Episodes
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Train No. 8: Autumn Excursion by Paul Asbury Seaman
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
I have been having a hard time keeping up my mix output lately. There are many reasons, from too much work to too many concerts and social things to a pennant run in baseball. Also playing a part is me getting a little burned out on ambient music. There is so much of it released every week, every month that it becomes a bit overwhelming and it all starts to blend together after a while. I end up with little motivation to find another theme for yet another ambient mix.
I'm sure I'll snap out of this funk but for now, Paul Asbury Seaman comes to the rescue! Just when I needed it, Paul delivers a fantastic berlin-school, train themed mix. As I've said many times before, I like Paul's mixes because sometimes they go in directions I normally don't go with my own mixes. That's the case again here with these berlin-school tracks. I like sequencer-based music but it's not a style I reach for often. And then I hear one of Paul's mixes and I'm like - "Why don't I listen to this music more often?" Whatever the reason, I'm glad Paul is here to remind us about how cool this style can be.
Here's what Paul has to say about this collection:
“No powerful locomotives this time. No high-speed rail or epic cross-country journey. Just a relaxed excursion through autumn foliage. All but three of these tracks are from 2023. Watch for the REAL guitar on ‘In the Fading Starlight.’ Synth Replicants was one of my big/happy discoveries this past year. (This was one of the milder tracks!) Enjoy.”
Thanks Paul!
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Wil Bolton - Yellow Morning (Södermalm In Autumn 2023)
- 09:09 Erik Wøllo - Motion Picture (Cloud of Strings 2023)
- 12:50 Thom Brennan - Wavemaker pt. 2 (Wavemaker 2023)
- 21:12 Mac Of Bionight - Memory Has No Conscience (COORDINATES volume 11 2023)
- 28:12 Nils Frahm - #2 (All Melody 2018)
- 36:25 Steve Roach The Weaving Way (The Weaving Way 2023)
- 42:18 Node - The Traveller (Node 2 2014)
- 47:18 Synth Replicants - In The Fading Starlight (Time of Legends 2023)
- 53:30 Alpha Wave Movement - Lattices of Light (Cerulean Skies 2017)
- 61:20 Larkenlyre - Sometimes Hope Comes Wrapped In Dark Skies (You and I and Every Sky 2023)
- 65:18 end
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Last Train Home by Paul Asbury Seaman
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Photo by Alan Seaman (Paul’s father) in Raiwind, Lahore District, Pakistan, c.1966.
Another train-themed mix? Yes, because they are awesome! This one comes from the mind of Paul Asbury Seaman, as have several other train mixes. As per usual, it's a great collection of familiar and unfamiliar artists, to me at least.
Here's what Paul says about this latest trip down the tracks:
“On this one—my seventh train-themed mix for LLM—I’m going for the feeling of exhilaration and weary melancholy of travel, as much as the clickety-clack rhythm associated with trains. Plus a twinge of the mystical that can be experienced while crossing between worlds. Once again, drawing from 40 years of music… a couple of new artists, some perennial favorites (of mine), and some classics of the genre.”
Thanks, Paul, for delivering once again.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Christian Fiesel - A Train And No Final Destination (The New Voyages Of Little Nemo 2023)
- 03:29 Frolin - Afterthought (Morrowtide 2022)
- 07:26 Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene 7 (Oxygene 7-13 1997)
- 15:05 Johan Tronestam - Reveals the Invisible (Cosmic Drama II 2023)
- 22:14 Fritz Mayr - Breath of the Wind (Mythical Worlds 2022)
- 28:40 Cristian Richet - Sansucy (Life Is But A Dream 2023)
- 35:05 Cosmic Ground - Phasing 76 (Entropy 2023)
- 42:40 The Soviet Space Dog Project - Star City (Star City 2021)
- 51:45 Vangelis - Life Of Antarctica (Antartica 1983)
- 57:19 LAD - Starburst (Andromeda 2023)
- 62:42 Robert Rich - Loom Of Origins (Travelers' Cloth 2023)
- 69:30 Patrick O'Hearn - Traveler's Rest (So Flows the Current 2000)
- 75:33 end
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
A Tribute to Manuel Gottsching
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
I have been a casual fan of Manuel Gottsching for a long time but I never really dug into his discography until the last few days with the news of his passing. I don't have time to write much about him so I'll cut & paste a few things from Pitchfork.
