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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world
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Sunday Jan 09, 2022
Sunday Jan 09, 2022
I don't do these year-end jazz mixes every year. Most of the time I'm just too lazy. I don't keep close track of what came out and what I liked. At some point this year I started tossing individual tracks into a playlist and that helped me remember what I enjoyed in 2021.
So here's my Jazz 2021 mix. It is by no means a "Best of" mix. It's merely a collection of jazz-ish tracks from albums I liked this year. And of course some of the tunes lean a bit toward ambient.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Nala Sinephro - Space 8 [Space 1.8 on Warp]
- 13:03 Eli Keszler - Dawn [Icons on Lucky Me]
- 17:58 Joseph Shabason - 15-19 [The Fellowship on Western Vinyl]
- 23:17 Sons of Kemet - To Never Forget the Source [Black to the Future on UMG]
- 26:09 Benjamin Mørk & Arve Henriksen - Pasvikdalen [The Valleys]
- 28:57 Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes - Cold Pocket [Music for Saxofone and Bass Guitar More Songs on Leaving Records]
- 32:09 Nick Garbett & Mike Majkowski - Aerial [The Glider]
- 38:20 Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Movement 1 [Promises on Luaka Bop]
- 43:12 Bell Orchestre - Nature That's It That's All [House Music on Erased Tapes]
- 47:20 M. Sage - Spinnaker on a Southerly [The Wind of Things on Geographic North]
- 50:12 Jeff Parker - Four Folks [Forfolks on Nonesuch]
- 55:37 Fuubutsushi - Fresh Salt [Setsubun on Cached Media]
- 58:32 Charles Lloyd & The Marvels - Ay Amor (Live) [Tone Poem on Blue Note]
- 68:32 end
Sunday Nov 07, 2021
Sunday Nov 07, 2021
I have done several train mixes over the years. They basically come about because I hear a tune and think - Hey, that would be great in a train mix. So it was with this one. I heard the track "A.O.E." by Portico Quartet and I knew immediately that I need to build a mix around it.
This mix differs from most of my other train mix(except one) because it's mostly a jazz influenced mix. Berlin-school sequencers have been replaced by a drum kit and synth washes are now horns. I folded in some recordings of trains and subways but I didn't want to over do it so I kept to 3 spots in the mix.
Links to all the albums used in order of how they appear in this mix:
- https://porticoquartet.bandcamp.com/album/monument
- https://nickgarbett.bandcamp.com/album/the-glider
- https://snowpalms.bandcamp.com/album/land-waves
- https://tangents.bandcamp.com/album/new-bodies
- https://elskavonjohnhayes.bandcamp.com/album/du-nord
- https://nalasinephro.bandcamp.com/album/space-18
- https://porticoquartet.bandcamp.com/album/terrain
- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DCDQG7K/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp
- https://bellorchestre.bandcamp.com/album/house-music
- https://eremiterecords.bandcamp.com/album/mandatory-reality
- https://danielbrandt1.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-something
- https://alapastel.bandcamp.com/album/ceremony
The mix has some good energy and I could see it being a great companion for bike riding.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Portico Quartet - A.O.E. (Monument 2021)
- 05:30 Nick Garbett & Mike Majkowski - Aerial (The Glider 2021)
- 11:35 Snow Palms - Kojo Yakei (Land Waves 2020)
- 15:08 Tangents - Terracotta (New Bodies 2018)
- 21:20 Elskavon & John Hayes - Vermilion (Du Nord 2020)
- 23:23 Nala Sinephro - Space 6 (Space 1.8 2021)
- 26:50 Portico Quartet - Terrain: III (Terrain 2021)
- 36:30 Olafur Arnalds - Undir (re:member 2018)
- 39:27 Bell Orchestra - Movement (House Music 2021)
- 45:00 Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society - Shadow Conductor (Mandatory Reality 2019)
- 52:42 Daniel Brandt - Eternal Something (Eternal Something 2017)
- 58:45 Alapastel - Transmission (Ceremony 2021)
- 64:16 end
Sunday Oct 03, 2021
Sunday Oct 03, 2021
This mix started with one album - Goats & Distortions 5 by Dictaphone. It's one of my 2021 favorites. I began a new mix project with one song from that album as the starter, not knowing where it would go but the vibe was off-kilter. Then I heard a new album on Lost Tribe Sound, Departures by mastroKristo, and I knew where the mix would go.
