These are songs that conjure up images of wind blown landscapes, tumbleweeds, sunbleached rocks, dusty roads and heat waves rising off the ground. Of course most of the music in this mix has an ambient/atmospheric feel.
I remember the first time I heard Daniel Lanois' use of slide guitar on "Apollo - Atmospheres & Soundtracks", I hated it. I guess I thought of the slide guitar as too close to "country music" which I definitely hated.
Well over the years I've come around on the slide guitar, I love it now. I'm still not a big country music fan, though I do have a ton of Johnny Cash recordings. I've come to appreciate the lonely, melancholy feel that can be expressed through twangy, dusty western music.
Of course the ultimate in great ambient twang is Ry Cooder's "Paris, TX" soundtrack. That makes an appearance in this mix along with standbys like Lanois, Steve Roach & A Small Good Thing. I was happy to sneak in a piano tune, "Alice & twins" by Japancakes. It just sort of fit with the overall feel & then the slide guitar comes in to make it even more "dusty".
Whether it's the twang of an acoustic guitar, the wail of a harmonica or the ethereal sound of a slide guitar, this mix will drop you off on an abandoned rail line in the middle of nowhere.
Download (right click/save as) : 77mb, 41:45left in the desert
T R A C K L I S T : - 00:00 Earth - left in the desert
- 00:45 George Winston - Farewell
- 01:50 Ry Cooder - nothing out there
- 03:00 Chas Smith - an hour out of desert center
- 03:50 Bill Frisell - lonely man
- 04:52 p.g. six - 6 for wire, strung harp with slide, with Steve Roach buried underneath
- 06:15 A Small Good Thing - drowning light
- 09:00 Daniel Lanois - Asylum
- 11:30 Steve Roach & Roger King - rain & creosote
- 15:30 Six Organs of Admittance - oak path
- 18:50 Balmorhea - Palestrina
- 20:10 Steve Tibbetts - kili-ki drok
- 21:10 Balmorhea - on the weight of the night
- 25:00 Esmerine - There Were No Footprints In The Dust Behind Them
- 27:35 Badgerlore - goodnight, sweet rabbits
- 29:20 Chronomad - aksak
- 33:50 Ennio Morricone - man with a harmonica
- 34:10 Japancakes - Alice & twins
- 37:50 Steve Roach - new moon at forbidden mesa
- 38:20 Loren Mazzacane Connors - lullaby (the 1st)
- 40:10 July Skies - branch line summers fade
- 41:45 end
I have always loved a little known Genesis tune called "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats". The last song on the end of side three(vinyl), it's a 3 minute instrumental that is more ambient than old prog rock.
I remember a thread at the Hypnos forum, a long time ago, that was asking for a list of the best ambient tracks by non-ambient artists. I can't find the list or the thread but I think I added artists like Radiohead, Daryl Hall, Peter Gabriel, etc. I think "Silent Sorrow" may be the best ambient track by a non-ambient artist.
I'm working on a mellow prog rock mix that I'm sure will include this Genesis tune as well.
Anyway, I've always wanted to use it in a mix so here it is. I used the track as the title for this mix but the music doesn't necessarily take on the sorrowful feel that the title suggests. I can personally attest to the fact that this mix works very for sleeping. Enjoy.
Download (right click/save as) : 84mb, 60:46
silent sorrow in empty boats
T R A C K L I S T :- 00:00 Genesis - Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats
- 02:45 Slow Dancing Society - and to the dust shall we return
- 08:45 Alio Die - In the Labyrinth Garden
- 15:00 Christopher Willits - Flowers into Stardust
- 19:45 Pulusha - Isolation, pt. 1
- 29:25 Christopher Hipgrave - Time & Distance
- 30:45 Tim Hecker - Incurably Optimistic
- 35:45 36 - Lightout
- 37:35 Deepchord presents Echospace - untitled #5
- 40:15 John Foxx & Harold Budd - Raindust
- 45:25 Celer - A Lifetime of Wasted Breaths
- 49:45 Gareth Hardwick - 5 points
- 59:36 Genesis - reprise of Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats
- 1:00:46 end
One of my favorites albums this year isThe Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra . What first got my attention was Isabella Rossellini reciting the words of the late author Laura Huxley, widow of Aldous Huxley, on the first track - LookListenFeel. I've always had a thing for Isabella Rossellini so I gave the track a listen...and loved it.
I've been playing this album a lot and I wanted to feature it in a mix but the music wouldn't fit with my normal ambient mixes so I decided to a beat mix.
As with many mixes, this one took twists & turns I hadn't quite expected. It started off sort of psychedelic then quickly veered into something sort of funky, sort of jazzy. I love the detour it took to Dorothy Ashby. I discovered her 1968 album Afro-Harping at NPR music. I had already finished the mix when I heard the song "Soul Vibrations" and just knew I had to use it. It fits in very nicely. Somehow U2 & Dave Brubeck get squeezed in here as well. It finishes off where it began with The Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra.
I really enjoyed making this mix & even though it's a bit different for normal low light fare, I hope you enjoy it too.
Download (right click/save as) : 92mb, 48:09
footsteps
T R A C K L I S T :
- 00:00 The Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra - LookListenFeel
- 03:30 DJ Cam - Gantsa Shit
- 07:15 Polyoctopus - One Less Thing
- 10:20 Dorothy Ashby - Soul Vibrations
- 13:25 Conelrad - Charger Paris Mirage
- 16:55 U2 - Numb(gimme some more dignity remix)
- 19:35 The New Mastersounds - Drop It Down(b remix)
- 22:51 Dorothy Ashby - Afro-Harping
- 25:25 Chronomad - Dore Hindi
- 29:00 Terminal Sound System - Duchamp Falls
- 32:40 Dave Brubeck - Take Five
- 37:40 Hidden Orchestra - Footsteps
- 40"00 Halma - Hektopascal
- 42:35 Eliot Lipp - Real Tragic
- 46:00 The Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra - A Beautiful Walk in the Country
- 48:10 end
These are songs that conjure up images of wind blown landscapes, tumbleweeds, sunbleached rocks, dusty roads and heat waves rising off the ground. Of course most of the music in this mix has an ambient/atmospheric feel.
