Sunday, January 31, 2021

The Long Polar Night

 

As I type this we are getting pounded with another 9" of snow, the second pounding in less than a week. Combine that with semi-lockdown we are still under and it sort of feels like I'm in a research station outpost about to hunker down for The Long Polar Night.

Most of the titles fit the theme as well as the feel of the tunes.. I added some weather radio recordings throughout the mix which I think worked out pretty well.

One happy accident that happened while putting this together is I accidently left two tracks by two different artists in the same spot. I didn't even notice at first. They were playing simultaneously and it sounded like it was meant to be that way. This happens at 51:21 of the mix.

Cheers and stay warm!


[ 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    Wind & Weather Radio
  • 00:55    Owl - Moonshine Haze (Infinite Horizon 2021)
  • 04:16    Esther Kokmeijer & Rutger Zuydervelt - Stillness #5 (Stillness 2013)
  • 08:20    SineRider - Four Below Zero (Four Years Away 2018)
  • 11:42    offthesky - cold front (studies of form in transit 2003)
  • 14:40    John Butcher - wind piece (Resonant Spaces)
  • 15:47    Hanno Leichtmann - wind (Nuit Du Plomb 2006)
  • 19:00    Lauge - Icebound (Nothingness 2020)
  • 25:30    Gailes - Surface Variations in The Snowfall (Seventeen Words 2017)
  • 32:05    Marcus Fischer - Antarctic 3 (Arctic / Antarctic(version) 2020)
  • 34:45    Polaroid Notes - Don't Be Afraid Of Darkness (Home Diaries 014 2020)
  • 38:00    Rosalina Teche - Slightly Affected (Music for Another Sky 2021)
  • 40:23    stormloop - in the frozen morning light (arctic conditions 2013)
  • 48:25    Moss Covered Technology - Distant Station(Nocturne) (Once Hallowed 2019)
  • 51:21    Sinderider & Polaroid Notes - Frost & Into The Black played simultaneously
  • 55:35    Axs - Frozen Signpost (Arctic Circle 2011)
  • 65:20    end

2 comments:

  1. As for where you live Dave, they say what separates the upper Midwest from the artic is merely a "picket fence".��

    This mix is a wow: ambient impressionism at its finest. The listener shivers to the chill, hears the icicle drops, laments the isolation, hears battery-operated radios, feels the tingle of sleet, cringes thru power outage boredom, sees clumps of snow falling from branches, hears muffled livestock bells, and squints at a glinting sparkle off the fallen snow when the sun peaks thru. That’s the visions the mix gave me.

    Wonderful use of location recordings and general sound snippet overlays - always makes for a fascinating mix. Love it when you do that.

    The Offthesky & Butcher are sublimely beautiful. All tracks superbly selected; its an extremely tight mix, meaning all the tracks sound like they were created as a single effort. The monotonous voice in the Leichtmann was too disruptive and broke the mood of wintery isolation despite your overlays; if you revise it, suggest change that voiceover. The hymnal chord progression of the Stormloop also veered from the phenomenal freezing desolation laid down by the prior tracks, but recovered nicely. You are right about the double track - sounds like one piece.

    Such a stress reliever too - I dare say people who listen will live longer. A gem; definitely a keeper.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oops, I meant to respond a few days ago and must have not hit send. Duh.

    Thanks for your kind words on the mix. I should have you write my mix descriptions. :-)
    I never know when my odd little additions to a mix will work so it's nice to hear you liked this set.

    Thanks again for listening and for the feedback.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete