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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world
Episodes
Sunday Aug 21, 2022
Sunday Aug 21, 2022
I have been making stargazing and space themed mixes for a long time. But I realized that I haven't posted a straightforward stargazing mix for almost two years. So this mix fixes that.
All the tracks are fairly new, with half of them being from this year. Some tracks are from low light mixes regulars like Loscil, Loneward and Hipnotic Earth alongside new discoveries like RIKAAR, Tone Color and Audio Obscura.
Here are links to all the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:
- https://triplicaterecords.bandcamp.com/album/malin-1
- https://altusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/our-unyielding-sky
- https://dronarivm.bandcamp.com/album/starfish-giant-foams
- https://www.amazon.com/Xerrox-Vol-4-Alva-Noto/dp/B087SDHPRK/ref=tmm_acd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
- https://hrresonance.bandcamp.com/album/infinite-realms
- https://dewtonerecordings.com/album/dwelling-in-light
- https://motionfield.bandcamp.com/album/evolve
- https://tapesandtopographies.bandcamp.com/album/modalities
- https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/moments-of-immersion
- https://triplicaterecords.bandcamp.com/album/triplicate-tapes-vol-2-space-invaders
- https://banabila.bandcamp.com/album/to-yemen-with-love-2
- https://loscil.bandcamp.com/album/lifelike
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 RIKAAR - Future Hope to Past Lightyears (Malin 1 2022)
- 12:15 Loneward - Star Portal (Our Unyielding Sky 2022)
- 11:58 Hipnotic Earth - Full of Stars (Starfish and Giant Foams 2021)
- 16:45 Alva Noto - Xerrox Neige (Xerrox Vol. 4 2020)
- 20:40 Alpha Wave Movement - Timeless Starfields(Infinite Realms 2021)
- 27:50 Tone Color - The Beauty of Not Knowing (Dwelling in Light 2022)
- 30:50 Motionfield - Evolve (Evolve 2022)
- 36:00 Tapes and Topographies - The Worn Surface of Heart (Modalities 2022)
- 41:40 Pruski - Moment V (Moments of Immersion 2022)
- 46:00 Audio Obscura - The Quiet Night (Triplicate Tapes Vol. 2 Space Invaders 2021)
- 49:50 Machinefabriek - Waqūr (To Yemen With Love 2020)
- 53:14 Loscil - Swipe Enforce (Lifelike 2019)
- 58:11 end
Sunday Aug 14, 2022
Sunday Aug 14, 2022
Here's a new mix in the "Simply Ambient" series. There is no theme, no story, no big concept - just straightforward ambient music. All the tracks are from 2022 and all the tracks are...Undeniably Ambient.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Innesti - A Collection of Ideas (Folding, A Study 2022)
- 04:50 Andarctica - Basalt (Basal 2022)
- 09:00 Gylden - Into The Night (Island Friend 2022)
- 13:15 Jogging House - Low (Fiber 2022)
- 20:22 S. van der Toorn - vervlogenheid v (vervlogenheden i-xi 2022)
- 22:30 halftribe - Concept of Happiness (Elegant, Golden 2022)
- 26:55 Christopher Hanlon - Light Returning (Dreaming of Summer in Winter 2022)
- 29:41 Loris S. Sarid - Yellow Lines (Seabed-Sunbath 2022)
- 32:20 Toàn - Ambre (Phonolite 2022)
- 36:46 Pruski - Moment III (Moments of Immersion 2022)
- 41:05 Erik Wøllo - Inversion, part 5 (Inversions 2022)
- 45:25 ASC - Solitude (Ultimae Records - Isolated 2022)
- 50:55 David Cordero - Snoqualmie Falls(feat. Carlos Ferreira) (And Stillness Came 2022)
- 55:20 Alio Die & Dirk Serries - The Shadow Is Slow, The Hour Is Fleeting (The Chapters Of The Eclipse 2022)
- 64:29 end
Sunday Jul 31, 2022
Sunday Jul 31, 2022
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About a month ago I presented a guest mix of sleep music from Brian Bieniowski, whom I knew from the heyday of the Hypnos Records forum in the mid 2000s. "That Beautiful Land of Nod" is indeed a beautiful sleep mix.
Thankfully, back in 2007 Brian created two Land of Nod mixes. So here is volume 2 for your listening and sleeping pleasure.
