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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world
Episodes
Sunday Feb 27, 2022
Sunday Feb 27, 2022
Ugh, the world sure could use a time out and some meditation to bring the temperature down a notch. So here's a collection of calming tracks for meditation, reading, a bubble bath or just staring off into space for an hour.
Here are links to the albums used in this mix in the order in which they appear:
https://auralcanyonmusic.bandcamp.com/album/listening-sky
https://jonhopkins.bandcamp.com/album/meditations
https://summerrecreationcamp.bandcamp.com/album/liquid-rhythm
https://ctatsu.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-tomato-plants
https://whaleloryb.bandcamp.com/track/awaken-earth-handpan-journey
https://eternell.net/album/kalimba-ambience
https://dataobscura.bandcamp.com/album/hidden-hollow
https://studiokosmische.bandcamp.com/album/wf-48-ritual-74
https://krysalisound.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-tales
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 John Thayer - Listening Sky (Listening Sky 2022)
- 09:47 Jon Hopkins - 1/1 Singing Bowl(Ascension) (Meditations 2020)
- 17:20 Jason Kolar - Bells (Liquid Rhythm 2022)
- 22:07 Loris S. Sarid - Posture (Music for Tomato Plants 2020)
- 25:20 Calm Whale - Handpan Journey (Awaken Earth 2022)
- 33:10 eternell - Kalimba I (Kalimba Ambience 2014)
- 38:47 Robert Davies - Writhing Mist (Hidden Hollow 2021)
- 47:50 Studio Kosmische - Herz I (Ritual 74 2021)
- 52:40 Wil Bolton & Francis Gri - The Ripple Theory (Imaginary Tales 2022)
- 60:41 end
Sunday Feb 20, 2022
Sunday Feb 20, 2022
I am a lucky guy. Lucky, because I get to present a second guest in as many weeks. Lucky, because I was able to discover new artists in this excellent mix. And lucky because I am also lazy and these guest mixes allow me to put some beautiful music out there with the heavy lifting done by someone else.
This mix comes to us from J. Gorecki who records as Fragile X, a musician/producer from Glasgow and the founder of the Bricolage record label: - https://bricolageglasgow.bandcamp.com/
Fragile X also has a very good new album out that you can find here: - https://cuedotrecords.bandcamp.com/album/human-condition
And here is more Fragile X music:
https://fragilex.bandcamp.com/
https://www.mixcloud.com/fragilex/
https://soundcloud.com/fragilex
Here's what he says about this new mix:
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Jeannine Schulz - Resting Place (Resting Place Self Released 2021)
- 03:37 Aemaer - Clocks (Artifacts Self Released 2019)
- 06:13 Satori Minayia - Life Itself (Unified Field on Pyramid Blood 2020)
- 09:25 Patricia Wolf - Distant Memory (I'll Look For You In Others on Past Inside The Present 2022)
- 13:51 faintface - Hikari (ACCENTVA006 on Accents Records 2021)
- 16:00 nueen - Wait Until Then (Circular Sequence on Quiet Time Tapes 2021)
- 18:55 Oreste - Integers Cannot Float (Unfull Psalmodian Theory on Rites 2022)
- 23:56 Adzuki - Glass Float (Radio Sea on Shimmering Moods Records 2016)
- 25:45 Fragile X - Cogito Ergo Sum (Human Condition on Cue Dot Records 2022)
- 34:21 R Beny - Felt (echo's verse on Dauw 2019)
- 41:31 Octo Octa - My Body Is Powerful (Resonant Body on T4T LUV NRG 2019)
- 45:41 Minimal Drone GRL and Belial Pelegrim - Invernu Velu (Movements of a Cloud on Bricolage 2022)
- 50:30 Accelra - Three Suns (SEQUENCE3 on Futuresequence)
- 58:11 end
Sunday Feb 13, 2022
Sunday Feb 13, 2022
Friend of the show, Michael McGarrity, offered to create a guest mix and, of course, I jumped at the chance because Michael has been cranking out excellent mixes for several years. You can find his stuff here:
https://www.friskyradio.com/show/wander/
https://www.mixcloud.com/michaelmcguk/
Here's what Michael has to say about this mix:
"I made this mix to help remember those long summer days and nights which feel so far away in February. It was a particularly rainy Saturday when I put this together & all I wanted was to get away to somewhere dry & warm, even if just with a soundtrack. Hopefully this takes you away to that 'somewhere else' too."
