low light mixes

Slow Decay

A slowly developing amalgamation of mixed-genre madness, fusing ambient, experimental & jazz soundscapes into a mixture of quiet deconstruction.

"Slow Decay" is a collaborative mix from Low Light Mixes & Ambient Landscape.  We've each done mixes for each other but we thought it would be cool make a mix in which we both contributed alternating sections. 

Gene(ambient landscape) came up with the title and I started things off with a couple of cuts.  I sent it to Gene, he added a few more, sent it back to me, I added more tracks and so on and so on.  Until we had a fascinating 1 hour & 16 minute journey.

I love how things turned out. The combination of ecm-style jazz and ambient and experimental music worked perfectly.

Don't forget to check out Ambient Landscape here...

https://ambientlandscape.wordpress.com/

https://www.mixcloud.com/gab_labs/

Enjoy

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Signal Structure (w/treatments) - Positive Centre
• 03:12    Upon Contact Reworked - Jorge Haro (Bruno Sanfilippo)
• 07:10    The Squealing of Rats & the Squeaking of Boards - Marielle V Jakobsons (w/treatments)
• 08:45    Parallel Realities (excerpt) - Jack DeJohnette, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock
• 11:40    Dis Loops 1.1 - William Basinski - performed by The Wordless Music Orchestra
• 21:40    Upon the Break Arch - Benoit Pioulard
• 26:20    Structural Functions Of Prezens (excerpt) - David Torn, Tim Berne, Craig Taborn, Tom Rainey
• 30:25    Sluimer (excerpt) - FANTOOM (René Aquarius, Otto Kokke, Dirk Serries, Martina Verhoeven)
• 34:50    Passage D.E. - Jon Hassell
• 39:10    Solphaer - Alva Noto
• 44:05    Porch Swings - Cinchel
• 45:55    Arder De No Sentir Calor - Mauro Beltran
• 50:27    Night Peculiarities – Johan Troch
• 53:19    Tunis at Dawn - Anouar Brahem
• 59:44    Rosemarie - Trio3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille w/ Vijay Iyer
• 66:04    Setting Out - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
• 67:50    The Wind in High Places: Above Sunset Pass - John Luther Adams
• 70:45    Tipping Point - Andy Sheppard Quartet
• 76:15    end

Sunday Morning Music vol. 12 - September's Here Again

As usual with these mixes there is one song in particular that gets the ball rolling and in this case it's the title track from the album The Thompson Fields by the Maria Schneider Orchestra.  The whole album is wonderful collection open, airy jazz tracks and the title song is just stunning.  Definitely one of the most beautiful songs released this year, second only to Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell.

The rest of the mix is your standard Sunday morning mix.  Maybe a bit more jazz in this one.  Other than the Davis Sylvian tune most of the cuts are fairly new.

Enjoy

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 David Sylvian - September
• 01:11 Maria Schneider Orchestra - The Thompson Fields
• 08:00 Bosques De Mi Mente - El amanecer reflejado en tus ojos
• 10:38 AXX - Interstellar Ambient
• 14:10       Patrick Watson - Love Songs for Robots
• 17:11       Kenny Reichert Band - Cascades
• 22:20 Bill Seaman - A Dark Thought
• 26:40 Ben Lukas Boysen - Sleeps Beat Theme
• 30:31 Anouar Brahem - Tunis at Dawn
• 37:03 Cliff Martinez - Placental Repair
• 39:11 Hidden Rivers - September Sun Memory
• 42:52 Olan Mill - Tallole
• 46:33 Maria Schneider Orchestra - Walking by Flashlight
• 51:33 end

Sunday Morning Music Vol. 8 - slow mornings

Grab a cup of coffee and the paper with this mix as your Sunday soundtrack.

This iteration of the Sunday morning series uses mostly new music including a couple of great Bob Dylan covers from Sarah Jarosz and Phosphorescent.  I couldn't resist starting the mix with the wonderful "Morning" from Beck's new release.

From there we move on to a beautiful, jazzy track from Philémon Chante that I have been itching to use for a while.  That cut is from his album called Les Sessions Cubaines which you can find on Bandcamp here...Philémon Chante

There a couple soundtracks represented in the mix from two of the best films of 2013, "Her" and "Nebraska."  Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett collaborated for the "Her" soundtrack, with two cuts in this mix.  Mark Orton did the beautifully simple soundtrack for "Nebraska" and it shows up here in the track "The Old Compressor Escape."  I've got an Americana mix waiting in the wings which will have more from that soundtrack.

One of my other favs is the cut from Bill Callahan.  He remixed his 2013 album, "Dream River," as a dub album called "Have Fun With God."  It's fantastic!

