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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world

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Sunday Jul 31, 2022

That Beautiful Land of Nod Vol. 2

Sunday Jul 31, 2022

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About a month ago I presented a guest mix of sleep music from Brian Bieniowski, whom I knew from the heyday of the Hypnos Records forum in the mid 2000s. "That Beautiful Land of Nod" is indeed a beautiful sleep mix.

Thankfully, back in 2007 Brian created two Land of Nod mixes. So here is volume 2 for your listening and sleeping pleasure.

Here is what Brian said about the Land of Nod mixes back in 2007:

"It wasn't until the early nineties when I discovered real ambient music suited for the purpose of lying down and listening. It felt finally natural to take to my bed after starting the CD player and allowing the soft music to carry my mind forth for a while until sleep took hold. This mix, That Beautiful Land of Nod, is the product of over twelve years of "field research" in ambient sleep music. All of the selections, new and old, on these two discs, are pieces of music I have personally played in the times before and during sleep. Each track is special to me, these soothing zones, as they have not only brought me hours of comforted sleep, but also tantalizing, never-lasting minutes of wild and wonderful imagery in those moments before unconsciousness occurs. Each track maps a route across my consciousness over twelve years of sleep listening. It is my honest hope that this becomes the mix you never fully listen to—if you are at all like me, you'll be asleep by track five or six every time. So, please, draw the shades, relax, pleasant dreams...."

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Jochem Paap - Dx-Snth (Vrs-Mbnt-Pcs 9598 2)
05:45 Jason Sloan - The Color of Wind 1 (Still)
11:45 Sam Rosenthal & VidnaObmana - Dark Mist, Rain (Terrace of Memories)
16:15 Bill Nelson - Crimsworth(edit) (Crimsworth)
22:30 James Johnson - Surrender(edit) (Surrender)
26:20 Aphex Twin - #19(edit) (Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2)
29:10 Rod Modell & Michael Mantra - Vitamin K(edit) (Sonic Continuum)
33:30 Ruxpin - Autocaz (Midnight Drive)
38:30 Never Known - Spheres (On the Edge of Forever)
43:10 Oöphoi - Let the Nightsky Envelope Us (Hymns to a Silent Sky)
49:40 Mathias Grassow - Through the Void (The Fragrance of Eternal Roses)
55:12 Aloof Proof - The Ghost Ship(edit) (Expo Two: Piano Text)
58:55 David Sylvian - Approaching Silence(edit) (Approaching Silence)
65:00 Steve Roach - Towards the Blue (Quiet Music)
68:23 end

Sunday Jul 24, 2022

Time to Listen - by Peter van Cooten of Ambientblog

Sunday Jul 24, 2022

Peter van Cooten runs the excellent Ambientblog website which has great reviews and, of course, wonderful mixes. Anytime Peter reaches out with a mix idea or a a set he'd like to cross-post on both of our platforms, I will always jump at the chance.

As I said on Peter's last guest mix, his sets are different from mine in that they are more intricate. He does not use full tracks, instead opting for excerpts and samples piled on each other, sometimes 2, 3, or 4 tracks play simultaneously, to create a new sound collage.

Here's what Peter says about this mix:

"Apart from its opening sample – ‘It is time to stop seeing. It is time to stop speaking. It is time to listen’, from David Cronenberg’s Crimes Of the Future – this mix has no central theme or story. It’s up to you, the listener to take the time to listen and go with the flow. Let your fantasy tell you the story. And, after you did, I’d love to hear what you heard.

This mix is created using many fragments and samples from longer pieces of music, often presented in multiple layers. Check the original compositions using the tracklist below."

Here's a map of the mix, layer upon layer of the 31 tracks used in the collage.

Check out Peter's work here:

https://www.ambientblog.net/blog/ He also does surround sound mixes, which you can find here: https://www.ambientblog.net/blog/the-surround-mix-versions/

And Peter is on Mixcloud - https://www.mixcloud.com/ambientblog/

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T - Start time - Sample Length - Artist - Title