I've said this before, but one reason I love guest mixes is because they are a combo of familiar and unfamiliar artists. It's always cool to hear new stuff mixed in with favorites.
Here are links to every album used in this set, in the same order in which they appear in the mix:
- https://bestilltheearth.bandcamp.com/album/colored-grey
- https://timereleasedsound.bandcamp.com/album/stadsbilder
- https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/snowmelt
- https://tapesandtopographies.bandcamp.com/album/signal-to-noise
- https://andrewtasselmyer.bandcamp.com/album/places-real-and-imagined
- https://slowcraft.bandcamp.com/album/bygones
- https://pitp.bandcamp.com/album/keep-the-orange-sun
- https://anthene.bandcamp.com/album/virtue
- https://marineeyes.bandcamp.com/album/idyll
- https://stelmakhdenis.bandcamp.com/album/children-of-abandoned-nests-vol-1
- https://healingsoundpropagandist.bandcamp.com/album/beneath-the-weight-of-care
- https://stereoscenic.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-sleeping-pill-5
- https://pitp.bandcamp.com/album/all-we-have
- https://helloflora.bandcamp.com/track/pattern-14
- https://sherryfinzer.bandcamp.com/track/elegy
- https://eitvrecords.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-in-the-valley-vol-2
- https://elgranerecords.bandcamp.com/album/where-the-world-quietly-sing-their-song
Thanks for the mix Michael!
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Be Still The Earth - Colored Grey
- 05:37 Jakob Lindhagen & Dag Rosenqvist - Skinnarviksberget
- 07:34 Seaworthy & Matt Rösner - Porcupine Stream
- 12:58 Tapes and Topographies - Signal to Noise
- 15:12 Andrew Tasselmyer - The Creek in Iceland
- 19:53 Mathieu Karsenti - No. 73
- 23:05 awakened souls & From Overseas - Passing Dreams
- 28:55 anthéne - signs (reprise)
- 32:11 marine eyes - cloud collecting
- 35:59 Denis Stelmakh - A Little Broken
- 38:56 Wife Signs - Small Art and Love
- 41:16 Olan Mill - Later Season
- 43:29 Black Brunswicker - Riptide
- 44:23 Tyresta - All We Have
- 46:02 Jamison Isaak - Pattern 14
- 49:13 City Of Dawn & Sherry Finzer - Elegy
- 52:54 Jonathan Warman - Haf
- 56:02 City Of Dawn - Melody (with Dottie)
- 60:00 end
Sunday Jan 30, 2022
Sunday Jan 30, 2022
Since that first mix two years ago I have totally bought into wind instruments in ambient and modern composition music. That's why my fav album from last year was "Departures" by mastroKristo(who makes an appearance in this mix). From Clariloops to Sam Gendel to Dirk Serries to Andrew Heath, sax and other woodwinds have become a big part of my ambient listening habit.
All the tracks in this mix are excellent but I especially love the cut from Matt Borghi & Michael Teager and the cut from Dirk Serries. Perfect combo of sax and ambient. I also have to mention the final track Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight by Signum Saxophone Quartet. That track is one of my favorites of all time so when I found a sax quartet cover of it I nearly lost my mind. Perfect way to end the mix.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Ethan Braun + Sam Gendel - 1/2 SCULPTURE [Rio Nilo 66 2021]
- 04:14 mastroKristo - The Breath [Depatures 2021]
- 07:05 Phillip Schroeder - On Occasion [Passage Through a Dream 2015]
- 10:25 Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - For Mothers [A Little Night Music Aural Apparitions from the Geographic North 2020]
- 14:15 Matt Borghi and Michael Teager - Stationary Voyage [Subterranean Bearings 2020]
- 19:25 Dirk Serries & Trösta - Oceanus [Island On The Moon 2021]
- 26:22 Night Gestalt - Between Two Breaths [Thousand Year Waves 2021]
- 31:34 Fuubutsushi - Cicada Season [Fuubutsushi 2020]
- 34:00 Carmen Villain - Agua Azul [Sketch for Winter IX: Perlita 2021]
- 38:25 M. Sage - Spinnaker on a Southerly [The Wind of Things 2021]
- 41:14 Klaus Gesing, Björn Meyer, Samuel Rohrer - What We Leave [Amiira 2016]
- 45:52 Pino Palladino, Blake Mills - Notes with Attachments [Notes with Attachments 2021]
- 47:37 Sam Gendel & Shin Sasakubo - Reeds [Sam Gendel & Shin Sasakubo 2021]
- 49:54 Okomotive, Joel Schoch - Sail, my Friend! [FAR: Lone Sails Soundtrack 2018]
- 53:00 Signum Saxophone Quartet - On the Nature of Daylight for Saxophone Quartet and Cello [Echoes 2021]
- 59:13 end
Sunday Jan 23, 2022
Sunday Jan 23, 2022
A million miles from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at it's parking spot at Lagrange Point #2, the perfect place to search the heavens for faint light from the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. This mix tells the story of the Webb observatory as it seeks to "Unfold the Universe."