"Manuel Gottsching, the Ash Ra Tempel bandleader who went on to compose the electronic cornerstone album E2-E4, died last Sunday (December 4).
Göttsching made his name in the West Berlin underground scene in the late 1960s and early ’70s. He was a core member of Ash Ra Tempel, a krautrock linchpin with revolving members including Tangerine Dream’s Klaus Schulze. The loose, shapeshifting outfit released five influential albums between 1971 and 1973. Göttsching’s solo debut, 1975’s Inventions for Electric Guitar, was subtitled Ash Ra Tempel VI; from then on he mostly produced records under his own name or as Ashra, such as the 1976 classic New Age of Earth.
In 1981, after a visit to Schulze, Göttsching improvised the composition that became known as E2-E4, hoping to throw together some listening material for an imminent trip. That mysteriously perfect hourlong exercise, which combined Prophet 10 synth pulses with waves of electronic percussion and electric guitar, came to define his post-krautrock output. After composing the track, Göttsching later recalled, the billionaire and Virgin Records owner Richard Branson invited him to his houseboat and, upon hearing the track, advised Göttsching that it could make him a fortune. But Göttsching decided to release the full improvisation on his friend Schulze’s label, without overdubs, in 1984, and it appeared to have little impact.
Though E2-E4 sold poorly, it had—unbeknownst to Göttsching—made its way across the Atlantic and into Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage sets, as well as the collections of key electronic music innovators. As Pitchfork’s Mark Richardson wrote in a 2016 review, the improvisation “wound its way across the world, morphing and changing with formats and remixes, finding new contexts, a music that is constantly in the process of becoming.”
It was a nice trip through Gottsching's music making this mix. I hope he is improvising with his buddy Klaus somewhere.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Ash Ra Tempel - Traummaschine (Ash Ra Tempel 1971)
- 11:37 Manuel Göttsching(Ash Ra Tempel VI) - Echo Waves (Inventions for Electric Guitar 1975)
- 24:35 Ashra - Slightly Delayed (Blackouts 1977)
- 30:55 Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4 (E2-E4 1984)
- 47:00 Ashra - Deep Distance (New Age Of Earth 1976)
- 52:12 Manuel Göttsching - Halensee(Excerpt) (The Best Of The Private Tapes 1998)
- 58:24 Manuell Göttsching(Ash Ra Tempel VI) - Quasarsphere (Inventions for Electric Guitar 1975)
- 64:52 end
Sunday Aug 07, 2022
Train Six-56 by Paul Asbury Seaman
Sunday Aug 07, 2022
Sunday Aug 07, 2022
Yes, another train mix. They are just too intriguing and cinematic to pass up. This one come from friend of the blog, Paul Asbury Seaman. Paul has given us some excellent train mixes in the past and this one continues that tradition. This one clocks in at just a bit under 100 minutes! So much great music in one mix.
