low light mixes

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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world

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Wednesday Dec 28, 2022

Best Ambient 2022 part 2

Wednesday Dec 28, 2022

Not much to say other than here is Best Ambient 2022 part 2.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Snufmumriko - Langt under noll (Radio Mnemosyne - Dronarivm)
06:10 Heavenchord - Field Recordings #19(Field Recordings #4 - Secret Domain)
12:00 Austin Rockman - Muter (Our Own Unknown - Krysalisound)
13:27 Alio Die - Il Lievito Dell'anima (Distillation Of Time - Hic Sunt Leones)
18:25 Taylor Deupree - Rythn (Harbor - Laaps)
21:15 Jason Kolàr - Magic / Random / Exotism (Liquid Rhythm - Dauw)
27:37 Jarguna - Neogene (Neogene - Projekt)
28:33 Alio Die & Dirk Serries - Without The Light Of The Sky, Time Is Lost (The Chapters Of The Eclipse - Projekt)
34:25 State Azure - Nova Sonus (Nova Sonus)
42:40 Deepchord - Drassanes (Functional Designs - Soma)
47:20 Louigi Verona - Journeys on Google Earth III (Journeys on Google Earth)
54:22 CELL - Auxin (Onwards System - Ultimae)
59:50 Calm Whale - Awaken Earth (Handpan Journey)
67:37 Ruven Nunez - Untitled No. 51 (Untitled No. 51 - Longform Editions)
75:06 end

Tuesday Dec 27, 2022

Man, these lists are tough to assemble. So why do I does this? Mostly because I enjoy the exercise of reviewing the tons and tons of music that is released over the year. It's a more active and intentional listening mode that I switch to at this time of year. I love checking out other lists to see what I may have missed. But mostly I'm just a music dork who likes lists. So here it is my favorite ambient music of 2022.

My Top 10 Ambient Albums of 2022

Ecovillage - The Road Not Taken [Laaps]
Snufmumriko - Radio Mnemosyne [Dronarivm]
Man Watching the Stars - The Sextant of a Blind Seafarer
Gylden - Island Friend [Seil]
Nils Frahm - Music For Animals [Leiter]
Glåsbird - Himalaya [Whitelabrecs]
Alio Die & Dirk Serries - The Chapters Of The Eclipse [Projekt]
Tapani Rinne & Juha Maki-Patola - Open [Hush Hush Records]
Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling, Andreas Werliin - Ghosted [Drag City]
Tapes and Topographies - Modalities [Simulacra]

Here's the rest of the list in alphabetical order:

't Geruis - Bain D'Étoiles [Laaps]
't Geruis - Slow Dance on Moss Beds [Lost Tribe Sound]
Adrian Copeland - If This Were My Body [Lost Tribe Sound]
Alio Die - Distillation of Time & Spirals of Light [Hic Sunt Leones]
Austin Rockman - Our Own Unknown [Krysalisound]
Calm Whale - Awaken Earth
CELL - Onwards System [Ultimae]
Deepchord - Functional Designs [Soma]
Glåsbird - Cinéma Noir [Whitelabrecs]
Harry Towell & Guy Gelem - Restful Spaces [Polar Seas]
Heavenchord - Field Recordings #4 [Secret Domain]
Inhmost - Space & Awareness [Tonight’s Dream Records]
Jarguna - Neogene [Projekt]
Jason Kolàr - Liquid Rhythm [Dauw]
Jens Pauly - 1989 [Whitelabrecs]
Johann Johannsson - Drone Mass [DG]
Louigi Verona - Journeys on Google Earth
Michael Scott Dawson - Music For Listening
Moss Covered Technology - Brick & Air [Audiobulb]
Oren Ambarchi - Shebang [Drag City]
Pan-American - The Patience Folder [Kranky]
Polaroid Notes - Cloud Anthems [Whitelabrecs]
Romeo Poirier - Living Room [Faitiche]
Ruven Nunez - Untitled #51 [Longform Editions]
S. van der Toorn - vervlogenheden i-xi [Aural Canyon]
Scattered Light - D.A. #017 A.D. 2022 [Dust Archive]
Seabuckthorn - Of No Such Place [Laaps]
Son of Chi & Arthur Fink - The Fifth World Recordings [Astral Industries]
State Azure - Nova Sonus [2022]
Steve Tibbetts - Hellbound Train [ecm]
Tapani Rinne & Juha Maki-Patola - Open [Hush Hush Records]
Tapes and Topographies - Amplitudes [Whitelabrecs]
Taylor Deupree - Harbor [Laaps]
The Lonely Bell - Kingdoms Of The Deep
Toàn - Phonolite [Krysalisound]
William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - “ . . . on reflection [Temporary Residence]

