Longform Sleepy Time

 

This mix is pretty just as the title describes - a set of long ambient pieces, perfect for sleeping. There's not much else to say other than the tracks are all fairly new with most of them from 2023.

I was happy to use a longer version of the Crows Labyrinth track in this mix. I used it in my Blade Runner mix earlier in the year but it was the short version. I have been listening to the long version a lot this year and using it as a sleep soundtrack quite a bit as well. So I knew I had to use more of the 39 minute track in this mix. That album will make my best of the year list for sure.

Speaking of best of the year lists - head over to Mixcloud Posts to see my favorite albums of 2023, so far - MIXCLOUD Best of 2023(so far)

Links to all the music used in this mix:

• https://loscil.bandcamp.com/album/alta
• https://altusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/willoweald
• https://crowslabyrinth.bandcamp.com/album/neon-scenes-i-granular-dreams
• https://milieumusic.bandcamp.com/album/beside-a-green-window
• https://slaapwel.bandcamp.com/album/particles
• https://perceptualtapes.bandcamp.com/album/fleeting-visions-into-sleep - active on 7/14/23
• https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/lost-loops-collection
• https://dataobscura.bandcamp.com/album/delicate-terrain
• https://cv313.bandcamp.com/album/plays-sequential-space

Cheers!

[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Loscil - Alta (Alta 2023)
• 10:20    Loneward - Light Blossom (Willoweald 2023)
• 18:00    Crows Labyrinth - Neon Scenes I (Neon Scenes I: Granular Dreams 2023)
• 27:45    Milieu - Beside a Green Window (Beside a Green Window 2023)
• 37:07    Katharina Schmidt - Particles (Particles 2022)
• 46:44    Spectrical - Distant Rain (Fleeting visions into sleep 2023)
• 55:10    Mount Shrine - Foghorn (Lost Loops Collection 2023)
• 1:12:25    Robert Davies - Diffused Meadow (Delicate Terrain 2022)
• 1:26:30    cv313 - Star Alignments (Plays Sequential Space 2023)
• 2:00:00    end

That Beautiful Land of Nod Vol. 2

About a month ago I presented a guest mix of sleep music from Brian Bieniowski, whom I know from the heyday of the Hypnos Records forum in the mid 2000s. "That Beautiful Land of Nod" is indeed a beautiful sleep mix. 

Thankfully, back in 2007 Brian created two Land of Nod mixes. So here is volume 2 for your listening and sleeping pleasure.

Here is what Brian said about the Land of Nod mixes back in 2007:

"It wasn't until the early nineties when I discovered real ambient music suited for the purpose of lying down and listening. It felt finally natural to take to my bed after starting the CD player and allowing the soft music to carry my mind forth for a while until sleep took hold. This mix, That Beautiful Land of Nod, is the product of over twelve years of "field research" in ambient sleep music. All of the selections, new and old, on these two discs, are pieces of music I have personally played in the times before and during sleep. Each track is special to me, these soothing zones, as they have not only brought me hours of comforted sleep, but also tantalizing, never-lasting minutes of wild and wonderful imagery in those moments before unconsciousness occurs. Each track maps a route across my consciousness over twelve years of sleep listening. It is my honest hope that this becomes the mix you never fully listen to—if you are at all like me, you'll be asleep by track five or six every time. So, please, draw the shades, relax, pleasant dreams...."

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    Jochem Paap - Dx-Snth (Vrs-Mbnt-Pcs 9598 2)
• 05:45    Jason Sloan - The Color of Wind 1 (Still)
• 11:45    Sam Rosenthal & VidnaObmana - Dark Mist, Rain (Terrace of Memories)
• 16:15    Bill Nelson - Crimsworth(edit) (Crimsworth)
• 22:30    James Johnson - Surrender(edit) (Surrender)
• 26:20    Aphex Twin - #19(edit) (Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2)
• 29:10    Rod Modell & Michael Mantra - Vitamin K(edit) (Sonic Continuum)
• 33:30    Ruxpin - Autocaz (Midnight Drive)
• 38:30    Never Known - Spheres (On the Edge of Forever)
• 43:10    Oöphoi - Let the Nightsky Envelope Us (Hymns to a Silent Sky)
• 49:40    Mathias Grassow - Through the Void (The Fragrance of Eternal Roses)
• 55:12    Aloof Proof - The Ghost Ship(edit) (Expo Two: Piano Text)
• 58:55    David Sylvian - Approaching Silence(edit) (Approaching Silence)
• 65:00    Steve Roach - Towards the Blue (Quiet Music)
• 68:23    end

Low Light Nightlight

This mix came about thanks to the sleepy inspiration of two 2019 recordings - "Formless" by Matt Borghi and the "Sleeplaboratory" compilation on Whitelabrecs.