Here is what Brian said about the Land of Nod mixes back in 2007:
"It wasn't until the early nineties when I discovered real ambient music suited for the purpose of lying down and listening. It felt finally natural to take to my bed after starting the CD player and allowing the soft music to carry my mind forth for a while until sleep took hold. This mix, That Beautiful Land of Nod, is the product of over twelve years of "field research" in ambient sleep music. All of the selections, new and old, on these two discs, are pieces of music I have personally played in the times before and during sleep. Each track is special to me, these soothing zones, as they have not only brought me hours of comforted sleep, but also tantalizing, never-lasting minutes of wild and wonderful imagery in those moments before unconsciousness occurs. Each track maps a route across my consciousness over twelve years of sleep listening. It is my honest hope that this becomes the mix you never fully listen to—if you are at all like me, you'll be asleep by track five or six every time. So, please, draw the shades, relax, pleasant dreams...."
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Jochem Paap - Dx-Snth (Vrs-Mbnt-Pcs 9598 2)
- 05:45 Jason Sloan - The Color of Wind 1 (Still)
- 11:45 Sam Rosenthal & VidnaObmana - Dark Mist, Rain (Terrace of Memories)
- 16:15 Bill Nelson - Crimsworth(edit) (Crimsworth)
- 22:30 James Johnson - Surrender(edit) (Surrender)
- 26:20 Aphex Twin - #19(edit) (Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2)
- 29:10 Rod Modell & Michael Mantra - Vitamin K(edit) (Sonic Continuum)
- 33:30 Ruxpin - Autocaz (Midnight Drive)
- 38:30 Never Known - Spheres (On the Edge of Forever)
- 43:10 Oöphoi - Let the Nightsky Envelope Us (Hymns to a Silent Sky)
- 49:40 Mathias Grassow - Through the Void (The Fragrance of Eternal Roses)
- 55:12 Aloof Proof - The Ghost Ship(edit) (Expo Two: Piano Text)
- 58:55 David Sylvian - Approaching Silence(edit) (Approaching Silence)
- 65:00 Steve Roach - Towards the Blue (Quiet Music)
- 68:23 end
Sunday Jul 24, 2022
Sunday Jul 24, 2022
Peter van Cooten runs the excellent Ambientblog website which has great reviews and, of course, wonderful mixes. Anytime Peter reaches out with a mix idea or a a set he'd like to cross-post on both of our platforms, I will always jump at the chance.
As I said on Peter's last guest mix, his sets are different from mine in that they are more intricate. He does not use full tracks, instead opting for excerpts and samples piled on each other, sometimes 2, 3, or 4 tracks play simultaneously, to create a new sound collage.
Here's what Peter says about this mix:
"Apart from its opening sample – ‘It is time to stop seeing. It is time to stop speaking. It is time to listen’, from David Cronenberg’s Crimes Of the Future – this mix has no central theme or story. It’s up to you, the listener to take the time to listen and go with the flow. Let your fantasy tell you the story. And, after you did, I’d love to hear what you heard.
This mix is created using many fragments and samples from longer pieces of music, often presented in multiple layers. Check the original compositions using the tracklist below."
Here's a map of the mix, layer upon layer of the 31 tracks used in the collage.
Check out Peter's work here:
https://www.ambientblog.net/blog/ He also does surround sound mixes, which you can find here: https://www.ambientblog.net/blog/the-surround-mix-versions/
And Peter is on Mixcloud - https://www.mixcloud.com/ambientblog/
Sunday Jul 03, 2022
Sunday Jul 03, 2022
Set the wayback machine to 2007.
I started creating ambient mixes back in the mid-2000s. Those were the days before social media had taken over our lives, before Bandcamp was such a great resource for ambient music. Back then I spent a lot of time on the Hypnos Records forum. There, a bunch of like-mined music nerds shared comments about new recordings, gear, movies, books, tv, music trends, etc.
We also shared mixes. That was one of the first places I tried to promote my mixes online. Back in 2007 fellow forum member, Brian Bieniowski, created a couple mixes under the Asphalt Eden moniker. These mixes, The Beautiful Land of Nod 1 & 2, are some of my all-time favorites and I've used them as sleep soundtracks for years.
With that as background, a few weeks ago a loyal listener reached out with this request - "Could you post some of the Asphalt Eden super-classics like The Beautiful Land of Nod I and II to your Mixcloud as guest mixes/classics in the field/inspirations to your mixes please? I think your fans would be overjoyed by this, and it would be sheer cultural maintenance."
