low light mixes

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Ambient music mixes for a chaotic world

Episodes

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

Wednesday Mar 15, 2023

Replicant Memories

Wednesday Mar 15, 2023

Blade Runner is obviously one of the great sci-fi films of all time, with one of the best soundtracks of all time. As a testament to the staying power of Vangelis' work, we still have a artists today that mimic the sound of the Blade Runner score.

The recording that got me started on this mix is brand new from Crows Labyrinth called "Neon Scenes I: Granular Dreams". It's a longform generative ambient drone track with a lead synth that has a great Blade Runner vibe. You can find it here... https://crowslabyrinth.bandcamp.com/album/neon-scenes-i-granular-dreams

As soon as I heard that track I knew I had to create another Blade Runner mix. This is my fourth one. Here are the links to the others:

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/alternative-blade-runner-2049-soundtrack/

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/blade-runner-is-now/

https://www.mixcloud.com/lowlight/blade-runner-pop-soundtrack/

One thing that sets this mix apart from the others is that many of the tunes are very purposely trying to replicate the sound of the original soundtrack. Some cuts even use rain, voices and effects to mimic the feel. I added a bit of BR sound fx on a couple of tracks to reinforce the vibe. Most of the time though it's that lead synth sound that transports me right back to 1982.

Some folks may have a problem with current artists so blatantly aping a style and sound(some more than others here). But I don't care, I just love the overall sound and feel of these tracks.

Here links to the music used in this mix:

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Crows Labyrinth - Neon Scenes I: Granular Dreams(Single Version) (2023)

03:40 State Azure - Nova Sonus (2022)

10:00 Andy Hagerty - Cadalach(Analogue Fantasy Mix) (Cadalach EP 2021)

14:50 The Rosen Corporation - A Good Joe (Pale Fire 2018)

22:12 Owl - Distant Transmission (Infinite Horizon 2021)

25:52 Boards of Canada - Collapse (Tomorrow's Harvest 2013)

28:00 Druid & Jok - Skyline Envelope (Terminals 2023)

31:54 Passengers - Ito Okashi (Original Soundtracks 1 1995)

34:50 State Azure - Folding Space (2020)

42:50 Monolog & Subheim - Colorful Flight (ConVIction 2017)

45:35 Graintable - UnIVersal Ash (UnIVersal Ash 2019)

50:24 Pye Corner Audio - Saturation Point (Let's Emerge! 2022)

53:53 The Rosen Corporation - Passing Thoughts (Neon Lovers 2020)

58:27 Alva Noto - A Forest (A Forest 2020)

61:48 The Rosen Corporation - The Warmth of Death (Pale Fire 2018)

66:20 end

Wednesday Mar 08, 2023

Strange Dream - The Curious World of the Ondes Martenot

Wednesday Mar 08, 2023

Maurice Martenot with his invention

Last year in my Halloween mix I included a track that used an instrument called the Ondes Martenot. I new a little bit about it - that it was an old instrument played with a ring on a wire. But that was all I really knew. Then a listener pointed me in the direction of a piece for the Ondes Martenot written in 1937. Yikes, 1937?! I had no idea that "Oraison" by Olivier Messiaen was one of the first electronic pieces of music ever written. Of course this lead me down a Ondes Martenot rabbit hole and this mix is the result.

The Ondes Martenot was invented in 1928 by the French inventor Maurice Martenot. It sounds very much like a Theremin with it's wavering tones produced by oscillators. The Ondes Martenot can be played with a metal ring worn on the right index finger. Sliding the ring along a wire produces "theremin-like" tones. The music definitely can have a spooky, other-worldly sound. But it can also be quite expressive in the right hands.

Current players of the Ondes Martenot include Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. He uses it on "Kid A" and it appears in Radiohead songs including "The Natinal Anthem", "How to Disappear Completely" and "Where I End and You Begin".

