low light mixes

The wind blows, just off-kilter

 

 

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

 

Always Autumn by Paul Asbury Seaman

 

 

Autumn seems perfectly suited to ambient music, especially ambient with a tinge of melancholy. I was thinking about doing an fall-themed mix when Paul approached me with his fully curated mix for autumn. Perfect!

Here's what Paul says about this mix:

“Dedicating this one to my sister, Miriam Walter, professor of nursing at Chico State University in Northern California. Her birthday is today, September 19th.

This turned out to be mostly guitar and piano, although I always (and still) intended it to be a going-to-sleep mix. Like most of my playlists for LLM, it starts out moderately slow and gets progressively slower and quieter. Just a bunch of beautiful tunes, with a touch of melancholy that I always associate with fall, and surrendering into tranquility.”

Thanks for another excellent mix, Paul!

 

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Peter Chilvers & Jon Durant - Always Autumn (Always Golden Sands 2020)
• 05:10    Will Ackerman, Jeff Oster, Tom Eaton - The Golden Hour (Brothers 2021)
• 09:52    Jeff Johnson & Phil Keaggy - Mosaic 7 (Ravenna 2021)
• 16:27    Between Interval - The Tides Of Time (Autumn Continent 2006)
• 20:50    Uman - Somewhere On Earth (You Are Here 1999)
• 24:41    Ken Verheecke - Falling Leaves (Autumn Reflections 2011)
• 28:23    Jeff Pearce - A Walk Through The Leaves (From the Darker Seasons 2017)
• 32:15    Calm Whale - Blue Moon Wind Chimes Meditation (Blue Moon Meditation 2017)
• 39:30    Altus - Green to Gold (Autumn Breeze 2005)
• 46:09    Beltone - Autumn (Blind Concert 2017)
• 50:52    Chinmaya Dunster - Sight Meditation (Meditation Ragas 2014)
• 57:45    Astropilot & Kaya Project - Wind of Change, Pt. 2 (Wind of Change, Pt. 2 2021)
• 62:13    Cousin Silas - Lost In Autumn (Blue Ice Beyond 2019)
• 68:15    Kamal - The Quiet Earth (The Quiet Earth - Dusk 1993)
• 72:14    Ron Boots - Lingering On (Autumn Moon 2016)
• 76:28    end

 

Slow Road - The Endless Potential of the Pedal Steel Guitar

 

 

This mix is pretty much what the title says - a collection of quiet/ambient tracks featuring the beautiful sounds of the pedal steel guitar.

I did another pedal mix two years and since then it seems to be easier to find practitioners of the ambient steel guitar sound. Only one artist, Chuck Johnson, is repeated from that mix in this one. Here's the first mix:  http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2019/09/ambient-twang.html

All that's left to say is go relax with some steel guitar & maybe a good bourbon around a campfire.

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Devendra Banhart & Noah Georgeson - In a Cistern (Refuge 2021)
• 04:03    Saariselka - Shepherd Canyon (Thousands of Eyes in the Dark 2019)
• 07:40    The Howard Hughes Suite - Vanishing Point (Smoke from a Future Fire 2020)
• 13:18    SUSS - Drift (Promise 2020)
• 17:55    North Americans - Yearling (Roped In 2020)
• 20:30    Raymond Richards - Paradise, California (The Lost Art of Wandering 2020)
• 25:45    Trond Kallevåg Hansen - Kapellet (Bedehus & Hawaii 2019)
• 28:35    susan alcorn - first turning of the wheel(for bob graettinge) (and i await..the resurrection of the pedal steel guitar 2007)
• 30:18    Chuck Johnson - The Laurel (The Cinder Grove 2021)
• 38:50    William Tyler - Slow Night's Static (New Vanitas 2020)
• 48:20    SUSS - Salt (Ghost Box 2018)
• 51:40    Raymond Richards - Astoria, Georgia (The Lost Art Of Wandering 2020)
• 55:06    Light of Woods - Sparrow (Field Notes 2016)
• 56:45    Chuck Johnson - Serotiny (The Cinder Grove 2021)
• 63:33    end

 

Vantage - Curated by Time Rival

 

 

I love guest mixes because they expose me to tracks I might have otherwise missed in the monthly deluge of new releases. This new mix comes to us from Michael Southard(Time Rival) of Triplicate Records. I've included a few Time Rival tracks in mixes over the years so I was excited when Michael agreed to put together a mix of some of the best his label has to offer.

