low light mixes

Folding Water - Fourth World Excursions

   

In the distance

A lost, forgotten bell sings

beyond the water

 

This is a set of music that adhere's to Jon Hassell's idea of a musical aesthetic that is "a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques."

 

You'll find some drums, bells, gamelan, vibraphone and other mallet instruments as well as a healthy dose of field recordings. Hopefully the mix will make you feel like you're floating in a small, wooden boat anchored in an Indonesian bay.

 

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T : 

• 00:00    Third Coast Percussion - Paddle to the Sea - Sanctuary
• 03:15    Andrew Pekler - Bororo
• 04:33    Jan Schulte - Klang Fangt An
• 06:05    William Selman - Thick Description
• 09:15    Jon Hassell - Empire I
• 10:25    Jon Hassell - Malay
• 13:00    Vieo Abiungo - Barges Bellow Their Foul Air(Sven Kacirek remix)
• 16:20    Abby Lee Tee - Riverside Burrows Pt. 2
• 18:25    Arp - Folding Water
• 22:10    O Yuki Conjugate - Cloud Cover
• 25:10    Andrew Pekler - Humidity Index / Khao Sok (Chopped and Screwed)
• 27:30    William Selman - The Island Before the Internet
• 31:35    Laraaji - Enthusiasm
• 33:45    Abby Lee Tee - Riverside Burrows Pt. 1
• 34:30    David Edren - Baulungan
• 36:25    Third Coast Percussion - Paddle to the Sea - The Lighthouse and Cabin
• 38:00    DR - IV
• 39:10    Michael Emenau - Waterphone
• 44:10    Jon Hassell - Miracle Steps
• 47:45    Andrew Pekler - Mirror Structures(Mirrored)
• 50:00    David Cunningham - Blue River
• 53:05    Nao Otsuka - Clock Chimes
• 56:15    Abby Lee Tee - Riverside Burrows Pt. 2
• 58:52    end

 

 

 

 

Harold & Durango Budd

 

A few months ago when I reached out to a few folks to create guest mixes, one of the first people I contacted was Matt Borghi. I've been listening to Matt's music for a long time and with him running the Ambient Soundbath Podcast it would be a perfect fit.

 

I absolutely adore the mix he has come up with as Harold Budd is one of my all-time favs as well.

 

I'll let Matt tell you about the mix:

 

I was very pleased when Dave invited me to submit a guest mix to the Low Light Mixes. Dave's mixes are as diverse as they are interesting and they're always chill with good vibes. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what I might contribute that could hang with so many great mixes. I have a certain thing I do with the Ambient Soundbath Podcast, but the Low Light Mixes are more all-encompassing. 

 

After a couple months of deliberation, I decided that I would feature the work of my favorite composer, Harold Budd and newcomer, Durango Budd. Harold Budd's fantastic catalog of work very much informs the work of Durango Budd (https://durangobudd.bandcamp.com), and both of these artists have the piano at the center of most of their creative pursuits. Harold Budd has a well-publicized and longstanding love/hate relationship with the piano, yet he manages to coax such beautiful music out of a wood box filled with felt-tipped hammers and strings. Durango Budd, similarly, takes the same instrument and through experimentation and synthesis manages to coax out equally beautiful, distressed tones that evoke melancholic nostalgia (as Mike Carss, the artist known as Altus, put it - https://www.altusmusic.ca/).

 

In any case, many thanks to Dave for letting me do this mix and I hope that folks enjoy what I've put together. 

 

Thank you and enjoy.

 

-Matt Borghi

www.ambientsoundbath.com

www.mattborghi.com

 

 

Thanks Matt! I recommend both his music and his podcast - check them out.

 

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

⦁ 00:00 – 06:00 - The Child with a Lion – Harold Budd – The White Arcades

⦁ 06:00 – 09:30 - Piano Drone 4 – Durango Budd – Drones for Prepared and Synthesized Piano

⦁ 09:30 – 12:30 - A Child in a Sylvan Field – Harold Budd – By the Dawn’s Early Light

⦁ 12:30 – 31:00 - Bismillahi’ Rrahman Rrahim – Harold Budd – The Pavilion of Dreams

⦁ 31:00 – 33:00 - Piano Drone 5 – Durango Budd – Drones for Prepared and Synthesized Piano

⦁ 33:00 – 39:00 - The Room of Ancillary Dreams – Harold Budd – The Room

⦁ 39:00 – 46:30 - Piano Synthesis Drone 3 – Durango Budd – Drones for Prepared and Synthesized Piano

⦁ 46:30 – 59:00 - Agua – Harold Budd - Agua

⦁ 59:00 – 61:30 - Piano Drone 1 – Durango Budd – Drones for Prepared and Synthesized Piano

 

 

 

 

Guitarissimo #2 - In a Languid Mood

 

I've been planning on doing a follow up to Guitarisimo, a mix from April of 2017. When several albums from 2018 fit the sound I knew I had to do the mix now.