This mix features a lot of wind instruments, although I'm not sure exactly what any of them are - clarinet, sax, soprano sax, oboe? A lot of the tracks are a bit askew, this is not smooth jazz. The music is atmospheric, moody, odd but the tracks all work perfectly together.
All the music is from 2021 and a few tracks are from some of my favorite albums of the year. I've already mentioned Dictaphone - Goats & Distortions 5. Another fav is Pino Palladino & Blake Mills - Notes with Attachments. And then there are two albums from Lost Tribe Sound that haven't been released yet but they will both be on my year-end favorites list. They are mastroKristo - Departures and Alapastel - Ceremony. They are both part of Lost Tribe Sound's Salt & Gravity series, which is fantastic.
Here's what LTS says about the series - "The Salt and Gravity Series is by far our most classical / ambient / drone adjacent collection yet. This series showcases some the most texturally pungent music we've ever released. A life long fascination with low end, blurred, battered and subterranean type sound has led us to this point... sound that you can feel rumbling up through the earth... the good stuff that makes your whole body hum versus just rattling around inside your head."
Go here to check it out... https://losttribesound.bandcamp.com/album/salt-and-gravity-series
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Dictaphone - O. (Goats & Distortions 5 2021)
- 04:00 mastroKristo - Gionis (Departures 2021)
- 08:02 Frieder Nagel - Para live version (The Arrival 2021)
- 11:15 Josiah Steinbrick - Mouthfeel 5 (Mouthfeel 2021)
- 14:24 Pino Palladino & Blake Mills - Notes with Attachments (Notes with Attachments 2021)
- 15:57 William Ryan Fritch - Cited (Freeland 2021)
- 17:34 William Ryan Fritch - Dropped (Freeland 2021)
- 20:06 Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes - Cold Pocket (Music for Saxofone and Bass Guitar More Songs 2021)
- 23:15 Eli Keszler - All the Mornings in the World (Icons 2021)
- 28:27 Masayoshi Fujita - Cumulonimbus Dream (Bird Ambience 2021)
- 32:00 Knower - As the Night Climbed, a Band of Raccoons Started Hastily to Perform their Nocturnal Jam (Curiosity Is Not Dead 2021)
- 36:05 Soft Generator - Asclepeion Process (A Carefully Controlled Space 2021)
- 39:22 Simon McCorry - Ocean Song (All Creatures 2021)
- 42:57 Hawsepiper - Air Stones (Red Knot Returns 2021)
- 47:00 Dictaphone - Goats & Distortions 2 (Goats & Distortions 5 2021)
- 49:11 Alapastel - New World Healing Centre (Ceremony 2021)
- 58:58 end
Sunday Jul 04, 2021
Sunday Jul 04, 2021
One of my favorite new indie albums of 2021 is An Overview on Phenomenal Nature by Cassandra Jenkins. It's a mostly fairly quiet, folky album. Except for the last cut which is instrumental with a kind of jazzy/ambient vibe. I knew immediately that I wanted to use it in a Sunday morning mix. Then I realized that it had been more than a year since I'd done a Sunday mix.
So here it is - Sunday Morning Music Vol. 21 - Dreamland. It sounds just like the Cassandra Jenkins I described above - jazzy/ambient with a sunny feel. There are two vocal tunes - one by Sam Gendel and the wonderful Dreamland by Joni Mitchell.
