low light mixes

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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world

Episodes

Sunday Aug 15, 2021

Moteer - sounds like this

Sunday Aug 15, 2021

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

Sunday Aug 08, 2021

purely ambient

Sunday Aug 08, 2021

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

Sunday Aug 01, 2021

Chill Summer Guitars

Sunday Aug 01, 2021

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:

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

Sunday Jul 25, 2021

Mystical / Train - by Paul Asbury Seaman

Sunday Jul 25, 2021

"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

Sunday Jul 18, 2021

Cello Mood Swings

Sunday Jul 18, 2021

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

Wednesday Jul 07, 2021

I will not be sad in this world

Wednesday Jul 07, 2021

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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

Sunday Jul 04, 2021

Sunday Morning Music Vol. 21 - Dreamland

Sunday Jul 04, 2021

One of my favorite new indie albums of 2021 is An Overview on Phenomenal Nature by Cassandra Jenkins. It's a mostly fairly quiet, folky album. Except for the last cut which is instrumental with a kind of jazzy/ambient vibe. I knew immediately that I wanted to use it in a Sunday morning mix. Then I realized that it had been more than a year since I'd done a Sunday mix.

So here it is - Sunday Morning Music Vol. 21 - Dreamland. It sounds just like the Cassandra Jenkins I described above - jazzy/ambient with a sunny feel. There are two vocal tunes - one by Sam Gendel and the wonderful Dreamland by Joni Mitchell.

There's not much else to say other than grab the Sunday paper, a cup of coffee and hang out with this mix.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Time Rival - Breakfast with Birdsong (Fell 2020)
02:40 Casandra Jenkins - The Ramble (An Overview on Phenomenal Nature 2021)
09:05 Sam Gendel - Shells, Tube, and Guitar (Fresh Bread 2021)
15:09 Pino Palladino, Blake Mills - Just Wrong (Notes with Attachments 2021)
19:30 Turn On The Sunlight - Looking For A Waterfall (Warm Waves 2020)
24:50 Joseph Shabason - 15-19 (The Fellowship 2021)
31:33 Green-House - Peace Piece (2021)
35:31 Sam Gendel - Sometimes I Feel So Good (Fresh Bread 2021)
40:00 Joni Mitchell - Dreamland (Don Juan's Reckless Daughter 1977)
44:06 SiP - Malabar (Leos Naturals 2020)
52:10 Blake Mills - Mirror Box (Mutable Set 2020)
57:00 Chocolate Hills - Relax (A Pail of Air 2019)
60:19 end

Wednesday Jun 30, 2021

Last Night the Moon Came - A Tribute to Jon Hassell

Wednesday Jun 30, 2021

Last year we lost Harold Budd. And now, just six months later, we lose another icon in Jon Hassell.

It's nearly impossible to overstate his importance in shaping an entirely new sound, what he would call Fourth World music. His music has influenced scores of musicians and listeners. I've included a lot of Hassell's music in mixes over the years. And, considering he just released a fine album last year, I expected to be featuring his music in mixes for many more years.

This mix is not an overview of his career. It's a collection of tracks that fit together well, starting with a track from the little known Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack, all the way to the final track, Last Night the Moon Came, which sounds like a good finishing cut.

I wish I could say something eloquent or profound about Jon Hassell and his music, but I'm not that type of writer. I let the music speak for itself and, wow, did his music speak to me and many others. I will miss him.

Thanks for all your great music, Jon.

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Jon Hassell Gregg Arreguin Jamie Muhoberac Peter Freeman - AM (The Million Dollar Hotel 200)
05:52 Brian Eno & Jon Hassell - Chemisty (Fourth World 1 Possible Musics 1980)
11:06 Jon Hassell - Cool Down Coda (Seeing Through Sound 2020)
12:25 Jon Hassell - Empire I (Aka/Darbari/Java - Magic Realism 1982)
13:52 Jon Hassell - Sundown Dance (Earthquake Island 1979)
18:09 Jon Hassell - Air (Power Spot 1986)
23:09 Jon Hassell - Malay (Dream Theory In Malaya 1981)
29:36 Jon Hassell - Out of Adedara (City: Works of Fiction 1990)
33:55 Jon Hassell - Map of Dusk (Myths 3 1987)
35:10 Jon Hassell - Timeless (Seeing Through Sound 2020)
42:44 Jon Hassell - Maarifa Street (Maarifa Street: Magic Realism, Vol. 2 2005)
49:32 Jon Hassell - These Times (Dream Theory In Malaya 1981)
51:23 Jon Hassell - Last Hight the Moon Came (Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street 2009)
62:15 end

Sunday Jun 20, 2021

The Cloud Appreciation Society

Sunday Jun 20, 2021

I recently read an article in the New York Times that was published in 2016 about an unlikely collection of admirers. A group that started back in 2004 to sing the praises of...clouds. These devotees are known as "The Cloud Appreciation Society."