Enjoy.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 Beck - Morning
• 05:12 M. Ostermeier - Sunlight on My Desk
• 07:55 Sam Prekop - A Cloud to the Back
• 11:30 Philémon Chante - J'arrive toujours un peu trop tard
• 15:40 Sarah Jarosz - Simple Twist of Fate
• 20:20 Mark Orton - The Old Compressor Escape
• 22:50 Thievery Corporation - le coeur (feat lou lou ghelichkhani)
• 25:45 Assia Cunego - Canto Ostinato Section 25-30
• 29:00 Segue - slow mornings
• 34:00 Bill Callahan - Small Dub
• 37:45 Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett - Dimensions
• 40:34 Darcy James Argue's Secret Society - An Invitation
• 43:08 Nick Cave - Into My Arms
• 47:17 Phosphorescent - Tomorrow is a Long Time
• 51:30 Paul Buchanan - Mid Air
• 53:45 Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett - We're All Leaving
• 56:17 end

Sunday Morning Music vol. 5 - Chasing Ice

I have to be honest.  One of the reasons I've done so many(#5 now) of these Sunday morning music mixes is that they are so popular, especially on Mixcloud.  So I'm a sellout, a ratings whore.  I admit it.  But I like to think that each Sunday mix is a good listen in it's own way. I usually stumble upon a song or two that prompts me to start a new mix.  In this case it was the song "Before My Time" which leads off the mix.  It's the song that plays during the credits of the film Chasing Ice.  When I heard it as the credits rolled it knocked my socks off.  That's Scarlett Johansson singing.  She's got a unique voice,  not one to be used for candy coated pop music.  But absolutely perfect for the beautiful restraint of "Before My Time." I hope this mix is another worthy addition to the Sunday morning music series.  Enjoy. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    J. Ralph & Scarlett Johansson - Before My Time (from Chasing Ice OST)
• 03:33    Sigur Ros - Varðeldur (from Valtari)
• 09:15    Manu Katché - Slowing the Tides (from Manu Katché)
• 14:35    Simon Scott - sealevel.1 (from Below Sealevel)
• 18:25    Kiln - Centrifu (from Thermals)
• 19:40    S. Carey - Mothers (from All We Grow)
• 24:45    Andrew Bird - Night Sky (from Norman OST)
• 28:13    Endless Melancholy - A Song for the Morning Star (from Music for Quiet Mornings)
• 32:40    Schulte & Martin - Frosty Morning (from Treasure)
• 36:10   J. Ralph - Chasing Ice (Croconite) (from Chasing Ice OST)
• 39:05    Max Richter - Winter 3 (from Vivaldi 4 Seasons Recomposed)
• 43:15    Patrick Watson - Noisy Sunday (from Adventurers in Your Own Backyard)
• 45:05    Garth Stevenson - Dawn (from Flying)
• 50:55    Manuell Göttsching - Quasarsphere (from Inventions for Electric Guitar)
• 56:55    J. Ralph - You're No Longer Just a Human Being (from Chasing Ice OST)
• 58:40    end

Sunday Morning Music vol. 4 - To Speak of Solitude

Oops!  It's Sunday night & I'm posting a mix called Sunday Morning Music.  Oh well, play it next Sunday while reading the paper with a cup of coffee. This is the fourth in the Sunday morning series.  It follows a similar pattern - some ambient, some vocal tunes, some jazz - all of it nice & relaxing.  Perfect for a Sunday morning.  This morning I was actually able to sip coffee out on the deck(shown in the pic). Not bad for the 11th of November in Wisconsin. Two of my favorite cuts in the mix are the two tracks(End of the World & The Smallest Piece) from the soundtrack of "Beasts of the Southern Wild."  I'm o very fond of the cuts from Geoffrey Oreyma & Andrew Bird.  The latest release from Andrew Bird will definitely be on my year-end,best-of list. Enjoy. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Brambles - To Speak of Solitude
• 03:30    The xx - Angels
• 06:11    The Boats - The Ballad For The Girl On The Moon
• 09:40    The Bark Psychosis - Pendulum Man
• 16:40    Trespassers William - Believe Me
• 20:46    Yo Yo Ma & Chris Thile - Franz & The Eagle
• 24:20    Geoffrey Oryema - Makambo
• 28:55    Pat Metheny/Steve Reich - Electric Counterpoint
• 32:09    Philip Glass & Nosaj Thing - Knee 1
• 35:35    Charles Lloyd Quartet - Dwija
• 40:40    Clarke - Black Stone
• 42:34    Benh Zeitlin, Dan Romer, The Lost Bayou Ramblers - End of the World
• 44:00    Benh Zeitlin, Dan Romer, The Lost Bayou Ramblers - The Smallest Piece
• 45:25    Andrew Bird - Beyond the Valley of the Three White Horses
• 51:25    Horse Feathers - Summer for Capricorns
• 54:28    David Sylvian - Camp Fire Coyote Country
• 58:00    Nils Frahm - Sol

