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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world
Episodes
Sunday Apr 24, 2016
Sunday Apr 24, 2016
I had not planned on doing another piano mix so soon after the last one in November 2015. Then Piano Day happened. On March 28th of this year a group founded by Nils Frahm celebrated the piano and everything around it. This was the second year for the event.
In addition to music released for Piano Day and live events, the Piano Day website, pianoday.org, has this awesome random note generator. I highly recommend playing around with it. You can record your noodlings and play it back on the site. It works great with a tablet where you can hit several notes simultaneously.
The website piano player is what got me started on this mix. I made an audio recording of my random notes and then messed with it by mixing it with a backwards version and a slowed down version and adding a bit of reverb. The result is very listenable. Not an exact composition per se with now structure but it works pretty well as an ambient piano track.
That's a long winded way of saying that is where this mix started. Next I stumbled across an amazing recording on SoundCloud here... https://soundcloud.com/hey-exit/every-recording-of-gymnopedie-1
Brendan Landis, recording as Hey Exit, took every recording he could find of Satie's Gymnopedie #1 and played them all at the same time, layered on top of each other, timestretched to the length of the longest recording. The 60 plus recordings combine to create an ethereal, phasing shifting version the famous Gymnopedie #1. I knew immediately that I had to include this in any piano mix.
A couple of quick notes on other tracks...
The mix starts of with Fleeting Smile by Roger Eno. A cut that owes a lot to Satie's Gymnopedies but is still beautiful on it's own. It had been years since I listened to this track and after hearing it again I immediately added to a playlist I have called The Most Beautiful Recordings Ever.
There is another sort of random notes type of piece in the mix and it's from Akria Rabelais. The tracks full name is "Every Tone Is the Prism as Words, Any Unexpected Corners Must Be Slipped Away." It's a 42 minute piece with LOTS of dead air in between notes. I decided to remix it a bit by layering it to eliminate much of the silence. I know this goes totally against the original intent of the track but I was just experimenting with the randomness of rearranging the notes and ended up liking how it sounded.
I hope you enjoy these piano moments. Maybe next year I'll have a piano mix ready on Piano Day. In the meantime go visit the site... pianoday.org
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Roger Eno - Fleeting Smile
- 02:24 Hey Exit - every recording of gymnopedie 1
- 06:50 Hey Exit - every rec of gymnoedie 1 slowly
- 08:23 pianoday.org + Low Light - Piano Day web player remix
- 15:15 Steve Roach & Robert Logan - Moments Notice
- 20:30 Akira Rabelais - every tone is the prism(layered remix)
- 28:30 Harold Budd - Templar
- 37:30 Roedelius - Roedelius plays piano part 11
- 40:05 Nils Frahm - Mi
- 43:54 Unknown - random pno
- 47:27 Mark Lyken & Emma Dove - fishing for rigs pt. 1
- 49:05 Howard Skempton - piano piece 1969
- 50:30 Roedelius - Roedelius plays piano part 1
- 52:33 Chris Walla - Introductions
- 60:14 Hey Exit - every recording of gymnopedie 1 slowly
- 62:20 end
Sunday Mar 06, 2016
Sunday Mar 06, 2016
I believe I have professed my love for ambient guitar in previous posts here. So a mix like this is no surprise. Just as many of the artists collected in this mix are no surprise. Dirk Serries, Scott Solter, David Tagg, Windy & Carl, Kyle Bobby Dunn, Fripp & Eno - these are all artists that have appeared in many of my mixes over the years.
The music here is fairly straightforward - ambient tunes where the guitar is the most prominent instrument. Some of the cuts are beautiful, others a bit darker, but all will easily transport the listener to a favorite meditative place.