I've done three separate mixes to celebrate the best ambient music of 2022 and I will post one a day.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Ecovillage - Silent River(ft. Henrik Meierkord & Ruven Nunez) (The Road Not Taken - Laaps)
03:10 Jens Pauly - Vast (1989 - Whitelabrecs)
08:40 't Geruis - la petite riviere (Slow Dance on Moss Beds - Lost Tribe Sound)
13:00 William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - . . . on reflection(one) (“ . . . on reflection " - Temporary Residence)
19:41 Scattered Light - A.D. 2022 - SP#086 (D.A. #017 - A.D. 2022 - Dust Archive)
23:36 Man Watching the Stars - Sakkyoku • 55 Cancri (The Sextant of a Blind Seafarer)
29:10 Harry Towell & Guy Gelem - Montague's Creek (Restful Spaces - Polar Seas)
36:05 Inhmost - So Far Away (Space & Awareness - Tonight's Dream Records)
40:12 Glåsbird - Vansa (Himalaya - Whitelabrecs)
44:30 Johann Johannsson - To Fold & Remain Dormant (Drone Mass - DG)
47:54 Tapes and Topographies - The First of Many Moons (Modalities - Simulacra)
51:54 S. van der Toorn - vervlogenheid i (vervlogenheden i-xi - Aural Canyon)
55:08 Michael Scott Dawson - Summerfallow (Music For Listening)
57:51 Pan•American - Swimming in a Western Hotel (The Patience Fader - Kranky)
60:30 end

Wednesday Dec 14, 2022

A Tribute to Manuel Gottsching

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 Dec 04, 2022

Bells and Flutes for Sleep & Meditation by Paul Asbury Seaman

Sunday Dec 04, 2022

photo by Paul Asbury Seaman

This is the perfect mix to offset the hustle & bustle of the holiday season. Skip the shopping and make some tea and chill the f*** out to this wonderful meditation mix from Paul Asbury Seaman.

Here's what Paul says:

"Native American flutes. A bit of Ireland, a bit of acoustic guitar (with echoes of India), interspersed with Tibetan bells, wind chimes, and a recent track by Steve Roach that is his most sublime composition since “Structures From Silence.” So, a bit of variety, but all with a consistent tone of serenity—my most soothing mix yet.”

Here links to all the music used in this mix:

Thanks Paul for another great mix! Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Suzanne Teng & Gilbert Levy - Sounding the Bell (Shimmer 2022)

05:25 Michael Stearns - Monk with Bell (Baraka 1993)

07:42 Sherry Finzer - Obsidian Shadows (Synesthesia 2022)

10:55 Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning - Shepherding the Wind (Coming, Going 2022)

13:55 Jarguna - Garden of the Mantras (Prospective Animiche 2019)

21:35 Stevin McNamara - Aubade (Om Guitar 2020)

29:00 Forrest Fang - Song of the Wanderer (The Bok of Wanderers 2020)

34:15 Manrose - Tengpoche Monastery (Dhyana Aman 2010)

40:43 Suzanne Teng & Gilbert Levy - Mother and Child (Shimmer 2022)

45:55 Steve Roach - What Remains(excerpt) (Projekt2022 2022)

53:01 Calm Whale - Blue Moon Wind (Blue Moon Meditation 2017)

60:00 end

Sunday Nov 27, 2022

Seabuckthorn - Transcendental Freq.