Every day is like Sunday - Sunday morning music vol. 3

Sunday mornings in summer...put on some coffee even though the temps are already climbing. Sunday mornings in summer...are spent on the deck with the paper & the birds. Sunday mornings in summer...slow motion start to a slow motion day. This is the third in my unplanned Sunday morning music series.  I hadn't intended to more than one of these mixes but the first was so popular on Mixcloud that I couldn't resist doing more.  I was amazed at how many listens it got and to be honest, I liked that popularity, so I became a bit of a ratings whore & went back to that same well again. As with the others in this series, this mix is a collection of instrumentals, acoustic tunes, jazz & other oddballs.  I am happy to have squeezed in the tune, The Farther Away I Am, from Daryl Hall.  Yes that's Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates.  It's from a 1980 solo album he did that was produced by Robert Fripp, thereby assuring it would be a commercial bomb.  The album was kind hit & miss but I've always loved that song. Other favs in the mix are the ones by Sun Kil Moon & Keola Beamer and of course the Colin Meloy cover which I stole as the title for volume 3 in this series. I know the Beamer tune borders on new age.  But I think this cut doesn't go over the edge into new age crap.  It just has this nice breezy feel which perfect for sitting on the deck with the sun on your face. Enjoy. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Daniel Lanois - Steamdog
• 02:00    Sun Kil Moon - Sunshine in Chicago
• 04:30    Keola Beamer - `Imi Au Io `Oe
• 07:27    Colin Meloy - Every day is  Like Sunday(Morrissey cover)
• 10:40    Brian Eno - Silver Morning
• 12:50    Foreign Fields - From the Lake to the Land
• 15:20    Daryl Hall - The Farther Away I Am
• 17:40    Sigur Ros - varðeldur
• 23:25    Bill Nelson - Your Morning Blessing
• 26:05    Wolfgang Voigt - Fresko 1
• 29:05    Nora Jones - Good Morning
• 32:10    Uakti - Japura River(philip glass cover)
• 36:41    Steve Tibbetts - kili-ki drok
• 37:45    Jeff Pearce - With the Morning Light
• 42:20    Jan Garbarek - Ov zarmanali
• 45:00    Chet Baker - Early Morning Mood
• 52:20    Steve Tibbetts - Drawing Down the Moon
• 57:05    Sufjan Stevens - The Lord God Bird(live on NPR)
• 1:00:37    end

Sunday Morning Music Vol. 2

On Sundays I don't do anything useful until noon.  I read the paper, listen to music, read a book, sort & catalog my mp3's, sit out on the deck, etc.

This mix is a soundtrack for Sunday mornings.  Some instrumental tunes, some vocal tracks.  All of it mellow & laid back.  Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning.

When I did my first Sunday morning mix I wasn't really sure if I even liked it.  Then it turned out to be the most listened to mix I've ever had at Mixcloud.  Go figure.

Vol. 2 starts with one of my favorite songs of all time, John Martyn's "Small Hours".  I think that was the tune that got me into John Martyn in the first place.  There are several covers in the mix.  The most unusual being Evan Chapman's percussion cover of Bon Iver's Holocene.  Evan has a bunch of videos up on his youtube channel that are worth watching.  One of my favorites is "Opening" by Philip Glass.  I'll definitely have to work some more Evan's covers into other mixes.

Speaking of Bon Iver, there's another cover in the mix with Peter Gabriel doing "Flume" and then Gabriel gets covered by Twin Shadows doing "Here Comes the Flood."  And we have another Bon Iver tune, this time done live by Justin Vernon & Sean Carey for 4AD sessions.

There are two other tracks also taken from live sessions, Daughter - In The Shallows from a Daytrotter session and Iron & Wine - Tree by the River from a 4AD session.  All three live tunes are cool because they are so organic & intimate.

Enjoy volume 2 in the Sunday morning music series.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    John Martyn - Small Hours
• 08:25    Brian Eno - and then so clear
• 13:55    Evan Chapman - Holocene (Bon Iver cover)
• 17:40    Iron & Wine - Tree by the River (4AD session)
• 21:05    Bill Frisell - Arkansas (part 1)
• 22:52    Sun Ra - Yesterdays
• 26:48    Twin Shadows - Here Comes the Flood (Peter Gabriel cover)
• 30:36    Vieo Abiungo - 12 Drowsy Salted Mornings (Tokyo Bloodworm Remix)
• 34:33    Daughter - In The Shallows (Daytotter session)
• 40:10    JBM - Sunset Rocks
• 42:00    David Holmes - The Ballad of Sarah & Jack
• 46:18    Peter Gabriel - Flume (Bon Iver cover)
• 49:05    Nils Frahm - For
• 52:35    Bon Iver - Hinnom, TX(4AD/Jagjaguwar session)
• 55:35    Vijay Iyer Trio - The Village of Virgins
• 1:00:46    end

sunday morning music

I absolutely love NPR music.  The host of their All Songs Considered podcast is Bob Boilen.  I've heard him describe music as "Sunday morning music."  I'm not exactly sure what that is but I think I know when I hear it.

