low light mixes

Places I've Never Been(Ode to High-Speed Rail)

 

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

 

 

 

 

The Way Home

 

Earlier this year I was asked by the folks at Lifted Icons to do a guest mix. It was a unique mix because I did two 20 minute sets that were then incorporated into a larger nearly 2-hour mix.

 

The parameters for my mixes were as follows:

1. A lonely, melancholic wander through the void between stars

2. A triumphant end for our struggle to the stars

 

You can find the 2-hour mix at Lifted Icons here... https://www.mixcloud.com/LiftedIcons/cartographer/

 

I liked how everything turned out. It was especially fun to cut the 2nd mix as it had a few louder tunes that I normally might not use. I was too lazy to put together a totally new mix so I decided to put my two parts of the Lifted Icons mix into one new mix. 

 

After I put them together I started tinkering. I added a few tunes to make it longer. And then I changed a lot of the first part but kept the same "drifting in the void" feel. The transition from melancholic wander to triumphant return starts at the 22:28 mark with the Underworld tune. The title for the mix comes from a track I used by the same name from Tony Anderson. It fit perfectly with the journey from part one to part two.

 

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Lunar Testing Lab - Space Traffic Control(& added Nasa quindar Tones)
• 00:40    Steven Price - Aurora Borealis
• 01:50    Tim Hecker - Boreal Kiss
• 04:06    Chris Weeks - Spiders & Plugholes
• 05:42    Clinton Shorter - An Impossible Dream
• 07:25    Strië - Man with Thick Glasses
• 10:20    Northumbria - Helluland
• 13:10    Bryantist - Spherical Harmonics
• 14:30    Conet Project & other fx
• 14:57    Memories of JJ
• 18:12    Jon Hopkins - Feel First Life
• 22:28    Underworld - Capa's Last Transmission Home
• 24:12    Ólafur Arnalds - Doria
• 27:05    Tony Anderson - The Way Home
• 30:13    Stellardrone - Red Giant
• 32:30    Johann Johannsson - A Pile of Dust
• 34:20    M83 - Another Wave From You
• 35:50    Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk - Amaris
• 38:25    B. Fleischmann - A Letter From Home
• 43:22    Jon Hopkins - Light Through The Veins
• 50:45    Johann Johannsson - End(Snowing)
• 57:00    end

 

 

 

Alternative Blade Runner 2049 Soundtrack

 

Being a science fiction & electronic music geek, it's no surprise that I'm a big fan of the soundtrack for the original Blade Runner film.  When I heard that they'd tabbed Johann Johannsson to do the score for the 2049 film I was very excited.  But then he was pulled from the project & replaced with Hans Zimmer.  While I've actually liked a few of Zimmer's recent scores, I wasn't overly impressed with his music for 2049.  It wasn't that I disliked it.  I think I was just disappointed that it wasn't Johannsson.

 

My son, however, liked the soundtrack much more than I did.  So much in fact that he went home after seeing the film, created his own track in the 2049 style and sent it to me the next day.  I was impressed with the track and immediately made plans for a Blade Runner mix.

 

The music here is a collection of tunes that sounds like it fit perfectly in Blade Runner 2049.  In searching for music I was happy to have rediscovered Xerrox, Vol. 2 by Alva Noto, such a great album.  I was also excited to find music and artists I'd not heard before like Ital Tek, Floating Machine & Island People.

 

Here's a link to my son's track which appears in the mix as track #3 - "Blade Running" by just a human.

 

https://soundcloud.com/axxmusic/blade-running-master/s-recEt 

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Alva Noto - Xerrox Moonphaser 2
• 05:00    Ital Tek - Jenova
• 10:10    just a human - Blade Running(unreleased)
• 12:18    36 - Black Future
• 16:05    Ryuichi Sakamoto - life, life
• 20:00    Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Same Dream
• 23:51    Floating Machine - Nowhere
• 30:40    Island People - vogelsang
• 35:25    Andreas Tilliander - Syncussion Discussion
• 40:10    Boards of Canada - Transmisiones Ferox
• 41:35    Arovane & Hior Chronik - Into My Own
• 45:35    Ryuichi Sakamoto - Fullmoon
• 47:30    Island People - from the sky
• 54:35    Alva Noto - Xerrox Moonphaser 1
• 61:40    end

 

 

 

 

Stranger Synths

I'm sure by now that most of you have seen or heard about the TV show "Stranger Things" on Netflix.  If you haven't seen it, definitely check it out. It totally rips off Close Encounters, ET, Poltergeist, Stand By Me, Firestarter, etc. but it doesn't matter because it's ripping them off in a loving way.

The same is true for the soundtrack.  It's got a great analog synth sound reminiscent of Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter soundtracks.  The minute I heard the Stranger Things theme I knew I had to make a mix featuring the new retro sound.