- https://sijmusic.bandcamp.com/album/from-inkerman-to-sevastopol
- https://www.amazon.com/Runaway-Train-Trevor-Jones/dp/B002JOW24W
- https://www.amazon.com/Ax-Inferno-Paul-Speer/dp/B00EDPWL0K
- https://gertemmens.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-edge-of-nowhere
- https://www.amazon.com/Atmanaut-David-Parsons/dp/B07D74X8XQ
- https://halakencollective.bandcamp.com/track/kapadokya
- https://www.amazon.com/E2-E4-MANUEL-GOTTSCHING/dp/B0184SDHK4
- https://andrewlahiff.bandcamp.com/album/outward-currents
- https://sijmusic.bandcamp.com/album/from-inkerman-to-sevastopol
- https://solarfields.bandcamp.com/album/ourdom
- https://shamansdream1.bandcamp.com/album/prana-pulse
- https://redshift2.bandcamp.com/album/life-to-come
- https://tangerinedreamofficial.bandcamp.com/album/summer-in-nagasaki
- https://johantronestam.bandcamp.com/album/space-collection
- https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/north-star
- https://thombrennan.bandcamp.com/album/eventide
- https://larsleonhard.bandcamp.com/album/gravity
- https://laddadoane.bandcamp.com/album/quasar
- https://cheryl.bandcamp.com/album/the-passenger
- https://www.beatport.com/release/journeys/3678764
- 00:00 SiJ - Inkerman - Sevastopol #1 (From Inkerman To Sevastopol)
- 00:46 Trevor Jones - Runaway Train (Runaway Train 1985)
- 03:00 Paul Speer - Tornado Warning (Ax Inferno 2013)
- 07:30 Gert Emmens - At the end of the track (On the Edge of Nowhere 2022)
- 12:50 David Parsons - Perhatian (Atmanaut 2018)
- 19:38 Mercan Dede - Kapadokya
- 26:25 Manuel Göttsching - And Sovereignty (E2-E4 1984)
- 29:12 Andrew Lahiff - Scalar Fields (Outward Currents 2021)
- 37:05 SiJ - Inkerman - Sevastopol #2 (From Inkerman To Sevastopol)
- 37:50 Solar Fields - Mountain King (Ourdom 2018)
- 46:25 Shamans Dream - The Way Through (Prana Pulse 2012)
- 52:40 Redshift - Vampyre (Life to Come 2015)
- 58:00 Tangerine Dream - Dreaming In A Kyoto Train (Summer In Nagasaki 2007)
- 60:45 Johan Tronestam - Deep Field (Space Collection 2017)
- 67:20 Erik Wøllo - Viewpoint (North Star 2021)
- 73:00 Thom Brennan - Eventide Pt.3 (Eventide 2022)
- 77:50 Lars Leonhard - Physical Objects (GRAVITY 2022)
- 83:50 LAD - Spectral Lines (Quasar 2022)
- 88:20 Cheryl B. Engelhardt - The Zephyr Remembers (The Passenger 2022)
- 91:15 Divine Matrix - Journey's End (Journeys 2022)
- 97:18 end
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
Soothing Sequencers by Paul Asbury Seaman
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
I am always pleased to present a new mix from Paul Asbury Seaman and this one is no exception. It's a great collection of sequencer tracks that hits the ideal vibe. Coming on the heels of my Stranger Synths mix, I was still in a electronic, sequencer mood and this mix kept me in that zone perfectly.
Here's what Paul says about this mix:
“For a lot of people, the term ‘electronic music’ still brings to mind the chaotic synthesizer experiments of its early years, highly abstract and moody ‘space music,’ or the techno dance music that grew out of a merger of ‘70s disco with ‘80s pop. Or the characteristically propulsive textures associated with em godfathers Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, where a simple sequence of repeating notes provided both rhythm and melody. But some artists (including the aforementioned two) are able to infuse their beeping machines with warm emotions and heartfelt melodies, as presented here—a softer side of the electronic universe. If you like a steady, waterwheel flow and bell-like tones, this one’s for you.”
Paul mentions Klaus Schulze which is appropriate because we timed this mix to be posted just days after the release of the final Klaus Schulze album. I grabbed the last track from that album and made it the final track in this mix as one last tribute to Klaus.
