low light mixes

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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world

Episodes

Wednesday Jun 07, 2023

Fresh Ambient June 2023

Wednesday Jun 07, 2023

The theme for this mix is simple - a collection of new ambient tracks, most released within the last couple of months. Sometimes after posting a lot of theme mixes or guest mixes I need to crank out a set that is just straightforward ambient. Nothing fancy, just beautiful, drifting music to ease the mind.

Here are some links to the music used in this mix:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Laraaji & Kramer - Immersion (Baptismal 2023)
06:00 Between - Back (Low Flying Owls 2023)
11:10 William Selman - Leaky Paradise (The Weather Indoors 2023)
14:28 Civic Hall aka Euan McMeeken & Craig Tattersall - Excerpt I (Maps To Where The Poison Grows 2023)
19:15 Sebby Kowal - Sakura Schoolyard (There Is Light 2023)
22:36 Michael Scott Dawson - Notes On Longing (Find Yourself Lost 2023)
25:50 Alva Noto - Die Undergründigen - Redux (Kinder der Sonne(From "Komplizen") 2023)
29:55 Sachi Kobayashi - Morning Dew (Melodies in the Garden 2023)
33:40 David Cordero - Middle Distance (Spring Memories 2023)
39:20 blochemy - lane (sen 2023)
44:11 Andy Cartwright - Mended Environment (Below the Noise 2023)
48:05 Kenji Katayose - Aika (Sonoris 2023)
54:18 Inhmost - Eternal (Above The Sky 2023)
58:52 Maps and Diagrams - Brume (A Study of Ends or Purpose 2023)
64:16 end

Wednesday May 31, 2023

The Lonely Orbit

Wednesday May 31, 2023

A few months ago I stumbled across two tunes called "Lonely Satellite" & "The Lonely Orbit." Those titles intrigued me and I thought they would make a great theme for a mix. I started collecting tracks, not knowing when the mix would come to fruition.

Then this past week I heard the new album from Alva Noto called "Kinder der Sonne (From "Komplizen")" and I knew immediately that I had to make this mix. I could have included 4 or 5 tracks from the Alva Noto album but Mixcloud only allows a maximum of 3 songs from one album. I ended up using two cuts.

As usual the mix leans heavily on new tunes, with 11 of 18 tracks from 2020 - 2023. That includes the two "lonely" cuts that started this whole thing.

Funny side note - there has been a lot construction in my neighborhood lately and as I was putting the mix together I would hear the beeping of a backhoe reversing or some other truck backing up. It got to be annoying because sometimes I couldn't tell if the beeping sounds were from the music or the construction outside. Haha!

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Alexandre Navarro + Letna - Psamathe (Redfish 2013)
03:15 Alva Noto - Kinder der Sonne(Intro) (Kinder der Sonne (From "Komplizen") 2023)
06:15 xu - this illusory continuity (slicing space-time into objects 2022)
07:55 Scanner - Wing Pinger 02 (Wing Pinger 2021)
09:14 Loscil - Estuarine (Endless Fall 2010)
17:10 Lunar Testing Lab - Lunar Radio Control (Space Debris - Space Transmission 2008)
18:17 Hainbach - Izmir (Voice Magnetic 2023)
19:40 Brian Eno - Cavallino (The Shutov Assembly 1992)
22:20 Saros Sky - Lonely Satellite (Ambient Oceania 2021)
25:47 Loscil - Bipolar, Pt. 2 (Lifelike 2019)
28:57 Hans Zimmer - Atmospheric Entry (Interstellar 2014)
30:17 Steven Price - Aurora Borealis (Gravity 2013)
31:22 Alva Noto - Die Untergründigen (Kinder der Sonne (From "Komplizen") 2023)
39:18 Peter Kvidera - Popping (Verism 2022)
44:30 State Azure - Prism (As The Dawn Fades 2023)
50:23 Brian Eno - Kazakhstan 4 (Kazakhstan 2023)
55:12 Aethernal - The Lonely Orbit (Exile 2022)
58:49 arovane - laap (gestalt 2020)
60:30 end

Wednesday May 24, 2023

Between Interval: Instrumental gems (mostly) from 70s rock - by Paul Asbury Seaman

Wednesday May 24, 2023

Two guest mixes in a row - I am a lucky guy! This one comes to us from LLM regular contributor, Paul Asbury Seaman. It's a great collection of instrumental tracks that, as the title says, leans heavily on music from the 70s.