Enjoy
- 00:00 Tonepoet - Headspace
- 07:00 Chas Smith - False Clarity
- 10:50 A Lily - Hunter and Sky
- 13:45 David Tollefson - Pattern of Islands
- 16:45 Jasper Tx - Embers
- 21:10 Fripp and Eno - Heavenly Music Corp(half speed)
- 26:20 Dirk Serries - The Lament Broke
- 36:40 Kyle Bobby Dunn - The Hungover
- 46:25 Robin Guthrie - Misty
- 49:45 Matt Borghi - The Elysian Plain
- 54:27 Sleep Robot - Prayer Wheel
- 1:00:37 Windy and Carl - Ode to a Dog
- 1:04:50 Gareth Hardwick - Five Points
- 1:14:14 David Tagg - Wolf Suite III
- 1:17:55 Hakobune - A Distant Loss
- 1:24:10 Shaula - Sea of Trees
- 1:27:27 Manual - Always Alone
- 1:33:36 Brian Siskind - Graham Bell
- 1:38:00 Koda - Moment on the South Shore
- 1:42:10 Scott Solter - The Palace Wedding
- 1:46:10 Dirk Serries - Radiant Down
- 1:54:36 end
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
As with so many of these mixes this one grew out of one particular recording. In this case it was The Revenant soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto with Alva Noto. It's an absolutely gorgeous film score and I knew I needed to build a mix around it.
This mix, as the title suggests, is fairly atmospheric in feel and sound. The tracks used are a combo of newer recordings & old ones too, with The Revenant making three appearances. That soundtrack is definitely going to be on my best of list at the end of 2016.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto - The Revenant Theme(Noto remodel)
- 03:44 Johann Johannsson - Desert Music(Sicario)
- 07:50 Tindersticks - Night Time Cigarettes(Les Salauds)
- 09:50 Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow - Ava(Ex Machina)
- 11:10 Cliff Martinez - Sonia(The Knick season 2)
- 11:43 Cliff Martinez - and we're here to listen(Traffic)
- 13:26 Underworld - Corazon finds the seeding(Sunshine)
- 14:12 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Teacher's Farewell(Loin Des Hommes)
- 15:58 Arcade Fire - Loneliness #3(Her)
- 19:10 Nils Frahm - Our Own Roof(Victoria)
- 24:12 Jon Hopkins - Lost Map(How I live Now)
- 25:50 Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Revenant Theme Atmospheric
- 28:23 Harold Budd - Mysterious Skin(Mysterious Skin)
- 30:35 Cliff Martinez - Speight Lived Here(The Knick season 2)
- 32:00 Calexico - el escape del circo(Circo)
- 33:10 Max Richter - Shadow Journal(Waltz With Bachir)
- 37:27 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Out of Horse(The Revenant)
- 40:15 Peter Gabriel - On The Map(Rabbit Proof Fence)
- 41:00 Cliff Martinez - Wrong Floor(Drive)
- 42:00 Ennio Morricone - Neve(Hateful 8)
- 43:36 Ólafur Arnalds - Before The Calm(Another Happy Day)
- 44:44 Clint Mansell - Summer Ghosts Of Things To(Requiem for a Dream)
- 45:50 Andrey Dergatchev - Georgians(The Return)
- 48:00 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Dead Horse(Loin Des Hommes)
- 50:45 Johann Johannsson - The Jewish Cemetery on Moellegrade(Copenhagen Dreams)
- 52:54 Arcade Fire - We're All Leaving(Her)
- 55:26 end
Sunday Jan 10, 2016
Sunday Jan 10, 2016
I've done many "sea" mixes over the years and I keep coming back to them because ambient music perfectly captures the impression of an undulating a sea or ocean.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Rafael Anton Irisarri - Displacement
- 03:52 Loscil - Angel of List
- 10:00 Kane Ikin - Slow Waves
- 13:30 Budd & Eno - An Echo of Night
- 15:20 Diatonis - Moving in Silence
- 19:54 Wave Temples - Under the Crystal Waters
- 20:25 Wave Temples - Thru the narrow strait...
- 21:45 Benoit Pioulard - Stanza II, IX
- 26:36 Spheruleus - Clouds Swarm
- 30:37 Purl - Havets Sång
- 36:50 pjusk & sleep orchestra - Daithn
- 41:12 Intrusion - Under the Ocean
- 44:50 Porya Hatami - Farewell
- 52:25 Pan & Me - The Sea Is So Quiet
- 59:00 Stefan Paulus - Salt Sea Island
- 63:24 end
Sunday Dec 27, 2015
Sunday Dec 27, 2015
This collection isn't necessarily a "best of 2015" , it's just some of my favorite jazz tunes from the past year.
