Monday, May 19, 2014

Always & Forever - Americana Vol. 1

I know this blog is supposed to be about ambient music but over the years I've posted some outliers - "Quintessential Jazz" "Footsteps" "Psalms and Lullabies" "Sunday Morning Music" "Vox Electronix" and some other odd balls.  It gets a little boring just mixing nothing but floating ambient so it's nice to branch out every now and then.

This mix, "Always & Forever," is definitely on a different branch of the musical tree than ambient.  It's a collection of Americana style tunes that I've been listening to a lot lately.

I've been a fan of the Avett Brothers since my daughter introduced me to them 7 or 8 years ago.  Listening to the banjo as used by the Avetts and Sufjan Stevens started me on a path to enjoying stripped down, acoustic, country/americana/roots/whatever-you-want-to-call-it music.

Even though this mix is Americana music I think it still retains some of the Low Light Mixes feel.  Most of the tunes are simple and laid back.

There are two soundtracks represented here, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Nebraska."  I love the beautiful simplicity of the "Nebraska" soundtrack.  It always conjures up the black and white landscape images from the film.

Oops, there are three soundtracks used in this mix.  I forgot about "Inside Llewyn Davis."  Another of my favorite films from last year.  The job Oscar Issac did was fabulous and so I couldn't resist using two cuts from the album.

Also included in this mix are four artists that I heard for the first time in 2013, Elephant Revival, Valerie June, Johnny Flynn and Gregory Alan Isakov.  All excellent recordings.

Some other artists that I just had to include are The Avett Brothers because, well, they're the Avett Brothers.  Also Blessed Feathers because they are local duo that does awesome music.  And Andrew Bird because he has become my favorite all around artist over the last 2 or 3 years.

I hope you all enjoy this newest diversion from the ambient formula.  I like this mix so much that I'll probably do more.

Cheers.


[ s t r e a m ]  [ d o w n l o a d ]   [ i t u n e s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Oscar Issac & Marcus Mumford - Fare Thee Well(Dinks Song)
  • 02:52    We Are The West - JV Tryouts
  • 07:00    Night Beds - Even If We Try
  • 10:50    Avett Brothers - Souls Like The Wheels
  • 14:40   Mark Orton - Their Pie
  • 16:40    Blessed Feathers - Everyone I Love Is You
  • 20:55    Delta Spirit - Devil Knows You're Dead
  • 24:15    Benh Zeitlin & Dan Romer - The Survivors
  • 27:15    Elephant Revival - Spinning
  • 29:33    Valerie June - Somebody to Love
  • 32:57    Johnny Flynn - Einstein's Idea
  • 38:45    Andrew Bird - Lit From Underneath
  • 42:00    Carolina Chocolate Drops - Leaving Eden
  • 46:22    Gregory Alan Isakov - A Suitcase Full of Sparks
  • 50:15    Sarah Jarosz - Floating in the Balance
  • 53:00    Andrew Bird - Danse Carribe
  • 58:05   Oscar Issac - Green, Green Rocky Road 
  • 1:01:08    Elephant Revival - Remembering a Beginning
  • 1:04:55    Mark Orton - Magna Carta
  • 1:07:24    end




8 comments:

Sansa said...

intense beauty..Love your blog it is great

Unknown said...

Good music! After that I want to see American states

lb said...

great mix!! This is why I keep coming back to your site!

I really don't care much for ambient tunes as a whole meal. That is like just eating jasmine rice for dinner. It might work for some people, but not for me. The ambient must be part of something else, and this mix has an ambient flavor that goes along with the other flavors. The end result is satisfaction on many levels.

Low Light Mixes said...

I'm glad folks have enjoyed this mix. I was a little worried that it was too different from the usual ambient fare.

lb - you said it perfectly when you said "an ambient flavor that goes along with the other flavors." That pretty much descrobes my view of music in general.

Thanks!

lb said...

Hi Dave - I'm hoping to inspire a new mix from you with this link. It is three songs from the movie Ink. I listened to the City Surf song so much that I had to teach myself how to play this on a keyboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhB2rcyYg6A

This music really helps me to unplug from the material ideas that frame our everyday life.

Cheers

Nocturne Records said...

Good mix Dave. If you haven't allready, you should check out Goldmund's All Will Prosper if you are creating another Americana mix has some really beautiful interpretations of traditional folk songs.

Jaqen H'ghar said...

Maravillosa mix

gnf00x said...

great mix Dave, tx!! long drive ahead of me soon (from Romania to Germany). this one goes on the playlist. all the best for 2015. daniel