Sunday, April 03, 2022

Listening in the Dark (Mystical Ambience #4) by Paul Asbury Seaman

 

"Listening in the Dark" is such a great title for an ambient mix. I've listened to a lot of these mixes in the dark - sitting on the deck at night, in bed before sleep, stargazing, etc. I wonder how many folks purposely listen to ambient & electronic music in the dark. I remember playing the Conet Project recordings in the dark and a friend said it was a little too freaky. This mix is definitely not freaky.

This is the latest installment in Paul Asbury Seaman's "Mystical Ambience" series. And like the others, it's a great collection of tunes, some of which are not in my normal ambient rotation. But that's why I love getting mixes from Paul, they expose me to new artists and styles. Here's what he has to say about this compilation:

“Here’s another mixed genre program, including one (just one) spoken word song early in the set. I find it interesting that, metaphorically, darkness has many more layers than what we associate with light. It can be scary and impenetrable, but also part of the hero’s journey into deeper understanding, or working through the infamous dark night of the soul. As Guy Clark says it, there’s a world of things you can’t see in the day time. And some folks take comfort in that.”

Thanks for putting this together, Paul!

Links to all the albums in this mix in the order in which they appear:


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    Sherry Finzer & Karasvana - Music of the Spheres (Centered 2022)
  • 04:30    Guy Clark - The Dark (The Dark 2002)
  • 08:00    Art Patience - The Unknown (The Unknown 2022)
  • 14:05    Tom Moore & Tim Sadow - Gravity Free (Looking for the Timeless 2021)
  • 20:00    M.NOMIZED - Virus (Ice Bells-A Tribute To Björk 2018)
  • 25:12    Peter Phippen - Northern Lights (Into the Ancient 2022)
  • 28:56    Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning - Tara Hill (Eirlandia 2018)
  • 31:56    Popol Vuh - Lacrime Dei Rei (Best Soundtracks From Werner Herzog Films 1991)
  • 37:37    ASC - Surrounded by Silence (No Stars Without Darkness 2016)
  • 44:18    Sherry Finzer & Karasvana - Sacred Spiral (Centered 2022)
  • 49:10    Lorenzo Montana - Vertical Corridors (Descent 2022)
  • 53:33    Johan Agebjörn & Mikael Ögren - The Hall of Crystals (Artefact 2021)
  • 57:57    Astropilot - Night Meeting(Winter Dreams Version) (Pineland 2022)
  • 60:38    Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - After Dark (Another Flower 2020)
  • 65:07    end


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Back in the 1970's we had a nightly radio show in Portland OR - came on at 11:00 pm - called Lights Out - covered a lot of ground like you do, but always a great way to end the day.......

Low Light Mixes said...

Thanks for listening & commenting! Cheers!

Unknown said...

A great mix with a very unique vibe. If it catches you, it won't let go. Brilliant, thank you!

Low Light Mixes said...

Thanks for checking out the mix! I'm so glad you enjoyed the vibe.

The Interstellar Radio Station said...

No question Seaman has a great ear for music and always comes up with great refreshing tracks that entertain us, drawing from the current as well as grounded experience from both centuries. The issue has usually been the selections hanging together under the guise of the mix title, or whether they are relatable to each other. Most of this mix continues to suffer from this.

As lovely as the selections are individually, they have little in common, and mixing them is futile due their insolubility with each other. The mix runs a gamut of styles; so much so that in fact the Clark and the Patience are outside the boundaries of ambience.

When we come to the 2nd Finzer & Karasvana, things change however. It is the concluding 21 minutes of the mix that indeed stands cohesive and is a joy to listen to "in the dark". Against the odds, the typically installed "runaway" track has even been avoided to boot. This segment shows Seaman can be a great mixer who is capable of aligning relational tracks: wouldn't we love to have these combined talents for the full duration.