 

The album that got me started is "Con Todo El Mundo" by Khruangbin. It's one of my favorite records this year. Entirely guitar-based it's sound include surf music, Latin, Thai & Indian music. I highly recommend it.

 

https://khruangbin.bandcamp.com/album/con-todo-el-mundo-n-s-america-edition

 

Most of this mix sounds like it grew from that album with a few ambient sidetracks. This is a nice follow up to the Warming Trend mix post a couple of weeks ago because this music sounds like it should be listened to in hot weather. Grab an El Diablo or a Chalino Special and enjoy.

 

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Opez - Carlos Primero(2015)
• 03:00    Dans Dans - Zephyr(2014)
• 07:05    Youth - Lotus Rhubarb (Colliding Sky Whale Dub)(2018)
• 08:47    Fleetwood Mac - Albatross(1975)
• 11:50    Dead Combo - In A Mellotron(2018)
• 16:00    David Byrne & Brian Eno - Solo Guitar with Tin Foil(1981)
• 17:05    Alexandre Desplat - Les Paris(2012)
• 18:05    Dan Phelps - Cumulonimbus(2011)
• 21:50    Khruangbin - Como Te Quiero(2018)
• 25:46    Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos - Aurora en Pekhn(1998)
• 31:08    Ozgur Yilmaz - Karincalar(2016)
• 33:49    Ezra Feinberg - Experinece Near(2018)
• 39:52    Seabuckthorn - Inner(2018)
• 43:00    Calexico - Longboard(2018)
• 45:50    Paul White - Returning(2018)
• 50:05    Dans Dans - Au Hasard(2013)
• 54:35    The National Pool - Solace(2018)
• 56:40    Slow Clinic - Salt(2018)
• 58:55    Chequerboard - A Field of Night(2013)
• 64:35    Ruven Nunez - Evening Song(2017)
• 78:08    end

 

 

 

Warming Trend

 

As I have said about 8 million times before, many mixes start with a single track. In this case it was the rediscovery of the track "Warming Trend" by Adam Pacione. It's a gentle, droning track that reminds me of Eno's Discreet Music.

 

I knew I wanted to use the tune in a mix and then realized that the track name would make a good title for a mix. From there I went in search of cuts that made me think of rising temps as we move from spring to summer. 

 

So a natural first selection would be "For the Summer, Or Forever" from Halftribe's excellent new album. Most of the tunes are new, predominantly from 2017 & 2018. And they all have a lazy, slow feel that works well with the title.

 

Grab a cool drink(personal fav would be a tequilla mule) and hang out with this new mix.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Halftribe - For the Summer, Or Forever(2018)
• 03:46    36 - Ego Death(2018)
• 09:19    Off Land - Off Spring(2018)
• 13:24    Adam Pacione - Warming Trend(2007)
• 15:40    The Green Kingdom - Photic Zone(2018)
• 22:39    Segue - Westcoast Trail(2013)
• 27:20    Sawako - jupiter c.cloud(2018)
• 31:00    Moss Covered Technology - Sea #4(2018)
• 40:42    Tonepoet - Cosmic Blue(2018)
• 47:07    Christopher Willits - Return(2017)
• 52:40    Snufmumriko - Still Early Days(2017)
• 58:15    Valotihkuu - The Wind Caresses the Treetops(2017)
• 62:33    end

 

 

 

 

 

Mixcloud Online Radio Awards

 

 

Low Light Mixes has been nominated for "Best Online Music Show - Ambient/Chillout" by Mixcloud. Woo Hoo!

 

I make these mixes for my own amusement so when recognition like this comes along it's icing on the ambient cake. Judges will be listening to the nominees and making a decision. 

 

There is also a Listeners Choice award as well and that's where you come in.  Please click on the link below and vote for Low Light Mixes.

 

http://www.mora.fm/nominee/low-light-mixes/

 

The other nominees are excellent!  Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Tonepoet? Yikes, that's some very tough competition.

 

Voting closes at 23:59:59 on Sunday May 20th.

 

Thanks to everyone for your support over the years and thanks for listening.

 

Cheers!

 

 

these delicate sounds

As so often happens with these mixes, there was a specific event that gave birth to this collection of tunes.

On Mixcloud a listener asked if I could help identify a piece of music from a defunct website. The tune is looping electro/acoustic music of the type that came out of Japan 10 or more years ago.

