://dauw.bandcamp.com/
Somewherecold Records - https://somewherecoldrecords.bandcamp.com/
Laaps - https://laaps-records.com/music
Whitelabrecs - https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/music

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Hummingbird - Leuken (Langd 2023)
03:53 Flexagon - Ozanne Tower The Folly (The Towers I - Inaccessible 2023)
08:30 David Cordero - Sunrise (Endless Lonliness 2023)
11:42 Mike Lazarev - Tonality Number Three (Sacred Tonalities 2023)
15:45 Loscil/Lawrence English - Yellow (Colours of Air 2023)
20:00 Tomo-Nakaguchi - Noto (The Long Night in Winter Light 2023)
23:50 Purple Decades - Forest (Journey Test 2023)
26:27 Russ Young - Folding Valley (Cloak 2023)
29:12 Hummingbird - Leuken (Langd 2023)
36:50 blochemy - pone (blurr. 2023)
40:00 Jogging House - Floor (Face 2023)
43:18 A Journey of Giraffes - Ambient Gold Fudge (Empress Nouveau 2023)
45:50 Arovane - Faraday (Sinter 2023)
47:55 harry towell & polaroid notes - lepidodendron (petrologist's lens 2023)
52:18 glåsbird - lokoteraina (pacifica 2023)
54:43 Peter Kvidera - Kostrbatý (Verism 2023)
58:00 end

Wednesday Jan 25, 2023

Ambient Solar System

Wednesday Jan 25, 2023

Fire up the Epstein Drive, get settled in your crash couch and set forth on a tour of the solar system. We'll travel from the sun past the inner planets and through asteroid belt out to the gas giants, into the kuiper belt and oort cloud, and finally reaching interstellar space.

All the track titles make it clear where we are on this journey.

Incidentally, there is a comet, C/2022 E3, that hopefully will be visible now through the first week of February. It should viewable first with a telescope then binoculars and maybe even with the naked eye around Feb. 1. This mix might make a good soundtrack for viewing.

Link to most of the music used in this mix:

Enjoy fellow space cadets.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - She Brought the Sun (Wow and Flutter 2018)
08:34 Underworld & John Murphy - Mercury (Sunshine OST 2008)
10:25 Casino Versus Japan - Names on Maps of Venus pt. 6 (Casino Versus Japan 1998)
11:50 Polaroid Notes - The Good Earth (Home Diaries 014 2020)
14:58 Harold Budd - Mars and the Artist (In The Mist 2011)
16:40 Brian Eno - Asteroid Dawn (Curiosities Volume II 2004)
20:42 Erstlaub - Jupiter (Deconstructed Music 1 2004)
24:50 Max Richter - The Rings of Saturn (Ad Astra OST 2019)
27:35 NASA Voyager Recordings - Rings of Uranus (Symphonies of the Planets 2009)
29:30 Johan Tronestam - Neptune (Space Collection 2017)
37:25 Christopher Willits - Comet (Horizon 2017)
41:50 Ishq - Pluto Shift (Deep Space Objects 2012)
47:10 Bil Vermette - Kuiper Belt (Hunting for Planet 9 2021)
52:35 Konstruct - Oort Cloud (Three (squared) 2021)
55:12 Factory - Interstellar (Kage, Vol. One: Quiet Dreams 2016)
57:50 Echospace - Where Are We Now (echospace [detroit] presents echoes in space 2014)
60:00 end

Wednesday Jan 18, 2023

A Foggy Winter’s Dub

Wednesday Jan 18, 2023

This mix is much more straightforward than the Antarctica set. This mix follows my "dubby & dreamy" formula of ethereal ambient dub tracks with a few gentle beats and lots of synth washes.

Here are the links to all the music used in this mix:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 PLastikman & Chilly Gonzalez - Ekko(In Key) (Consumed In Key 2022)
03:39 CELL - Onwards System - Fugitive Perpetuity (Onwards System 2022)
09:00 ASC - Solitude (Ultimae Records - Isolated 2022)
12:10 Solar Debris - It's All Dark When You Are Gone (Arctic Dub Compilation 2019)
16:50 Owl - Distant Transmission (Infinite Horizon 2021)
20:20 EROT - Observer Effect (Gneiss EP 2021)
24:50 MYKJA - Vera Á Reiki (North Paths 2017)
32:40 Motionfield - Midnight Metro (Optical Flow 2014)
38:32 Earthen Sea - Shallow, Shadowless (Grass & Trees 2019)
43:20 ASC - Sequence 4 (Sequenced 2017)
47:00 Mr Zu - Echova (Driftwood EP 2016)
53:00 Model 500 - Starlight(Intrusion dub) (2008)
57:45 Daar - Coda (Entire 2021)
60:00 end

Wednesday Jan 11, 2023

The Frozen Wild: An Antarctic Expedition

Wednesday Jan 11, 2023

A couple of years ago I watched and read a ton on Ernest Shackleton, the English Explorer who went to Antarctica 3 times. One of those was a journey that saw his ship, Endurance, get stuck in the ice and then crushed by the ice, leaving the crew of 27 adrift on an ice floe.

After 6 months of drifting they made their way in the ship's boats to Elephant Island. Shackleton and five crewmates set sail in one of the boats to South Georgia island, a journey of 800 miles (1,300 kilometres) through the Southern Ocean.

Launching from Elephant Island

After a 17-day voyage, the crew and small boat reached the southern coast of South Georgia. Historians regard the voyage of the crew in a 22.5-foot (6.9 m) ship's boat through the "Furious Fifties" as one of the greatest small-boat journeys ever completed.