My brain has been stuck in the 70s for a while as I collect tunes for the Electronic Music of the 70s series(1971 is coming soon). So I was excited about the coincidence of Paul coming up with a 70s(mostly) mix. Some tracks I was familiar and others I was hearing for the first time, which is the wonderful thing about these guest mixes - they go in directions that I would not have taken them. This one turns into a great journey of nostalgia and discovery.

Here's what Paul has to say about this mix:

“Something old, something new. Something cheerful, something blue. Some great instrumental tracks that might have slipped between the cracks. So, no “Colour My World.” Yes to Black Sabbath. Plus a couple of mellow vocal numbers, chosen for their melodies that were just too pretty to leave out. The selections here span more than fifty years, though most are from the 1970s.

The title of this mix comes from the working name (one of my all-time favorites) of Swedish ambient electronic artist Stefan Jonsson.”

Thanks, Paul, for another excellent set. Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Agitation Free - First Communication (2nd 1973)
05:57 Jeff Greinke - Losing Time (A Thousand Year Flood 2023)
11:23 Between Interval - Portals in Time (The Edge of a Fairytale 2009)
14:38 Vangelis - Love Theme, Blade Runner (Nocturne: The Piano Album 2019)
20:35 Mike Oldfield - Incantations - part four(excerpt) (Incantations 1978)
24:50 Pierre Moerlen's Gong - Faerie Steps (Time is the Key 1979)
30:10 Moody Blues - Visions of Paradise (In Search Of The Lost Chord 1968))
34:15 Genesis - Horizons (Foxtrot 1972)
35:50 Rick Wakeman - Summertime (Rhapsodies 1979)
40:08 Neal Schon - Midnight Express (Electric World 1997)
45:15 Iron Butterfly - Slower Than Guns (Metamorphosis 1970)
48:53 Black Sabbath - Laguna Sunrise (Vol. 4 1972)
51:37 Ian Anderson - Boris Dancing (The Secret Language Of Birds 2000)
54:40 Pink Floyd - It's What We Do (The Endless River 2014)
59:50 Bill Frisell - Bird On A Wire (Here It Is: A Tribute To Leonard Cohen 2022)
63:35 end

Wednesday May 03, 2023

Remember Tomorrow V2

Wednesday May 03, 2023

This is a repost of an old mix from 2009. The is a retro synth mix with a sort of old space program vibe. I realized that I'd never posted it to Mixcloud so I thought I would haul it out of space dock and update it with a few more cuts added to the end. It's great to hear tracks from Freescha, Lunar Testing Lab, Bochum Welt and others for the first time in a long time.

Enjoy this trip backward and forward in time.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Countdown from "Lunar Adventure in 1985"
00:13 Belbury Poly - Adventures in a Miniature Landscape
02:00 The Units - Cowboy
06:05 Harmonic 33 - Departure Lounge
10:30 Lunar Testing Lab - Lunar Radio control
11:30 EU - New Osc's
13:00 Boards of Canada - Wildlife Analysis
13:50 Freescha - The Sun is Still
16:00 Lunar Testing Lab - Orbiting Lunar Observatory
16:40 TRS-80 - moon Patrol
22:30 David Bowie - V2 Schneider
25:10 Bochum Welt - interlude
28:25 Lunar Testing Lab - Phantom Cosmonaut
30:50 Signaldrift - Children of the 70's
32:20 Harmonic 33 - Planet 54
35:50 Frank Comstock - Music from Outer Space(when you wish upon a star)
37:50 Boards of Canada - Nova Scotia Robots
38:50 Bernard Szajner - A Kind of Freedom
41:30 Talvihorros - A Rural Place
43:35 David Bowie - Weeping Wall
46:20 Michael Garrison - Escape (Music From The 21st Century 1986)
48:42 Iguana Moonlight - V (WIld Palms 2017)
53:06 Stratis - By Water (Soul Jazz Records presents Space, Energy & Light 2017)
58:27 Chris Carter - Moon Two (Chemistry Lessons Volume 1 2018)
60:47 end

Wednesday Apr 26, 2023

The Undersea World of Low Light Mixes

Wednesday Apr 26, 2023

I've done a couple mixes featuring library music from the 70s & 80s that have the vibe of a cheesy deep sea exploration documentary. I've always wanted to do a follow up and here it is.