Album - Year - Label

00:00 01:12 David Cronenberg - Time To Listen Sample

Crimes Of The Future, 2022

00:04 03:35 Dronny Darko & Protou - Sin Eater

Liberty: Compilation Of Experimental Music From Ukraine, 2022, Flaming Pines

02:28 02:42 William St. Hugh - Voice Of The Dolphins

Dominion, 2022, self-released

04:31 02:16 Tapani Rinne & Teho Majamaki - Lucid Dream

On The Border, 2022, Signature Dark

06:13 02:36 Ivan Cebrian & Victor Cerdan - Enemigo Intimo

Inside // Outside, 2022, Oigovisiones

06:40 02:30 Park Jiha - At Dawn

The Gleam, 2022, Glitterbeat

08:49 02:39 Benedicte Maurseth - Eidfyrder

Hárr, 2022, Hubro

10:47 03:51 Bill Fontana - Imaginary Sonic Visions

MSCTY Expo Unknown Pleasures Zone, 2022, MSCTY Editions

12:40 02:18 Alva Noto - Odradek (for Jhonn Balance)

For, 2006, Line

13:31 01:50 Jacek & Ewa Doroszenko - Night Masque

Bodyfulness, 2022, Audiobulb Records

14:17 02:27 Higher Intelligence Agency - The Black Patch

Song Of The Machine, 2022, self-released

15:58 02:50 Siddhartha Barnhoorn - Final Ascension

Out There, Oceans Of Time, vol. 1, 2022, self-released

18:27 02:24 Mike Lazarev - All That Remains

When You Are, 2022, Slowcraft Recordings

20:27 03:17 Orghanon - Dronework V

Droneworks I-V, 2022, St.An.Da

22:13 03:27 Aleksi Myllykoski ft Wimme - Composition VI: Inherently Destructive Contamination

St. Virus, 2021, Signature Dark

24:37 04:13 Peter Phippen, Rahbi Crawford, Invar Lunde Jr. - Andromeda

Galaxies, 2022, Projekt Records

28:46 02:30 Jóhann Jóhansson & Echo Collective - Shell

12 Conversations With Thilo Heinzmann, 2019, Deutsche Grammophon

29:46 05:29 Maggi Payne - Distant Thunder

Arctic Winds, 2010, Innova Recordings

33:08 03:07 Leo Kupper - Litanea 1987

Complete Electronic & Voices Works 1961-1987, 2022, Sub Rosa

36:22 04:35 Monty Adkins - Remote Communion

Remote Communion, 2020, Cronica

38:56 01:28 Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet - Thunder Continues In The Afternoon

Landfall, 2018, Nonesuch

40:11 04:35 Cell - Passive Control Part 1

Onwards System, 2022, Ultimae Records

43:27 03:59 Alphaxone & Protou - Sub Signal

Stardust, 2017, Cryo Chamber

45:51 03:03 Wil Bolton & Francis Gri - The Ripples Theory

Imaginary Tales, 2022, Krysalisound

47:54 02:11 Xqui - Narrator

Pieces Part 2, 2022, Somewherecold Records

48:45 03:57 Michel Banabila - Alienation

Monochromes, 2022, Tapu Records

52:21 00:55 Stuart A. Staples - Fluids

Music For Claire Denis' High Life, 2019, Lucky Dog

52:31 01:13 Helge Sten - Quad 2

Monochromes, 2014, Bôlt

52:45 02:29 Dean Hurley - Girl Appears /Black Smoke

Anthology Resource Vol. I: △△, 2017, Sacred Bones Records

54:00 01:55 I Wound - To Wind, Wound, Wound

Homework Year 1, Taâlem

54:52 05:07 Francois Robin & Mathias Delplanque - Le Puits

L'Ombre De La Bête, 2022, Parenthèses Records

60:00 end

Sunday Jul 10, 2022

Sunday Morning Music Vol. 22 - Warm Waves

Sunday Jul 10, 2022

It was a little more than ten years ago that I posted my first Sunday Morning Music mix. I had not intended on making it a regular series but the mix did very well on Mixcloud and is partially responsible for starting the explosion of followers the Low Light Mixes feed got in the following years. So I've been creating roughly two per years for 10 years. Yikes! It's kind of crazy to think about how long I've been making these mixes.

This one follows the same formula - some ambient cuts, some jazzy tracks, a few vocal tunes, all resulting in a mellow vibe perfect for sipping coffee on a Sunday morning.