Links to the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:
- https://andypickford1.bandcamp.com/album/radiosilence-objective-linearity-general-release-version
- https://larsleonhard.bandcamp.com/album/gravity
- https://macofbionight.bandcamp.com/album/auralities
- https://www.amazon.com/En-Trance-Klaus-Schulze/dp/B01K0BTEDW
- https://hollan-holmes.bandcamp.com/album/emerald-waters
- https://stateazure.bandcamp.com/album/dreams
- https://steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/spiral-revelation
- https://spiraldreams.bandcamp.com/album/journey-to-infinity-ii-24bit
- https://fritzmayr.bandcamp.com/album/milky-way
- https://tronestamjohan.bandcamp.com/album/next-step
- https://klausschulze.bandcamp.com/
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Andy Pickford - Temple of the Wonklord (RadioSilence: Objective Linearity 2022)
- 07:52 Lars Leonhard - Moon Gravity (Gravity 2022)
- 15:35 Mac of BIOnighT - Auralities (Auralities 2017)
- 20:36 Klaus Schulze - Fm Delight (En=Trance 1988)
- 28:00 Hollan Holmes - The River (Emerald Waters 2022)
- 33:22 State Azure - Ricochet (Dreams 2020)
- 41:45 Steve Roach - We Continue (Spiral Revelation 2016)
- 48:45 SpiralDreams - Pearl in the Sand part1 (Journey to Infinity II 2021)
- 54:30 Fritz Mayr - North Coast Night Lights (Milky Way 2021)
- 59:42 Johan Tronestam - Home Sweet Home (Next Step 2021)
- 66:06 Klaus Schulze - Der Hauch des Lebens Pt. 5 (Deus Arrakis 2022)
- 71:14 end
Sunday May 01, 2022
Space Requiem - A Tribute to Klaus Schulze
Sunday May 01, 2022
Sunday May 01, 2022
Klaus Schulze 1947 - 2022 |
Klaus Schulze, considered to be a godfather figure in electronic music, died this week. I'd say he was one of the big four of early electronic music pioneers which in addition to Schulze would include Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, and Tangerine Dream.
I've always enjoyed his music but I was a bigger fan of the other three artists in that group. That being said, somehow I still ended up accumulating around 20 of his albums. He released more than 60 during his life.
This mix is a collection of his solo work and his collaborations as well as his early work in the groups Ash Ra Tempel & Cosmic Jokers. This set is expanded in length because so many of his tracks are long. While putting this together is was great to rediscover that I love the album Transfer Station Blue. Check it out if you get the chance.
https://michaelshrieve.bandcamp.com/album/transfer-station-blue
Take time to remember Klaus, listen to this mix and seek out some of his myriad recordings.
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Klaus Schulze - Floating (Moondawn 1976)
- 07:09 Ash Ra Tempel - Amboss (Ash Ra Tempel 1971)
- 10:20 Michael Shrieve & Kevin Shrieve & KS - Communique (Transfer Station Blue 1984)
- 23:10 Pete Namlook & KS - Set the control for the heart of the mother 5 (Dark Side of the Moog 9 2002)
- 30:48 Lisa Gerrard & KS - Unity (Come Quietly 2009)
- 32:15 Klaus Schulze - Dune (Dune 1979)
- 37:55 Cosmic Jokers - Galactic Joke (Cosmic Jokers 1973)
- 41:50 Stomu Yamashta - Space Requiem (Go 1976)
- 42:53 Klaus Schulze - Minority Report (Eternal: The 70th Birthday Edition 2017)
- 55:55 Klaus Schulze - My Ty She (Ballet 3 2007)
- 1:28:50 Richard Wahnfried - The End - Someday (Trancelation 1994)
- 1:32:45 end
Sunday Mar 08, 2020
Lullabies for a Night Train by Paul Asbury Seaman
Sunday Mar 08, 2020
Sunday Mar 08, 2020
After the last mix, I was trying to decide what to do next - sea mix? orchestral? shortwave? train? Well, Paul beat me to it by sending a tracklist for another excellent train mix.