Sunday Nov 27, 2022

A couple of weeks ago I posted the Numinoustrings mix which featured a track by Seabuckthorn. I like the vibe of that mix and how the Seabuckthorn cut fit in. So I reached out to the man behind Seabuckthorn, Andy Cartwright, to see about him creating a guest mix. I was psyched when he said yes!

I am happy to present Transcendental Freq. Similar to Numinoustrings, it falls into the ambient/modern classical category. This set does exactly what I love about guest mixes - it combines familiar artists with new discoveries and tosses in a surprise or two. Andy saves the best surprise for last - an unreleased Seabuckthorn song recorded last year.

Here a link to Seabuckthorn music on Bandcamp - https://seabuckthorn.bandcamp.com/music

And here are links to all the music used in this mix in the order in which they appear:

Thanks to Andy Cartwright for creating this fine mix. Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00.00 Seabuckthorn – Fell Into Journey (Laaps 2022)
01:40 Ben Bondy – I Thought You'd Look Away (Good Morning Tapes 2022)
05:30 Richard Skelton – Undertow (Sustain Release 2009)
08:55 Mystic AM – The Dervish (Astral Industries 2022)
11:25 High Aura'd – All The Spirits That Dance (Debacle Records 2017)
13:47 Set Fire To Flames – Your Guts Are Like Mine (Alien8/Fat Cat 2003)
15:30 Low – Whitetail (Kranky 2001)
19:50 Ennio Morricone - Ninna Nanna Per Adulteri (Ennio Morricone 1968)
22:38 Seabuckthorn – Jagged Horizon (Laaps 2022)
25:20 Andy Cartwright – A Diary Of Sorts (Fluid Audio 2021)
28:12 Nathan Moody – Cobalt (Studio Obsidian 2017)
29:25 Johann Johannsson - Mandy Love Theme (Lakeshore Records 2018)
31:16 Toán -Inland (Eilean Rec 2017)
34:44 Voice Of The Seven Woods – Breaking Moonlight (Kning Disk 2008)
36:00 A Broken Consort – Like Rain (Aeolian 2011)
38:28 Ian William Craig – Its A Sound, Not An Ocean (Fatcat 2022)
42:50 William Ryan Fritch - At Once, There Was No Horizon (Lost Tribe Sound 2020)
45:05 William Tyler – Slow Nights Static (Merge Records 2020)
48:02 Ben Frost - Leo Needs A New Pair Of Shoes (Bedroom Community 2009)
51:30 Seabuckthorn - Phthalo (Unreleased Song)
54:08 end

Sunday Nov 20, 2022

A Little Louder

Sunday Nov 20, 2022

I was going to say - "...and now for something completely different" because this mix is louder than normal. But having recently posted a Robert Fripp mix I guess this isn't "completely different." However, this mix is, as the title says, a little louder than a normal Low Light ambient mix.

As per usual the mix started with one album in particular - Mox by Mox from 1998. I absolutely loved it when it came out in '98. I stumbled upon it a couple weeks back and decided to build a mix around non-ambient instrumentals. Some of the tunes have a kraut rock vibe, some are jazzy, some have a retro feel, and others are just cool. More than half the tracks are from 2022 with one of the old ones going all the way back to 1973.

I hope you enjoy this diversion. We'll be back to ambient soon. Oof, I just realized that I should start thinking about best of the year lists. Any suggestions?

Cheers!

T R A CK L I S T :

00:00 MOX - Wig (MOX 1998)
04:40 Project Gemini - Scorpios Waltz (The Children Of Scorpio 2022)
07:52 Surprise Chef - New Ferrari (Daylight Savings 2022)
12:05 Ghost Power - Asteroid Witch (Ghost Power 2022)
15:33 Pneumatic Tubes - Saw Teeth (A Letter from TreeTops 2022)
19:25 Cathode Ray Tube - Invisibility (The Burning Century 2022)
24:50 Oren Ambarchi & Johan Berthling & Andreas Werliin - I (Ghosted 2022)
32:32 The Comet Is Coming Lucid Dreamer (Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam 2022)
35:57 Passengers - One Minute Warning (Original Soundtracks 1 1995)
39:10 Dungen - Trollkarlen och fageldrakten version 2 (Haxan Versions 2017)
44:20 Can - Spray (Future Days 1973)
49:23 AI Lover - Stereoscopic View (Cosmic Joke 2022)
54:10 Polyoctopus - Ill Patience (Central Standards, A Strange Melodic Shape 2004)
57:43 Rain Tree Crow - Big Wheels In Shanty Town (Rain Tree Crow 1991)
63:59 end