I found the track and it's lovely. It's Walden Dos by .tape.(yes, there is a . before and after the word tape). I haven't listened to this type of music in a long time.  It's a mix of acoustic instruments with bleeps and blops, small melodies, cheap keyboards and lots of little noises. It's related to glitch music but more pretty. I eventually grew tired of it's preciousness and it's oh so twee sounds.

But when I heard this song by .tape. I immediately knew I needed to revisit some of these tunes and make a mix. It was great to immerse myself in these micro sounds for a couple weeks. I'm not sure if this style will be a part of my regular listening habits but in small(micro?) doses these tunes can be very soothing.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    .tape. - walden dos(2005)
• 03:27    Marcus Fischer - Strand(2017)
• 08:55    The Boats - The Fell In The River(2017)
• 11:05    Music A.M. - Saturday(2005)
• 13:55    Aero - Float(2003)
• 14:45    Aus - apt(2007)
• 19:04    Carpet Musics - Air(2001)
• 21:50    Takahiro Kido - poco!(2008)
• 26:50    Fenton - Neon Giraffe(2005)
• 31:20    Lullatone - Puddies on the Plyground(2004)
• 34:16    Brael and Tokyo Bloodworm - Magic Wand(2008)
• 39:33    The Boats - Shlom, Sonia and Coner(2017)
• 40:20    Illuha - Guuzai(2011)
• 47:03    Montag - Motif(2005)
• 48:00    Marow - Eis(2011)
• 51:00    Planivaar - Adrift(2007)
• 60:00    end

 

 

 

 

Sunday Morning Music vol. 16 - Daybreak

 

 

Here's the first Sunday Morning Music mix of 2018.

 

Most of the music is new. All of the tracks were released in 2018 with the exception of "To Earth" by Ariwo from 2017 and "Jade Visions" by Bill Evans from 1961. There are no vocal tunes in this mix, which wasn't on purpose, it just sort of works out that way sometimes.

 

Many thanks to the artists and labels for the excellent music that appears in this mix. To name just a few...

 

Thanks to Bob Duskis at Six Degrees Records and Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society for the Cloudface Remixes:

https://deliaderbyshireappreciationsociety.bandcamp.com/album/cloudface-remixes

https://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/

 

Thanks to Michael Cottone, aka The Green Kingdom, for the heads up on the new ep "Depths."

https://thegreenkingdom.bandcamp.com/album/depths-ep

 

Thanks to Ryan at Lost Tribe Sound for the sneak peaks of two fantastic albums being released soon, 

"Sleep Stations" by From The Mouth Of The Sun and "Black Box Animals" by Luton.

https://ftmots.bandcamp.com/album/sleep-stations

https://luton.bandcamp.com/album/black-box-animals-2

 

Thanks also to Harry Towell over at Whitelabrecs for pointing me in the direction of the new Paper Relics album, "The Road Home."

https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/the-road-home

 

And finally thanks to my online friend Thomas Lindsey, aka Tonepoet, for another fine album, "Ocean of Infinity."

https://tonepoet.bandcamp.com/album/ocean-of-infinity

 

I love all the connections, online and in the real world, brought about by our mutual love for music. Thanks for all the great tunes over the years!

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

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

 

• 00:00    Albrecht La'Brooy - Daybreak
• 04:55    Gigi Masin - Morning Light
• 09:24    Anenon - Open
• 12:15    Henri Texier - Quand tout s'arrete
• 17:48    Joachim Staudt - Mother Earth
• 19:05    Ariwo - To Earth
• 27:40    Christian Kleine - Sun Star
• 30:52    Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - Cloudface
• 34:42    The Green Kingdom - Velvet Wavescape
• 37:03    Luton - Archipelago
• 41:00    Paper Relics - Stoke's Hall
• 45:05    From The Mouth Of The Sun - About the Birth of Stars
• 46:30    Tonepoet - The Birth of Gravity
• 49:00    Christina Vantzou - At Dawn
• 51:25    Ian Hawgood & Danny Norbury - V
• 56:30    Bill Evans - Jade Visions
• 59:51    end

 

 

 

 

Slow Motion Universe

 

Somewhere out there in the Multiverse, there is another universe just like ours except that everything runs much slower. With a DIY quantum tunneling device in my studio I've been able to bring over a few pieces of music from this other reality.

 

I'm sure many folks have heard the tracks "Justin Bieber slowed down 800%" or "Windows startup sound slowed down 2000%."  Those slowed down cuts(and Bieber) come from that alternate universe.