Here's a blurb from Michael about this guest mix:

Triplicate Records is an artist run independent record label founded in 2018 by Michael Southard (Time Rival), Bryan Kraft (BVSMV), and George Ernst (Suncastle).  We cover a lot of ground in regard to genres, but mostly stick to electronica, ambient and experimental.  “Vantage” is a collection of music from our back catalog that highlights the softer side of what we do.  Mixed and curated by Time Rival and featuring phenomenal new music from Ian Hawgood, Belly Full of Stars, Chris Randall, and much more.

All of this music is available through our Bandcamp page:  https://triplicaterecords.bandcamp.com/ 

 Thanks for an excellent set!

Triplicate has also made a small run painted CD - R version of the mix available at their bandcamp page... https://triplicaterecords.bandcamp.com/merch/vantage-limited-edition-painted-cd-r

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• Ian Hawgood - Flutter Echo Refrain – 0:00:00
• Belly Full of Stars - Pattern 4 – 0:05:20
• Time Rival – Beech – 0:09:37
• Belial Pelegrim – Subtext – 0:12:53
• BVSMV, Running in Slow Motion - Memory to Media – 0:18:00
• Acef Stripe - Image 7: Dagobah – 0:22:20
• Suncastle - The Rooms in Here are Enveloped – 0:24:51
• Chaircrusher – Insular – 0:32:22
• SURVEY CHANNEL - Outside the Coding Region – 0:39:02
• Crest of the Syndicate – Lattermath – 0:44:58
• Station Zero - Numb Hand - 0:46:34
• Minimal_Drone*GRL - Raspberry Ripple – 0:50:24
• Chorchill - Tea Bags – 0:52:46
• Chris Randall - Synthetic Instinct – 0:54:59
• End – 1:00:00

Moteer - sounds like this

 

I recently stumbled upon a post or tweet that mentioned Moteer, a UK record label active in the 2000s. I was like - oh man, I haven't listened to that stuff in a while, time to give some a spin. It was fun going back into that world of clicks, loops, vinyl records pops, and glitchy ambience. So I decided to make a mix.

Moteer released music from 2003 to 2011. It was run by Andrew Johnson and Craig Tattersall, who record as The Remote Viewer. The label specialized in, as Harry Towell, founder of Whitelabrecs records, put it -  "lo-fi folk and glitchy, electro-acoustic goodness." They don't even have a website anymore to link to so you're on your own in tracking down some of the releases.

This set starts at the beginning with the first Moteer release, Commercial Body Fittings by Clickits. And it continues chronologically to the last release, On Fell. In between we get music from The Boats, Part Timer, El Fog, Need More Sources, Tokyo Bloodworm and more.

Sit back and enjoy this little journey back to the 2000s for some off-kilter, clicky, twinkling ambience.

Cheers

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Clickits - september sounds like this (commercial body fittings 2003)
• 03:30    Manyfingers - Ballybane (Manyfingers 2004)
• 08:55    The Boats - And There Are Stars That Fell (Songs by The Sea 2004)
• 12:45    Clickits - Natural Theatre (Express Gifts 2005)
• 16:48    The Boats - Donna, Paul and Grace (We Made It For You 2005)
• 18:50    Minimum Chips - Snow Pea (Lady Grey 2006)
• 22:10    Part Timer - hear... to something (part imer 2006)
• 25:25    The Boats - this song is one colour (Tomorrow Time 2006)
• 28:11    Aus - apt (Curveland 2007)
• 32:33    El Fog - Own Frequency, Own Time (Reverberate Slowly 2007)
• 37:11    Theodore & Hamblin - Lacie (The Scientific Contrast 2007)
• 41:00    Need More Sources - Sun (Shed 2007)
• 43:44    con cetta - ker (micro 2008)
• 48:05    Brael And Tokyo Bloodworm - Saturn Shine (Living Language 2008)
• 56:15    Yuri Lugovskoy - untitled #3 (Yuri Lugovskoy 2010)
• 60:30    Tokyo Bloodworm - Pale The Clerics Pass (Palestine 2011)
• 65:05    On Fell - On Fell B (On Fell 2011)
• 68:28    end

purely ambient

 