The telescope, like its mission, is big. When expanded to full size, it can’t fit into the nose cone of any available launch vehicle. One of Webb’s main components, sunshield, is the area of a tennis court. It was carefully folded and packed to fit inside the Ariane 5 rocket. In space, the sunshield will expand and separate into five distinct layers. The telescope's primary mirror, the largest mirror ever flown into space, is also too wide to fit into the rocket in one piece. So it is segmented into 18 hexagonal pieces on a hinged structure so it can fold up for launch and unfold in space.
Sunday Jan 16, 2022
Sunday Jan 16, 2022
This is a great way to start off 2022. We have an excellent guest mix from Kevin, the man responsible for "Cello Mood Swings" and "Not Seeing a Flower" which you can find here...
https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/cello-mood-swings/
http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2021/07/cello-mood-swings.html
https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/not-seeing-is-a-flower/
http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2020/07/not-seeing-is-flower.html
For this mix Kevin collected a bunch of vocal and choral tracks & I mixed them together. Here's what he has to say about the mix:
"The idea came from listening to Jonsi and Alex - Boy 1904, I realized that quite a few ambient artists used the voice to create a type of auditory ambience. A few hymns have been added and a couple of more classical based choral works. These songs are not about words but the sounds of the voices and the emotions they provoke. They have been chosen for their haunting mournful beauty. I hope you enjoy them."
Thanks Kevin for an excellent collection of tracks! Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Russian Cathedral Bells
- 00:23 The Russian State Symphony Cappella - Rachmaninov Liturgy Of St. John Chrysostom Great Ektenia
- 04:00 Olafur Arnalds - Raddir ft South Iceland Chamber Choir (Island Songs 2016)
- 07:55 Inca - Solo Soprano(for meditation) (Gregorian Chants: Chants of Monks for Meditation, Monk Chants for Quiet Time & Prayer 2013)
- 10:20 Ulf Söderberg - Tidvatten Part 1 (Tidvatten 1998)
- 14:40 St. Petersburg Chamber Choir - Chorale (Sacred Treasures III 2000)
- 17:00 Julianna Barwick - Healing Is A Miracle (Healing Is A Miracle 2020)
- 21:00 Voces8 & Olafur Aenalds - Nyepi(Choral Version) (re:member(choir versions) 2019)
- 24:53 Samuel Barber - Agnus Dei
- 28:28 Arvo Part - Da Pacem Domine (2004)
- 33:55 Peter Gabriel - With This Love(Choir) (Passion 1989)
- 37:10 Hans Zimmer - Aurora (2012)
- 45:20 The Russian State Symphony Cappella - Hymn of the Cherubim(Excerpt 1)
- 49:50 Jónsi & Alex - Boy 1904 (Riceboy Sleeps 2009)
- 54:30 Anna Roxanne - Nocturne (~~~ 2019)
- 59:36 Voces8 - A Pile of Dust by Johann Johannsson (Infinity 2021)
- 64:38 end
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 Jan 02, 2022
Sunday Jan 02, 2022
A few things I noticed from my year-end list - no berlin-school music, very little what I would call 'space' music, a fair amount of dusty, loop music like Maps & Diagrams or Tapes & Topographies, several guitar based albums like Dave Depper, Dave Nelson, SUSS, and Devendra Banhart, and lastly, a lot of modern classical/modern composition albums from Mastrokristo & Alapastel to Max Richter and Viktor Orri Árnason and Glåsbird.
That collection of favorites is nothing new for me. I've been a big fan of that dusty, noisy, loop-based style for a long time & as modern composition has grown over the years, so has my interest. Although, I may need to dive back into spacey, droney ambient like the stuff in the stargazing mixes.
I guess there's not much else to say for this post other than here is part 2 of my favorite ambient albums of 2021.