One of the problems is that I didn't check the tracklist from the last mix and so quite a few tracks from that set made it into this one. When I figured out what had happened, it was too late to change. Well, actually, I was just too lazy to change it. I think about 9 of the 23 tracks in this mix appeared in the last one.

I love the retro vibe of these mixes. Take some old vinyl albums with echoing fender rhodes piano, add some scuba sound fx and a few synths and you've got yourself a 70s soundtrack to the Undersea World of Low Light Mixes.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Eric Vann - Algues Marines (Water World 1982)
01:32 Walt Rockman - Submarine Scenery (Underwater Vol 1 1980)
03:45 Stefano Liberati - Tombala la grande corrente (Pericolo negli abissi 1978)
04:38 Walt Rockman - gas-bubbles (Biology 1980)
05:28 Roger Roger & Nino Nardini - Eery Dream (Informatic 2000 1982)
07:21 Joel Vandroogenbroeck & F. Voelxen - Cascades (Contemporary Pastoral and Ethnic Sounds 1979)
10:03 John Hyde - Curlews (Red Kite 1982)
11:11 John Tender - Underwater Fantasy 1 (Fantasyland Vol. 1 1982)
12:50 Walt Rockman - chromosomes (Biology 1980)
14:42 Tamponi - acque profonde (Ittiologia 1973)
16:07 Amedeo Tommasi - Correnti sottomarine (Biologia marina 1973)
19:08 Mikrokristal - Bubbles (Hidden Way Between Some Rains 2013)
23:52 Georg Deuter - Deep Sea(mysterious - lost - sunken ship) (Soundtrack 1973)
26:15 Atmo - subacquatic (Ittiologia 1973)
28:00 Walt Rockman - dark depth 1 (Underwater Vol 1 1980)
29:31 Teddy Lasry - moins 8000 (+ ou - 8000 1977)
33:33 Franco Tamponi - Profondita (Biologia Marina 1973)
35:55 Jim Harbourg - Harbourg Empathy (Sonoton Soundscapes 1985)
38:23 John Hyde - Underwater (Red Kite 1982)
40:00 Stefano Liberati - La caverna di ghiaccio (Pericolo negli abissi 1978)
41:20 Piero Umiliani - musica delle sfere (Omaggio ad Einstein 1973)
43:10 Raymond Scott - Sleepy Time (Soothing Sounds for Baby, Volume 1 1997)
47:15 Eric Vann - Diving (Water World 1982)
50:37 end

Wednesday Apr 19, 2023

Current Ambient Obsessions

Wednesday Apr 19, 2023

This mix is pretty straightforward - it's a collection of tracks from some of my favorite ambient albums of 2023. The first three tracks are probably my top three albums of the year so far and I expect them to be on my year-end list in December.

There's not much else to say, just sit back and enjoy some excellent ambient music.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Rod Modell & Taka Noda - Untitled 9 (Glow World 2023)
07:03 Brendan Eder Ensemble - Ending(feat. Ethan Haman) (Therapy 2023)
14:55 ARROWOUNDS - Tree of Disciples (In The Octopus Pond 2023)
21:15 Robert Davies - Lakeside Reminiscence (Lakeside Haven 2023)
27:50 Pan•American - Renzo (In Daylight Dub 2023)
37:30 Harry Towell & Pruski - lacustyna (petrologist's lens 2023)
42:30 Tim Hecker - Monotony II (No Highs 2023)
44:44 Max Richter - Tranquility VII & VIII (SLEEP: Tranquility Base 2023)
49:20 36 - Last Wake Dreamout (Dreamloops Suite 2023)
60:00 end

Wednesday Apr 12, 2023

A Decade of Electronic Music - 1970

Wednesday Apr 12, 2023

The Plan - make a mix for every year of the 70s, featuring electronic music from each year. Easy peasy! Well, not exactly. The early years are a bit tough. Electronic music wasn't really a genre yet. There are definitely electronic albums. But enough to fill an hour-long mix? Maybe...sort of.

So let me start by saying that some folks may disagree with my choices as I tried to fill out the tracklist. There may be some creative finagling in the mixes for the early years. But really, who cares? This is just a fun way to dive deep into the rise of electronic music.

In the early sets you'll hear plenty of krautrock or kosmische music. Bands like Popol Vuh, Amon Duul II, Can, and Ash Ra Temple fit that category and make appearances in the first two mixes. Again, some folks may balk at the inclusion of the artists but without them, the '70 & '71 mixes would not have happened. Even Tangerine Dream in these years is barely "electronic."