Last year at this time I did a mix called "simply ambient" which was a nice, straightforward mix of ambient tracks. This mix is a sort of follow up titled "purely ambient." There is no theme, no story being told by the music, no big concepts. Just ambient music, pure and simple.

This might be the start of a series of mixes - utterly ambient, perfectly ambient, naturally ambient, totally ambient, etc. This would be allow me to get some of the tons of new music that I listen to every month into mixes without having to wait for an appropriate theme. Every track in this mix is from 2021.

So kick back and relax to some purely ambient music.

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Ambalek - In the Curled Combes (Fremder 2021)
• 05:36    Pruski - Horizon (Whispers 2021)
• 10:40    O Yuki Conjugate - Antonym (A Tension of Opposites Vols 1 & 2 2021)
• 14:48    Martin Nonstatic - Fading Mist (Reflecting Glaciers 2021)
• 21:00    Robert Davies - Nocturnal Deliquescence (Arcadia 2021)
• 27:50    Sailcloth - Great Lakes (Woodcut 2021)
• 30:20    Konstruct - Nostolgia (Three (squared) 2021)
• 36:00    Free Dust - Earl Grey (Woo'd Early 2021)
• 40:00    Erik Wollo - Afterprints (Recurrence 2021)
• 45:00    Rosales - Nest (Still, Tomorrow 2021)
• 53:15    anthéne & Simon McCorry - lucid (the equation of time 2021)
• 60:31    end

 

Chill Summer Guitars

 

I few weeks ago the good folks over at The Slow Music Movement sent me a couple tracks by Wiki Chaves. After listening I immediately knew I had to construct a mix around the laid back guitar style. A style The Slow Music Movement calls - "Perfect for all your beach lying, garden barbecuing, hammock slouching, sunbathing, holiday taking soundtrack needs."

Here's a link to the latest Wiki Chaves release: https://wikichaves.bandcamp.com/

From there I listened to guitar music for a couple of weeks, collecting tracks with a similar vibe. There were some artists I knew right away that I would include like Khruangbin, Bill Frisell & William Tyler. Some were new discoveries like Tommy Guerrero & Jeffrey Silverstein. While others were older tracks I was happy to rediscover such as Steve Hiett, Pat Metheny, Durutti Column and Yo La Tengo.

I like how the mix takes a more acoustic turn about half way through. Starting with new music from The Phonometrician then an old track from Calexico to even older tracks from Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny and Yo La Tengo.

Many of the mixes I do tend to focus on new music because that's what I'm listening to at the time. This mix, however, hits on 5 decades of music and it's pretty cool how they mesh together.

Artist/album links:

• https://wikichaves.bandcamp.com/
• https://khruangbin.bandcamp.com/album/mordechai
• https://williamtyler.bandcamp.com/
• https://tommy-guerrero-too-good.bandcamp.com/
• https://jeffreysilverstein.bandcamp.com/
• https://theslowmusicmovement.bandcamp.com/album/future-folk-friendly-faces-different-spaces
• https://trondkallevag.bandcamp.com/album/bedehus-hawaii
• https://thephonometrician.bandcamp.com/
• https://casadecalexico.bandcamp.com/
• https://yolatengo.bandcamp.com/
• https://thegreenkingdom.bandcamp.com/
• https://efficientspace.bandcamp.com/album/down-on-the-road-by-the-beach
• https://store.unseen-music.com/album/eingya

 

 

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

 