I've been listening to both of these albums at night since they were released. Both are excellent. They serve as bookends on this 86 minute long sleep mix. Check 'em out & then check the mix. Or check out the mix then check out the albums. Or play all three simultaneously to really blow your mind(probably a bad idea actually).

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    Matt Borghi - Water(Formless 2019)
• 04:23    M. Grig - Nod(Sleeplaboratory 2019)
• 07:45    Hotel Neon - 12:41AM(Context 2017)
• 12:56    Glåsbird - Norðurljós(Grønland 2019)
• 15:47    The Green Kingdom - Cloud Cloak(Ephemera 2018)
• 19:26    Rim - Ode To Plutonium(We Are Invisible Now 2016)
• 26:04    Andrew Chalk - Naoko(One Long Year 2019)
• 27:56    Warmth - Saros(Parallel 2018)
• 35:40    Robert Rich - Elevations(Tactile Ground 2019)
• 41:48    Billow Observatory - Soft Logic(III: Chroma/Contour 2019)
• 45:34    Yoyu - In the Field Where Lovers Meet(Ordinary Moon 2017)
• 53:47    Mount Shrine - Empty Slopes(Ghosts on Broken Pavement 2019)
• 61:16    Steve Roach - Atmosphere for Dreaming(Atmosphere for Dreaming 2018)
• 68:30    Music For Sleep - Waterforms(Waterforms 2019)
• 72:24    Brian Eno - Irial(Sisters 2017)
• 81:27    Matt Borghi - Undoing(Formless 2019)
• 84:22    Daliah - With Z((Sleeplaboratory 2019)
• 86:48    end

Summer sleeps

This is one of those mixes where the title pretty much says it all...Summer Sleeps.  I found that if I keep titles fairly straight forward and clear that plays on Mixcloud go up a bit.

I listen to music every night when I go to bed.  And lately I was getting bored with old sleep mixes so of course the solution is to make a new one.  There's not much else to say about this mix, just lay back and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.



[ 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    Stephen Vitiello and Taylor Deupree - From the Fish House
• 06'00    Manual - Last Light
• 10'50    Moon Eye Lids - My Only Moon...
• 18'30    Sonmi451 - Ruis
• 25'20    Budd and Eno - Against the Sky
• 29'00    James Johnson - Entering Twilight
• 37'50    Steinbruchel - Home
• 44'15    Kyle Bobby Dunn - Powers of None
• 48'22    Ruben Garcia - Rainy Day
• 52'20    Tom Heasley - Ground Zero
• 1'00'50    St. Kilda - You Are In Every Dream
• 1'03'53    Tonepoet - So Gently We go
• 1'11'20    Tiny Isles - With Thanks Petal
• 1'15'00    Alio Die and Saffron Wood - The Sleep of Seeds
• 1'18'10    33bowls - Morning
• 1'24'10    James Johnson and Stephen Phillips - Lost at Dunn's Lake
• 1'40'44    end

Summer sleeps by Low Light Mixes on Mixcloud

infinite ambient

I usually keep different folders of music for different types of mixes.  I have a "sea" folder.  And one called "dub & stuff."  Another is "piano."  And of course several "Sunday morning" folders as well.

The folder for this mix was called "just plain old good ambient."  And that's a pretty darn good description of this mix.  There's no special theme or concept other than the fact that these cuts are all excellent ambient tunes.

The mix has a classic sound, classic feel.  However, only one track is old - that's the Aphex Twin song.  I love how the cuts flow together, making it a perfect mix for sleeping if you use these mixes like I do.  I can also see listening to this while sitting on the front steps watching the sun set(unfortunately now instead of my nice farm across the street I have a subdivision of McMansions :(

Five or six of the tracks in this mix came from Bandcamp, which I love for buying music & discovering new things via collections.  I really have to control myself when I'm on that site or I'd be spending all sorts of money.  My collection there is not really that large, partly because I really don't buy as much ambient music as I used to.  If you're interested, here's a link to my Bandcamp collection... Dave's Collection

Enjoy the mix!