I contacted Brian and he was kind enough to give the thumbs up to posting these classic mixes. He did not have the original tracklists but somehow was able to reconstruct them by listening to each set. Impressive! Thanks Brian for the mixes and for your memory. Here's a link to his website - https://www.handsometechnologies.com/
So kickback and remember a time before credit default swaps almost cratered the economy, before a reality show host became president, before a coronavirus swept around the globe, before....ugh...I'll stop now. Just sit back and drift away to The Beautiful Land of Nod 1.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- Robert Rich -Seascape (Trances/Drones)
- Koda - Where the Morning Light Exits (Movements)
- Scott Solter - Wave and Sepia Wire (The Brief Light)
- Thom Brennan - Raingardens (Mist)
- Robert Fripp and Jeffrey Fayman - The Sky Below (A Temple in the Clouds)
- James Johnson?
- MLO - Noodle #1
- Heavenly Music Corp - Ambient to Be Here (In a Garden of Eden)
- Tetsu Inoue & Pete Namlook - 2350 Broadway 2 - Art of Dream
- Klaus Wiese - Soma
- Rameses III - Queens Road Cemetery - 28th March 2005 (Matanuska)
- Brian Eno - Discreet Music (Discreet Music)
- Jonn Serrie - Stratos (And the Stars Go With You)
Sunday Jun 05, 2022
Sunday Jun 05, 2022
For a while now I've been planning on a drum/percussion mix similar to A Distant Pulse - https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/a-distant-pulse/ and A Rhythmic Passage - https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/a-rhythmic-passage/
In my search for tracks I came across a track by Vidna Obmana called "The Transcending Quest." It made me nostalgic for the heyday of tribal ambient in the 1990s with artists like Vidna Obana, Steve Roach, O Yuki Conjugate and Thom Brennan. So I decided to make this whole mix a trip back to the 90s for some hang drum and rain stick sounds.
The first thing you may notice is that not all the tunes are from the 1990s. Two are from 2001 and one is from 1989. I say close enough.
The other thing you may hear as you listen is that the tracks all definitely sound very similar. That was purposeful. I wanted the whole set to have a trance-like feel to it.
Sitting right in the middle of all this is one of my favorite ambient tracks of all time - "The Path Not Taken" by Thom Brennan from 1995. When I looked for a Bandcamp link I found he had an entire album by that name and it's only $4. An edited version of part is what was released in 1995 and the whole album remained unreleased until 2019. You can find it here... https://thombrennan.bandcamp.com/album/the-path-not-taken
Links to all the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:
- https://cosmicguitartronics.bandcamp.com/album/seed
- https://vidnaobmana.bandcamp.com/album/the-transcending-quest
- https://steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/early-man
- https://oyukiconjugate.bandcamp.com/album/equator-2
- https://thombrennan.bandcamp.com/album/the-path-not-taken
- https://www.amazon.com/Maps-Without-Edges-Stillpoint/dp/B000006BYU
- https://algromerkhan.bandcamp.com/album/tantra-drums
- https://steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/the-desert-collection-volume-one-2014
- https://vidnaobmana.bandcamp.com/album/the-spiritual-bonding
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Ma Ja Le & James Johnson - Yaquona(Part 2) (Seed 2001)
- 09:00 Vidna Obmana - The Transcending Quest (Amplexus 1995)
- 14:55 Steve Roach - Walking Upright (Early Man 2001)
- 21:10 O Yuki Conjugate - Insect Talk (Equator 1995)
- 26:25 Thom Brennan - The Path Not Taken (Amplexus 1995)
- 37:20 STilLPOiNT - Maps 2&3 (Maps Without Edges 1996)
- 43:57 Al Gromer Khan - Unmoved Mover (Tantra Drums 1998)
- 51:10 Steve Roach & Michael Stearns - Flatlands (Desert Solitaire 1989)
- 55:42 Vidna Obmana - The Nebulous Pathway (The Spiritual Bonding 1994)
- 60:00 end
Sunday May 08, 2022
Sunday May 08, 2022
A new album from Tapes and Topographies dropped last week and as expected it is very good. Tapes & Topographies is one of my favorite ambient artists so I asked if they would do a guest mix. And I am happy to present "A Faint Resemblance".
I'm stealing this background info from friend of the blog, Harry Towell over at Whitelabrecs. "Tapes and Topographies is US based artist Todd Gautreau, who has had music releases on labels such as Past Inside the Present, Dronarivm, Shimmering Moods and his own imprint, Simulacra. His project has been active since 2014 following his previous alias Tear Ceremony and he also produces a downtempo as Sonogram."