It begins with one of my favorite albums of the year in any genre - The Thompson fields by The Maria Schneider Orchestra. The title track is remarkable. The Jaga Jazzist album was a big surprise for me. I've listen to them on and off for years but had lost interest for some reason. The track in this mix is strange, futuristic electronic/jazz cut that I have listened to a ton this year. The other two great discoveries were albums from Kamasi Washington and Kendrick Scott Oracle, definitely worth checking out.
Is there any jazz out there that really engaged you in 2015? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Maria Schneider Orchestra - The Thompson Fields
- 09:50 Jaga Jazzist - Oban
- 15:12 Kamasi Washington - The Magnificent 7
- 20:57 Andy Sheppard - Tipping Point
- 26:37 Kendrick Scott Oracle - we are the drum
- 32:00 food - this is not a miracle
- 36:00 Hidden Orchestra - the Revival
- 39:50 Chris Potter Underground Orchestra - Imaginary Cities(part 2)
- 48:12 Jakob Bro - Copenhagen
- 52:24 Giovanni Guidi Trio - The might it rained forever
- 59:10 Vijay Iyer Trio - Geese
- 63:45 Ben Monder - Zythum
- 70:10 Maria Schneider Orchestra - Walking by Flashlight
- 75:10 end
Saturday Dec 19, 2015
Saturday Dec 19, 2015
These year end lists are always difficult. But at least the top 3 spots this year were easy selections -
Alva Noto - Xerrox, Vol. 3
Max Richter - Sleep
Chris Walla - Tape Loops
- 00:00 Alva Noto - Isola from Xerrox, Vol. 3
- 07:20 Max Richter - Return 2 from Sleep
- 12:35 Chris Walla - Kanta's Theme from Tape Loops
- 17:05 Benoit Pioulard - Shut-ins on Sunday from Sonnet
- 19:20 36 - Sunriders part 2 from Sine Dust
- 23:40 Olan Mill - Live at the Millenium Barn from Cavade Morlem
- 29:00 Mikael Delta & Hior Chronik - How to Define Existence from The First Ray
- 33:00 Bersarin Quartett - Bedingungslos from III
- 36:06 Contact - Brian Eno: Discreet Music
- 44:22 Marconi Union - Aftermath from Departures
- 48:40 Spheruleus - The Railroad from Chronota
- 55:05 Goldmund - Turncoat from Sometimes
- 57:57 Nils Frahm - Merry from Solo
- 61:45 Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie - The endless battle of the maudlin ballade part 2 from Travels in Constants Vo. 24
- 64:40 Horizon Fire - Earthlight from Earthlight
- 67:26 end
Sunday Dec 06, 2015
Sunday Dec 06, 2015
As with all mixes this one had a specific starting point or inspiration - the incredible new album from Max Richter - Sleep. It's 8 hours long! 8 hours! Here's a link to purchase the full version...
http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/us/cat/4795267
I'm a sucker for high concept projects so I was interested from the start. Add that to the fact that I am a fan of Richter's music and I knew I'd probably love it. And yup, I do. It's the perfect combination of Richter's classical style with an ambient sensibility.
I knew I had to make a mix with tracks from the Sleep album. I decided to keep the whole mix in the classical realm. A lot of the tunes are new like the Besarin Quartet stuff. Some cuts I've been waiting to use for awhile now, like the John Luther Adams cut.
As much as I like the Max Richter tracks I think my favorite track in the mix is Pie Jesu. The cut is from The Wine of Silence by Andrew Keeling, David Singleton and Robert Fripp. The music is based on Fripp's soundscape series, guitar improvisations that use tape loops and echo and reverb. From there Keeling and Singleton scored the soundscapes for orchestra. They finally subjected the orchestral recording to further electronic manipulation. The result is transcendent. It's a beautiful, beautiful album.
