low light mixes

The Long Polar Night

 

As I type this we are getting pounded with another 9" of snow, the second pounding in less than a week. Combine that with semi-lockdown we are still under and it sort of feels like I'm in a research station outpost about to hunker down for The Long Polar Night.

Most of the titles fit the theme as well as the feel of the tunes.. I added some weather radio recordings throughout the mix which I think worked out pretty well.

One happy accident that happened while putting this together is I accidently left two tracks by two different artists in the same spot. I didn't even notice at first. They were playing simultaneously and it sounded like it was meant to be that way. This happens at 51:21 of the mix.

Cheers and stay warm!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Wind & Weather Radio
• 00:55    Owl - Moonshine Haze (Infinite Horizon 2021)
• 04:16    Esther Kokmeijer & Rutger Zuydervelt - Stillness #5 (Stillness 2013)
• 08:20    SineRider - Four Below Zero (Four Years Away 2018)
• 11:42    offthesky - cold front (studies of form in transit 2003)
• 14:40    John Butcher - wind piece (Resonant Spaces)
• 15:47    Hanno Leichtmann - wind (Nuit Du Plomb 2006)
• 19:00    Lauge - Icebound (Nothingness 2020)
• 25:30    Gailes - Surface Variations in The Snowfall (Seventeen Words 2017)
• 32:05    Marcus Fischer - Antarctic 3 (Arctic / Antarctic(version) 2020)
• 34:45    Polaroid Notes - Don't Be Afraid Of Darkness (Home Diaries 014 2020)
• 38:00    Rosalina Teche - Slightly Affected (Music for Another Sky 2021)
• 40:23    stormloop - in the frozen morning light (arctic conditions 2013)
• 48:25    Moss Covered Technology - Distant Station(Nocturne) (Once Hallowed 2019)
• 51:21    Sinderider & Polaroid Notes - Frost & Into The Black played simultaneously
• 55:35    Axs - Frozen Signpost (Arctic Circle 2011)
• 65:20    end

 

Bell Tone Meditation by Paul Asbury Seaman

 

 

Great minds think alike. Both Paul and I had the idea of doing a "bell" based mix. I, however, am a procrastinator, and after creating a save folder for bell tunes 3 months ago, I have one track in it. So who knows when that puppy was going to get done.

Paul, on the other hand, sought out tracks and compiled them into a perfect playlist that became this mix - Bell Tone Meditation.

Here's what he has to say about it:

“For thousands of years bells, more than any other instrument, have been used to convey a sense of reverence and mystery, to represent clarity, to facilitate both quiet, solitary meditation and communal celebration. And, given the challenging artistic paradox of using sound to express silence, bells are the musical instrument used most often to express that, too. So it’s curious to me that bells (and their various metal/crystal-bowl cousins) are not used more often in ambient music, a genre defined, perhaps more than anything else, by subtle textures and tonal resonance over melody and rhythm.

Bells also have been the most common instrument to express cold and ice. Another reason this mix makes a  perfect midwinter offering.”

Thanks Paul!

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Cousin Silas - Derwent (Submerged 2021)
• 05:36    Andarctica - at rest (buried with the bells 2019)
• 11:40    Robert Rich - Belltone Glass (Alien Zoology - Live Archive Vol 4 2009)
• 15:37    Jack Hertz - Invisible Pyramid (Teoton 2020)
• 19:17    Andrew Lahiff - The Ringing of the Silent Bells (Slow Paths Beyond 2014)
• 25:47    Crown Of Eternity - New Dimensions in Infinite VIbrations (Universal Hum 2018)
• 31:50    The Heart Is Awake - Healing Sound Meditation(Healing Arts reMix) (the Healing Arts reMIXES Vol III 2020)
• 36:00    Steve Roach & Serena Gabriel - Nectar Meditation (Nectar Meditation 2020)
• 45:15    Glenn Sogge - Aether/Or -- A Non-Philosophical Disquisition (Musics for Long Thinkings, volume 4 2016)
• 53:30    jarguna - My Temple (My Temple 2020)
• 1:10:00    end

 

flickering moments passing - a halftribe guest mix

 

 

I've been a fan of halftribe(Ryan Bissett) ever since he approached me about doing a guest mix roughly 6 years ago - whoa, blows my mind that it was that long ago. Whether it's deep & dubby or straight up ambient, halftribe has released some of my favorite albums over the last 5 or 6 years. So I was excited when Ryan agreed to do a guest mix. 