I discovered an artist named Doug McKechnie who experimented with one of the few Moog synths around at that time. I don't believe he ever released any music back then but there are recordings from many of his live shows. The albums were released in 2020 & 2023, so technically this shouldn't count in a mix of music released in 1970, but as I said, it was hard to fill out the mix. The tracks were recorded from 1968 - 72 so I grabbed one that didn't have a specific date on it and decided that it would count as being from 1970.

The more I listen to this set the more I like it. The unexpected tracks and artists made for a fun journey. I hope you all enjoy it too.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Kraftwerk - Ruckzuck (Kraftwerk)
05:10 Oskar Sala - In Leichtem Marsch-Rhythmus (Electronic Virtuosity)
06:45 Suzanne Ciani - Tenth Voice: Sound of a Lighted Window (Voices of Packaged Souls)
07:40 Tangerine Dream - Genesis (Electronic Meditation)
12:20 Popol Vuh - Affenstunde(excerpt 1) (Affenstunde)
16:15 Doug McKechnie - Berkeley Art Museum (San Francisco Moog: 1968-72)
23:42 Popol Vuh - Affenstunde(excerpt 2) (Affenstunde)
30:00 Philip Glass - Music with Changing Parts (Music with Changing Parts)
37:15 Mart Garson - Kevin & Paige (Didn't You Hear?)
42:05 Amon Düül II - Yeti Talks To Yogi(Improvisation) (Yeti)
50:10 King Crimson - The Devils Triangle (In The Wake of Poseidon)
54:40 Tangerine Dream - Cold Smoke (Electronic Meditation)
57:15 Suzanne Ciani - Twelth Voice: Sound of Love Turning (Voices of Packaged Souls)
58:23 Sylvette Allart - Berceuse du faon (Pour Ondes Martenot)
61:39 end

Wednesday Apr 05, 2023

Lost In Transmission

Wednesday Apr 05, 2023

I love making shortwave mixes, so it's hard to believe it's been almost 11 years since my last new shortwave creation. Yikes! I know these mixes are labor intensive and I am a terrible procrastinator but I am shocked that it's been that long.

Here are the previous mixes:

This mix is a combo of real shortwave broadcasts, tracks that have broadcasts already embedded, and tracks that have that scratchy, radio feel. I couldn't resist adding a bit of Conet Project recordings here and there. Most of the straight radio broadcasts come from Myke Dodge Weiskopf. I've been using his recordings for years. You can find his stuff here - https://www.myke.me/

Two of my favorite cuts in this mix are by Mount Shrine from the album Shortwave Ruins. https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/shortwave-ruins It's a perfect combo of ambience, drone, and radio chatter. Mount Shrine is Cesar Alexandre, who sadly passed away in 2021. His two tracks in this mix fit the vibe perfectly.

I hope you enjoy the washes of static and voices from the ether. Hopefully it won't be 11 years until the next shortwave mix.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 shortwave noise
00:40 Mount Shrine - Earth Bridge (Shortwave Ruins 2020)
04:50 Rival Consoles - Noise Call and Response
06:35 Mike Benoit - November’s Static Is Chill & Drear, November’s Leaf Is Red & Sear
07:10 Federico Durand - el grillo de nacar(the cricket of nacre) (a traves del espejo 2016)
09:36 9_11_01(Unknown time and frequency)
10:20 Enrico Coniglio & Matteo Uggeri - Jessaias de reduire mes medicaments
12:53 David Sylvian - Camphor
16:03 Helios - All You Are (Remembrance)
17:00 The Focus Group - CineToneOne (Stop-Motion Happening 2017)
17:12 Goncalo F Cardoso - Radio Zanzibar Etude 1
17:50 Tetsu Inoue - Invitable Colour (World Receiver 1996)
21:12 Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4
22:45 Jogging House - Frail
25:55 Ant’lrd - Slow Dream (Deck Amber 2018)
27:15 Radio Belarus – German Service 3-Aug-2010
28:20 Cremation Lily - Immaculacy (In England Now, Underwater 2018)
29:40 Radio Bulgaria 2-13 5800 kHz, 11_12_05 (2054UTC)
30:20 Austin Rockman - Sun Ink (Our Own Unknown 2022)
34:30 Janek Schaefer - Lagoon (glitter in my tears 2017)
36:03 Teleferick - g.klarf (sixteen frames 2017)
36:45 Lee Noyes & Radio Cegeste - broken only by the need for breath (to orient themselves with coastlines 2012)
37:15 Mount Shrine - Across Rooftops (Shortwave Ruins 2020)
42:10 Maps & Diagrams - Mutability (Teygja Part B 2021)
45:42 KJES 5-03 7555 kHz, 8_1_05 (0154UTC)
47:00 Rival Consoles - Outline of a Distant Memory
50:27 The Focus Group - Sir John Pepper (Stop-Motion Happening 2017)
51:22 Swod - Tucholskystr, 34 (Gehen 2004)
51:47 Olli Aarni - Puro (Puu tuulessa 2015)
54:33 half light - Rest (Rest 2022)
59:44 end