The title of the mix comes from a favorite Andrew Bird song, Night Sky, and I thought it fit somehow. I really like the way each piece dissolves into the next on this mix. I hope you like it too.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T
- 00:00 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Farwell at Tinguit
- 02:15 Max Richter - Patterns(cypher)
- 05:55 David Wingo - Opening(Take Shelter ost)
- 6:55 John Luther Adams - The Light that Fills the World
- 11:20 Bersarin Quartet - die nachte sind erfullt...
- 15:50 Brambles - Such Owls as You
- 20:25 Monty Adkins - Sendai Threnody
- 22:35 Robert Fripp, Andrew Keeling, David Singleton - Pie Jesu
- 29:40 Max Richter - Nor Earth, Nor Boundless Sea
- 37:10 Olan Mill - Tallole
- 40:35 Aphex Twin - Rhubarb orc. 19.53 rev
- 46:40 Keaton Henson - Elevator Song
- 49:45 Bersarin Quartet - verflossen ist das gold der tage
- 53:00 Islands of Light - Gypta
- 56:14 end
Saturday Nov 21, 2015
Saturday Nov 21, 2015
After the attacks in Paris on November 13th, NPR music did a show about music for healing. You can find it here... http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/11/17/456343231/music-for-healing
Two cuts on their playlist are from two of my favorite albums this year, Goldmund - Sometimes and Nils Frahm - Solo.
As I listened to those two tracks over & over I started to think about the piano as a healing instrument. The right song & circumstances can make just about any instrument a healing instrument. But somehow the piano seems ideally suited for that role.
Most of the tunes used here are new. In addition to the Goldmund & Frahm cuts another 2015 favorite album included in the mix is Chris Walla - Tape Loops. Walla is the drummer for Death Cab for Cutie and he has put together a nice collection that reminds me of Music for Airports & Music for Films.
I hope this mix can act as a musical balm, soothing our psyches in these turbulent times.
Enjoy.
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Goldmund - Sometimes
- 02:40 Chris Walla - Goodbye
- 08:00 Nils Frahm - Ode
- 12:10 Hior Chronik & Mikael Delta - Everything We Want to Feel
- 15:00 Max Richter - Cumulonimbus
- 20:20 Moon ate the dark - If Vanishing
- 24:25 Ocean in a Bottle - Circling Winter
- 25:50 Eskmo - Tamara
- 27:48 Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts II
- 30:55 Nils Frahm - 4'33"
- 32:40 Mette Henriette - .oOo.
- 35:55 Aphex Twin - Aisatsana
- 40:55 Chris Walla - flytoget
- 49:28 A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atmos III
- 53:27 Stars of the Lid - Humectez La Mouture
- 57:45 Nils Frahm - merry
- 61:45 end
Saturday Nov 14, 2015
Saturday Nov 14, 2015
A slowly developing amalgamation of mixed-genre madness, fusing ambient, experimental & jazz soundscapes into a mixture of quiet deconstruction.
"Slow Decay" is a collaborative mix from Low Light Mixes & Ambient Landscape. We've each done mixes for each other but we thought it would be cool make a mix in which we both contributed alternating sections.
Gene(ambient landscape) came up with the title and I started things off with a couple of cuts. I sent it to Gene, he added a few more, sent it back to me, I added more tracks and so on and so on. Until we had a fascinating 1 hour & 16 minute journey.
I love how things turned out. The combination of ecm-style jazz and ambient and experimental music worked perfectly.
Don't forget to check out Ambient Landscape here...