Even though the music in this mix sounds like it's from the 70s or 80s all of it is new, with most cuts being from 2015 & 2016.  In addition to the Stranger Things theme I of course had to include the Tangerine Dream remix of it. Thanks to Mike of Ambient Music Guide for the heads up on the soundtrack from Halt & Catch Fire by Paul Haslinger. It's fantastic!  Another soundtrack that made it's way into the mix is from Mac Quayle music for Mr. Robot - more analog loveliness.

I hope everyone enjoys the mix, I know had a ball putting it together.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T:

• 00:00    Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Stranger Things
• 01:04    Tangerine Dream - Stranger Things Theme Remix
• 03:17    Harry Gregson-Williams - Hexadecimals
• 05:30    Paul Haslinger - Macmillan Utility
• 06:55    Pye Corner Audio - Approach
• 08:40    John Carpenter - Utopian Façade
• 12:04    Mac Quayle - trustyourself
• 15:15    Prins Thomas - B
• 22:30    The Analog Roland Orchestra - Lay Down
• 24:36    20SIX Hundred - Collapse of Classical Reality
• 27:07    Panabrite - Sunlight Dive
• 29:33    Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Hanging Lights
• 30:48    Nonkeen - Happy Juno
• 33:15    Paul Haslinger - A Wolf in Unix
• 34:21    Jean Michel Jarre - The Heart of the Noise
• 36:54    Mac Quayle - m0rphine
• 38:40    Pye Corner Audio - Vorsicht
• 41:02    Cliff Martinez - Son of Placenta Previa
• 43:15    Qluster - von weiter ferne ganz nah
• 49:45    Pye Corner Audio - Sleep Chamber
• 52:00    Bop - Odd Meaning
• 55:21    Panabrite - Dune
• 59:15    Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Cops are Good at Finding
• 60:12    Paul Haslinger - It Speaks
• 64:15    end

Unfurling Forces

As with so many mixes this one started because of a great tune. In this mix that great tune is Existence in the Unfurling by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith from her spectacular new album Ears. The track is a wonderful mixture of analog electronics, fluttering woodwinds and ethereal vocals. It's my favorite song of the year so far and I just had to share it in a mix. 

The other tracks are a combination of electronic tunes & some post-rock.  All the music is new with the exception of the 3rd track.

Enjoy

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Existence in the Unfurling
• 11:05    Mogwai - Ether
• 15:40    The Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra - Age of Steam
• 18:40    36 - FIVe Eyes
• 21:40    Explosions in the Sky - The Wilderness
• 25:44    Prins Thomas - A2
• 32:20    Shaded Explorer - When I Decided to Live
• 40:54    Underworld - Santiago Cuatro
• 44:15    Brian Eno - The Ship
• 52:25    Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Rare Things Grow
• 55:24    end

Points of Departure

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

Leaving the station

cinemagraph by Julien Douvier - http://juliendouvier.tumblr.com/

Sometimes I go through phases of music listening.  I'll listen to a bunch of old prog rock for two weeks then move on.  I pull out some old Cantebury Scene stuff from the 70s for awhile.  Then I'll go on an early 80s new wave binge.  Then Americana.  Then ECM jazz.

This mix came out one such binge.  I've been listening to a lot of Jean Michel Jarre & Tangerine Dream lately.  Jean Michel Jarre was a college favorite of mine.  My girlfriend in college loved JMJ.  Which is probably why I married her - how many college girls like Jean Michel Jarre?!

While bingeing on JMJ & TD I knew that I wanted to use them in a mix and the train theme just seemed to flow naturally from there.  So the first two JMJ tunes I chose specifically because of the train sounds in them.  I think I'd like to do another berlin school mix with all artists and music from the 1970s.

Enjoy.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Tangerine Dream - Love on a Real Train
• 03:40    Jean Michel Jarre - Magnetic Fields pt. 3
• 06:33    Dadub - Arrival
• 09:10    Miktek - Elsewhere(fade edit)
• 14:40    Evan Marc + Steve Hillage - Resurface
• 16:30    Tangerine Dream - Rain and Thunder(Sorcerer Cinematographic Score)
• 23:00    Jean Michel Jarre - Ethnicolor II
• 25:55    Grumbling Fur - Eyoreseye
• 31:33    Mark McGuire - The Instinct
• 37:25    ??? - ???
• 41:20    Mohn - Saturn
• 48:45    Plastikman - Locomotion
• 52:45    Jean Michel Jarre - Equinoxe VII
• 59:10    Tangerine Dream - The Dream Is Always The Same
• 1:02:24    end

dub transmissions

I happened to come across a new tune from Moritz Von Oswald Trio.  The song, Blue Dub, has this great, slow, sparse dub thing going on that I love.  I knew as soon as I heard it that I'd have to make a new mix of dub related tunes.