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 Time Rival - Breakfast with Birdsong (Fell 2020)
02:40 Turn On The Sunlight - Warm Waves (Warm Waves 2020)
08:33 Damian Dalla Torre - Where to Go (Happy Floating 2022)
12:27 Cole Pulice & Nat Harvie - Dream Days (Strawberry Roan 2022)
16:27 IDRA - Air and Salt (Duet 2022)
19:03 Peter Banks - No Place Like Home (Be Well, Be Safe, Be Lucky 2018)
20:34 Peppermoth - Sun Dreamer (Ventrilokissed 2021)
24:45 David Byrne And Yo La Tengo - Who Has Seen The Wind (2022)
27:20 Shearwater - Wind Is Love (The Great Awakening 2022)
31:33 The Smile - Open The Floodgates (A Light For Attracting Attention 2022)
35:35 Kittylung - Garden Abandoned (Of Context 2021)
38:07 Charles Rumback & Ryley Walker - Self Blind Sun (Little Common Twist 2019)
42:13 Björn Meyer - Provenance (Provenance 2017)
48:04 SiP - Alice (Leos Naturals 2020)
54:00 Loris S. Sarid - Tano (Music for Tomato Plants 2020)
56:40 Jon Hopkins - Ascending, Dawn Sky (Music For Psychedelic Therapy 2021)
65:03 end

Sunday Jul 03, 2022

The Beautiful Land of Nod

Sunday Jul 03, 2022

Set the wayback machine to 2007.

I started creating ambient mixes back in the mid-2000s. Those were the days before social media had taken over our lives, before Bandcamp was such a great resource for ambient music. Back then I spent a lot of time on the Hypnos Records forum. There, a bunch of like-mined music nerds shared comments about new recordings, gear, movies, books, tv, music trends, etc.

We also shared mixes. That was one of the first places I tried to promote my mixes online. Back in 2007 fellow forum member, Brian Bieniowski, created a couple mixes under the Asphalt Eden moniker. These mixes, The Beautiful Land of Nod 1 & 2, are some of my all-time favorites and I've used them as sleep soundtracks for years.

With that as background, a few weeks ago a loyal listener reached out with this request - "Could you post some of the Asphalt Eden super-classics like The Beautiful Land of Nod I and II to your Mixcloud as guest mixes/classics in the field/inspirations to your mixes please? I think your fans would be overjoyed by this, and it would be sheer cultural maintenance."

I contacted Brian and he was kind enough to give the thumbs up to posting these classic mixes. He did not have the original tracklists but somehow was able to reconstruct them by listening to each set. Impressive! Thanks Brian for the mixes and for your memory. Here's a link to his website - https://www.handsometechnologies.com/

So kickback and remember a time before credit default swaps almost cratered the economy, before a reality show host became president, before a coronavirus swept around the globe, before....ugh...I'll stop now. Just sit back and drift away to The Beautiful Land of Nod 1.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

Robert Rich -Seascape (Trances/Drones)
Koda - Where the Morning Light Exits (Movements)
Scott Solter - Wave and Sepia Wire (The Brief Light)
Thom Brennan - Raingardens (Mist)
Robert Fripp and Jeffrey Fayman - The Sky Below (A Temple in the Clouds)
James Johnson?
MLO - Noodle #1
Heavenly Music Corp - Ambient to Be Here (In a Garden of Eden)
Tetsu Inoue & Pete Namlook - 2350 Broadway 2 - Art of Dream
Klaus Wiese - Soma
Rameses III - Queens Road Cemetery - 28th March 2005 (Matanuska)
Brian Eno - Discreet Music (Discreet Music)
Jonn Serrie - Stratos (And the Stars Go With You)

Sunday Jun 26, 2022

Guitarissimo Vol. 3

Sunday Jun 26, 2022

I made the first Guitarissimo mix 5 years ago. I followed it up a year or so later. But then for some reason it took me 4 years to get to volume 3.

This version is similar to the others the vibe is a bit spaghetti western and dusty, moody, twangy with a little Latin feel. But of course much of it has an ambient vibe.