[ 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    Marsen Jules Trio - Œillet Parfait
• 04:34    Harold Budd - Jane 8
• 09:20    Caught in the Wake Forever - Chopin's 2 Nocturnes op. 48 no. 2 in F sharp minor
• 11:22    Taylor Deupree - Shutter
• 16:45    Aphex Twin - stone in focus
• 23:00    Dakota Suite - Things We Lost Along the Way (Loscil remix)
• 27:20    Maps & Diagrams - Utgores
• 29:15    Infinite Coil - Transmit 2
• 32:40    Unrecognizable Now - Two Rooms - One
• 39:50    Wouter Veldhuis - Side-effects of diversity
• 44:00    33 Bowls - Morning
• 46:00    Slow Dancing Society - After Twilight Takes Us
• 50:40    Ten and Tracer - By Twirling the Strong History
• 56:35    Cyber Zen Sound Engine - Mottomo Kodokuna Basho
• 1:00:00    end

Infinite ambient by Lowlight on Mixcloud

starry starry night

"I, the fiery life of divine essence, am aflame beyond the beauty of the meadows, I gleam in the waters, and I burn in the sun, moon and stars."

               - Hildegard von Bingen

Electronic & ambient music seems perfectly suited for stargazing.  So you really could use just about any ambient mix for night sky viewing and it will work just fine.  But sometimes it's nice to do a mix specifically geared towards astronomical awe.

It's always interesting to see how the song titles match the theme of the mix.  Sometimes I pick tunes precisely because the titles match but most of the time it's accidental.  In this mix we have titles like "Alpha Centauri", "Polaris", "After Midnight", "One Starry Starry Night" and "Encounter in an unexplored nebula."

As usual the music is a mix of old & new, with most tunes being from the last couple years.  I was happy to sneak in an old track from Jean-Michel Jarre.  Different from his normal berlin-school stuff, this one is a nice long ambient cut from 1990.

As with a lot of stargazing mixes, this one works well as a sleep mix too.  I can testify to it's effectiveness.

On a side note...thanks to anyone who voted for Low Light Mixes in the Mixcloud best of 2011 poll.  We came in 78th.  Doesn't sound like much but considering they have thousands of "cloudcasters", coming 78th was great.  Thanks for all your support last year & over the last 6 years.

[ 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    Lunar Testing Lab - Paaliaq (I, Absentee)
• 01:35    Sonmi451 - Alpha Centauri (Time Released Sound)
• 04:40    Digitonal - Polaris (Leaves)
• 07:20    Diatonis - One Starry Starry Night (Diatonis)
• 12:15    The Winterhouse - Clearing (DataObscura)
• 18:00    Frederico Durand - El Mundo Secreto De La Montana (Spekk)
• 21:30    A Produce & Loren Nerell - Intangible (Hypnos)
• 28:20    Maps & Diagrams - The Infinite Delay (Handstitched Recordings)
• 30:45    Thom Brennan - Pulse
• 31:55    Aglaia - After Midnight (Hic Sunt Leones)
• 37:30    Sonmi451 - Blue (U cover)
• 43:05    Biosphere - Warmed by the Drift (Touch)
• 48:20    Jean Michel Jarre - En Attendant Cousteau (Disques Dreyfus)
• 55:10    The Civilized Electrons - Encounter, In an Unexplored Nebula (Databloem)

Starry starry night by Lowlight on Mixcloud

drowsy

I recently had surgery on a broken collarbone & had to spend a fair amount of time laying around, recuperating, sleeping.  So I decided to make a mix that would work well with Percocet & Vicodin.

I've produced other sleep mixes before, "I fell asleep at my desk making this mix", "slo mo", "slow & sleepy", and have often relied on them for nighttime listening.  Of course most of the mixes found here could work as "sleep" mixes. 

This new mix, "drowsy", fits right in with those others.  It's a soothing mix of drones & synth washes that will put anyone to sleep.