https://ambientlandscape.wordpress.com/
https://www.mixcloud.com/gab_labs/
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 Signal Structure (w/treatments) - Positive Centre
- 03:12 Upon Contact Reworked - Jorge Haro (Bruno Sanfilippo)
- 07:10 The Squealing of Rats & the Squeaking of Boards - Marielle V Jakobsons (w/treatments)
- 08:45 Parallel Realities (excerpt) - Jack DeJohnette, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock
- 11:40 Dis Loops 1.1 - William Basinski - performed by The Wordless Music Orchestra
- 21:40 Upon the Break Arch - Benoit Pioulard
- 26:20 Structural Functions Of Prezens (excerpt) - David Torn, Tim Berne, Craig Taborn, Tom Rainey
- 30:25 Sluimer (excerpt) - FANTOOM (René Aquarius, Otto Kokke, Dirk Serries, Martina Verhoeven)
- 34:50 Passage D.E. - Jon Hassell
- 39:10 Solphaer - Alva Noto
- 44:05 Porch Swings - Cinchel
- 45:55 Arder De No Sentir Calor - Mauro Beltran
- 50:27 Night Peculiarities – Johan Troch
- 53:19 Tunis at Dawn - Anouar Brahem
- 59:44 Rosemarie - Trio3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille w/ Vijay Iyer
- 66:04 Setting Out - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
- 67:50 The Wind in High Places: Above Sunset Pass - John Luther Adams
- 70:45 Tipping Point - Andy Sheppard Quartet
- 76:15 end
Wednesday Oct 14, 2015
Wednesday Oct 14, 2015
My good friend, Gene over at Ambient Landscape, asked me to do a guest mix for him and this mix is the result. Ambient Landscape is a great source of ambient info and mixes.
What got me started on this mix was an interesting video I found on YouTube by Wouter van Veldhoven called "two sad tape recorders." It's basically two portable reel to reel tape machines each playing their loops at the same time. Here's the video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvvFdhNiMwM
The sound of those two sad tape recorders reminded me of mixes I've done that combine very old recordings with new music that blends well with those scratchy, noisy old records. That's where this mix began and from there I went in search of old cylinder recordings, which have gotten easier to find since my first mix with this theme back in 2008.
The vintage cuts that I used in the mix come from Edison cylinders recorded around 1906 to 1908. Most of the old tracks are effected in some way. Sometimes I slowed the original way down, other times echo and reverb were added. For many of them the original is combined with the effected version to create some bizarre other-worldly sound.
The new music in the mix is a collection of stuff that seems to work well with this theme. Gavin Byars "Sinking of the Titanic" works on two levels - sonically is blends well with the tracks around it and it's about the sinking which took place in 1912.
When thinking about music that uses cracking, scratchy noises I immediately thought of Harry Towell aka Spheruleus. And wouldn't you know it, Harry just released an album entitled "William Barber" that makes use of a wax cylinder recording from 1906 as it's inspiration and sound source. It's a wonderful album. You can find it here...
https://spheruleus.bandcamp.com/album/william-barber
It's remarkable how much excellent music Harry has put out over the years. Check out his music and his labels...
http://tessellate-recordings.com/releases/
https://audiogourmet.bandcamp.com/
I think the mix does a pretty good job of mashing up the old and the new.
Enjoy
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 various - vintage recording montage
- 01:01 The Edison Venetian Trio - Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still 1908
- 01:55 The Edison Venetian Trio - Her Bright Smile(stretched and remixed)
- 03:50 Gavin Byars - The Sinking of the Titanic(2007 version w/ Alter Ego and Philip Jeck)
- 06:00 Gavin Byars - The Sinking of the Titanic(1994 version)
- 10:20 William Basinski - Cascade
- 15:45 Wouter van Veldhoven - two sad tape recorders(original and stretched played together)
- 18:27 Ian William Craig - Second Lens
- 20:50 unknown - 13_360º
- 23:00 Otto A Totland - pinô
- 25:22 Guy Gelem - Jerusalem
- 28:05 Hans Kronold - The Swan 1906(reworked)
- 30:00 Field Rotation - Zeitreise(remixed by the frozen vaults)
- 35:20 Spheruleus and Friends - To Us Thy Memory Can Never Be Lost
- 37:20 Octavio Yanez - Anita 1907(reworked)
- 42:05 Bill Seaman and John Supko - The Hiding Place
- 43:50 Hildur Gudnadottir - Birting
- 46:05 The Frozen Vaults - Cloak of Lingering Fog
- 48:30 unknown - flute and violin phrase slowed down 20x
- 49:49 Spheruleus and Friends - All Good Things Come From Above
- 50:55 Bill Seaman and John Supko - And the Ice Appeared Blue
- 53:15 Hans Kronold - Chopin Nocturne 1907
- 53:45 Gavin Byars - The Sinking of the Titanic
- 57:50 end