This mix hits the sweet spot for me - the perfect combo of dusty noise and loops and ambience to create a dreamy, meandering mix. If you like that kind of sound and enjoy the mix the definitely check the new Tapes and Topographies album. Here's the link:
https://tapesandtopographies.bandcamp.com/album/modalities
Here is a list of all the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:
- https://tapesandtopographies.bandcamp.com/album/modalities
- https://rbeny.bandcamp.com/album/seafoam-dust
- https://pitp.bandcamp.com/album/hosts-of-living-forms
- https://jogginghouse.bandcamp.com/album/holds
- https://pitp.bandcamp.com/album/color-of-time
- https://andrewtasselmyer.bandcamp.com/album/vantage-points
- https://jamesoslandaudio.bandcamp.com/album/tomosla-a-small-town-in-the-mountains-released-via-shimmering-moods
- https://tapesandtopographies.bandcamp.com/album/modalities
- https://halftribe.bandcamp.com/album/archipelago
- https://sonogram1.bandcamp.com/album/cubists
- https://zakedrone.bandcamp.com/album/sound-space-variations
- https://www.amazon.com/Music-Installations-CD-Brian-Eno/dp/B07BF854N4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QMZJTL6540A2&keywords=brian+eno+music+for+installations&qid=1651968434&s=music&sprefix=brian+eno+music+for+insta%2Cpopular%2C78&sr=1-1
- 00:00 Tapes and Topographies - With that being said (Modalities 2022)
- 06:25 r beny - Ektar 100 (Seafoam & Dust 2020)
- 10:00 The Lifted Index - Chronologic Moss (Host of Living Forms 2021)
- 13:00 Jogging House - Strangers (Holds 2021)
- 17:35 Color of Time - Color of Time (Color of Time 2021)
- 20:05 Andrew Tasselmeyer - Becoming (Vantage Points 2018)
- 22:22 Tomosla - Possum (A Small Town In The Mountains 2021)
- 25:20 Tapes and Topographies - Verticals (Modalities 2022)
- 29:10 Halftribe - Imperfect (Archipelago 2020)
- 35:05 Sonogram - Certainly Obscured (Cubists 2012)
- 41:10 zaké - Variation (Sound Space Variations 2022)
- 44:25 Brian Eno - Chamber Lightness (Lightness 1997)
- 56:34 end
Sunday Apr 24, 2022
Sunday Apr 24, 2022
Here's the latest in a series of simple, straightforward ambient mixes. It started with Simply Ambient then we also had Always Ambient, Purely Ambient, and Absolutely Ambient.
This is a mix with no theme or story or concept. Just excellent ambient tracks. All the cuts used here are from 2022.
Here are links to the music used in this mix in the order in which they appear:
https://krysalisound.bandcamp.com/album/our-own-unknown
https://jogginghouse.bandcamp.com/album/weight
https://ambientologist.bandcamp.com/album/the-unavoidable-death-of-loneliness
https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/neogene
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/bullfinch
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/1989
https://aliodie.bandcamp.com/album/distillation-of-time
https://wreathmusic.bandcamp.com/album/green-wall
https://andrewheath.bandcamp.com/album/quiet-noise
https://michaelscottdawson.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-listening
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Austin Rockman - Illuma (Our Own Unknown on [Krysalisound 2022)
- 06:52 Jogging House - Shape (Weight on Seil 2022)
- 11:08 Sven Laux & Logic Moon - A Cascade Made of Stars (The Unavoidable Death of Loneliness on Ambientologist 2022)
- 15:50 Jarguna - Neogene (Neogene 2022)
- 20:48 headland - jellybone (bullfinch on Whitelabrecs 2022)
- 25:02 Jens Pauly - Ohne (1989 on Whitelabrecs 2022)
- 29:35 Alio Die - L'estasi Del Silenzio (Distillation Of Time on Hic Sunt Leones 2022)
- 35:15 wreath - Esjan (Green Wall on Stereoscenic 2022)
- 38:06 Andrew Heath - Particle Drift (Quiet Noise on Whitelabrecs 2022)
- 42:43 Michael Scott Dawson - Praise and Other (Music for Listening 2022)
- 45:00 Wil Bolton & Francis Gri - The relief in an empty row (Imaginary Tales on Krysalisound 2022)
- 51:09 Harry Towell & Guy Gelem - The Springs (Restful Spaces on Polar Seas 2022)
- 56:20 Ben McElroy - Bed Down in the Murk (How I Learnt To Disengage From The Pack on The Slow Music Movement 2022)
- 61:00 end
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
"Listening in the Dark" is such a great title for an ambient mix. I've listened to a lot of these mixes in the dark - sitting on the deck at night, in bed before sleep, stargazing, etc. I wonder how many folks purposely listen to ambient & electronic music in the dark. I remember playing the Conet Project recordings in the dark and a friend said it was a little too freaky. This mix is definitely not freaky.