Sunday Nov 13, 2022

NUMINOUSTRINGS

Sunday Nov 13, 2022

Many times a new mix is inspired by a track or album. In this case it was the new album, The Road Not Taken by Ecovillage.

The album is full of long, deep string vibrations that carry you along from track to track, place to place, and memory to memory. This is one of my favorite albums of the year.

So I went looking for, not just string based tunes, but tracks that had a similar slow, reflective pull. Sometimes a mix with track that are too similar can be stale but in this case the mix becomes one long meditation. As the tracks bleed one into another I experience an almost devotional trance, an ethereal sojourn.

Here are links to all the music used in this mix in the order in which they appear:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Ecovillage - Ascend(ft. Henrik Meierkord) (The Road Not Taken 2022)
04:09 Seabuckthorn - So It Remains (Of No Such Place 2022)
07:40 tapes and topographies - the floating world (floating world - reflections on 36 views of newland island 2022)
12:55 Kasper Bjørke Quartet - Formation (Mother 2022)
18:18 Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry - Tree Shadows (A Is For Autumn 2022)
20:36 Anne Mueller - Heliopause (Heliopause 2019)
25:12 't Geruis - Tastbare Stilte, Zilver (Vast 2022)
30:33 Halftribe & Seabuckthorn - Sway (Ambientologist Sustain Series, Vol. 3 2022)
36:20 Adrian Copeland - Stars With No Sky (If This Were My Body 2022)
40:55 Man Watching the Stars - Na Leigheasan • UGC 10214 (The Sextant of a Blind Seafarer 2022)
46:15 Harry Towell & Guy Gelem - Sefad (Restful Spaces 2022)
50:40 glåsbird - restless progress (cinéma noir 2022)
53:40 Henrik Meierkord, Pawel Kobak, Marco Lucchi & Rocco Saviano - Sunshine(Stilla Natt) (Venusia 2022)
57:06 Anne Mueller - Nummer 2 (Heliopause 2019)
63:00 end

Tuesday Nov 08, 2022

Music for Recovery(from the midterm elections)

Tuesday Nov 08, 2022

Well, Christ on a bicycle, this midterm election season was a shit show. So here is a mix of beautiful ambient tracks to help us all heal and recover.

Here are links to all the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Uther Moads - Future Waves (Uther Moads 2011)
03:53 Brian Eno - Making Gardens Out Of Silence (FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE 2022)
11:30 Katharina Schmidt - Particles (Particles 2022)
19:00 Taylor Deupree & Arovane - Sill Lili (Skal_Ghost 2022)
22:45 Ruven Nunez - Untitled No. 51 (Untitled No. 51 2022)
30:00 Nils Frahm - Stepping Stone (Music For Animals 2022)
35:30 Son of Chi & Radboud Mens - Side A excerpt (AI-25: The Transition Recordings 2022)
43:15 From Overseas & City of Dawn - Silent Friends (Misty Memories 2022)
47:40 V. Kristoff - Creek II (Nocturne 2022)
54:25 Jason Letkiewicz - Emergent Ray I (Emergent Rays 2022)
58:00 Monogoto - Komorebi(deletion 47) (Partial Deletion of Everything Vol. 2 2022)
61:55 Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry - Rain (A is for Autumn 2022)
65:05 end

Friday Oct 28, 2022

Slightly Spooky

Friday Oct 28, 2022

I wasn't planning on making a Halloween themed mix but a couple of days ago I heard a new album called "Xiuxiuejar" by Hekla and I knew I had to use some tracks in a mix. Hekla is an Icelandic musician who use the theremin to create haunting, other-worldly soundscapes. Perfect for a Halloween mix.