 

I've used tracks from that other cosmos in a few mixes and used them to remix tracks in many mixes over the years. A previous mix used all slowed down tracks.  You find that mix here...

 

http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2012/11/s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d-beyond-recognition.html

 

This new mix is all stretched/slowed tunes as well. There are some pretty recognizable tracks in the mix. Or at least they were recognizable in our universe. Actually most are still familiar if not immediately recognizable.

 

According to my brother from another mother in the other universe, our sped up music doesn't work quite as well in their ambient mixes. Although if you play Hall & Oates "Kiss on My List" at 45rpm instead of 33rpm you get a nice little dance tune out it. Don't ask how I know that. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this mix from an alternate slow version of our universe.

 

Cheers!

 

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Aphex Twin - Lichen 300% slower mixed with 800% slower
• 07:30    Vangelis - Fading Away(Blade Runner) 800% slower
• 15:30    Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians Section 1 800% slower
• 25:18    Ryuichi Sakamoto - Revenant Main Theme 600% slower & edited
• 34:15    Johann Johannsson - Kangaru(Arrival) 800% slower
• 42:55    Brian Eno - An Ending(Ascent) reversed half speed mixed with 800% slower
• 49:00    Aphex Twin - Rhubarb 800% slower
• 60:00    end

 

 

 

 

 

 

Piano Day 2018

It's the 88th day of the year so that means it's Piano Day(88 keys on a piano)!

There's actually not much to say about the mix other than it contains some excellent piano music. Most of the tracks are fairly new with many being from 2017 & 2018. There's so much piano based music out there to choose from it's a bit overwhelming when first starting the mix. But as so often happens, once I start with a track or two the rest flows from there.  I think the tunes fit pretty well together & I like how it turned out.

Don't forget to visit the piano day website - http://www.pianoday.org/ -  where you can play around with the awesome random piano sounds app. Just click on the flip cards for your own cool, ambient piano tune.

Happy PNO Day!

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Nicholas Britell - Little's Theme(2016)
• 00:45    Gigi Masin - The Word Love(2014)
• 07:14    Rafael Anton Irisarri - Für Alina(2009)
• 11:28    Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm - 20:17(2015)
• 16:25    Bing & Ruth - To All It(2017)
• 21:30    Hans-Joachim Roedelius & Arnold Kasar - Rolling(2017)
• 24:51    Jame Maloney - Blink(2017)
• 30:18    The Prairie Lines - Calm Landing(2017)
• 34:25    Max Richter - The Lord's Rough Ways(2018)
• 37:07    Taylor Deupree - Unearth(2018)
• 42:32    Alejandro Bento - Tonal(2017)
• 43:44    Kai Schumacher - The Fool(2017)
• 47:20    Panoptique Electrical - In Between Buildings(2017)
• 56:05    Just A Human - Johann Piano 1(2018)
• 57:56    Christian Loffler - Pigment(2016)
• 60:14    end

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apollo Vermouth

When researching artists or labels that might be interested in doing a guest mix I came across a label that is based very close to me here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I'd never really thought that there might be an ambient community here. 

I decided to do a search for "ambient" and "Milwaukee." And what do ya know, I got an interesting result right away. In an article about the essential Milwaukee albums of 2017 was a blurb about Apollo Vermouth and her album "Crashing into Nowhere." I immediately headed over to Bandcamp and was so excited to find that it's an excellent album.

 

https://apollovermouth.bandcamp.com/

 

Apollo Vermouth is Alisa Rodriguez, based right here in Milwaukee. So I asked her to do a mix and she was nice enough to curate some tunes.  Here's what she had to say about these tracks:

"This mix is a collection of ambient tracks that have hit me in a certain way. It’s hard for me to put into words of what they mean to me. I spend a lot of time by myself, always looking for something that makes me feel less lonely. Somehow, these tracks sort of saved my sanity. It’s funny how music can be like your best friend. They’ll never leave you in the dust."

That pretty much describes my relationship with ambient music too.  Go visit her page, buy some music and listen to this mix.

Cheers!




T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Gas - Narkopop 1 
• 04:20    Belong - Late Night 
• 07:35    Steve Roach - Left Perfectly Alone 
• 09:30    Grouper - She Loves Me That Way 
• 17:34    Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Appearances 
• 20:22    Harold Budd and Brian Eno - Among Fields of Crystal 
• 23:27    Wretched Excess - Suburban Decay 
• 26:35    Benoit Pioulard - IV
• 30:15    M. Sage - Gulls Over Landfill Caldera 
• 42:52    Jeffrey Cantu-Ledesma - Blue Nudes 
• 50:05    Boards of Canada - Macquarie Ridge
• 54:42    end