So, "dub transmissions" is, duh, is mix of dub tunes.  I've done them before & this one is similar to the others.  I think the previous ones have had parts that are a little noisier & spacier than this mix.  Most of these tunes have a beat, although that beat can be very laid back and muffled.  

Enjoy.

T R A C K L I S T :

1. 00:00    Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Blue Dub
2. 05:30    The Black Dog - Sleep Deprivation 1
3. 09:30    krill.minima - Kalypso
4. 12:50    Holger Flinsch - Navigator
5. 19:10    Massive Attack - Cool Monsoon
6. 23:00    Deepcord - Theme From Silent World
7. 32:20    Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement - The Spirit Wore the Shoes of the Boy
8. 37:10    Iminazole - Sunny
9. 41:20    The Green Kingdom - dustloop4
10. 44:05    Deadbeat - Portable Memory
11. 47:30    As If - Crumble to Dust
12. 54:30    Pablo Bolivar - Walk Man Fever
13. 1:05:05    As If - To Be Ground
14. 1:09:30    Bjorn Rohde - Forest of Forgotten Hearts
15. 1:15:35    end

 

 

 

Sci Fi Adventures - All These Worlds

The good folks over at Nocturne Records asked me to do a mix for their podcast. They put out some great music so how could I resist! Most of the time with my mixes I'll stumble upon one or two tunes that spark an idea. In this case I rediscovered an old electronic album that I had in college. It's a compilation called Music from the 21st Century. That album got me thinking about science fiction music, whether it's music used in sci-fi or just tunes that sound like they should be in a sci-fi film. This mix uses two tracks from the 21st Century album along with several other old electronic cuts. A couple of those older cuts are from another college favorite, Synergy - Cords. I loved that album back then & still go to it occasionally for a nostalgia hit.  The whole album definitely has a sci fi movie soundtrack sort of feel to it. The mix isn't totally old electronics, there is also some newer material mixed in. Enjoy. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Vangelis - Blush Response
• 04:00    Synergy - A Presuming to be Modern I
• 06:50    Richard Pinhas - L' Ethique
• 11:20    Lights Out Asia - All These Worlds are Yours
• 13:15    The Black Dog - Lounge
• 14:15    Frank Comstock - On the Dark Side of the Moon
• 16:00    Michael Garrison - Escape (music from the 21st century)
• 18:20    Synergy - Disruption in World Communications
• 22:00    David Bowie - Abdulmajid
• 25:10    Elf Machine - Evolutions Arrow
• 29:00    Underworld & John Murphy - Capa Meets the Sun
• 30:45    Vector Lovers - Girl + Robot
• 32:50    Maps & Diagrams - Skynet
• 35:30    Bruce Courtois - Inside the Black Hole (music from the 21st century)
• 37:10    Vangelis - Longing
• 38:35    Solar Fields - Blue Moon Station
• 45:00    Cliff Martinez - First Sleep
• 47:30    Rena Jones - The Problem of Time
• 49:50    Schengen - Me n' U
• 50:30    Lopside - To the Point of Obscurity
• 55:50    Vangelis - Fading Away
• 59:00    end

Music for a Mars landing

Back in November I did a mix for the launch of Curiosity, NASA's newest Mars rover.  Now 8 months later, Curiosity has arrived at Mars.  So this mix is music for landing on Mars, in honor of Curiosity's EDL or entry, descent and landing.

As I write this, the landing has not taken place yet.  But I wanted to get the mix uploaded on the day of the landing.  I'll update the post depending on the result of the EDL.

I started off this mix just picking electronic tunes I liked for this theme then quickly realized that many of the titles fit perfectly.  Track titles such as "We Travel", "Bold Advances" "Flying (in crimson skies)" and "Arrival".  So I looked for a few more with appropriate names, kept a few that had titles that didn't matter and the mix was launched.

Enjoy.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Marconi Union - We Travel
• 06:55    Tycho - Adrift
• 14:40    Dub Trees - Dreamlab
• 17:35    Loops of Your Heart - End
• 22:50    Ricardo Donoso - conditional formatting descent
• 24:55    Lunar Testing Lab - Slinky Antenna
• 26:45    Bersarin Quartet - Der Mond, der Schnee und Du
• 30:47    Stendec - Descent
• 32:05    Helios - Bold Advances
• 34:15    Anenon - The Sea and The Stars
• 35:44    Clark - Skyward Bruise/Descent
• 37:15    Daft Punk - Arrival
• 38:56    Marconi Union - Flying (in crimson skies)
• 45:10    Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm - b1
• 52:15    Altus - The Awe and Wonder
• 58:40    Wixel - Surface Dust
• 1:00:18    Hecq - Red Sky