[ 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    Benoît Pioulard - Drowsy
• 04:15    Ex Confusion - Bloom
• 09:45    Peter James & Disturbed Earth - A Descending Calm
• 13:45    Steve Roach - Slow Heat (excerpt)
• 21:05    Aglaia - Milosis
• 30:45    David Tagg - Wolf Suite II
• 34:40    Alio Die - Innamorato
• 42:35    Kyle Bobby Dunn - New Pures
• 45:35    Loscil - Stave Peak
• 51:15    Nest - Koretz's Meteor
• 55:55    Ursula - Un final decepcionante
• 01:01:01    end
• 
  

Drowsy by Lowlight on Mixcloud

I fell asleep at my desk while making this mix

I listen to ambient music every night when I go to bed. I usually browse my recent acquisitions to find something for sleep music. There are a few recordings which get used more than others.

Two recent releases by Steve Roach get regular airtime here at Low Light Mixes. Last year's "A Deeper Silence" and this year's "Dynamic Stillness".

There was a time when I played Deeper Silence in the background all around the house everyday for a week. It created this strange feeling like I was on a spaceship. Mostly this 73 minute-long tune gets used for sleep music. The same goes for "Slowly Revealed" off of "Dynamic Stillness". I have fallen asleep to this track many times.

Another nighttime favorite...the "Beautiful Land of Nod" mixes from Mr. Asphalt Eden(aka - Brian Bieniowski). I played these two mixes quite a bit when I first downloaded them & still return to them often. I remember Brian saying he liked sleep music that seemed to rise & fall like breathing. It was that idea that inspired a mix that I did called "breathing music". I use this mix fairly often for drifting off to sleep.

This brings us to the new mix. I wanted to do a new sleep mix so I could incorporate the Steve Roach cuts. So I dumped some tracks to a portable hard drive, brought it to work & starting mixing in between "real work". I had 4 or 5 tracks laid down & I was listening to one of the transitions & literally fell asleep at my desk, hence the title of the mix. A lot of the tracks sound very much like each other which I guess is good in this case because one track stretches into another, in a long, trance inducing, ambient lullaby. At 90 minutes, the mix is longer than most, but I thought the length worked a bit better for sleeping.

Sweet dreams...

download : (129mb, 90 min.)
I fell asleep at my desk making this mix

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00 St. Kilda - You are in every dream
• 03:30 Steve Roach - Slowly Revealed
• 12:20 Scott Solter - Cypress Road
• 16:00 Stars of the Lid - The Kraut
• 23:30 Ashera - Fellini's Cat
• 28:30 William Basinski - 92982.1
• 33:20 Ten and Tracer - Falling asleep in sadness
• 36:40 Irezumi - Endurance
• 42:50 Jasper, TX - This Barren Land
• 47:30 Hammock - 3 sisters
• 51:15 Manual - Last Light
• 56:40 James Johnson - In then Out
• 1:06:00 Brian Eno - Discreet Music
• 1:15:00 Steve Roach - A Deeper Silence
• 1:30:00 end
  

breathing music

After a quick side trip we are back to a straight forward, ambient mix.

I got the idea for this mix from my online friend, Brian and his excellent podcast, The Quiet Sounds. At the beginning of the year he did a mix of sleep music and said this about it..."many of these tracks have a lullaby, 'breathing' quality...".

The idea of "breathing" music caught my attention. I would come back to the concept again and again as I listened to music this year. So I finally decided to put together my own mix of "breathing" music.

Most of the tracks have a common feel...in & out, back & forth, ebb & flow...a wash of sound that fades then the wash returns. Most of the cuts are fairly new, though I was happy to squeeze in some old Cluster & Eno.

download(right click/save as)
b r e a t h i n g


T R A C K L I S T

• 00:00 - 05:30 Alp - tropen
• 05:30 - 10:30 Robert Henke - layer #3
• 10:30 - 14:00 Stars of the Lid - another ballad for heavy lids
• 14:00 - 18:30 Scott Solter - wave & sepia wire
• 18:30 - 22:30 Cluster & Eno - old land
• 22:30 - 27:30 Steve Roach - slow rapture
• 27:30 - 31:30 Jeff Pearce - life in the dusk air
• 31:30 - 34:20 Alio Die & Luciano Daini - la rocca’s view
• 34:20 - 43:30 Marsen Jules - eilet en delta
• 43:30 - 48:00 Cluster & Eno - fur luise
• 48:00 - 50:40 Andrew Deutsch - loops over land
• 50:40 - 58:40 William Basinski - el camino real
• 58:40 - 03:26 Stars of the Lid - the evil that never arrived