• 00:00    Wiki Chaves - Pleasure Point (Raiz 2021)
• 04:16    Khruangbin - Father Bird, Mother Bird (Mordechai 2020)
• 07:17    Steve Hiett - Blue Beach (Down on the Road by the Beach 1983)
• 11:21    Bill Frisell - The Shortest Day (Guitar in the Space Age! 2014)
• 14:05    William Tyler - Highway Anxiety (Modern Country 2016)
• 19:27    Tommy Guerrero - Sun Rays Lie Stilts (Perpetual 2015)
• 21:15    Jeffrey Silverstein - This and Also (Future Folk: Friendly Faces; Different Spaces 2021)
• 25:15    Durutti Column - Sara E Tristana (Amigos Em Portugal 1983)
• 28:03    Bexar Bexar - n.r.o.t. (haralambos 2003)
• 31:17    Trond Kallevåg Hansen - Bedehus og Hawaii (Bedehus & Hawaii 2019)
• 36:15    The Phonometrician - Campos de Trigo (El Mar Convertido en Oceano 2021)
• 39:45    Calexico - Above the Ranch (Tool Box 2007)
• 42:50    Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Cinema Paradiso (Beyond The Missouri Sky 1997)
• 46:33    Yo La Tengo - Green Arrow (I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One 1997)
• 51:40    The Green Kingdom - Sol 1 (Solaria 2021)
• 55:09    Steve Hiett - Standing There (Down on the Road by the Beach 1983)
• 58:27    Helios - Emancipation (Eingya 2006)
• 60:50    Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays - September Fifteenth (As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls 1980)
• 62:47    end

Mystical / Train - by Paul Asbury Seaman

 

                              "Then he leaves the platform/For the sleeping car that's warm

                                      You realize, he's only advertising one more shelter

                                      And it comes to you, he never was a stranger"

                                                                         - Leonard Cohen, "The Stranger Song"

 

 

I have been lucky to have a bunch of excellent guest mixes this year. After this one there are 2 more coming soon. But let's talk about this one first. This is another great collection from the mind of Paul Asbury Seaman. It's appropriate that "Mystical" is in the title as his mixes generally are more "mystical" than the ones I crank out. Which is why Paul's mixes are always a breath of fresh air for me.

 

Here's what Paul says about this set:

 

“In ancient times, the meaning of  “astrology” and “astronomy” was almost synonymous. Today we view space as a metaphor for the mystical—and vise versa. Both the physical universe and mystical concepts confront us with the unknown, the mysterious and the infinite, stimulating a desire for exploration and stretching our potential. Many things are more connected than we realize, and discovering such unexpected connections can be both illuminating and delightful. So this mix features koto and sax along with sequencers, trumpet, marimba and emotional guitar leads, getting slower as you go deeper.”

 

Thanks Paul, for another transcendental mix.

 

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Kitaro - Wonderland 2 (An Ancient Journey 2001)
• 03:06    Pharoah Sanders - Kazuko(Peace Child) (Journey to the One 1980)
• 08:55    Thom Brennan - Chasing the Rain Part 1 (Chasing the Rain 2021)
• 17:10    Jon Durant & Stephan Thelen - Fractal 5.7 (Crossings 2021)
• 24:16    Jean-Luc Ponty - Mystical Adventures Part V (Mystical Adventures 1982)
• 28:55    David Wright - Transylvanian Lullaby (In Search Of Silence 2011)
• 36:06    Germind - Subway Of The Future (Reincarnation 2012)
• 42:08    VAAST - LBV (Eta Carinae 2018)
• 46:28     Esmerine - Walking Through Mist (La Lechuza 2011)
• 49:55    Jon Durant & Robert Jürjendal - Reflective Sea (Across the Evening 2020)
• 55:48    David Wright - Sanctuary Reprise (In Search Of Silence 2011)
• 57:20    Max Corbacho - Starlight Grace (Nocturnes II 2018)
• 61:31    Alice Coltrane - The Hymn (Translinear Light 2004)
• 64:30    Ryan Herr & Jesse Hendricks - Cusp ( Cusp 2020)
• 74:13    end

 

Cello Mood Swings

I have been lucky to have had some awesome guest mixes this year. The streak continues with this excellent modern classical mix called "Cello Mood Swings." It's an excellent collection of music that features the cello. Duh! 