Some of the other tracks follow a similar vibe I have used for creepy mixes in the past, sort of a dark jazz feel. Then I mix in some noisy stuff, some ambient & some other oddities. I don't want these mixes to be ultra dark doom ambient but this is more off-kilter than most Low Light Mixes.

After finding the theremin tracks from Hekla I was reminded of a very theremin-like instrument - the Ondes Martenot. It looks like a piano or organ but sounds like a theremin and it's played by sliding a ring attached to wires up and down the keyboard. Check out this video for an idea of how it's played and what it sounds like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0aflcF0-ys

There are two tracks in the mix that use the Ondes Martenot. They are Tindersticks - The Strangler & Christine Ott - Pluie. I believe Christine Ott plays the instrument on the Tindersticks track as well as her own. Radiohead is famous for using the Odnes Martenot in a few songs. Maybe I'll make an entire mix featuring the instrument someday.

Here are the links to all the music used in this mix:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Hekla - Hrakföll (Xiuxiuejar 2022)

03:18 Buen Aurelio Malazar - pre.sagio (pre pro post 2020)

04:49 Theodore Shapiro - After Hours (Severance Soundtrack 2022)

06:45 Eli Keszler - The Tenth Part Of A Featured World (Empire 2019)

09:15 Tindersticks - The Strangler (Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith 2017)

12:20 Andy Cartwright - Seeker (Unstill 2021)

14:00 Pavaka Group - I Am Void (Pavaka Group 2022)

15:43 The Phonometrician - Death is a Woman (Cóiste Bodhar 2022)

18:00 John Butcher - Wind Piece (Resonant Spaces 2006)

18:49 't Geruis - L'Appel (Bain D'Étoiles 2022)

21:35 Christine Ott - Pluie (Time to Die 2021)

26:30 Wanderwelle - Decay (A State of Decrepitude 2020)

30:25 Andrew Pekler - Close to Strangers (Sentimental Favourites 2011)

32:17 Lars Rynning & Suren Seneviratne - Solar Wind (Magnetism 2020)

33:35 Andrew Heath & Simon McCorry - From Darkness (A is for Autumn 2022)

37:02 Hekla - Sólin Gekk (Xiuxiuejar 2022)

42:53 The Phonometrician - I See Youy (Cóiste Bodhar 2022)

47:55 Grails - Bad Bhang Recipe (Black Tar Prophecies Vols 1, 2, 3 2006)

49:50 Darkroom - The Shadowy Side of the Hill ( The Last Sense to Fade 2021)

54:50 William Ryan Fritch - Lay Hands Upon Us (Built Upon a Fearful Void 2021)

57:39 Aaron Martin - Buried in Waves (The End of Medicine 2022)

59:09 Hekla - Tangarhald (Xiuxiuejar 2022)

60:20 end

Tuesday Oct 25, 2022

Quiet Indie Fall 2022

Tuesday Oct 25, 2022

As we are getting closer to the end of the year I figured it was time for some quiet indie tunes from 2022.

This collection goes from the slow pop of Monica Martin to the ambient vocals of Brian Eno to the simple folk sound of Phosphorescent to a Joni Mitchel cover. My favorite track is "This Is How It Works" by Angel Olsen. It will probably be in my top three songs of the year.

Enjoy these vocal tunes, I'll get back to ambient soon.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00    David Byrne And Yo La Tengo - Who Has Seen The Wind
02:42    Monica Martin - Go Easy, Kid
06:37    The Smile - Open the Floodgates
10:44    Kevin Morby - Stop Before I Cry
15:33    Shearwater - Aqaba
20:30    Angel Olsen - This Is How It Works
26:42    Courtney Marie Andrews - These Are The Good Old Days
29:11    Peter Gabriel - Here It Is
34:10    Brian Eno - There Were Bells
38:34    Flock Of Dimes - Amelia
44:16    Big Thief - Change
49:04    Mamak Khadem - Dead and Alive
54:14    Phosphorescent - Meridian, MS
56:27    end