Shackleton and two others crossed the island's mountains on foot to a whaling station where they organized the rescue of the rest of the crew. Ultimately, the entire Endurance crew returned home, without loss of life.

Welp, I hadn't intended on writing that much about Shackleton but it's such an amazing story. That was two years ago when I learned about Shackleton. Fast forward to today & I'm reading a book called "Antarctica" by Kim Stanley Robinson which has rekindled my fascination with the continent. I have now learned about Amundsen and his trek to the pole. And about Scott's tragic expedition in which he made it to the pole but froze to death on the way back. A surviving member of Scott's crew wrote a book about a part of the trip with a great title - "The Worst Journey in the World."

Oof, that was a long-winded way of saying that I have had Antarctica on the brain lately. Of course, I had to create a mix to go with my obsession. One way to approach this mix would be to use atmospheric dub tracks. A lot of ambient dub music uses environmental themes and cold, arctic imagery. I thought that was the direction I was going to go until I stumbled on a bunch of tracks from William Ryan Fritch. He had a ton of great titles that fit perfectly, such as "On Frozen Ground" & "Ghosts in the Gale". And a couple of new tracks, "Blistering Wind" & "A Fissure Too Wide", are from his new album, Polarity, coming out this week.

After hearing those tracks I decided to go with a more organic sound. It seemed to fit better when thinking of journeys happening between 1905 to 1917. There are some electronics and synths that show up but generally, the mix has a more acoustic, orchestral feel.

The track titles show how the mix will take the listener on a journey that is a composite of many expeditions in Antarctica. The track by Irezumi is called Endurance, the name of Shackleton's ship. He uses some spoken word in the track that I assume is supposed to be Shackleton. The mix finishes with a whispering wind and the beautiful track "Before My Time" with vocals from Scarlett Johansson and lyrics that work well with the theme.

Bundle up and enjoy this excursion to the bottom of the world.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Okomotive, Joel Schoch - Sail, my Friend! (FAR: Lone Sails Soundtrack 2018)
03:10 Trigg & Gusset - Sea & Wind (Black Ocean 2021)
06:00 Ben McElroy - The Sailor and the Albatross (The Word Cricket Made Her Happy 2018)
09:45 Ugasanie - Shores Of Antarctica (Ice Breath of Antartica 2018)
10:37 Vangelis - Back To Antarctica (Antarctica 1983)
12:10 John Luther Adams - The Farthest Place (The Light that Fills the World 2002)
15:10 Seabuckthorn - There Was A Vastness (And Spark And Singe 2021)
17:35 William Ryan Fritch - On Frozen Ground (The Old Believers 2017)
19:22 Terje Isungset - Ice Beauty (Igloo 2006)
22:00 William Ryan Fritch - Ghosts In The Gale (Ill Tides 2016)
23:54 Tim Hecker - Left on the Ice (The North Water 2021)
27:23 Jóhann Jóhannsson & Hildur Guðnadóttir & Rutger Hoedemaekers - Trapped (Trapped 2019)
28:44 From the Mouth of the Sun - Snow Burial(while blue skies gather) (Woven Tide 2012)
31:48 John Luther Adams - Dream in White on White (The Far Country 1999)
36:00 Staalklang - The White Plains (The Loneliness of a Polar Expedition Pt 2 2021)
39:20 Tom Heasley - Adrift (Waves/Adrift)
41:40 William Ryan Fritch - Blistering Wind (Polarity 2023)
48:08 William Ryan Fritch - A Fissure Too Wide (Polarity 2023)
49:15 Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin - Death Bed (Beasts of the Southern Wild 2012)
50:20 Irezumi - Endurance IV (Endurance 2008)
54:18 William Ryan Fritch - A Sad Whispering Wind II (Her Warmth 2016)
57:42 J. Ralph & Scarlett Johansson - Before My Time (Chasing Ice 2012)
61:22 end

Thursday Dec 29, 2022

Best Ambient 2022 part 3

Thursday Dec 29, 2022

I can't decide which of these Best Ambient mixes I like the most. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to listen all 3 all day, every day until the end of the year. Then the journey starts all over again.

As another year comes to a close, it's hard to believe I've been at this for 17 years. Yikes! I'm not sure how long I'll keep creating these mix but I at least have to make it to 20 years, right? If I ever retire from my day job this seems like the perfect retirement activity. Forget golf, I just want to listen to music and create mixes(and go to movies, concerts and funky restaurants.)

Here's to a hopefully less chaotic 2023.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Seabuckthorn - Of No Such Place (Of No Such Place - Laaps)
03:26 Son of Chi & Arthur Flink - Part Two (The Fifth World Recordings - Astral Industries)
07:45 Tapani Rinne & Juha Mäki-Patola - Distant (Open - Hush Hush)
12:36 Nils Frahm - Do Dream (Music for Animals - Leiter)
19:35 Toàn - Coraline (Phonolite - [Krysalisound)
22:35 Gylden - A drink at the stream (Island Friend - Seil)
27:00 Oren Ambarchi - IV (Ghosted - Drag City)
31:10 Adrian Copeland - No Heat No Light (If This Were My Body - Lost Tribe Sound)
36:45 Roméo Poirier - Le case degli altri (Living Room - Faitiche)
40:00 't Geruis - Quand Le Bois Chante (Bain D'Étoiles - Laaps)
43:20 The Lonely Bell - The Final Light (Kingdoms Of The Deep)
49:40 Music For Sleep - L'ansia che cura (L'ansia che cura)