One of my favorite discoveries while making this mix was Hermanos Gutiérrez. As the name implies the band is brothers - Alejandro and Estevan Gutiérrez. They create beautiful Latin landscapes with their guitars. Check out their stuff here - https://hermanosgutierrez.bandcamp.com/

Here are links to the two previous Guitarissimo mixes:

Links to the albums used in this mix in order of appearance:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Pan American - Sleepwalk Guitars (A Son 2019)
03:24 Brightblack Morning Light - Miwok Shapes (Brightblack Morning Light 2006)
09:00 Richard Thompson - Glencoe (Grizzly Man 2005)
10:40 Khruangbin - A Calf Born in Winter (2014)
13:37 Hermanos Gutiérrez - Hombre Honrado (El Camino de mi Alma 2018)
17:13 Yo La Tengo - Tired Hippo (And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out 2000)
21:51 Gary McFarland Gabor Szabo - Simpatico (Simpatico 1966)
26:29 SUWI - Dessert (Sumi 2020)
30:52 Supergombo - Le reve de Kovacks (Sigi Tolo 2020)
35:10 David Sylvian - The Stigma Of Childhood(Kin) (Rarities 1988-1993)
42:26 Bobby Beausoleil - Saundaria Lahari (Voodoo Shivaya 2018)
50:40 SUSS - Laredo (Ghost Box 2018)
54:20 Hermanos Gutierrez - Railroad Vista (Hijos Del Sol 2020)
56:49 Pan American - Outskirts, Dreamlit (The Patience Fader 2022)
63:16 end

Sunday Jun 19, 2022

The New World of Deutsche Grammophon

Sunday Jun 19, 2022

I've been a fan of the Deutsche Grammophon label for a long time, ever since I got this Steve Reich box set back in the early 80s in college.

I've collected quite a few DG recordings over the years. Over the last 5 years or so I've noticed them branching out and releasing music by a wider variety of artists and music that isn't strictly classical. From Moby to Christian Löffler to Olafur Arnalds to Brian Eno to Clark, the music is surprising for DG but also seems to fit well. After a lot of listening to Parallels by Christian Löffler, I decided to do a mix of recent DG favs. I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Peter Gregson - Opening (Blackbird 2020)
02:34 Johann Johannsson - Divine Objects pt. 1 (Drone Mass 2022)
05:00 Agnes Obel - Can’t Be(Instrumental (Myopia 2020)
08:20 Christian Löffler - Dir Jehova (Parallels 2021)
12:25 Signum Saxophone Quartet- 1957 award montage (Quartet Echoes 2021)
15:41 Tale Of Us - definizione dell impossibile (Endless 2017)
19:46 Joep Beving - Morpheus' Dream (Henosis 2019)
21:36 Olafur Arnalds - Still _ Sound (Some Kind of Peace 2020)
25:45 Alex Baranowski - Constellations (Project 12 2019)
28:13 Benjamin Gustafsson - Silent In A World Of Talking (Project 12 2019)
31:02 Clark - Citrus (Playground in a Lake 2021)
33:20 Max Richter - War Anthem (Three Worlds Music From Woolf Works 2017)
40:05 Moby - God Moving Over the Face of The Waters (2021)
43:17 Peter Gregson Gifts at Dinner (Blackbird 2020)
47:23 Roger Eno & Brian Eno - Marble (Mixing Colours 2020)
53:20 Johann Johannsson & Yair Elazar Glotman - Slow Destruction Of Neptune (Last And First Men 2020)
56:58 Hildur Guðnadóttir - 12 Hours Before (Chernobyl 2019)
59:19 end

Sunday Jun 12, 2022

Soothing Sequencers by Paul Asbury Seaman

Sunday Jun 12, 2022

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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:

Cheers!

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 Jun 05, 2022

Maps Without Edges - 90s Tribal Ambient

Sunday Jun 05, 2022

For a while now I've been planning on a drum/percussion mix similar to A Distant Pulse - https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/a-distant-pulse/ and A Rhythmic Passage - https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/a-rhythmic-passage/

In my search for tracks I came across a track by Vidna Obmana called "The Transcending Quest." It made me nostalgic for the heyday of tribal ambient in the 1990s with artists like Vidna Obana, Steve Roach, O Yuki Conjugate and Thom Brennan. So I decided to make this whole mix a trip back to the 90s for some hang drum and rain stick sounds.

The first thing you may notice is that not all the tunes are from the 1990s. Two are from 2001 and one is from 1989. I say close enough.

The other thing you may hear as you listen is that the tracks all definitely sound very similar. That was purposeful. I wanted the whole set to have a trance-like feel to it.