Here's what Paul has to say about this mix:
“The main qualification in selecting music for a train mix is that it has that distinctive rocking rhythm, like a cradle. Like a lullaby. Beyond that, there is the paradoxical elements of both wistfulness and anticipation—nostalgia and unknown adventures. This mix features a more mellow side of “Berlin School” sequencer-driven electronic music. I have also included one track each from my other three train mixes for Low Light Mixes: “The Memory of Trains,” “Galaxy Express” and “Places I’ve Never Been” (all available on Mixcloud). “Memory of Trains” was the first mix I did with Dave and Low Light Mixes three years ago. And life has never been the same! Happy travels, on this slightly longer-than-usual journey….”
- 00:00 Stellardrone - Twilight (A Moment of Silence 2011)
- 04:10 Tom Moore & Mike Clay - Leaving Our Orbit (Beyond Our Orbit 2020)
- 08:40 MHZ - Train Tracks (25 Peaks 2015)
- 14:30 Marconi Union - Sleeper (Ghost Stations 2015)
- 20:25 Cousin Silas - Green Mist (Midnight Beats 1 2020)
- 25:27 Spiral Dreams - Anywhere (Anywhere 2016)
- 32:45 John Agebjorn - Sleepless on the Kostomuksha-Petrozavodsk Night Train (We Never Came To The White Sea 2017)
- 38:54 Paul Speer & Sherry Finzer - Venus Rising (2016)
- 43:57 Von Haulshoven - The Multiverse Trip (Symptom of the Multiverse 2019)
- 51:14 Stimulus Timbre - Look at the Stars and Think of Us (A Place We Never Been 2017)
- 56:43 Germind - Time Consciousness (Antimatter 2014)
- 62:45 Between Interval - On Track (Legacy 2017)
- 66:02 Tigerforest - Vermilion (Songs of Reverence 2016)
- 70:15 Sequentia Legenda - Au Revoir (Extended 2016)
- 89:12 end
Sunday Oct 06, 2019
In Sequencer Euphoria
Sunday Oct 06, 2019
Sunday Oct 06, 2019
|
Cover art by Sven Geier, http://www.sgeier.net/fractals/ |
I have talked many times here about how a single track or artist can inspire a mix. Well, that seems to have happened with this latest mix from Paul.
He emailed me about a month ago about Kubusschnitt, a group creating berlin school style electronic music. That discovery set him on the course of creating a mix of sequencer tunes. And we did our usual thing - Paul sends me the tracklist, I twiddle the knobs and a mix is born. All the music used here is fairly new, ranging from 2010 to 2019.
Here's what Paul has to say about this mix:
“Not for the faint of heart, this one’s full-on sequencers front and center, all the way through. Highway driving motorcycle music. Or vacuuming the house, aerobics music. Yet, part of the magic of this type of electronic music is the amazing way it has a soothing effect, even as it’s so propulsive. In any case, here’s a Perfect Seven from five of the current giants in the genre and two of its historic pillars.”
Thanks, Paul!
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Kubusschnitt - Enter Through The Nave(2019)
- 16:00 Broekhuis, Keller and Schönwälder - Tea With An Unknown Girl(2013)
- 28:15 ARC - Rise(2010)
- 41:42 Tangerine Dream - Hamlet(2013)
- 49:27 Jeffery Koepper - Belief(2015)
- 57:30 Chuck Van Zyl - All Souls' Day(2010)
- 63:00 Klaus Schulze - Chateaux Faits de Vent(2018)
- 76:03 end
Sunday Mar 24, 2019
Places I've Never Been(Ode to High-Speed Rail)
Sunday Mar 24, 2019
Sunday Mar 24, 2019
Everything about trains is evocative. The sound of the whistle, the rhythm of the tracks, the sounds of the station, etc. Trains make for a perfect theme in electronic music mixes. Which is why you're bound to hear several of them this year from Low Light mixes.