Here's what Ryan said about the mix:

"It's been a little while since I put a mix together as I've been mostly just working on my next album. It's even longer since I did a mix for someone else's show, so this mix really just showcases the types of sound that are floating my boat at the minute."

 

Don't forget to check out halftribe music here... https://halftribe.bandcamp.com/ 

https://archivesdubmusic.bandcamp.com/album/daydreams-in-low-fidelity 

https://archivesdubmusic.bandcamp.com/album/luxia  

https://synphaera.bandcamp.com/album/patterns-of-sync 

https://dewtonerecordings.com/album/shells    

https://silkmusic.bandcamp.com/album/memory-module

And check the halftribe Mixcloud page... https://www.mixcloud.com/Halftribe/

 

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T:

• 00'00 Jens Pauly - Fairge
• 06'03 Tapes & Topographies - Pulse Of Durations
• 10'00 Andrew Heath - Signals And Beacons
• 14'55 Carlo Giustini - A Letizia
• 19'49 Jogging House - Air
• 24'07 Moss Covered Technology - Untitled Quiet Loop #6
• 31'01 Max Ananyev - Images In Time
• 36'02 Halftribe - Flickering Moments Passing
• 41'13 Caught In The Wake Forever - The Houses Here Have Changed Lately
• 47'24 John Hays & Maxy Dutcher - Arch Dance
• 52'22 Innesti - Compelled By Indifference
• 1'00'00 SineRider - Lapis

 

The Silence of Snow

 

 

I was fishing around for an idea for a new mix and mother nature helped out by dropping some fresh snow overnight so that became the theme - The Silence of Snow. I took the picture above on a morning walk through a local nature preserve.

 

The first draft of this mix had several piano based pieces. I think piano tunes do a nice job of conjuring up snow but I decided to pull them and save them for an all piano snow mix for later in January or February.

 

Cheers to a better 2021!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Marcus Fischer - Antarctic 2 (Arctic / Antarctic(version) 2020)
• 05:52    Offthesky - Snow Filled Summer (We Like Ambient 2013)
• 10:07    Altus - Soft Space (Trailhead 2020)
• 14:43    Kenji Kihara - men (ten sen men 2018)
• 22:34    Tonepoet - kalos eïdos skopeïn(an ending) (Kaleidoscope 2020)
• 25:30    anthéne - hollowed out (infinity lines 2020)
• 31:02    Moss Covered Technology - Quiet Loop #6 (Quiet Loops 2020)
• 37:37    Federico Durand - Flor imaginaria (Flor Imaginaria 2020)
• 41:19    Aglaia - day one (Gravitational Change 2020)
• 44:12    Test Card - Four Zero Five Line Rewind (Music For The Towers 2020)
• 47:45    SineRider - Zero Return (Fahrenheit 2017)
• 51:00    The Humble Bee - Off station, at little afternoon, amidst the saltwater marsh (Daymark 2020)
• 57:04    end

 

Stillness Within Motion

 

by Sven Geier - sgeier.net

We end the year as we began - with a mix from Paul Asbury Seaman. And a fine way to end the year it is. All of the music in this set is from 2020, making it an appropriate way to say goodbye to this tumultuous year.

Here's what Paul says about the mix:

“Stillness within motion is a concept that comes from Zen Buddhism and the martial arts. It always seemed to me a good way to try to live ordinary life as well. This program is an effort to expressing that concept musically: slow sequencers mixed with Sufi-infused sax, table and harp and electric guitar. Mixing genres a little, while still within ambient sensibilities.”