There's not much else to say other than grab the Sunday paper, a cup of coffee and hang out with this mix.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Time Rival - Breakfast with Birdsong (Fell 2020)
- 02:40 Casandra Jenkins - The Ramble (An Overview on Phenomenal Nature 2021)
- 09:05 Sam Gendel - Shells, Tube, and Guitar (Fresh Bread 2021)
- 15:09 Pino Palladino, Blake Mills - Just Wrong (Notes with Attachments 2021)
- 19:30 Turn On The Sunlight - Looking For A Waterfall (Warm Waves 2020)
- 24:50 Joseph Shabason - 15-19 (The Fellowship 2021)
- 31:33 Green-House - Peace Piece (2021)
- 35:31 Sam Gendel - Sometimes I Feel So Good (Fresh Bread 2021)
- 40:00 Joni Mitchell - Dreamland (Don Juan's Reckless Daughter 1977)
- 44:06 SiP - Malabar (Leos Naturals 2020)
- 52:10 Blake Mills - Mirror Box (Mutable Set 2020)
- 57:00 Chocolate Hills - Relax (A Pail of Air 2019)
- 60:19 end
Sunday Apr 04, 2021
Sunday Apr 04, 2021
 |
| Photo by Alex on Unsplash |
Back in January Paul emailed me about an album called "Bardo Tank" by Ron Miles playing trumpet in The Tank in Colorado. That email started me off in search of tunes for what became my "Resonant Spaces" mix. Paul went a different direction and sought out tracks for an ambient trumpet mix.
The result is a great collection of tunes that span different styles and old to new, while still maintaining an ambient atmosphere. Here's what Paul says about this mix:
“No musical instrument, at least in the Western world, conveys anguish and melancholy as effectively as the trumpet. One can trace a direct line from Miles Davis’s tender and gut-wrenching solos to the jazz-colored ambience of ECM Records. The signature sound of this European label is both intimate and austere, as reflected in the lonely landscapes of their album covers. There’s a delicate grandeur in the tunes I’ve gathered here. Or sometimes, just the sound of solitude.
For me, the overall effect was surprisingly similar to the tranquil, meditative state evoked by the bell-tone mix I did last December.”
Thanks Paul, for another superb set.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Arve Henriksen - Patient Zero (Towrds Language 2017)
- 02:02 Paolo Fresu - Se Va La Murga (In Maggiore 2015)
- 06:47 Alaskan Tapes - Leita(Ft. Ryan Svendsen) (Leita/North 2018)
- 10:28 Nils Petter Molvaer - Puri Jati (Buoyancy 2016)
- 14:00 Oystein Sevag - Miles Near (Link 1993)
- 15:35 Jeff Oster - The Lotus Within (Reach 2018)
- 22:27 Ron Miles - Pacem (Bardo Tank 2013)
- 28:49 Miles Davis - The Pan Piper (Sketches of Spain 1960)
- 32:27 Mark Isham - Tibet part II (Tibet 1989)
- 36:14 Arve Henriksen - Migration (Cartography 2008)
- 41:38 Ralph Towner & Paolo Fresu - The Sacred Place(reprise) (Chiaroscuro 2008)
- 43:27 Matthew Halsall - Canopy & Stars (Salute to the Sun 2020)
- 51:04 Ambrose Akinmusire - Roy (On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment 2020)
- 53:26 Jon Hassell - Time And Place (Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street 2009)
- 56:55 Matthew Halsall - Stories from India (Oneness 2019)
- 65:09 Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Tale (Lontano 2006)
- 68:54 end
Sunday Apr 12, 2020
Sunday Apr 12, 2020
This mix started nearly two years ago when I created a playlist on Spotify called "Sax is Back." In there I collected tracks that used a saxophone as a main instrument and had an ambient vibe. I was careful to not let the tunes devolve into Kenny G on the beach schlock. But I still wasn't sure if an entire mix of sax tunes would work, but, I gotta say, this mix turned out really well. It's cohesive and a nice variation on straight forward ambient.
One caveat - I'm not entirely sure that the instrument in every song is indeed a saxophone. Soprano sax can sometimes sound like an oboe so there may be a couple of times where that may happen. But I don't really care, I just love the sound of this whole mix.
A few of my favorite tracks in the mix are:
- Blue Chamber by Mute Forest from the excellent new album, Riderstorm, on Lost Tribe Sound.
- A Break in the Clouds by Andrew Heath from Soundings
- Music for Airports by Delta Saxophone Quartet from Bowie, Berlin & Beyond
I hope you enjoy this slight detour into ambient sax.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Tortusa & Breistein - Mind Vessel [2018]
- 05:30 Joseph Shabason - Long Swim [2017]
- 09:45 Anenon - Panes [2016]
- 12:34 Ben Bertrand - The Manmaipo [2020]
- 16:40 Daniel Thorne - Fear of Floating [2019]
- 18:52 Mute Forest - Blue Chamber [2020]
- 21:42 Andrew Heath - A Break In The Clouds [2017]
- 27:57 Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Joy [2019]
- 32:40 Rauelsson - Marbles [2018]
- 35:03 Donny McCaslin - Warszawa [2016]
- 38:00 Dylan Howe - Art Decade [2014]
- 42:10 Delta Saxophone Quartet - Subterraneans [2018]
- 47:50 Anenon - Mansana [2018]
- 50:28 Tortusa & Breistein - Ladder [2018]
- 53:43 Ben Bertrand - Those Behind Us That We Follow [2020]
- 58:28 Delta Saxophone Quartet - Music for Airports [2018]
- 64:05 end
Wednesday Dec 27, 2017
Wednesday Dec 27, 2017
This mix is less of a best jazz recordings of 2017 and more of a mix of jazz that I enjoyed in 2017. I don't listen to nearly as much jazz as I do ambient and indie music. But I liked enough releases to come up with an end of the year jazz mix. So here it is.
The year was anchored by two spectacular recordings - Aytche by Joseph Shabason and All This I Do For Glory by Colin Stetson. I saw Stetson at a small club and was blown away by his sound and technique. If you get the chance to see him up close definitely go.
There are two albums that I discovered while compiling tracks for my mix, Rhythm of the Rails. Those two are Eternal Stories by Michel Portal & Quator Ebene and Simultonality by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society. Both excellent recordings.
Another highlight of 2017 was ECM records putting their entire catalog up on Spotify. I listened to nothing by ECM for a few weeks this fall.
This will probably be my last mix for 2017. I've already started on a guest mix for liftedicons.com that will be fun to put together. Music definitely helped me get through a messed up 2017. Here's to a great 2018.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Joseph Shabason - Aytche(Aytche)
- 03:40 Vijay Iyer Sextet - Wake(Far From Over)
- 08:03 Ben Allison - Magic Number(Layers of the City)
- 14:38 Bjorn Meyer - Provenance(Provenance)
- 20:30 Quatuor Ebene - City Birds(Eternal Stories)
- 27:55 Colin Stetson - Spindrift(All This I Do For Glory)
- 33:36 Portico Quartet - Endless(Art in the Age of Automation)
- 37:46 Kamasi Washington - Desire(Harmony Of Difference)
- 42:07 Phronesis - Ok Chorale(The Behemoth)
- 45:50 Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society - Maroon Dune(Simultonality)
- 54:48 Dorothy Ashby - Pawky(Hip Harp/In A Minor Groove)
- 51:55 end
Sunday Jul 23, 2017
Sunday Jul 23, 2017
This mix is a sort of follow up to the train mix of a couple of months ago. I had a song or two that I hadn't used and then I stumbled upon the album "Simultonality" by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society. The track, Sideways Fall, has this great repetitive train-like feel to it. I knew immediately that I needed to make another train mix to fit with that tune.
The three 2017 releases in this mix are a few of my favorite discoveries this year. Check them out.
Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society - Simultonality
Daniel Brandt - Eternal Something
Quatuor Ebene & Michel Portal - Eternal Stories
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Chris Watson - Veracruz(El Tren Fantasma 2011)
- 00:35 Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society - Sideways Fall(Simultonality 2017)
- 08:00 Daniel Brandt - FSG(Eternal Something 2017)
- 11:30 The Winter Consort - The Little Train of Caipira(The Winter Consort 1968)
- 13:54 Ludovico Einaudi - Elements(Elements 2015)
- 19:35 Steve Reich - Different Trains-America Before the War(Works 1997)
- 25:30 Chris Watson - El Divisadero(El Tren Fantasma 2011)
- 27:35 Daniel Brandt - Kale Me(Eternal Something 2017)
- 32:35 Quatuor Ebene & Michel Portal - City Birds(Eternal Stories 2017)
- 38:25 Fieldhead - This Train is a Rainbow(They Shook Hands For Hours 2009)
- 41:42 Gerry Mulligan - K4 Pacific(The Age Of Steam 1971)
- 46:45 Alexandre Desplat - Night Train to Nebelsbad(Grand Budapest Hotel 2014)
- 48:25 Dan Deacon - USA Suite(America 2012)
- 58:23 end
Friday Nov 25, 2016
Friday Nov 25, 2016
I'm not sure where this mix began. Possibly late at night, glass of whiskey on the table, slow jazz playing in the background. Arve Henriksen probably came up & got me thinking about dark, atmospheric jazz. Which sends me to Spotify to investigate more jazz noir, which leads to the discovery of Shadowdream & Dead Combo, which leads to a new mix.
As you've probably guessed by now this is a late night, atmospheric jazz set. I knew when I started this mix that I'd have to include something from the Twin Peaks soundtrack because that is the first thing I think of when contemplating noir jazz. The Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch cut that I picked works nicely because also used it for the title of the mix.
I really like the mood and feel of this entire mix and I hope you do too. Grab a scotch and give it a spin in the dark.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Angelo Badalamenti - Mysterioso 2
- 04:37 Arve Henriksen - The Sacristan
- 07:45 The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Avian Lung
- 12:45 Triosk - Awake in the Deep
- 14:18 Harold Budd - Emboldened-My Dreams Perish
- 16:30 Shadowdream - The Obsession Begins Tomorrow
- 20:40 Daniel Lanois - Sketches
- 24:40 Dead Combo - After Peace Swim Twice
- 27:55 Povarovo - Methro Nome
- 31:03 Arms And Sleepers - Atelier
- 33:05 Cliff Martinez - Ask him why he killed my brother
- 35:04 Shaqdowdream - The Hour of the Wolf, Alfa and Omega
- 37:25 Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Karin
- 40:50 Julien Neto - V Rivers
- 45:25 Arve Henriksen - Recording Angel
- 47:25 Pjusk - Dempet
- 50:10 Jon Hassell - Light on Water
- 57:40 Nick Cave - Magneto
- 62:45 end
Sunday Dec 27, 2015
Sunday Dec 27, 2015
This collection isn't necessarily a "best of 2015" , it's just some of my favorite jazz tunes from the past year.
It begins with one of my favorite albums of the year in any genre - The Thompson fields by The Maria Schneider Orchestra. The title track is remarkable. The Jaga Jazzist album was a big surprise for me. I've listen to them on and off for years but had lost interest for some reason. The track in this mix is strange, futuristic electronic/jazz cut that I have listened to a ton this year. The other two great discoveries were albums from Kamasi Washington and Kendrick Scott Oracle, definitely worth checking out.
Is there any jazz out there that really engaged you in 2015? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Maria Schneider Orchestra - The Thompson Fields
- 09:50 Jaga Jazzist - Oban
- 15:12 Kamasi Washington - The Magnificent 7
- 20:57 Andy Sheppard - Tipping Point
- 26:37 Kendrick Scott Oracle - we are the drum
- 32:00 food - this is not a miracle
- 36:00 Hidden Orchestra - the Revival
- 39:50 Chris Potter Underground Orchestra - Imaginary Cities(part 2)
- 48:12 Jakob Bro - Copenhagen
- 52:24 Giovanni Guidi Trio - The might it rained forever
- 59:10 Vijay Iyer Trio - Geese
- 63:45 Ben Monder - Zythum
- 70:10 Maria Schneider Orchestra - Walking by Flashlight
- 75:10 end