Monday Apr 03, 2023

Forbidden Colours - A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto

Monday Apr 03, 2023

Another musical great has left this world. Ryuichi Sakamoto was a founding member of Yellow Magic Orchestra. He became well known for his neo-classical work, his collaborations, and of course his film scores, from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence to The Revenant to the Oscar-winning score for The Last Emperor. The solo piano version of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is one of my favorite piano pieces ever written.

In January of this year he released an album of piano tracks, called 12, that is hauntingly simple and beautiful.

In 2017 he recorded a track called "Life, Life", from the album Async, that is one of my favorite pieces of all time. I'd like to finish this post with the spoken word poem that appears in that track...

And this I dreamt, and this I dream

And some time this I will dream again

And all will be repeated, all be re-embodied

You will dream everything I have seen in dream

To one side from ourselves, to one side from the world

Wave follows wave to break on the shore

On each wave is a star, a person, a bird

Dreams, reality, death - on wave after wave

No need for a date; I was, I am, and I will be

Life is a wonder of wonders, and to wonder

I dedicate myself, on my knees, like an orphan

Alone - among mirrors - fenced in by reflections

Cities and seas, iridescent, intensified

A mother in tears takes a child on her lap

Thank you for your music.

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence(solo piano version)
04:40 Ryuichi Sakamoto - life, life
08:45 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Mountains
09:37 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20220123
17:37 Ryuichi Sakamoto - In The Red
22:35 Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Revenant Main Theme Atmospheric
25:10 Ryuichi Sakamoto & Christian Fennez - oto
28:35 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Railroad Man
33:07 Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Sheltering Sky(piano version)
39:20 Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Sheltering Sky(continues as orchestral version)
38:25 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Elephantism 2
42:50 Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto - Trioon I
47:38 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Aqua
51:58 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Rain(I want a Divorce)
53:22 Ryuichi Sakamoto - The End
55:36 end

Wednesday Mar 29, 2023

Piano Day 2023

Wednesday Mar 29, 2023

International Piano Day is March 29th and, as has been the case for the last five years, I've put together a new mix in celebration of ambient piano tunes. I don't do quite as many piano mixes as I once did but when I create these Piano Day sets I find I really enjoy the vibe.

There are a lot of new tracks in the mix, half of them from 2022 & 2023. But there are a few older tunes as well. I really like how this one turned out. I hope you enjoy the latest Piano Day excursion.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 daniel.mp3 - green to blue (2022)
02:45 Hania Rani - The Beach(From I Never Cry) (Music for Film and Theatre 2021)
05:14 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20211130 (12 2023)
10:02 h hunt - 11e (playing piano for dad 2016)
12:49 Arin Aksberg - In Memory (It Flows Between U 2023)
16:47 Olafur Arnalds - Still, Sound (A Sunrise Session 2021)
20:42 ANNA - Receiving(Jon Hopkins piano version) (2023)
25:15 Hania Rani - Whale's Song (Inner Symphonies 2021)
29:42 Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20211201 (12 2023)
34:37 Library Tapes - Safe Haven (Dusk 2021)
36:41 Bing and Ruth - We Are on the Side of Angels (Tomorrow Was The Golden Age 2014)
42:53 Milieu - Antique Sunlight (Smokebuilder's Woodshop 2008)
47:56 Nebel Lang - Past All Unknowing (Directions For Stopping 2022)
52:43 Lorenz Weber - as time goes by (only the wind 2022)
56:10 Purple Decades - Forest (Journey Test 2023)
59:10 end