I'm not sure what 2021 will bring but I'm sure there will be plenty of music to help us get through it. And I'll continue to crank out mixes that will keep us centered while also taking us on inner and outer journeys.

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Kirsten Agresta Copely - Surya (Aroud the Sun 2020)
• 05:44    The Rosen Corporation - Stasis (Tales From Earth 2020)
• 09:22    Ariel Kalma - Dancing Goddess (My sax, my love 2020)
• 12:51    Sam Rosenthalk & Jarguna - Evening market of the petal fields pt 3 (Sunwashed Evening Fire 2020)
• 17:03    Vaast - Coma Berenices (Afterlife 2020)
• 19:20    Hibernation ft. Jello Vibes - Jello & Jaice Ambient Jazz'n'Glitch Mix (Jello and Jaice EP 2020)
• 23:44    Fritz Mayr - Winter Silence (Winter 2020)
• 28:25    Christel Veraart - Asterope (Pleiades 2020)
• 33:17    Thom Brennan - Night Lights Part One (Night Lights 2020)
• 41:15    Sequentia Legenda - Beyond from the Beyond (Beyond the Stars 2020)
• 62:07    end

 

Best Ambient Albums of 2020

 

I always label these lists and mixes as "Best Ambient," but with so much music released each year, coming up with a true best list is almost impossible. So this is really more of a list and mix of my favorite ambient albums of the year. Best of 2020 just sounds better.

I don't about you but I bought a lot of ambient music this year thanks to Bandcamp Fridays. Through regular purchases and special deals, where one could get a whole discography for like $10, I think I bought about 250 ambient albums this year. Yikes! Then add in releases that labels and artists send my way and it amounts to one hell of a lot of music. 

Thanks goodness for all that music though. I've been stuck working from home for almost 10 months and would have lost my mind without music to get me through it. One of the treats that got me through the year was Whitelabrecs excellent Home Diaries series. It featured music recorded and released during quarantine. I couldn't pick just one release so I cheated and put the whole series in my top 15 list.

It's hard to narrow down that much music into 30 or 40 favorites. I know I will miss things. But this list has a bunch of styles so it gives a nice representation of what I listened to this year. My favorite album this year was actually an easy choice, it's Mindful Movement by Clariloops.

Clariloops is Australian clarinetist, Ruby Lulham. She experiments with looping and pedals to to produce beautiful music that takes my breathe away every time I hear it. The folks at The Slow Music Movement put it best when they said, "producing music with a purity & simplicity that is both charming & striking." Please go check it out.

 

 

Here is the full list of my favorite ambient albums of 2020. I came up with a top 15 releases and then the next 30 favs are listed alphabetically.

 

1. Clariloops - Mindful Movement [self-released]
2. 36 & zakè - Stasis Sounds For Long-Distance Space Travel [Past Inside the Present]
3. Echoflex - Echoflex I - III [SeeHear Recordings]
4. Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol. 4 [Noton]
5. Vieo Abiungo - At Once- There Was No Horizon [Lost Tribe Sound]
6. The Chi Factory - AI-18 - Travel in Peace [Astral Industries]
7. Tapes and Topographies - Inoculations [Dronarivm]
8. Night Sea - Still [Silent Season]
9. Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders [Ghostly International]
10. Mute Forest - Riderstorm [Lost Tribe Sound]
11. Andrew Heath - The Alchemist’s Muse [Discogecko]
12. Christopher Bissonnette - The Wine Dark Sea [Dronarivum]
13. Anthéne and Andrew Tasselmyer - Progressions [Constellation Tatsu]
14. Moss Covered Technology - Quiet Loops [Dewtone]
15. Whitelabrecs Home Diaries series 

 