Here's a link to the NYT article... https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/magazine/the-amateur-cloud-society-that-sort-of-rattled-the-scientific-community.html

And the society... https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

The name of the group stuck in my head as a possible theme and title for a mix. So here it is, a cloud themed mix. All the tracks have the word "cloud" in their titles. The music is appropriately drifting and relaxing. All the tunes are relatively new except for a few tracks from 2008, 2014, 2015 and one which reaches back to a Folkways record from 1981.

Look up, admire the clouds drifting by and float away with this mix.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Andrew Chalk - From Mountain Tops the Dusky Clouds (Incidental Music 2020)
05:05 Marine Eyes - Cloud Collecting (idyll 2021)
09:18 Max Richter – Shimmering Clouds (My Brilliant Friend 2018)
10:20 Craig Kupka - Clouds 2 (Clouds: Music for Relaxation 1981)
15:20 Gaussian Curve – Broken Clouds (Clouds 2014)
20:05 Clariloops – Clouds (Sun//Rain 2021)
23:34 Yui Onodera & Vadim Bondarenko - Cloudscape 8 (Cloudscapes 2015)
27:00 Shuta Yasukochi – Clouds (Slow sketch vol. 1: Reflections of the ambient community 2019)
30:45 Robert Rich - Fall Up, the Clouds Will Catch You (Offering to the Morning Fog 2020)
39:30 The Green Kingdom – Cloud Cloak (Ephemera 2018)
43:09 Innesti – The Architecture of Clouds (Formless 2019)
51:20 halftribe – Cloud Dreaming and Shadows (Cloud Dreaming And Shadows 2020)
56:22 Rudy Adrian - Of Clouds and Mountains (Desert Realms 2008)
63:29 end

Sunday Jun 06, 2021

Aromas from the East - by Paul Asbury Seaman

Sunday Jun 06, 2021

I've had a good run lately, posting a lot of mixes. But due to busy schedules and a bit of laziness, I've run out of fresh mixes ready to upload. Then comes Paul to the rescue!

This mix is a breath of fresh air, going in a different direction than any of my recent mixes. Here's what Paul has to say about this excellent set:

“This mix features oud, sitar and koto, moving from the Near/Middle East, across South Asia to the Far East. This is not a Folkways sampler, but focuses on the rich tapestries created when Eastern and Western musical styles and instruments are blended together, with both traditions being equal participants, rather than one used merely as “exotic” embellishments for the other. Such cross-cultural musical experiments go back to the mid-20th century’s jazz /rock fusion groups (e.g., Oregon); early EM pioneers like Kitaro, Osamu Kitajima, Popul Vuh and David Parsons; and visionary new record labels like ECM. Here, I’ve highlighted more recent work, and while the options are much more plentiful now, the Low Lights leitmotif of gentle atmospheres has guided my selection. Even so, a couple of mid-tempo gems—essential to this kind of survey—have snuck into the mix."

Thanks, Paul, for another great contribution to the Low Light Mixes canon.

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Dhafer Youssef - Shaanti 'Atihi Devo Bhava' Suite (Sounds of Mirrors 2018)
04:10 Rahim AlHaj - Letter 1 Eastern Love Sinan (Letters from Iraq: Oud and String Quintet 2017)
10:41 Sachal Studios Orchestra - Take Five (Interpretations of Jazz Standards & Bossa Nova 2010)
16:20 Prem Joshua - Night Rain (Sky Kisses Earth 2001)
22:45 Anoushka Shankar - Prayer in Passing (Rise 2005)
28:52 Hans Christian - First Light (Nanda Devi 2015)
35:20 Al Gromer Khan - I Got Vilayat Khan's Blessing (Sitar Secrets 2014)
39:14 Hiroshima - Kototsu-Han (Pbon 2005)
44:04 Luna - Tubular Bells (Luna 2013)
48:09 Gates of Morheim - Omagatoki (Omagatoki EP 2020)
53:15 Kitaro - Shining Spirit of Water (Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai, Vol 2 2005)
57:33 Rabih Abou Khalil - Bukra (Bukra 1989)
65:25 end