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Ben Seretan - Cicada Waves 1 [Cicada Waves on NNA Tapes]
- 05:45 Sonmi451 - Lampenfiber [Seven Signals in the Sky on Laaps]
- 10:10 Bombay Dub Orchestra - Cultivating Compassion (Instrumental Version) Part 3 [Cultivating Compassion (Instrumental Version) on Six Degrees]
- 15:08 Glåsbird - Last Ritual [Siberia on Whitelabrecs]
- 24:26 Sailcloth - Red Woods [Woodcut on Lost Tribe Sound]
- 27:00 Dave Nelson - Easy and Preferred Answers [The Act of Vanishing]
- 29:52 Devendra Banhart, Noah Georgeson - Three Gates [Refuge on Dead Oceans]
- 33:25 Jens Pauly, Stijn Hüwels - The Leaves Will Fade [When The Night Ends on Vaagner]
- 39:36 Dirk Serries - Recloose(excerpt) [Recloose]
- 48:26 anthéne - Winter Sun [maritime on Ambientologist 2021]
- 53:17 Wil Bolton - Unraveling [Cumulus Sketches on Home Normal]
- 59:05 Jeannine Schulz - River [Luminous on Polar Seas]
- 63:17 Just a Human - Revive(Outro) [Hibernate]
- 65:25 Enrico Coniglio - Everything and Nothing [Alpine Variations on Dronarivm]
- 68:50 Asc & Inhmost - Obscured Form [Dimensional Space on Auxilairy]
- 75:07 Peter Gregson - Over [Patina on Deutsche Grammophon]
- 76:51 end
Saturday Jan 01, 2022
Saturday Jan 01, 2022
These year-end lists seem to be getting harder and harder to curate. The sheer number of releases makes it nearly impossible to keep up and listen to all the music. Through Spotify and Bandcamp most of this music is available immediately, which is great, but it can also foster a severe case of FOMO, fear of missing out. Whether it's ambient music or indie rock/pop I am on a constant prowl for new music, sometimes at the disservice of current music which I have not given time to sink in.
A list like this is obviously not a definitive "Best of" list. These are just some of my favorites from this year. Sometimes an album happens to catch me in the right mood, in the right place and it hits home. Is it better than all the other releases? Maybe. But all I know is it caught my ear at the right time, I latched on, listened, and it became one of my favorites.
I made the list with a top 5 and then listed everything else alphabetically. It's way too hard to say this one is #14 while that one is #22. That being said I totally loved the top 3 on this list.
FAVORITE AMBIENT ALBUMS OF 2021:
1. Mastrokristo - Departures [Lost Tribe Sound]
2. Dictaphone - Goats & Distortions 5 {Denovali]
3. AlaPastel - Ceremony [Lost Tribe Sound]
4. Max Richter - Voices 2 [Decca]
5. Loscil - Clara [Kranky]
-------------
AES DANA - (a) period. [Ultimae]
Andrew Heath - Drawings from Imagined Cities [Elm Records]
anthéne - maritime [Ambientologist 2021]
Arovane - Reihen [12k]
ASC & Inhmost - Dimensional Space [Auxilairy]
Ben Seretan - Cicada Waves [NNA Tapes]
Bombay Dub Orchestra - Cultivating Compassion(instrumentals) [Six Degrees Records]
Calm Whale - Breathing Earth Meditation
Christian Loffler - Parallels [Deutsche Grammophon]
Clariloops - Sun//Rain
Darkroom - The Last Sense To Fade [Whitelabrecs]
Dave Depper - Europa [Jealous Butcher Records]
Dave Nelson - The Act of Vanishing
Devendra Banhart & Noah Georgeson - Refuge [Dead Oceans]
Dirk Serries - RecloosE
Enrico Coniglio – Alpine Variations [Dronarivm]
Glåsbird - Siberia [Whitelabrecs]
Gray Acres - Dreams and Phantoms [Archives]
Igor Yalivec - Still Life [Polar Seas Recordings]
Jeff Parker - Forfolks [International Anthem]
Jeaninne Schulz - Luminous [Polar Seas]
Jens Pauly & Stijn Huwels - When the Night Ends [Vaagner]
Just a Human - Hibernate
Maps & Diagrams - Teygja Parts A & B [Handstitched]
Merope - Salos [Stroom]
Peter Gregson - Patina [Deutsche Grammophon]
Sailcloth - Woodcut [Lost Tribe Sound]
Sonmi451 - Seven Signals in the Sky [laaps]
SUSS - Night Suite
Tapes & Topographies - Monomials [Simulacra Records]
Tapes & Topographies - In Muted Forms [Shimmering Moods]
Taylor Deupree - Mur [12k]
Toumani Diabate & London Symphony Orchestra - Korolen [World Circuit]
Viktor Orri Árnason - Eilífur [PentaTone]
Wil Bolton - Cumulus Sketches [Home Normal]
William Ryan Fritch - Built Upon a Fearful Void [Lost Tribe Sound]
That's too much for one mix so I'll post part 1 and part 2. I also plan on doing a mix of favorite jazz-ish tracks from this year. I have a list of several non-ambient instrumental/jazz releases that I really liked so I'll post the list and a mix of fav tracks.