Andrew Heath - A Trace of Phosphor [Discogecko]
Ben Salisbury- The Insects- Geoff Barrow - Devs Soundtrack [Invada]
Christopher Bissonnette - Wayfinding [12k]
Ecovillage - Arrived [Dronarivum]
Evan Caminiti - Varispeed Hydra
Flexagon - 7 Nocturnes East
Fluxion - Perspectives [Vibrant Music]
glåsbird - norskfjǫrðr [whitelabrecs]
Halftribe - Archipelago [sound in silence]
Heavenchord & Infinity Dots - light, water and silence [secret domain]
Innesti - Parenthetical
Jogging House - Be [Seil]
Johann Johannsson & Yair Elazar Glotman - Last And First Men [Deutsche Grammophon]
Loneward - Moongate
Luke Carbon - Brightest Threads [Made Now Music]
Mathieu Karsenti - bygones [Slowcraft]
Michael Grigoni + Stephen Vitiello - slow machines [12k]
Michael Scott Dawson Nowhere, Middle of [We Are Busy Bodies]
MNO - Ambient Marimba - MNO Sleeps
Mount Shrine - Shortwave Ruins [Cryo Chamber]
North Americans - Roped In [Third Man Records]
Olafur Arnalds - some kind of peace [Mercury KX]
Raymond Richards - The Lost Art Of Wandering [ESP Institute]
Roméo Poirier - Hotel Nota [sferic 2020]
Sibling & Heavenchord - Sounds Of Silence [greyscale]
SUSS - Promise [Northern Spy Records]
Thom Brennan - Night Lights
William Ryan Fritch - Sodium [lost tribe sound]
William Ryan Fritch - The Letdown [lost tribe sound]
Yagya - Old Dreams And Memories [Small Plastic Animals]

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

- - - T R A C K L I S T - - -

• 00:00    Clariloops - Mindful Movement [Mindful Movement]
• 05:50    Vieo Abiungo - At Once, There Was No Horizon [At Once, There Was No Horizon on Lost Tribe Sound]
• 09:36    The Chi Factory - Travel in Peace Part 1 [Astral Industries]
• 14:45    Mary Lattimore - Sometimes He's in My Dreams [Silver Ladders on Ghostly International]
• 17:55    Mute Forest - Return [Riderstorm on Lost Tribe Sound]
• 21:22    Ecovillage - She Walks In Beauty [Arrived on Dronarivum]
• 24:24   Andrew Heath - The Alchemist’s Muse [The Alchemist’s Muse on Discogecko]
• 31:36    Moss Covered Technology - Untitled Quiet Loop #1 [Quiet Loops on Dewtone]
• 34:23    Tapes and Topographies - Always The Last Time(SineRider Remix) [Inoculations on Dronarivum]
• 37:28    Anthéne and Andrew Tasselmyer - Progressions, Pt 1 [Progressions on Constellation Tatsu]
• 41:48    36 & zakè - Stasis Sounds for Long-Distance Space Travel Stage 2 [Stasis Sounds for Long-Distance Space Travel on Past Inside the Present]
• 47:30    Night Sea - Manila [Still on Silent Season]
• 54:00    Evan Caminiti - Radio Rome [Varispeed Hydra on Dust Editions]
• 56:21    Sibling & Heavenchord - Spacechord [Sounds Of Silence on Greyscale]
• 1:05:20    Alva Noto - Xerrox Voyage [Xerrox Vol. 4 on Noton]
• 1:08:33    Echoflex - 50°20'17"N 4°11'50"W Veering NW [Echoflex 1 on SeeHear Recordings]
• 1:12:55    Christopher Bissonnette - See With Eyes Closed [The Wine Dark Sea on Dronarivum]
• 1:17:31    Mathieu Karsenti - Upwards [bygones on Slowcraft]
• 1:21:38    Adrian Lane - We Glance Outside [Home Diaries 23 on Whitelabrecs]
• 1:23:57    Mount Shrine - Subtotem [Shortwave Ruins on Cryp Chamber]
• 1:30:24    Flexagon - La Crocq Pier 5am [7 Nocturnes East]
• 1:38:22    Jogging House - Yours [Be on Seil]
• 1:42:09    Halftribe - We Are Dust [Archipelago on Sound in Silence]
• 1:45:35    William Ryan Fritch - Movement XVIII [Sodium on Lost Tribe Sound]
• 1:49:58    end

 

Quiet Indie Songs of 2020

 

I listen to as much indie music as I do ambient music. I always keep a list of favorite albums and favorite songs of the year. As I was looking at some of my favorite songs I noticed that several of them were quiet tunes that would be appropriate for an LLM mix. So I grabbed those and a few more favs and came up with "Quiet Indie Songs of 2020."