This is the latest installment in Paul Asbury Seaman's "Mystical Ambience" series. And like the others, it's a great collection of tunes, some of which are not in my normal ambient rotation. But that's why I love getting mixes from Paul, they expose me to new artists and styles. Here's what he has to say about this compilation:
“Here’s another mixed genre program, including one (just one) spoken word song early in the set. I find it interesting that, metaphorically, darkness has many more layers than what we associate with light. It can be scary and impenetrable, but also part of the hero’s journey into deeper understanding, or working through the infamous dark night of the soul. As Guy Clark says it, there’s a world of things you can’t see in the day time. And some folks take comfort in that.”
Thanks for putting this together, Paul!
Links to all the albums in this mix in the order in which they appear:
- https://sherryfinzer.bandcamp.com/
- https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Guy-Clark/dp/B00006IGTH
- https://artpatience.bandcamp.com/album/the-unknown
- https://heartdancerecords.bandcamp.com/album/looking-for-the-timeless
- https://mnomized.bandcamp.com/album/m-nomized-ice-bells-a-tribute-to-bj-rk-2018
- https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-ancient
- https://jeffjohnsonarkmusic.bandcamp.com/album/eirlandia
- https://www.amazon.com/Best-Soundtracks-Werner-Herzog-Films/dp/B000050R9I
- https://shop.silentseason.com/album/no-stars-without-darkness
- https://sherryfinzer.bandcamp.com/
- https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/descent-name-your-price
- https://agebjorn-ogren.bandcamp.com/album/artefact
- https://astro-sphere.bandcamp.com/album/pineland
- https://robinguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/another-flower
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Sherry Finzer & Karasvana - Music of the Spheres (Centered 2022)
- 04:30 Guy Clark - The Dark (The Dark 2002)
- 08:00 Art Patience - The Unknown (The Unknown 2022)
- 14:05 Tom Moore & Tim Sadow - Gravity Free (Looking for the Timeless 2021)
- 20:00 M.NOMIZED - Virus (Ice Bells-A Tribute To Björk 2018)
- 25:12 Peter Phippen - Northern Lights (Into the Ancient 2022)
- 28:56 Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning - Tara Hill (Eirlandia 2018)
- 31:56 Popol Vuh - Lacrime Dei Rei (Best Soundtracks From Werner Herzog Films 1991)
- 37:37 ASC - Surrounded by Silence (No Stars Without Darkness 2016)
- 44:18 Sherry Finzer & Karasvana - Sacred Spiral (Centered 2022)
- 49:10 Lorenzo Montana - Vertical Corridors (Descent 2022)
- 53:33 Johan Agebjörn & Mikael Ögren - The Hall of Crystals (Artefact 2021)
- 57:57 Astropilot - Night Meeting(Winter Dreams Version) (Pineland 2022)
- 60:38 Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - After Dark (Another Flower 2020)
- 65:07 end
Sunday Mar 27, 2022
Sunday Mar 27, 2022
International Piano day takes place on the 88th day of the year, in honor of the number of keys on a piano keyboard. In 2022 that day is March 29th. So, as in years past, I have put together a mix of piano tracks to celebrate Piano Dat 2022.
This set starts off a bit different from those I've done before. Most are solo piano type mixes but this one starts off with 5 tracks that have more of an electronic vibe. After that we return to my normal nebulous, random note type of piano stuff. Then finishing off with a few more composed tracks.
https://leiter.bandcamp.com/album/piano-day-compilation-vol-1
Cheers and Happy Piano Day!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Aukai - Distracted By Clouds(Ben Lukas Boysen Remix) (Branches Of Sun2017)
- 04:38 Mike Lazarev - All That Remains (Places for Peace 2022)
- 06:57 Arovane & Hior Chronik - The Return (Into My Own 2017)
- 09:46 Chris Hyson - Nocturne (Human Error 2017)
- 14:18 Jon Hopkins - A Drifting Up (Insides 2008)
- 18:25 Andrew Tasselmyer - Missing Pieces of Self (Limits 2022)
- 23:00 William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - on reflection (“ . . . on reflection " 2022)
- 29:55 unknown - generative pno
- 37:27 Nebel lang - Where Are You (Directions For Stopping 2022)
- 42:23 Spheruleus - Frozen (Frozen Quarters 2010)
- 44:30 Maps and Diagrams - Gehen (Marhofn 2022)
- 46:20 Jonathan Yandel - Impromptu No. 1 (Inner Ocean 2017)
- 53:38 Rob Simonsen - Argenté (Rêveries 2019)
- 57:40 grotta veterano - slaap (sleeplaboratory3.0 2022)
- 61:02 end