I'd been thinking about doing a Sunday mix for some time and then I heard Wilco's song "One Sunday Morning" & immediately loved it & had to start a mix so I could use that tune in it.

This mix is a collection of both vocal & instrumental tunes, that hopefully will work well with sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee & reading the paper.  Sunday mornings always make me think of jazz so I included a couple of jazz tracks in the mix.

Time to go brew another pot.

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Chandanam - Silk
• 02:00    Bon Iver - Perth (the Polish Ambassador remix)
• 08:23    Wilco - One Sunday Morning
• 16:53    Daniel Lanois & the MDH Band - The First Time(reprise)
• 18:55    Nick Drake - From the Morning
• 21:17    Keith Jarrett & Jack DeJonette - Pastel Morning
• 23:12    Charlie Haden & Hank Jones - Going Home
• 27:12    Gem Club - Twins
• 31:20    Harmonia 76 - When Shade was Born
• 32:35    Harold Budd & Clive Wright - Sunday After the War
• 36:15    Marsen Jules - Lazy Sunday Funerals #3
• 38:12    Dizzy Gillespie - Come Sunday
• 41:00    Leonard Cohen - Going Home
• 44:10    S. Carey - Move
• 46:52    Seu Jorge - Life on Mars(Bowie Cover)
• 50:12    Charlie Haden & Hank Jones - Come Sunday
• 53:43    end

Quintessential Jazz

No pretense of ambience in this mix, just straight forward jazz.  I came across an interesting list here... Quintessential Jazz Songs. The Jazz 100 is a list compiled by listeners of jazz24.org & NPR Music.  It's kinda fun to read some of the comments because the listeners get very passionate about the list.  Much of the list is very recognizable & some of the tracks I'd never heard before, so it was great to dig in & discover music I probably should have known about for a long time. So this mix is just a quick compilation of just a few tracks from the list, with the exception of the Paul Desmond tune(it just worked perfectly following Take 5 with Take Ten). Even though this deviates from from the usual ambient I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Miles Davis - So What
• 09:20    Ahmad Jamal - Poinciana(the song of the tree)
• 13:33    Duke Ellington & John Coltrane - In a Sentmental Mood
• 17:40    Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
• 27:44    Dave Brubeck - Take 5
• 32:57    Paul Desmond - Take Ten
• 36:00    Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - The Girl from Ipanema
• 41:05    Oliver Nelson - Stolen Moments
• 49:32    Wayne Shorter - Footprints
• 54:57    Bill Evans - Waltz for Debbie
• 01:53    end

footsteps

One of my favorites albums this year isThe Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra . What first got my attention was Isabella Rossellini reciting the words of the late author Laura Huxley, widow of Aldous Huxley, on the first track - LookListenFeel. I've always had a thing for Isabella Rossellini so I gave the track a listen...and loved it. I've been playing this album a lot and I wanted to feature it in a mix but the music wouldn't fit with my normal ambient mixes so I decided to a beat mix. As with many mixes, this one took twists & turns I hadn't quite expected. It started off sort of psychedelic then quickly veered into something sort of funky, sort of jazzy. I love the detour it took to Dorothy Ashby. I discovered her 1968 album Afro-Harping at NPR music. I had already finished the mix when I heard the song "Soul Vibrations" and just knew I had to use it. It fits in very nicely. Somehow U2 & Dave Brubeck get squeezed in here as well. It finishes off where it began with The Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra. I really enjoyed making this mix & even though it's a bit different for normal low light fare, I hope you enjoy it too. T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 The Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra - LookListenFeel
• 03:30 DJ Cam - Gantsa Shit
• 07:15 Polyoctopus - One Less Thing
• 10:20 Dorothy Ashby - Soul Vibrations
• 13:25 Conelrad - Charger Paris Mirage
• 16:55 U2 - Numb(gimme some more dignity remix)
• 19:35 The New Mastersounds - Drop It Down(b remix)
• 22:51 Dorothy Ashby - Afro-Harping
• 25:25 Chronomad - Dore Hindi
• 29:00 Terminal Sound System - Duchamp Falls
• 32:40 Dave Brubeck - Take Five
• 37:40 Hidden Orchestra - Footsteps
• 40"00 Halma - Hektopascal
• 42:35 Eliot Lipp - Real Tragic
• 46:00 The Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra - A Beautiful Walk in the Country
• 48:10 end