Squirrel Flower was my big discovery this year. I'd never heard of the artist before and a few of her songs turned out to be some of my most played tunes of the year. Phoebe Bridgers had one of the best albums of the year but my two fav songs on it were a bit loud for this mix so I went with the beautiful "Moon Song." 

I also want to give a shout out to a local band that made my top ten list this year - Field Report. Their album, "Brake Light Red Tide," has a great sound and beautiful production. The song "Puget Sound" appears on this mix because I listened the heck out of it this year.

There's not much else to say other than enjoy this diversion from the usual LLM fair and an ambient 2020 mix is coming soon.

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Squirrel Flower - Seasonal Affective Disorder
• 03:33    Field Report - Puget Sound
• 07:54    Devendra Banhart - Franklin's Tower
• 16:19    Phoebe Bridgers - Moon Song
• 20:48    Clem Snide - Roger Ebert
• 23:36    Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman
• 27:58    Kevin Morby - Sundowner
• 32:56    Sarah Jarosz - Hometown
• 35:48    North Americans - Rivers That You Cannot See
• 39:28    Mute Forest - Crater Laugh
• 43:28    Kronos Quartet with Meklit - The President Sang Amazing Grace
• 47:15    Alexandra Savior - Soft Currents
• 50:20    S. Carey - Take It With Me
• 55:06    Tresspassers William - Winterstorms
• 58:18    H.C. McEntire - Hands for Harvest
• 62:28    Squirrel Flower - Headlights
• 64:55    Bedouine, Waxahatchee, Hurray for the Riff Raff - Thirteen
• 67:51    M. Ward - Migration of Souls
• 71:19    end

 

Wind in Lonely Fences - A Farewell to Harold Budd

 

 

2020, you unrelenting bastard. Now you've taken Harold Budd from us. An icon in ambient music.

There's not much I can say right now except that I love his music. I have about 25 albums by Harold Budd. His music has been with me for more than 40 years. When I heard the news I knew the only tribute I could do was a mix. So here it is an hour-long mix that barely scratches the surface of his output.

Godspeed Harold, your music remains in our ears and on the wind.

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Harold Budd & Brian Eno - Wind In Lonely Fences
• 03:39    Harold Budd - Ice Floes In Eden
• 06:51    Harold Budd & Brian Eno - An Echo Of Night
• 08:53    Harold Budd & John Foxx - Coming Into Focus
• 13:15    Harold Budd - As Long As I Can Hold My Breath
• 20:07    Harold Budd & Zeitgeist - Emboldened-My Dreams Perish
• 22:16    Harold Budd - Tong War
• 27:40    Harold Budd - The Serpent in Quicksilver
• 31:00    Harold Budd - The Radiant Bride
• 34:33    Harold Budd - Sandtreader
• 39:32    Harold Budd - Down the Slopes to the Meadow
• 46:54    Harold Budd - Bismillahi 'Rrahman 'Rrahim
• 56:40    Harold Budd - Mars And The Artist
• 58:10    Harold Budd - The Pearl
• 61:04    Harold Budd - Olancha Farewell
• 63:20    end

 

 

 

 

Melancholy Soundtracks: A Requiem for 2020

 

 

 

 

A perfect mix for the end of 2020 comes to us from Paul Asbury Seaman. All soundtrack cuts, all with varying degrees of melancholy, all forming an ideal coda for 2020.