This first one comes to us from my frequent collaborator, Paul Asbury Seaman. Not only has Paul done previous excellent mixes for me, he's also done a couple train mixes. Here's what he has to say about his latest creation...
“In my last mix I celebrated “liminal space,” the long in-betweens of life. Travel by train is both metaphor and literally that. Beyond the excitement of the busy station and going someplace new, for many of us the journey is the destination: the experience as both overview and connectedness, not felt from an airplane. The impetus for this mix was the just-released debut album of d’Voxx, on Ian Boddy’s UK label, DiN. And I dedicate it to the EuroPass, which ever since the 1960s has enabled vacationers and tourists from around the world to travel at highly-discounted rates—including by high-speed rail—anywhere in the 30 countries that are part of the system. Something that in the United States is, for now, only an ambient dream.”
The mix changes gears for the last tune, using sax, acoustics instruments and vocals but Paul thought it would fit well because A) it's called Train and B) it has "the dead-tired but satisfied feeling you have when you get home to your own bed after a long trip."
Cheers and safe travels!
T R A C K L I S T :
-
00:00 d'Voxx - Akalla Söder(2019 Télégraphe)
-
08:44 Rival Consoles - Persona(2018 Persona)
-
15:06 Stimulus Timbre - We Reached for the Sky(2017 A Place We Never Been)
-
21:40 Steve Roach - Core Meditation 1(2017 CORE - Legacy Edition)
-
30:05 Evan Marc & Steve Hillage - Alpha Phase(2008 Dreamtime Submersible)
-
37:45 Aepiel - Aves(2012 Painting The Sky)
-
46:20 Stimulus Timbre - Look at the Stars & Think of Us(2017 A Place We Never Been)
-
51:54 His Name Is Alive - Train(2002 Last Night)
-
59:10 end
Thursday Jan 22, 2015
Points of Departure
Thursday Jan 22, 2015
Thursday Jan 22, 2015
http://bloknayrb.deviantart.com/ |
a beginning
an expedition is launched
springs into being
the journey begins
This is a follow up to an earlier mix Leaving the Station, which had a train theme. I had several people ask if I was planning on a follow up and, well, here it is.
My favorite track in this mix is El Divisadero by Chris Watson from his wonderful field recording album, El Tren Fantasma. I've used this track before but it's so awesome I just had to use it here.
Another track in this mix that I've used before is Dialing in the Sun by Paul Ellis. It's an excellent berlin school cut that has this great clicky-clack sound that works perfectly here.
The rest of the mix is a collection of old(Richard Pinhas) and new(Andy Stott) cuts.
On a side note, I don't know if anyone has noticed but embedded in each mp3 for download is the mix tracklist. So if you're playing it on your phone or on some pc players, you should be able to see the tracklist when the mix is playing.
Other mixes coming soon, or maybe I should say sometime this year, a sort of jazz mix, a new age massage mix, a sci fi mix, a dubby mix, a space rock mix, guest mixes and many more I haven't even thought of yet.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Edinburgh - City Streets and Train Station
- 00:40 The Elf Machine - Asymmetric Transition
- 03:27 Arovane - Passage to Nagoya
- 05:15 Locust - I'll Be There
- 08:57 Forrest Fang - Bothered
- 12:27 Paul Ellis - Dialing in the Sun
- 17:45 Chris Watson - El Divisadero
- 22:00 Circular - Synchronus
- 29:00 The Black Dog - Exhibit 1.1
- 33:20 Function and Vatican Shadow - Things Unknown
- 40:20 Dub Tractor - More or Less Mono
- 44:08 The Field - Arpeggiated Love
- 48:55 Richard Pinhas - Melodic Simple Transition
- 52:15 Andy Stott - Science and Industry
- 57:57 Torn Hawk - She Happens
- 1:02:55 Ten and Tracer - Figure and Ground
- 1:06:05 Deepchord - Day's End
- 1:08:11 end