The other artist that is most well known for her use of the unusual instrument is Christine Ott, both in her solo work and with the band Snowdrops. The mix uses four of her tracks and two from Snowdrops. All of her work is excellent and worth checking out.

https://christineott.bandcamp.com/

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Olivier Messiaen - Oraison (1937)

02:50 Tomas Bloch - Mare Teno(Michel Redolfi) (Music for Odnes Martenot 2004)

07:31 Christine Ott - Burning (Chimères (pour Ondes Martenot) 2020)

13:44 Snowdrops - Ultraviolet (Volutes 2020)

20:00 Sylvette Allart - Elegie(Darius Milhaud ) (Magie Des Ondes Martenot 1970)

22:46 Tindersticks - Percy's Theme (Minute Bodies: The Intimate World of F. Percy Smith 2017)

24:40 Peter Kohlmetz Moller - Song for AJ

26:08 Christine Ott - Comma (Chimères (pour ondes Martenot) 2020)

31:42 Thomas Bloch - Sweet Suite 1 (Music for Odnes Martenot 2004)

36:00 Snowdrops - Firebirds (Missing Island 2022)

41:18 Jeanne Loriod & S. Laurent & P. Duclos - Ondes Spatiales (Ondes Martenot)

42:40 Christine Ott - Sexy Moon (Only Silence Remains 2016)

47:25 Christine Ott - Tempête / the Tabu (Tabu 2016)

53:30 Sylvette Allart - Nana(Falla) (Magie Des Ondes Martenot 1970)

55:22 Olivier Messiaen - Oraison (1937)

57:22 end

Sunday Feb 26, 2023

Sunday Morning Music Vol. 23 - A Sunday Kind of Love

Sunday Feb 26, 2023

A couple of tunes were the inspiration for cranking out another Sunday Morning mix. First is the lead-off track - A Sunday Kind of Love from Etta James. It's simply a great tune that I'm surprised I haven't used before. Next is an track from 1971 that I'd never heard of until a few weeks ago. I stumbled on an Instagram reel that talked about the gentle beauty of "Curry Rice" by Kenji Endo. I immediately fell in love with it and the rest of the album.

That's where the mix started and from there it follows the usual formula - some jazz, some ambient, some folk - all flowing together in a sweet Sunday mix.

Here the links to all the music used in this mix:

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Etta James - A Sunday Kind of Love (At Last! 1960)
03:15 Fuubutsushi - Cicada Season (Fuubutsushi 2020)
05:46 Kenji Endo - Curry Rice (Manzoku Dekirukana 1971)
08:42 John Surman - Sunday Morning (Such Winters Of Memory 1983)
15:30 Andrew Tasselmyer & Blurstem - Ray (Duets 2022)
18:52 Carlos Niño & Friends - Ripples Reflection Loop (More Energy Fields, Current 2021)
21:17 Nyokabi Kariuki - Home Piano (Peace Places Kenyan Memories 2022)
23:48 Foreign Body Sensation & Justin Maranga - In the Lair of the 5-Sided Serpent (Subterranean Environments 2023)
30:30 Hior Chronik - Cloud Peels (Haze 2022)
33:17 Peppermoth - Sun Dreamer (Ventrilokissed 2021)
37:28 Cole Pulice - Scry (Scry 2022)
44:39 Joan Shelley - Amberlit Morning (The Spur 2022)
49:44 Los Indios Tabajaras - Wide Horizon (Always in My Heart 1964)
52:28 Bill Frisell - Waltz for Hal Willner (Four 2022)
55:04 Zolton Fecso - Morning's Theme (Daylight in an Empty Room 2020)
58:07 Ben McElroy & A Spot on the Hill - A New Light (Everything Was Different Yesterday 2023)
60:10 end

Wednesday Feb 22, 2023

Now That’s What I Call Ambient

Wednesday Feb 22, 2023

Hmmm, what kind of mix do you think this one might be. I believe the gaudy cover art gives it away. This is essentially a continuation of my "Simply Ambient" series. A nice, straightforward mix of new ambient tunes.