 

Here's what Paul says about the mix:

 

“I’ve been sitting on this playlist for more than three years. Never got around to firming it up for a Low Lights mix. It dawned on me just the other day that the eight movies from which these pieces are drawn are all meditations on death and loss. So now seems like a good time to share it. Also, all of these movies were released around the turn of the Millennium, except “Battle of Algiers” (1963) which has one of the most sorrowful themes ever put to music—by the great Ennio Morricone, who died this year.”

 

Thanks Paul for another excellent mix!

Up next - it's best of the year list time!  Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Clint Mansell - The Last Man (The Fountain 2006)
• 05:42    Ennio Morricone - Sorrow in the Casbah (Battle of Algiers 1963)
• 06:33    Ennio Morricone - Ali's Theme (Battle of Algiers 1963)
• 09:38    Mark Isham - Flames (Crash 2005)
• 17:06    Philip Glass - The Hours (The Hours 2002)
• 24:37    Zbigniew Preisner - Van Den Budenmayer Funeral Music (Trois couleurs - Bleu 1993)
• 26:32    Zbigniew Preisner - Reprise First Appearance (Trois couleurs - Bleu 1993)
• 27:02    Javier Navarrette  - A Tale (Pan's Labyrinth 2006)
• 28:50    Richard Thompson - Parents (Grizzly Man 2005)
• 32:10    Zbigniew Preisner - Julie in Her New Apartment (Trois couleurs - Bleu 1993)
• 33:48    Zbigniew Preisner - Reprise Flute (Trois couleurs - Bleu 1993)
• 35:50    Mark Isham - Negligence (Crash 2005)
• 38:23    Philip Glass - The Poet Acts (The Hours 2002)
• 42:00    Richard Thompson - Main Title Revisited (Grizzly Man 2005)
• 45:42    Javier Navarrette  - Lullaby (Pan's Labyrinth 2006)
• 47:20    Alexandre Desplat - Death Convoy (The Painted Veil 2006)
• 50:00    Alexandre Desplat - Kitty's Theme (The Painted Veil 2006)
• 53:00    Clint Mansell - Xibalba (The Fountain 2006)
• 58:09    end

 

Keeping Time in the Golden Hour

 

 

I'm in the process of making lists of my top 5 instrumental albums for each year from 1970 to the present. Yeah, it's going take a while. So I was digging around in my music hard drive looking for music that would fit those lists and I stumbled upon the track Tulpa Ovi by Robag Wruhme. I immediately loved the feel of tune and knew I needed it in a mix.

 

The cut has a feeling of motion similar to others I've used in train themed mixes. But it was more gentle, almost wistful. It made me think of traveling during sunset or the golden hour. Hence the title "Keeping Time in the Golden Hour."

 

From there I collected tracks, new and old, with a similar vibe. In addition to the cut by Robag Wruhme my other favorites in this mix are "St. Catherine and the Calm" by Francis Harris and "Ankeney, Iowa" by Tiki Obmar. I like all the tracks in this mix but those two really get me.

 

Normally I'd say this would be a perfect mix for traveling during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday but it's 2020 so stay home. Put this mix on and do some virtual traveling.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

T R A C K L I S T I N G :

• 00:00    Francis Harris - St. Catherine and the Calm (Trivial Occupations 2018)
• 08:25    Robag Wruhme - Tulpa Ovi (Thora Vukk 2011)
• 10:42    Night Sea - Cherry (Still 2020)
• 16:18    Tiki Obmar - Ankeney, Iowa (High School Confidential 2003)
• 28:18    Ghosting Season - Through Your Teeth ( The Very Last Of The Saints 2012)
• 32:43    Saphileaum - Soft Warming (In Distant Terra 2020)
• 37:37    Sven Laux - Grass-Covered Plain (We Were Here 2013)
• 46:08    Halftribe & Spinnet - Mr & Mrs Everywhere (Patterns of Sync 2020)
• 53:14    Robag Wruhme - Prognosen Bomm (Thora Vukk 2011)
• 56:25    vau - Nightfall (ways of stillness 2018)
• 63:43    end