This tracklist comes from loyal listener, Kevin, who was also responsible for last year's Japan themed mix - "Not Seeing is a Flower"  Which you can find here - http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2020/07/not-seeing-is-flower.html  Kevin collected a bunch of great tracks and I put them together as best I could and the result is pretty darn awesome.

Here's what Kevin says about this mix:

"The idea for this actually came from Tina Guo's haunting version of the Rains of Castamere (Game of Thrones). As I was putting the list together it suddenly dawned on me just how many women have chosen the cello as their main instrument. I tried to make it female only cello players but couldn't quite find enough tracks. The title, Cello mood swings, fits because as an instrument, the cello is brooding and melancholic. But it can be soothing and relaxing as well."

Thanks for another great mix!

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Hildur Guðnadóttir - Bathroom Dance (Joker OST 2019)
• 02:00    Jo Quail - Gold (Five Incantations 2016)
• 12:18    Zoe Keating - Walking Man (One Cello x 16 EP 2004)
• 18:25    Julia Kent - Flag of No Country (Asperities 2015)
• 23:00    Poppy Ackroyd - Grounds (Escapement 2012)
• 27:00    Zoe Keating - Hello Night (Into The Trees 2010)
• 30:12    Julia Kent - Dorval (Delay 2007)
• 34:00    Esmerine - White Pine (Dalmak 2013)
• 37:33    Christina Vantzou - Anna Mea (No.2 2014)
• 39:33    Jo Quail - South West Night (Caldera 2014)
• 45:25    Christina Vantzou - Homemade Mountains (No. 1 2011)
• 48:45    Hendyamps Studios - Beginning To End(feat Aimee Norris) (Cello Sessions Vol. 1 2020)
• 51:30    Hildur Gudnadottir - Opaque (Without sinking 2009)
• 55:14    Hildur Gudnadottir - Into Warmer Air (Without sinking 2009)
• 61:10    Anne Müller - Aarhus/Reminiscences (Heliopause 2019)
• 65:50    Clarice Jensen - Winter (Ainu Mosir EP 2021)
• 67:31    Peter Gregson - 1.1 Prelude (Recomposed Bach - The Cello Suites 2018)
• 69:31    end

 

 

I will not be sad in this world

 

The track, "I Will Not Be Sad In This World", is one of the most beautiful recordings ever made. It is hard not to be sad, however, upon hearing the news of the passing of Djivan Gasparyan. 

 

I will forever be grateful to him for introducing me to the wonderful sounds of the duduk, an Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. Despite it's single-octave range, Gasparyan was able to coax a wide range of emotion from the duduk.

 

This mix is a tribute to Djivan's wonderful music. It is by no means comprehensive, it's a collection of excellent tracks that I already had in my library. Most are solo tracks with a few collabs with Michael Brook. And one stunning cover - Maya Beiser performing "Memories" on the cello.

 

Thanks again, Djivan Gasparyan, for your legacy of great music.

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Djivan Gasparyan - I will not be sad in this world
• 06:10    Djivan Gasparyan & Michael Brook- Immigrant Song 
• 12:17    Djivan Gasparyan - Holy Holy Armenian Orthodox
• 16:22    Erkan Ogur & Djivan Gasparyan - Fuad
• 22:41    Maya Beiser - Memories
• 29:20    Djivan Gasparyan - Nazeli
• 33:48    Djivan Gasparyan & Michael Brook- Chiarescuroed
• 36:45    Djivan Gasparyan - Male Folk Dance
• 42:33    Djivan Gasparyan & Michael Brook - Fallen Star
• 47:15    Djivan Gasparyan - In Foreign Lands
• 52:08    Djivan Gasparyan - A Cool Wind is Blowing
• 55:47    end