I got tired of coming up with variations of "simply ambient" such as absolutely ambient, purely ambient, totally ambient, etc. So I decided to ripoff the over-the-top "Now That's What I Call Music" series. I'm not sure if, like that series, I'll keep adding numbers to each mix so that I end up with "Now That's What I Call Ambient Vol. 84".

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

These are the labels all this wonderful music was released on:

Facture - https://facture.bandcamp.com/music
Archive - https://archivesdubmusic.bandcamp.com/music
Past Inside the Present - https://pitp.bandcamp.com/music
Kranky - https://kranky.bandcamp.com/
Audiobulb - https://audiobulb.bandcamp.com/
Beacon Sound - https://beaconsound.bandcamp.com/music
Krysalisound - https://krysalisound.bandcamp.com/music
Dauw - https://dauw.bandcamp.com/
Somewherecold Records - https://somewherecoldrecords.bandcamp.com/
Laaps - https://laaps-records.com/music
Whitelabrecs - https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/music

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Hummingbird - Leuken (Langd 2023)
03:53 Flexagon - Ozanne Tower The Folly (The Towers I - Inaccessible 2023)
08:30 David Cordero - Sunrise (Endless Lonliness 2023)
11:42 Mike Lazarev - Tonality Number Three (Sacred Tonalities 2023)
15:45 Loscil/Lawrence English - Yellow (Colours of Air 2023)
20:00 Tomo-Nakaguchi - Noto (The Long Night in Winter Light 2023)
23:50 Purple Decades - Forest (Journey Test 2023)
26:27 Russ Young - Folding Valley (Cloak 2023)
29:12 Hummingbird - Leuken (Langd 2023)
36:50 blochemy - pone (blurr. 2023)
40:00 Jogging House - Floor (Face 2023)
43:18 A Journey of Giraffes - Ambient Gold Fudge (Empress Nouveau 2023)
45:50 Arovane - Faraday (Sinter 2023)
47:55 harry towell & polaroid notes - lepidodendron (petrologist's lens 2023)
52:18 glåsbird - lokoteraina (pacifica 2023)
54:43 Peter Kvidera - Kostrbatý (Verism 2023)
58:00 end

Wednesday Feb 15, 2023

Artificial Harmonies - A Hymn to the Vocoder

Wednesday Feb 15, 2023

This mix started with the track "Light & Grace" by Schneider TM. When I heard it I was reminded about how much I like the sound of a vocoder. I also realized that I never did a follow-up to the the vocoder mix I did all the way back in 2010 - http://lowlightmixes.blogspot.com/2010/10/vox-electronix.html

So here is a new collection of vocoder tunes. I'm not sure how many of these tracks actually use a vocoder and how many are other vocal effects but I don't care. I'm just going for a sound and vibe. Many of these tracks are new to me as I discovered them in my search for vocoder songs. I am particularly taken with "Last Man Standing" by Cities of Foam. And of course the Eno track from his album of last year is fantastic.

Enjoy the robo-tunes!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Boards of Canada - Telepath (Tomorrow's Harvest 2013)
01:26 Schneider TM - Light & Grace (The 8 Of Space 2021)
05:18 Paul McCartney - Be What You See(Link) (Tug of War 1982)
05:43 Dimmes - I Am Still (2018)
07:53 Cylob - Are We Not Men Who Live & Die (IDMEMO - A Future of Nostalgia 2020)
09:20 Holly Herndon - Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (PROTO 2019)
12:06 Cities Of Foam - Last Man Standing (A Great Day For The Race 2005)
16:20 Vanishing Twin - Light Vessel (Ookii Gekkou 2021)
19:52 Röyksopp - Daddy's Groove (Late Night Tales 2013)
22:50 Peter Baumann - Biking Up The Strand (Transharmonic Nights 1979)
25:12 Plone - Plock (Plock 1998)
29:02 Tex La Homa - Vapour Trails (Some Lost Bliss 2006)
34:50 Boards of Canada - 1969 (Tomorrow's Harvest 2013)
38:40 Crys Cole & Oren Ambarchi - Burrata (Hotel Record 2017)
44:47 Brian Eno - Making Gardens Out of Silence (FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE 2022)
52:25 Brian Eno & J. Peter Schwalm - Rising Dust (Drawn From Life 2001)
59:53 end

