Friday, August 24, 2007

There Will Come Soft Rains

I started this mix a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't sure when to post it. Then the rains came. We have been getting pelted here for a week, so I figured now is the perfect time to post a rain mix.

Based on the amount of rain we've been getting maybe a more appropriate title would have been "A hard rain is gonna fall & flood my basement & turn my backyard into a swamp." I guess that's a little long. So I'll stick with "There Will Come Soft Rains". The title is taken from a short story by Ray Bradbury who takes the title from a poem by Sara Teasdale. Not that poem or story have anything to do with the mix, I just love the sound of the line.


The music in this mix is a collection of tunes I thought would work well with the sound of rain. Most of the rain you hear in this mix was added by me. I hope I didn't over do it. The listening environment has a lot to do with how the rain is perceived. While mixing in a quiet room I kept worrying about too many rain fx, but then listening in my office at work, I couldn't hear half of the rain sounds. Hopefully I managed to strike the right balance.


Download
There will come soft rains(53:17, 62mb)


t r a c k l i s t :
  • 00:12 - 02:30 Chas Smith - Santa Fe
  • 02:40 - 05:40 Elegi - despotiets vesen
  • 05:44 - 10:20 Fenton - neon giraffe
  • 10:33 - 11:51 Max Richter - harmonium & time passing
  • 11:51 - 15:55 Julien Neto - vi
  • 16:00 - 22:20 Loscil - steam
  • 22:35 - 25:50 Loren Connors - airs #6
  • 25:30 - 28:50 Rameses III - night blossom written in sanskrit
  • 29:25 - 32:20 Leo Abrams - scene memory
  • 32:20 - 35:40 Daniel Lanois - telco
  • 35:50 - 41:36 Popol Vuh - listen he who ventures
  • 41:36 - 50:35 Rameses III - theme three
  • 50:35 - 51:41 Lawrence - a quiet day
  • 51:47 - 53:17 Max Richter - fragment

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Prog Rock Mix '07


And now for something completely different....

Any listeners/downloaders that are familiar with The Hydrogen Cafe mix blog, know that Rick has recently done a few mixes for vacationing in northern Wisconsin. I was having a tough time trying to figure out what kind of mixes I'd contribute this year.

So I Present the Prog Rock Mix '07, a mix that is nothing like any of the other mixes that I've posted here. Being a child of the 70's, I was a huge progressive/art rock fan. I still love old Genesis, Yes & King Crimson.

For this mix I stayed away from those obvious choices. So instead I used artists such as PFM, Egg, Gilgamesh, Le Orme, etc. With a well known artist like Pink Floyd, I picked cuts from less well known albums "Obscured by Clouds" & "Atom Heart Mother". This mix is definitely not a best of prog rock or anything like that. Just a collections of tunes that I thought worked well together.

It was a lot of fun rummaging through these old tunes. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. And don't worry I'll return to the normal ambient mixes soon.

Download it here...

Prog Rock Mix '07 (91:31) (104mb)

t r a c k l i s t i n g :

00:00 - 02:00 Pink Floyd - When You're In
02:00 - 09:10 Gentle Giant - In a Glass House
09:10 - 10:40 Gilgamesh - Arriving Twice
10:40 - 13:30 Camel - Rhayader
13:30 - 17:00 Triumvirat - Schooldays
17:00 - 23:20 Brand X - Unorthodox Behavior
23:20 - 30:20 Egg - A Visit to Newport Hospital
30:20 - 34:30 Pink Floyd - Mudmen
34:30 - 42:00 Premiata Forneria Marconi(PFM) - Appena Un Po'
42:00 - 50:00 Strawbs - Autumn
50:00 - 59:10 Caravan - L'Auberge Du Sanglier
59:10 - 1:08:00 Can - Bel Air
08:00 - 10:30 Le Orme - Ritratto Di Un Mattino
10:30 - 13:30 Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
13:30 - 19:30 801 - Tomorrow Never Knows
19:30 - 31:31 Steve Hackett - Shadow of the Hierophant