But first, my favorite ambient music, part one. Enjoy.
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Max Richter - Psychogeography [Vpices 2 on Decca]
- 06:30 mastroKristo - Ocean [Departures on Lost Tribe Sound ]
- 09:53 Dictaphone - Griot Dub [Goats & Distortions 5 on Denovali]
- 14:05 Alapastel - Releaseness [Ceremony on Lost Tribe Sound]
- 18:48 Loscil - Vespera [Clara 0n Kranky]
- 22:45 Arovane - Sicht [Reihen on 12k]
- 25:38 Aes Dana - Haphazard [(a) period. on Ultimae]
- 28:18 Calm Whale - Breathing EARTH [Breathing EARTH Meditation]
- 31:05 Merope - Vilnia [Salos on Stroom]
- 35:13 Dave Depper - Vienna Five [Europa on Jealous Butcher Records]
- 41:11 Christian Löffler - Pastoral [Parallels on Deutsche Grammophon]
- 44:42 Tapes and Topographies - Spec Work as Magic [Monomials on Simulacra Records]
- 47:23 Map & Diagrams - Mutability [Teygja Part B on Handstitched]
- 50:50 Igor Yalivec - Nymphaea [Still Life on Polar Seas]
- 55:40 Andrew Heath - Drawings from Imagined Cities [Drawings from Imagined Cities on Elm Records]
- 65:02 end
Sunday Nov 28, 2021
Sunday Nov 28, 2021
Between work and Thanksgiving I didn't have time to put together a new mix this week. But then I remembered I had another in the "simply ambient" series waiting in the wings. So here it is - "absolutely ambient."
Like the the others in this series there is no overall theme other than a nice collection of excellent ambient music. With so much new music being released every week it's difficult to keep up and difficult to get it all into mixes. This series allows me to get some of that new music out there.
Links to all the albums used in this mix in the order that they appear:
- https://tapesandtopographies.bandcamp.com/album/monomials
- https://andrewheath.bandcamp.com/album/drawings-from-imagined-cities
- https://ambientologist.bandcamp.com/album/thanks
- https://polarseasrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/saturnalia
- https://dirkserries.bandcamp.com/album/recloose
- https://laaps-records.com/album/seven-signals-in-the-sky
- https://real-soon.bandcamp.com/album/the-sun-in-the-east
- https://sofiebirch.bandcamp.com/album/whisper-fold-brush
- https://handstitched.bandcamp.com/album/teygja-part-b
- https://soundtrackingthevoid.bandcamp.com/album/thistledown
- https://fallowrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/e
- https://laaps-records.com/album/endless-shapeless
- https://ambientologist.bandcamp.com/music
- https://polarseasrecordings.bandcamp.com/music
- https://laaps-records.com/music
- https://real-soon.bandcamp.com/music
- https://seilrecords.bandcamp.com/
- https://handstitched.bandcamp.com/music
- https://soundtrackingthevoid.bandcamp.com/music
- https://fallowrecordings.bandcamp.com/music
Cheers!
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Tapes & Topographies - Bathed in Color and Light (Monomials 2021)
- 05:12 Andrew Heath - Melancholia (Drawings from Imagined Cities 2021)
- 14:55 Fields We Found - Time (Thanks 2021)
- 19:48 kj - Saturnalia (Saturnalia 2021)
- 24:51 Dirk Serries - Recloose (Recloose 2021)
- 34:47 Sonmi451 - Split Second (Seven Signals in the Sky 2021)
- 39:15 Ultramarine - Signals Into Space (The Sun in the East 2020)
- 44:55 Sofie Birch - Whisper Fold Brush Side B exerpt (Whisper Fold Brush 2021)
- 47:40 Maps and Diagrams - Mazinggarbe (Teygja Part B 2021)
- 50:00 Wodwo - Airlifted (Thistledown 2021)
- 53:00 Ishmael Cormack - Ōe (Ōe 2021)
- 56:15 Ian Nyquist - Sanctuary(Epilogue) (Endless, Shapeless 2021)
- 60:00 end