Sitting right in the middle of all this is one of my favorite ambient tracks of all time - "The Path Not Taken" by Thom Brennan from 1995. When I looked for a Bandcamp link I found he had an entire album by that name and it's only $4. An edited version of part is what was released in 1995 and the whole album remained unreleased until 2019. You can find it here... https://thombrennan.bandcamp.com/album/the-path-not-taken

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 Ma Ja Le & James Johnson - Yaquona(Part 2) (Seed 2001)
09:00 Vidna Obmana - The Transcending Quest (Amplexus 1995)
14:55 Steve Roach - Walking Upright (Early Man 2001)
21:10 O Yuki Conjugate - Insect Talk (Equator 1995)
26:25 Thom Brennan - The Path Not Taken (Amplexus 1995)
37:20 STilLPOiNT - Maps 2&3 (Maps Without Edges 1996)
43:57 Al Gromer Khan - Unmoved Mover (Tantra Drums 1998)
51:10 Steve Roach & Michael Stearns - Flatlands (Desert Solitaire 1989)
55:42 Vidna Obmana - The Nebulous Pathway (The Spiritual Bonding 1994)
60:00 end

Sunday May 29, 2022

Stranger Synths 2022

Sunday May 29, 2022

It's been three years since the last season of Netflix's Stranger Things. Now with the 4th season upon us it must be time for a new mix - Stranger Synths 2022. Similar to previous version of Stranger Synths, this takes the retro vibe of the show's soundtrack and collects tracks that sound like they would fit perfectly in the TV series.

I wasn't planning on doing a mix this time around until I stumbled on the opening track Cybernaut by Jonny Fallout. The track can be found on a compilation from Triplicate Records called "Protozoa." As soon as I heard the track I was hit with a great Stranger Things vibe so I knew I had to gather more tracks and put together another mix.

I ended up going back to Triplicate Records three more times for this mix, using tracks from Hverheij, BVSMV, and Willebrant. Check the links below for these artists' album and bandcamp pages.

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

Artist links:

Well, I guess I should go start season 4. Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Jonny Fallout - Cybernaut (Protozoa 2021)
03:20 Nils Frahm - #2 (All Melody 2018)
10:20 Pye Corner Audio - Leaf Mould (Entangled Routes 2021)
13:04 Belbury Poly - ffarisees (The Gone Away 2020)
17:01 Foam and Sand - Circle 13 (Full Circle 2022)
19:42 Michael Garrison - To the Other Side of the Sky (Soul Jazz Records presents Space, Energy & Light: Experimental Electronic And Acoustic Soundscapes 1961-88)
23:30 Cliff Martinez - Landscape Gardener (The Foreigner 2017)
26:00 Boards of Canada - Come to Dust ( Tomorrow's Harvest 2013)
29:20 Pye Corner Audio - Decade Counter (Prowler 2015)
34:30 Graintable - Vision Quest (UnIVersal Ash 2019)
38:09 Hverheij - Becoming (Afterlight 2022)
40:42 The Belbury Circle - No Cat's Eyes (Outward Journeys 2017)
45:07 BVSMV - Rubicon (Triplicate Tapes Vol. 1: Datacap 2021)
49:07 Peter Baumann - The Blue Dream (Machines of Desire 2016)
50:48 Paul Haslinger - Dreamers and Misfits (Halt and Catch Fire Vol 2 2019)
53:10 Willebrant - This Day (Music for Dotted Lines 2022)
56:34 Wolfgang Riechmann - Abendlicht (Wunderbar 1978)
60:55 end

Thursday May 19, 2022

Tears in the Rain - A Tribute to Vangelis

Thursday May 19, 2022

We lost Klaus a few weeks ago and now Vangelis. I'm getting tired of doing these tribute mixes.

His music was my electronic soundtrack to the 80s. I played the daylights out of Antarctica and Soil Festivities back then. And then of course there is Blade Runner. I am still in awe of that soundtrack today.

I don't know what else to say other than I loved his music. Godspeed Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou.

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Vangelis - Theme from Antarctica (Antarctica 1983)
07:23 Vangelis - Movement 1 (Soil Festivities 1984)
24:46 Vangelis - Blade Runner Blue (Blade Runner 1994)
33:20 Vangelis - Opening Titles (The Bounty 1984)
37:11 Vangelis - L'Enfant (Opéra Sauvage 1979)
42:00 Vangelis - Pulstar (Albedo 0.39 1976)
47:06 Vangelis - Movement 4 (Mask 1985)
54:21 Vangelis - Juno's Echoes (Juno to Jupiter 2021)
57:50 Vangelis - Heaven & Hell pt. 1 (Heaven & Hell 1975)
62:04 end