Wednesday Jan 25, 2023

Ambient Solar System

Wednesday Jan 25, 2023

Fire up the Epstein Drive, get settled in your crash couch and set forth on a tour of the solar system. We'll travel from the sun past the inner planets and through asteroid belt out to the gas giants, into the kuiper belt and oort cloud, and finally reaching interstellar space.

All the track titles make it clear where we are on this journey.

Incidentally, there is a comet, C/2022 E3, that hopefully will be visible now through the first week of February. It should viewable first with a telescope then binoculars and maybe even with the naked eye around Feb. 1. This mix might make a good soundtrack for viewing.

Link to most of the music used in this mix:

Enjoy fellow space cadets.

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - She Brought the Sun (Wow and Flutter 2018)
08:34 Underworld & John Murphy - Mercury (Sunshine OST 2008)
10:25 Casino Versus Japan - Names on Maps of Venus pt. 6 (Casino Versus Japan 1998)
11:50 Polaroid Notes - The Good Earth (Home Diaries 014 2020)
14:58 Harold Budd - Mars and the Artist (In The Mist 2011)
16:40 Brian Eno - Asteroid Dawn (Curiosities Volume II 2004)
20:42 Erstlaub - Jupiter (Deconstructed Music 1 2004)
24:50 Max Richter - The Rings of Saturn (Ad Astra OST 2019)
27:35 NASA Voyager Recordings - Rings of Uranus (Symphonies of the Planets 2009)
29:30 Johan Tronestam - Neptune (Space Collection 2017)
37:25 Christopher Willits - Comet (Horizon 2017)
41:50 Ishq - Pluto Shift (Deep Space Objects 2012)
47:10 Bil Vermette - Kuiper Belt (Hunting for Planet 9 2021)
52:35 Konstruct - Oort Cloud (Three (squared) 2021)
55:12 Factory - Interstellar (Kage, Vol. One: Quiet Dreams 2016)
57:50 Echospace - Where Are We Now (echospace [detroit] presents echoes in space 2014)
60:00 end

Wednesday Jan 18, 2023

A Foggy Winter’s Dub

Wednesday Jan 18, 2023

This mix is much more straightforward than the Antarctica set. This mix follows my "dubby & dreamy" formula of ethereal ambient dub tracks with a few gentle beats and lots of synth washes.

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

Cheers!

T R A C K L I S T :

00:00 PLastikman & Chilly Gonzalez - Ekko(In Key) (Consumed In Key 2022)
03:39 CELL - Onwards System - Fugitive Perpetuity (Onwards System 2022)
09:00 ASC - Solitude (Ultimae Records - Isolated 2022)
12:10 Solar Debris - It's All Dark When You Are Gone (Arctic Dub Compilation 2019)
16:50 Owl - Distant Transmission (Infinite Horizon 2021)
20:20 EROT - Observer Effect (Gneiss EP 2021)
24:50 MYKJA - Vera Á Reiki (North Paths 2017)
32:40 Motionfield - Midnight Metro (Optical Flow 2014)
38:32 Earthen Sea - Shallow, Shadowless (Grass & Trees 2019)
43:20 ASC - Sequence 4 (Sequenced 2017)
47:00 Mr Zu - Echova (Driftwood EP 2016)
53:00 Model 500 - Starlight(Intrusion dub) (2008)
57:45 Daar - Coda (Entire 2021)
60:00 end